JPH07111721A - Chain like cable holder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a function for regulating the bending angle of link members while preventing increase of manufacturing cost. CONSTITUTION:In the chain-like cable holder, a link member 12 comprises a pair of outer plate part 20, a pair of inner plate part 22, a bottom plate part 16 for coupling the outer and inner plate parts 20, 22 at the lower ends thereof, and a substantially columnar protrusion 22a formed at the inner plate part 22. The cable holder further comprises a fitting hole 20a made at the outer plate part 20, a level difference part 32 formed at the joint of outer and inner plate parts 20, 22, and a plane 34 formed at the forward end part of the outer plate part 20 and abutting on the level difference part 32 to regulate the bending angle of the link members 12.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plurality of link members formed in the same shape and connected in a bendable manner, and a chain-shaped cable holder for holding a cable in a bendable manner inside the plurality of link members. It is about ingredients.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an apparatus having a movable part that moves relative to a machine body, such as an industrial robot, it is often necessary to provide electrical wiring between the machine body and the movable part. Occur. In such a case, if the electric cable that connects the machine body and the movable part is left as it is, the electric cable may come into contact with an external member and be easily damaged, causing a disconnection or the like. . Therefore, conventionally, when an electric cable is laid in such a relative moving portion, the electric cable is housed and protected inside a flexible cable holder formed in a chain shape, for example. . Since such a chain-shaped cable holder is configured to be deformable as the machine body moves relative to the movable part, it is possible to protect the electric cable from the outside without adversely affecting the movement of the movable part. Is.

As such a cable holder, for example, the one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-1716 is known. In this prior art, each link member that constitutes the chain-shaped cable holder has a closed structure to further improve the protection of the electric cable and the like.

Here, in the above-mentioned conventional example, as shown in FIG. 5, a series of chain-shaped cable holders 50 are constituted by connecting a plurality of link members 52 of the same shape to each other. However, each link member is provided with an angle restricting portion 54 for restricting the bending angle of each link member 52 with respect to the other link member 52. The angle restricting portion 54 is composed of an angle restricting recess 56 provided in the front part of the link member 52 and an angle restricting tongue piece 58 provided in the rear part of the link member 52 and engaging with the angle restricting recess 56. Has been done. The upper surface 58a and the lower end surface 58b of the angle restricting tongue piece 58 are brought into contact with the upper inner wall surface 56a and the lower inner wall surface 56b of the angle restricting recessed portion 56, so that the bending angles of the link members 52 are reduced. Medium (β
Restricted to the range of -α). Since the bending angles of the link members 52 are restricted within a certain range in this manner, it is possible to prevent the curvature radius of the cable housed in the cable holder 50 from becoming excessively small and causing a disconnection. Has been done.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, as shown in FIG. 5, since the angle restricting concave portion 56 is formed on the inner wall surface of the link member 52, the link member 52 is formed. There is a problem that the structure of the mold for doing so becomes complicated, the manufacturing cost of the link member 52 increases, and eventually the cost of the cable holding portion 50 increases.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to prevent an increase in manufacturing cost while having a function of restricting a bending angle between link members. It is intended to provide a chain-shaped cable holder capable of

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, a chain-shaped cable holder of the present invention comprises link members formed of an elastic material and having the same shape. A chain-shaped cable holder for connecting a plurality of bendable members and for holding a cable bendably inside the plurality of link members, wherein the link members form a front portion of the link member, and an inner wall surface thereof. A pair of outer plate portions arranged in a state of being separated from each other by a predetermined distance, and the rear portion of the link member, and the outer spacing of the outer wall surfaces of the outer plate portions is defined as the distance between the inner wall surfaces of the pair of outer plate portions. Are also formed integrally with the pair of inner plate portions that are set to be slightly smaller, the pair of outer plate portions and the pair of inner plate portions, and lower ends of the pair of outer plates and the pair of inner plates. A bottom plate part that connects the lower ends of the rate parts to each other, and one of the pair of outer plate parts and the pair of inner plate parts that is formed in a substantially columnar shape and projects in a direction orthogonal to the plate surface. A protrusion, a fitting hole formed in the other of the pair of outer plate portions and the pair of inner plate portions, and having a size capable of fitting with the protrusion, and a rear end of the outer plate portion. Portion formed at the connecting portion between the outer plate portion and the front end portion of the inner plate portion and the front end portion of the outer plate portion, and by contacting the step portion, two or more link members are connected. And a contact surface that regulates the bending angle between the link members when the link members are pressed.

