JPH07135059A - Cable reel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a cable reel having high connecting reliability by which an elastic tongue piece stuck to prevent reversal buckling can be restrained from separating from a flexible cable. CONSTITUTION:Through a U-shaped reversal part 3a, a flexible cable 3 is wound in the inverse direction in a ring-shaped space 14 defined between an outside cylinder part 6 of a first housing 1 and an inside cylinder part 13 of a second housing 2. A buckling preventive elastic tongue piece 17 is stuck to a connecting part with the inside cylinder part 13 of this flexible cable 3, and a reversal roller 21A by which a reversal part 3a is looped is pivoted on a rotary plate 20 arranged rotatably in the space 14, and a fixed cylinder 19 opposed to the reversal roller 21A through the reversal part 3a is provided, and a guide projection 9a projecting along a peripheral surface of the reversal roller 21A is formed on this fixed cylinder 19.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cable reel incorporated in a steering device of an automobile and used as an electrical connecting means such as an air bag system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a cable reel, a fixed body and a movable body rotatably attached to the fixed body are connected by a belt-shaped flexible cable. It is roughly classified into two types depending on the winding method. One is a flexible cable wound in a spiral shape between a movable body and a fixed body, and the other is a flexible cable wound in a reverse direction around the movable body and the fixed body. However, in the latter case, various types of cable reels of the latter type have been proposed in recent years because the length of the flexible cable required in the latter case can be shortened to reduce the cost. 5 and 6 are plan views showing a schematic configuration of a cable reel previously proposed by the present applicant, FIG. 5 showing a winding neutral state of a flexible cable, and FIG. 6 showing a flexible cable. This is the latter type in which the flexible cable is wound in the opposite direction, showing the unwound state, respectively. As shown in the figure, a second housing 101 having an inner tubular portion 101a is rotatably mounted in the center of a first housing 100 having an outer tubular portion 100a, and is movable with the first housing 100. A band-shaped flexible cable 102 is housed in an annular space defined between the body 101 and the body 101. This flexible cable 102
Both ends of are guided to the outside of the first housing 100 and the second housing 101 while being fixed to the outer tubular portion 100a and the inner tubular portion 101a, respectively, and inside the space, the outer tubular portion 100a and the inner tubular portion It is housed in the cylindrical portion 101a with the winding direction reversed, and a U-shaped reversing portion 102a is formed at a position where the winding direction is changed.
An elastic tongue piece 103 made of a synthetic resin film is attached near the fixed portion of the flexible cable 102 to the inner tube portion 101a, and the rigidity of the flexible cable 102 is fixed by the elastic tongue piece 103. Is partially elevated. Further, a movable body 104 is rotatably arranged in the space, and the movable body 104 has a ring-shaped rotary plate 105 in which a plurality of pins 105a and one fixed cylinder 105b are erected on the upper surface. And a group of rollers 106 rotatably supported by each pin 105a. And
The inversion portion 102a of the flexible cable 102 described above includes the fixed cylinder 105b and the roller 106 that faces the fixed cylinder 105b (hereinafter, this roller is referred to as an inversion roller and is denoted by reference numeral 106A).
And is looped to the reversing roller 106A.

The cable reel thus constructed is
It is used by being incorporated in a steering device of an automobile (not shown). For example, the first housing 100 is fixed to the steering column to become a fixed body, and the second housing 10 is used.
1 is fixed to the steering wheel to become a movable body.
Then, when the second housing 101 rotates clockwise from the neutral position in FIG. 5 in conjunction with the steering wheel, the reversing portion 102a of the flexible cable 102 moves in the space by a rotation amount smaller than that of the second housing 101. The roller 10 moves in the clockwise direction and follows the reversing portion 102a.
The sixth group and the rotating plate 105 also move in the clockwise direction, and the flexible cable 102 having a length about twice the moving amount of the sixth group and the rotating plate 105 is attached to the outer tubular portion 1.
00a and is wound around the inner cylindrical portion 101a. In this case, the reversing part 102a is separated from the fixed cylinder 105b and is in contact with the reversing roller 106A, and the inner cylinder part 10a.
Since it is paid out in the direction of 1a, the reversing roller 106A revolves counterclockwise, and the flexible cable 102 wound around the outer tubular part 100a is smoothly paid out toward the reversing part 102a and wound around the inner tubular part 101a. Can be tightened.

