JPH0733336A - Cable reel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a cable reel capable of reducing the noise generated when a flexible cable collides with the inner tube section and outer tube section of a storage space. CONSTITUTION:A circular storage space 14 is formed between the first and second housings 1, 2 connected relatively rotatably, and a flexible cable 3 is spirally stored and wound in the storage space 14. An outside connector 15 is fixed to the outer tube section 6 of the storage space 14, an inside projection 12 is fixed to the inner tube section 13 of the storage space 14, and the outside connector 15 and the inside projection 12 are faced to each other at the rotation neutral position of a handle. The passing path of the flexible cable is locally narrowed, and the free movement of the flexible cable in the storage space is restricted.

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 for an air bag system or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a cable is roughly constituted by a pair of housings which are relatively rotatably connected to each other and a flexible cable which is housed in an annular housing space defined between the housings. The reel is known. The flexible cable is spirally wound inside the storage space, and both ends of the flexible cable are fixed to an inner cylinder portion and an outer cylinder portion of the storage space and led out to the outside of both housings. When one of the housings is rotated forward or backward, the flexible cable is wound around the inner tube portion side, and when the housing is rotated to the other side, the flexible cable is moved toward the outer tube portion side. It is supposed to be rewound.

The cable reel thus constructed is incorporated in a steering device of an automobile, and is used as an electrical connecting means for connecting an airbag / inflator, a horn switch, etc. provided on the steering wheel side to the vehicle body side. At that time, one housing is fixed to the steering column side, the other housing is fixed to the steering wheel side, and the housing connected to the steering wheel side is linked to the housing fixed to the steering column side in conjunction with the rotation operation of the steering wheel. Rotate against.

[0004]

By the way, in a steering apparatus of an automobile in which a cable reel is incorporated, in most cases, the vehicle travels straight ahead, and the steering wheel during such straight travel is used at a substantially center position of the rotation movable range. The housing that rotates in tandem with the handle is almost in the neutral position when it is in use. In this case, the flexible cable is loosely wound and stored in the storage space so that it can follow the rotation of the handlebar, and therefore the flexible cable is free to move in the storage space due to the vibration from the running vehicle. As a result, there is a problem in that the flexible cable collides with the inner and outer cylindrical portions of the storage space and an offensive noise is generated.

The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances of the prior art as described above, and an object of the present invention is to generate a noise generated when a flexible cable collides with an inner tubular portion and an outer tubular portion of a storage space. It is to provide a cable reel that can reduce

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a first housing having an outer tubular portion, and an inner tubular portion which is rotatably mounted on the first housing. And a strip-shaped flexible cable housed in an annular housing space formed between the outer tubular portion and the inner tubular portion, and both ends of the flexible cable are In a cable reel that is led out to the outside while being fixed to the outer tubular portion and the inner tubular portion, a first protrusion is provided on the inner circumferential surface of the outer tubular portion, and the outer circumferential surface of the inner tubular portion is provided. The most main feature is that the radial dimension of the storage space is locally narrowed by providing the second protrusion and making the first and second protrusions face each other at the rotation neutral position. There is.

[0007]

[Operation] When the handle is rotated in either forward or reverse direction,
The flexible cable is wound from the outer tubular portion to the inner tubular portion side, or conversely, is rewound from the inner tubular portion to the outer tubular portion side, and in either state, the first housing and the second housing The electrical connection between and is maintained via a flexible cable. In this case, the first protrusion provided on the outer tubular portion and the second protrusion provided on the inner tubular portion relatively rotate, but are flexible at the turning neutral position of the handle most frequently used. The passage of the flexible cable is locally narrowed at this position because of the opposite direction of the flexible cable. Therefore, the free movement of the flexible cable in the storage space is regulated, the flexible cable is prevented from colliding with the inner cylinder part and the outer cylinder part by vibration, and the generation of noise is reduced.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a cable reel according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an internal structure of the cable reel, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the cable reel is incorporated in a steering device. And in these figures, 1 is the first housing, 2 is the second housing, 3
Indicates a flexible cable.

The first housing 1 includes an upper case 7 in which an outer cylindrical portion 6 is vertically provided on an outer peripheral edge of a flat top plate 5, and a lower cover 8 joined and integrated with a lower end of the outer cylindrical portion 6. The top plate 5 and the lower cover 8 are provided with center holes 9 and 10, respectively. On the other hand, the second housing 2
Is a cylindrical body having a shaft insertion hole 11 in the center, and an inner protrusion 12 is provided on a part of the outer peripheral surface thereof. The upper and lower edges of the second housing 2 are guided by the center holes 9 and 10 of the top plate 5 and the lower cover 8 to form the first housing 2.
Is rotatably connected to the housing 1 of
The top plate 5, the outer cylinder portion 6 and the lower cover 8 on the first housing 1 side, and the inner cylinder portion 1 forming the outer peripheral surface on the second housing 2 side.
An annular storage space 14 is defined between the two and the space 3.