Further, in the chain-like cable holder according to the present invention, the step portion is formed in a linear shape extending in a direction substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the link member, and the contact surface is It is characterized in that it is formed in a straight line extending obliquely with respect to the longitudinal direction of the link member.

[0009]

As described above, since the chain-like cable holder according to the present invention is constructed, the step portion and the contact surface that regulate the bending angle of the link members are formed in the outer portion of the link member. Therefore, the structure of the mold for molding the link member is simplified, and the cost of the cable holder can be reduced.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of a link member which constitutes a chain-shaped cable holder of one embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the link member of FIG. 1 seen from above.

1 and 2, the link member 12 is
A pair of side plate portions 14 arranged at a predetermined distance in the horizontal direction, and a pair of these side plate portions 14
A bottom plate portion 16 for connecting the lower end portions of the
A beam member 18 for partially closing the upper portion of the side plate portion 14 so as to prevent the cable from jumping out from the link member 12 in a state where a cable such as an electric wire is housed between the pair of side plate portions 14. Has been done. The link member 12 configured in this way is formed by molding a synthetic resin or the like.

The side plate portions 14 are a pair of outer plate portions 2 forming the front portion (front side in FIG. 1) of the link member 12.
0 and a pair of inner plate portions 22 integrally connected to the rear portion of the outer plate portion 20. The distance between the inner walls of the outer plate portion 20 is set to a distance D as shown in FIG. 2, and the outer distance of the outer wall of the inner plate portion 22 is
It is set to D ', which is slightly smaller than the distance D. As described above, since the outer clearance D'of the inner plate portion 22 is set to be slightly smaller than the inner clearance D of the outer plate portion 20, as shown in FIGS. Is inserted between the pair of outer plate portions 20,
The link member 12 can be combined with another link member 12 having the same shape. Then, in this combined state, a cylindrical protrusion 22 a is formed on the outer wall portion of the inner plate portion 22 so that the link members 12 are connected to each other in a bendable manner, and the outer plate portion 20 is formed. Has a fitting hole 20a for fitting with the protrusion 22a. By connecting a plurality of link members 12 in this way, a series of chain-shaped cable holders 10 as shown in FIG. 3 are constructed.

When connecting the link members 12 to each other as described above, the connecting operation can be performed smoothly.
An inclined surface 20b is formed at the front end of the inner wall of the outer plate portion 20, while an inclined surface 22b is formed at the rear end of the protrusion 22a formed on the inner plate portion 22. Since the slope 20b and the slope 22b are formed in this manner, when the two link members 12 are slid in the direction indicated by the arrow A in the drawing to be connected, the front end portion of the outer plate portion 20 has a protrusion. The two link members 12 can be smoothly connected to each other because the rear end portion 22a is easily climbed up.

When the front end portion of the outer plate portion 20 rides on the protrusion 22a, the outer plate portion 20 needs to open outward as shown by an arrow B in FIG. Outer plate part 2 so that it can be easily opened to the outside
Below 0, i.e. the outer plate part 20 and the bottom plate part 1
A long groove 24 as a low-rigidity portion is formed in the vicinity of the connecting portion of 6. In this way, since the long groove 24 is formed at the root portion of the outer plate portion 20, the portion of the long groove 24 functions as a hinge, so that the outer plate portion 2
0 becomes easier to open in the direction of arrow B, and the link members 12 are more easily connected. Further, the long groove 24 plays a more effective role when the link members 12 which are already connected are separated from each other. That is, when the link members 12 are connected to each other, the slopes 20b and 22b assist the connecting operation, but there is no such help when the link members 12 are separated. That is, it is necessary to open the outer plate portion 20 in the direction of the arrow B only by manpower so that the protruding portion 22a can be pulled out from the fitting hole 20a. Therefore, conventionally, a tool or the like was required to open the outer plate portion 20 specially, but in the present embodiment, due to the action of the long groove 24, a special tool is not required, and the force is applied by a human force. The plate portion 20 can be opened, and the linked link members 12 can be separated. Also, the long groove 2
Since the rigidity of only a part of the outer plate portion 20 is reduced by providing 4, the ease of opening the outer plate portion 20 can be ensured without reducing the rigidity of the entire link member 12. it can.