On the contrary, when the second housing 101 rotates counterclockwise from the neutral position in FIG. 5 in conjunction with the steering wheel, the reversing portion 102a of the flexible cable 102 and the moving body 104 move to the second position. Is moved in the same direction by a smaller amount of rotation than the housing 101, and a flexible cable 102 having a length about twice the amount of movement is unwound from the inner cylinder part 101a and rewound to the outer cylinder part 100a. The rewinding state shown in 6 is obtained. In this case, the flexible cable 102 wound around the inner tubular portion 101a swells to the outside in the radial direction to some extent, but the group of rollers 106 and the fixed barrel 105b prevent the flexible cable 102 from further bulging and biasing. Also, the reversing unit 1
02a is a fixed cylinder 105b separated from the reversing roller 106A.
Although it comes out in the direction of the outer tubular portion 100a while making contact with the inner tubular portion 10a, the contact resistance between the two is extremely small.
The flexible cable 102 wound around 1a is smoothly drawn out in the direction of the reversing portion 102a, and is rewound around the outer tubular portion 100a.

As described above, the cable reel is used by being incorporated into a steering device of an automobile. Before the assembling, the rotation of the second housing 101 is smooth or the rotation of the second housing 101 is smooth. It is subjected to various inspection processes such as whether the amount of movement is proper. that time,
An operator attaches the second housing 101 to the flexible cable 10
When rotated in the unwinding direction of 2, the flexible cable 102, as shown in FIG.
It is completely rewound to the 00a side, and there is no winding portion around the inner cylinder portion 101a. From this state, the second housing 101
If it is accidentally over-rotated in the same direction, the flexible cable 1
Although a force of reversing acts on 02 at the connecting portion with the inner tubular portion 101a, since the rigidity of the flexible cable 102 at that portion is increased by the elastic tongue piece 103, the bending of the flexible cable 102 is bent. Is prevented and the reliability of the connection is maintained.

[0006]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional cable reel, when the flexible cable 102 reaches the end position of rewinding, the elastic tongue 103 attached to the flexible cable 102 causes the reversing roller. The elastic tongue 103 is reduced in curvature by looping to 106A to become the reversal portion 102a. For this reason, when the rewinding and tightening operations of the flexible cable 102 are repeated many times, the elastic tongue 103 is easily peeled off from the flexible cable 102, and finally, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the tip portion of the elastic tongue 103 is completely peeled off from the flexible cable 102, and the elastic tongue 103
There is a problem that the buckling prevention function due to is lost.

The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances of the prior art as described above, and an object thereof is to prevent the elastic tongue from being peeled off from the flexible cable and to achieve high reliability of connection. To provide a cable reel.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a first housing having an outer tubular portion,
A second housing having an inner tubular portion rotatably mounted on the first housing, and a belt-like member housed in an annular space defined between the outer tubular portion and the inner tubular portion. Flexible cable and a moving body that has a reversing roller and is rotatably disposed in the space, and the flexible cable is reversed in a U shape by the reversing roller to form the inner tubular portion. A cable reel in which the flexible cable is wound in the opposite direction to the outer cylindrical portion, and both ends of the flexible cable are fixed to the first housing and the second housing and electrically led to the outside. An elastic tongue is attached in the vicinity of a connecting portion of the flexible cable with the inner tube portion, and a fixing portion that faces the reversing roller via the U-shaped reversing portion of the flexible cable to the moving body. Is provided, and the fixing portion is projected along the peripheral surface of the reversing roller. Characterized in that the formation of the that guide projections.

[0009]

When the first or second housing (movable body) is rotated in either forward or reverse directions, the U-shaped reversing portion of the flexible cable looped by the reversing roller of the moving body moves. Move in the same direction by a smaller amount of rotation than your body,
The movable body receives the force from the reversing portion and moves following the reversing portion, and the flexible cable is in a rewound state in which it is rewound in the outer tubular portion or in a fastened state in which it is fastened to the inner tubular portion. Becomes Here, when the elastic tongue attached to the flexible cable becomes a reversing portion and its curvature becomes small, the curvature of the elastic tongue is maintained by the guide protrusion formed on the fixed portion of the moving body. The elastic tongue can be prevented from peeling off from the flexible cable, and the function of the elastic tongue to prevent buckling of the flexible cable is maintained for a long period of time.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a plan view showing a winding neutral state of a cable reel according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the cable reel, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the cable reel, and the cable reel of FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the unwound state of FIG. 1 and FIG. 1 and FIG. 4 omit a part of the first housing.