The flexible cable 3 comprises a strip-shaped flat cable in which parallel conductors are laminated with a pair of insulating films. The flexible cable 3 is housed in the housing space 14 in a spiral shape. There is. One end of the flexible cable 3 is connected to an outer connector 15 fixed to the inner peripheral wall of the outer tubular portion 6, and is led out of the first housing 1 via the outer connector 15. The outer connector 15 revolves relatively around the inner protruding portion 12, but when the housings 1 and 2 are in the rotation neutral position as shown in FIG. 2, the outer connector 15 and the inner protruding portion 12 are separated from each other. Face each other through the storage space 14, and in this state, the dimension between the outer tubular portion 6 and the inner tubular portion 13 becomes the minimum value t. The other end of the flexible cable 3 is connected to an inner connector 16 fixed to the second housing 2, and is led out of the second housing 2 via the inner connector 16. Further, the elastic tongue piece 1 is provided with an elastic force in the direction of the outer tubular portion 6 on the inner surface of the flexible cable 3 in the portion extending from the inner connector 16 in the storage space 14 direction.
7 is attached, and the elastic tongue piece 17 and the inner protruding portion 12 are in point symmetry with respect to the center of the second housing 2. The elastic tongue piece 17 enhances the rigidity of the flexible cable 3, so that the flexible cable 3 is prevented from reverse buckling at the connection end with the inner tubular portion 13.

Next, the operation of the cable reel according to the first 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, as shown in FIG.
The housing 1 is fixed to the steering column 18 side of the steering device, and the lead wires led out from the first housing 1 to the outside are an air bag drive circuit and a horn circuit (both not shown) mounted on the vehicle body side. ) Etc. Further, the second housing 2 is fixed to the handle 19, the steering shaft 20 is inserted into the shaft insertion hole 11 of the second housing 2, and the lead wire led out from the second housing 2 to the outside is , Handle 1
The air bag inflator 21 and the horn switch (not shown) attached to the air bag 9 are connected to the air bag inflator 21. In addition, in FIG.
In FIG. 3, XX indicates the horizontal axis and YY indicates the vertical axis.

In use, when the handle 19 is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise, the rotational force is transmitted to the second housing 2 and the second housing 2 rotates in the same direction. For example, the handle 19 from the pivotal neutral position shown in FIG.
2 is rotated counterclockwise, the second housing 2 is also rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 2, and the flexible cable 3 is wound around the inner tube portion 13 side. On the contrary, when the handle 19 is rotated clockwise, the
The housing 2 also rotates clockwise in FIG. 2, and the flexible cable 3 is rewound to the outer cylinder portion 6 side. In any state, the flexible cable 3 for electrical connection between the housings 1 and 2 is Maintained through. In this case, the inner protruding portion 12 provided on the inner cylindrical portion 13 rotates along the circumferential direction of the storage space 14 in association with the rotation of the second housing 2 and is in a state of being close to or away from the outer connector 15. However, at least at the pivotal neutral position shown in FIG. 2, the inner protrusion 12 and the outer connector 15 are in the state of being closest to each other.