A long groove 26 is also formed in the lower portion of the inner plate portion 22 similarly to the outer plate portion 20, but like the long groove 24, this also facilitates the connecting and disassembling operations of the link member 12. belongs to. The long groove 24 is provided to facilitate the opening of the outer plate portion 20, while the long groove 26 is provided to facilitate the deformation of the inner plate portion 22 in the opposite direction. That is, the action of the long groove 24 facilitates the opening of the outer plate portion 20, and the action of the long groove 26 facilitates the closing of the inner plate portion 22, whereby the outer plate portion 20 and the inner plate portion 22 are easily deformed in opposite directions, The attachment / detachment operation is performed more easily.

Next, a rectangular opening hole 28 is formed in the upper portion of the outer plate portion 20, and the locking protrusions 18a formed at both ends of the beam member 18 are inserted into the opening hole 28. Thus, the beam member 18 is attached to the link member 12. The beam member 18 is for preventing a cable such as an electric wire housed in the link member 12 from jumping out of the link member 12. When the beam member 18 is attached to the link member 12, the outer plate portion 20 must also be opened in the direction of the arrow B to insert the locking protrusion 18a into the opening hole 28. Slopes 30a and 30b are formed on the plate portion 20. On the other hand, an inclined surface 18b is also formed on the lower surface of the locking projection 18a of the beam member 18. Therefore, when the beam member 18 is attached to the link member 12, the beam member 18 is simply pushed into the outer plate portion 20 from above, and the sloped surface 18 b is changed to the sloped surface 30.
The beam member 18 can be easily attached to the link member 12 by sliding along the a and 30b.

Further, the rear end portion 32 of the outer plate portion 20 is formed in a straight line along the vertical direction, while the inclined surface 34 is formed in the front upper portion of the outer plate portion 20. The rear end portion 32 and the slope 34 are connected to each other to form the link member 1.
This is for restricting the rotation angle between the two members, and as shown in FIG. 4, prevents the link members 12 from bending at a predetermined angle or more when the chain-shaped cable holder 10 is bent. Is. If there is no such regulation of the bending angle, the bending radius of the cable may become smaller than necessary, and if the cable is repeatedly bent with a small radius of curvature in this way, the cause of cable breakage, etc. Therefore, the regulation of the bending angle is absolutely necessary. In this embodiment, the outer plate portion 20
Since the inner distance D of the inner plate portion and the outer distance D ′ of the inner plate portion 22 are substantially equal to each other, a step is always formed between the rear end portion 32 of the outer plate 20 and the outer wall of the inner plate portion 22. For this reason, the angle between the link members 12 is regulated by utilizing the step that always occurs. This allows
It is not necessary to specially provide the link member 12 with a functional shape portion for angle regulation, the structure of the mold for forming the link member 12 is simplified, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the chain-shaped cable holding portion 10 is straightened, the front end portion 16a of the bottom plate portion 16 of one link member and the bottom plate portion of the adjacent link member. Since the rear end portion 16b of the chain 16 contacts, the chain-shaped cable holder 10 is prevented from bending to the opposite side. Therefore, the chain-shaped cable holder 10 is flexibly bent between the state shown in FIG. 3 and the state shown in FIG.

Next, referring back to FIG. 1 again, the outer plate portion 20 of the link member 12 has the link member 1
Mounting holes 36 are formed for fixing 2 to an external member W1 (for example, a machine body such as an industrial robot or a movable portion that moves relative to the machine body). The end of the chain-shaped cable holder 10 can be fixed to the external member W1 by inserting a screw B1 or the like into the mounting hole 36 and screwing it. In this way, by forming the mounting holes 36 in the outer plate portion 20, it is possible to fix the end portion of the chain-shaped cable holder to an external member without preparing a special fixture. Therefore, the cable holder can be composed of only one type of component (link member 12), and the cost of the cable holder can be reduced.