As shown in these drawings, the cable reel according to the present embodiment includes a first housing 1, a second housing 2 rotatably mounted on the first housing 1, and a second housing 2. The flexible cable 3 is housed between the housings 1 and 2 and the moving body 4 is rotatably arranged between the housings 1 and 2.

The first housing 1 is composed of an upper case 7 in which an outer cylindrical portion 6 hangs on the outer peripheral edge of a top plate 5, and a lower cover 8 joined and integrated with the lower end of the outer cylindrical portion 6. There is.
Center holes 9 and 10 are formed at the centers of the top plate 5 and the lower cover 8 of the upper case 7, and a ring-shaped guide groove 11 is provided on the lower surface of the lower cover 8. On the other hand, the second housing 2 is formed of a tubular body having a shaft insertion hole 12 in the center, and the upper and lower ends of the outer peripheral edge are guided by the center holes 9 and 10 of the upper case 7 and the lower cover 8, respectively. One housing 1 is rotatably connected. The outer peripheral surface of the second housing 2 has an inner cylindrical portion 13
A space 14 having a ring shape in plan view is provided between the top plate 5 on the first housing 1 side, the outer tubular portion 6 and the lower cover 8, and the inner tubular portion 13 on the second housing 2 side. Well defined.

The flexible cable 3 is composed of what is called a strip-shaped flat cable in which conductors parallel to each other are laminated with a pair of insulating films. In the case of this embodiment, a flat cable for five circuits in which five conductors are embedded is used. Cable is used. One end of the flexible cable 3 is connected to a first connector 15 fixed to the outer tubular portion 6,
Is led out of the first housing 1 via the connector 15. On the other hand, the other end of the flexible cable 3 is connected to the second connector 16 fixed to the inner tubular portion 13, and the second housing 2 is connected via the second connector 16.
Is outsourced to. As shown in FIG. 1, the flexible cable 3 is wound around the inner wall of the outer tubular portion 6 in a clockwise direction from the first connector 15 and then inverted in a U-shape (hereinafter, referred to as an inversion portion 3a). Further, the second connector 16 is wound around the outer wall of the inner cylindrical portion 13 in the counterclockwise direction.
It is housed in the space 14 so as to reach. Also,
An elastic tongue piece 17 made of a highly flexible film material such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is attached to the flexible cable 3 near the inner tubular portion 13, and the elastic tongue piece 17 is flexible. It is wound around the inner tubular portion 13 together with the sex cable 3.

The movable body 4 has a plurality of pins 18 and 1 on its upper surface.
A ring-shaped rotary plate 20 in which three fixed cylinders 19 are erected,
Each pin 18 is composed of a group of rollers 21 rotatably rotatably supported, and among the groups of rollers 21, a roller 21 opposed to the fixed cylinder 19 through the opening 22 is a reversing roller (hereinafter referred to as a reference numeral 21A). Attached). As shown in FIG. 1, a first rib 23 is erected on the inner peripheral edge of the rotary plate 20, and the first rib 23 is provided between the reversing roller 21A and the roller 21 adjacent thereto, and the fixed cylinder 19. There is a slight clearance between the rollers 21 adjacent thereto and between the other rollers 21. Further, the rotating plate 20 is provided with second ribs 24 located near both ends of the first rib 23, and these second ribs 24 are auxiliary ribs for substantially reducing the clearance. Function. Further, a guide projection 19a is integrally formed on a part of the peripheral surface of the fixed cylinder 19, and the guide projection 19a projects along the peripheral surface of the reversing roller 21A. Then, the moving body 4 configured in this way
Is arranged in the space 14 and is guided rotatably in the radial direction of the space 14 by fitting the rotary plate 20 into the guide groove 11 of the lower cover 8. Further, the reversing portion 3a of the flexible cable 3 described above passes through the opening 22 between the fixed cylinder 19 and the reversing roller 22A, and the reversing roller 22.
The first rib 23 and the second rib 24 are looped to A. The first rib 23 and the second rib 24 prevent the reversing portion 3a from being accidentally looped by a roller 21 other than the reversing roller 21A during assembly.

Next, the operation of the cable reel according to the above embodiment will be described by taking the case where the first housing 1 is used as a fixed body and the second housing 2 is used as a movable body as an example. In this case, after the cable reel has undergone an inspection process described later, the first housing 1 is fixed to the steering column side of the steering device, and the lead wire led out from the upper case 7 is connected to the air side mounted on the vehicle body side. It is connected to a bag drive circuit and a horn circuit. Also,
The second housing 2 is connected to a steering shaft, a steering wheel, etc., and lead wires led out from the second housing 2 are connected to an airbag inflator, a horn switch, etc. mounted on the steering wheel side.

In use, when the handle is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise, the rotational force is applied to the second housing 2.
And the second housing 2 rotates clockwise or counterclockwise. For example, from the neutral position shown in FIG.
When the housing 2 of FIG. 3 rotates clockwise, the reversing portion 3a of the flexible cable 3 moves clockwise by a smaller rotation amount than the second housing 2, and the reversing roller 22A is pulled by the reversing portion 3a, so The rotary plate 20 also moves in the clockwise direction following the portion 3a, and the flexible cable 3 having a length about twice the amount of these movements is paid out from the outer tubular portion 6 side to form a peripheral surface of the inner tubular portion 13. Is fastened to. In this case, since the reversing portion 3a is separated from the fixed cylinder 19 and is fed toward the inner cylindrical portion 13 while contacting the reversing roller 22A, the reversing roller 22A rotates counterclockwise and is wound around the outer cylindrical portion 6. The flexible cable 3 comes into contact with the group of rollers 22 and rotates them in the counterclockwise direction so as to be smoothly drawn out in the direction of the reversing portion 3a, and is wound around the inner tube portion 13 side through the reversing portion 3a. .

Contrary to the above, when the second housing 2 rotates counterclockwise from the neutral state shown in FIG. 1, the reversing portion 3a of the flexible cable 3 is rotated by a smaller amount than the second housing 2. Since the reversing portion 3a moves counterclockwise and separates from the reversing roller 22A and presses the fixed cylinder 19,
The rotating plate 20 also moves in the counterclockwise direction following the reversing portion 3a, and the flexible cable 3 having a length about twice the moving amount thereof.
Is unwound from the inner tubular portion 13 and rewound on the outer tubular portion 6, resulting in the rewound state shown in FIG. In this case, a force in the opposite direction such as a clockwise rotation force from the flexible cable 3 that bulges outward in the radial direction from the inner cylinder portion 13 and a counterclockwise rotation force from the reversing portion 3a is applied to the fixed cylinder 19. Although it works, the fixed cylinder 19 is fixed to the rotary plate 20 and therefore does not rotate like the group of rollers 22. Therefore,
The fixed cylinder 19 is not subjected to a rotational force that cancels the extension of the reversing portion 3a, and the flexible cable 3 wound around the inner cylinder portion 13 comes into contact with the group of rollers 22 to rotate them clockwise. By doing so, it is smoothly drawn out in the direction of the reversing portion 3a, and is rewound to the outer tubular portion 6 side through the reversing portion 3a.

In this way, in the cable reel, the flexible cable 3 is rewound or fastened by the rotation of the second housing 2. Therefore, if these rewinding and fastening operations are repeated many times, each time. The elastic tongue piece 17 attached to the flexible cable 3 at the end position of rewinding serves as the reversing portion 3a. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the elastic tongue piece 17 is curved so that its curvature becomes small in the opening 22, but when entering the opening 22, it contacts the fixed cylinder 19 along the guide protrusion 19a. Therefore, abrupt bending stress does not act on the elastic tongue piece 17, and the elastic tongue piece 17 does not easily peel off from the flexible cable 3. Moreover, since the guide projection 19a projects along the peripheral surface of the reversing roller 21A, it is prevented that the elastic tongue piece 17 located in the opening 22 is peeled off from the flexible cable 3. Also, the elastic tongue piece 17 does not easily come off from the flexible cable 3.