A tool hole 38 for inserting a tool such as a screwdriver for turning the screw B1 inserted into the mounting hole 36 is provided in the outer plate portion 20 facing the outer plate portion 20 in which the mounting hole 36 is formed. It is formed so as not to hinder the fixing operation of the link member 12.

The bottom plate portion 16 also has mounting holes 4
0 is formed, and the mounting posture of the link member 12 can be changed as necessary. That is, the state in which the side surface of the link member 12 is fixed to the external member W1 and the state in which the bottom surface of the link member 12 is fixed to the external member W2 can be arbitrarily selected. Thereby, it is possible to widely cope with various mounting postures.

As described above, in the chain-shaped cable holder according to the embodiment, since the link member itself has the mounting hole, the end portion of the cable holder can be prepared without specially preparing the fixing metal fitting. Since the cable holder can be fixed to an external member, the cable holder can be composed of one type of component, and the cost can be reduced.

Further, since the low-rigidity portions are formed at the root portions of the outer plate portion and the inner plate portion, the linking operation and the removing operation of the link members can be smoothly performed.

Further, since the step difference between the outer plate portion and the inner plate portion, which is always generated, is used to regulate the bending angle between the link members, a function for specially regulating the bending angle is provided. The structure of the mold for molding the link member is simplified as compared with the case of forming the portion, and the cost of the cable holder can be reduced.

The present invention can be applied to modifications and variations of the above embodiments without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0027]

As described above, according to the chain-like cable holder of the present invention, the step portion and the contact surface that regulate the bending angle of the link members are formed in the outer shape portion of the link member. Therefore, the structure of the mold for molding the link member is simplified, and the cost of the cable holder can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a structure of a link member that constitutes a chain-shaped cable holder according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the link member of FIG. 1 viewed from above.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a state where a chain-shaped cable holder is configured by connecting a plurality of link members.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a state in which the chain-shaped cable holder is bent.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a structure of a conventional chain-shaped cable holder.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Chain-shaped Cable Holder 12 Link Member 14 Side Plate Part 16 Bottom Plate Part 18 Beam Member 20 Outer Plate Part 22 Inner Plate Part 24, 26 Long Groove 28 Opening Hole 32 Rear End 34 Slope 36 Mounting Hole 38 Tool Hole 40 Mounting Hole

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of link members made of an elastic material and formed in the same shape are connected so as to be bendable,
A chain-shaped cable holder for holding a cable in a bendable manner inside the plurality of link members, wherein the link member constitutes a front portion of the link member, and inner wall surfaces thereof are separated from each other by a predetermined distance. A pair of outer plate portions arranged in a state and a rear portion of the link member, and an outer gap of the outer wall surfaces thereof is set to be slightly smaller than a gap between inner wall surfaces of the pair of outer plate portions. A pair of inner plate portions, integrally formed with the pair of outer plate portions and the pair of inner plate portions, and the lower ends of the pair of outer plates,
A bottom plate portion that connects the lower ends of the pair of inner plate portions to each other, and one of the pair of outer plate portions and the pair of inner plate portions is formed to project in a direction orthogonal to the plate surface. A substantially columnar protrusion, a fitting hole formed in the other of the pair of outer plate portions and the pair of inner plate portions, and having a size capable of fitting with the protrusion, the outer plate Two or more of the step portions formed at the connecting portion between the rear end portion of the portion and the front end portion of the inner plate portion and the front end portion of the outer plate portion and abutting against the step portion. A chain-shaped cable holder comprising: a contact surface that regulates a bending angle between the link members when the link members are connected. 2. The step portion is formed in a linear shape extending in a direction substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the link member, and the contact surface is oblique to the longitudinal direction of the link member. A chain-shaped cable holder characterized in that it is formed in a straight line extending to the.