Before the cable reel is assembled into the steering device, it is subjected to various inspection steps such as whether the rotation of the second housing 2 is smooth or whether the rotation amount of the second housing 2 is proper. To be done. At that time, when the worker rotates the second housing 2 in the unwinding direction of the flexible cable 3, as shown in FIG. 4, the flexible cable 3 moves to the outer tubular portion 6 side at the unwinding end position. All are rewound, and the winding portion around the inner tube portion 13 disappears. If the second housing 2 is erroneously over-rotated further in the same direction from this state, a force to invert the flexible cable 3 at the connecting portion with the inner tubular portion 13 acts, but the flexibility of the portion is changed. Since the rigidity of the cable 3 is increased by the elastic tongue piece 17, the bending of the flexible cable 3 is prevented, and the reliability of connection is maintained.

The cable reel according to the above embodiment is required because the flexible cable 3 is wound in the opposite direction on the outer tubular portion 6 and the inner tubular portion 13 via the reversing portion 3a. The length of the flexible cable 3 can be shortened, and as a result, the total cost can be reduced and the size can be reduced. Further, the moving body 4 is arranged between the portion of the flexible cable 3 wound around the outer tubular portion 6 and the portion of the flexible cable 3 wound around the inner tubular portion 13, and the reversing roller 21A is provided on the moving body 4.
Since a plurality of roller 21 groups including the roller 21 are rotatably supported, it is possible to prevent the flexible cable 3 from bulging outward in the radial direction on the way to the reversing portion 3a and buckling during the rewinding operation of the flexible cable 3. Can be prevented and the winding tightening operation can be reliably performed. Further, since the reversing portion 3a of the flexible cable 3 is looped to one of the rollers 21 (reversing roller 21A), and the fixed cylinder 19 is provided at a position facing the reversing roller 21A via the reversing portion 3a. During the rewinding operation, the unwinding operation of the reversing unit 3a is not hindered, and the rewinding operation can be reliably performed also from this point. Further, since the guide protrusion 19a protruding along the peripheral surface of the reversing roller 21A is formed on a part of the peripheral surface of the fixed cylinder 19,
It is possible to prevent the elastic tongue piece 17 from peeling off from the flexible cable 3 when the elastic tongue piece 17 is bent as the reversing portion 3a,
The buckling prevention function of the flexible cable 3 by the elastic tongue piece 17 can be maintained for a long period of time.

In the above embodiment, the case where the first housing 1 is used as the fixed body and the second housing 2 is used as the movable body has been described. On the contrary, the first housing 1 can be moved. It is also possible to use it as a body and to use the second housing 2 as a fixed body.

Further, in the above embodiment, the guide protrusion 19a is used.
Although the case where the fixed cylinder 19 having the above has a hollow shape has been described, the same effect can be obtained even if the fixed cylinder 19 has a solid shape, although the total weight of the moving body 4 is slightly increased.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the elastic tongue that prevents reverse buckling of the flexible cable enters between the reversing roller of the moving body and the fixed portion, the elastic tongue is separated from the flexible cable by the guide protrusion provided on the fixed portion. Since this can be suppressed, it is possible to provide a cable reel with high connection reliability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a winding neutral state of a cable reel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a rewinding state of the cable reel of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an essential part of a cable reel previously proposed by the applicant.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a rewound state of the cable reel of FIG.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a defect of the cable reel of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 1st housing 2 2nd housing 3 Flexible cable 3a Reversing part 4 Moving body 5 Top plate 6 Outer cylinder part 7 Upper case 8 Lower cover 13 Inner cylinder part 14 Space 17 Elastic tongue piece 19 Fixed cylinder (fixed body) ) 19a Guide protrusion 20 Rotating plate 21 Roller 21A Reversing roller 22 Opening

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A first housing having an outer tubular portion,
A second housing having an inner tubular portion rotatably mounted on the first housing, and a belt-like member housed in an annular space defined between the outer tubular portion and the inner tubular portion. Flexible cable and a moving body that has a reversing roller and is rotatably disposed in the space, and the flexible cable is reversed in a U shape by the reversing roller to form the inner tubular portion. A cable reel in which the flexible cable is wound in the opposite direction to the outer cylindrical portion, and both ends of the flexible cable are fixed to the first housing and the second housing and electrically led to the outside. An elastic tongue is attached in the vicinity of a connecting portion of the flexible cable with the inner tube portion, and a fixing portion that faces the reversing roller via the U-shaped reversing portion of the flexible cable to the moving body. Is provided, and the fixing portion is projected along the peripheral surface of the reversing roller. Cable reel, characterized in that the formation of the that guide projections.