In the first embodiment, the inner projection 12 and the outer connector 15 face each other through the flexible cable 3 at the pivotal neutral position of the handle 19 which is most frequently used. In the position, the path of the flexible cable 3 is locally narrowed. Therefore, the flexible cable 3 that is loosely wound in the storage space 14 is less likely to collide with the outer tubular portion 6 and the inner tubular portion 13 by being sandwiched between the inner protrusion 12 and the outer connector 15. Therefore, the generation of noise can be suppressed. Moreover, when the handle 19 is in the pivoting neutral position, the flexible cable 3 has a vertical axis Y-Y due to its own weight.
Although a force that tends to deviate downward of the wire acts, the inner protrusion 12 and the outer connector 15 face each other at a position substantially below the vertical axis Y-Y line, so that the accommodation space 14 for the flexible cable 3 is inside. You can certainly regulate the free movement in.
Further, since the elastic tongue piece 17 is provided at the point symmetrical position of the inner protruding portion 12, the flexible cable 3 is restricted by the outward biasing force of the elastic tongue piece 17 even at a position above the Y-Y line, so that the flexible cable 3 is flexible. The free movement of the sex cable 3 in the storage space 14 can be more reliably regulated.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the internal structure of the cable reel according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The parts corresponding to those of FIGS. 1 to 3 are designated by the same reference numerals. This embodiment is different from the above-described first embodiment in that the inner protrusion 12 and the elastic tongue piece 17 are installed at the opposite positions, and the outer connector 15 and the elastic tongue piece 17 are separated from each other at the turning neutral position of the handle 19. Since they are opposed to each other, the rest of the configuration is basically the same. In this case, since the elastic tongue piece 17 and the outer connector 15 face each other via the flexible cable 3 at the turning neutral position of the handle 19, the flexible cable 3 loosely wound in the storage space 14 is By being sandwiched between the elastic tongue piece 17 and the outer connector 15 at a position below the storage space 14,
It becomes difficult for the outer cylinder portion 6 and the inner cylinder portion 13 to collide with each other, and noise generation can be suppressed. Further, the flexible cable 3 is regulated by the inner projection 12 at a position above the storage space 14, and the free movement in the storage space 14 is surely regulated.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the internal structure of the cable reel according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The parts corresponding to those in FIG. 4 are designated by the same reference numerals. The present embodiment is different from the above-described second embodiment in that an outer projection 22 is attached to the inner peripheral surface of the outer tubular portion 6 and the outer projection 22 is located at the turning neutral position of the handle 19. The other structure is basically the same. In this case, the elastic tongue piece 17 and the outer connector 15 face each other via the flexible cable 3 and the inner protruding portion 12 and the outer protruding portion 22 have the same flexible cable at the rotation neutral position of the handle 19. Oppose through 3. Therefore, the flexible cable 3 loosely wound in the storage space 14 is sandwiched between the elastic tongue 17 and the outer connector 15 at the lower position of the storage space 14, and the inner protrusion 12 at the upper position of the storage space 14. Since it is sandwiched between the outer protrusion 22 and the outer protrusion 22, the free movement in the storage space 14 is further reliably regulated, and the generation of noise is further reduced.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the outer connector 15 and the outer protrusion 22 are provided on the outer tubular portion 6 side and the inner tubular portion 13 is provided on the outer tubular portion 6 side as members for locally narrowing the radial dimension of the storage space 14. In the above description, the inner protrusion 12 and the elastic tongue piece 17 are illustrated as examples.
An elastic tongue piece similar to the elastic tongue piece 17 on the inner cylinder portion 13 side may be provided on the side, and the elastic tongue piece may be opposed to the protrusion on the inner cylinder portion 13 side. In short, the protrusions facing each other through the storage space at the turning neutral position of the handle 19 are the outer cylinder part 6 and the inner cylinder part 13.
It is only necessary to provide the projections on the base and the projections so as to locally narrow the passage of the flexible cable 3.

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 second housing 2 is fixed. It is also possible to use it as a body and to use the first housing 1 as a movable body.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention,
At the rotational neutral position of the handle most frequently used, the flexible cable has a first protrusion provided on the inner peripheral surface of the outer tubular portion and a second protrusion provided on the outer peripheral surface of the inner tubular portion. Since the passage in the storage space is locally narrowed, it is possible to prevent the flexible cable from colliding with the inner cylinder part and the outer cylinder part due to vibration,
Generation of noise can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a cable reel according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an internal structure of the cable reel.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a state in which the cable reel is incorporated in a steering device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the internal structure of the cable reel according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing the internal structure of the cable reel according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 1st housing 2 2nd housing 3 Flexible cable 5 Top plate 6 Outer cylinder part 7 Upper case 8 Lower cover 12 Inner protrusion 13 Inner cylinder part 14 Storage space 15 Outer connector 17 Elastic tongue piece 19 Handle 22 Outside Protrusion

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A first housing having an outer tubular portion, a second housing rotatably mounted on the first housing and having an inner tubular portion, the outer tubular portion and the inner tubular portion. And a strip-shaped flexible cable housed in an annular housing space formed between the outer cylinder part and the inner cylinder part, with both ends of the flexible cable fixed to the outer cylinder part and the inner cylinder part. In the cable reel led out to the above, a first protrusion is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the outer tubular portion, and a second protrusion is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the inner tubular portion. A cable reel characterized in that the radial dimension of the storage space is locally narrowed by causing the parts to face each other at the turning neutral position. 2. The cable reel according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second protrusions is a connector connected to an end of the flexible cable. 3. The cable reel according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second protrusions is an elastic tongue provided along the flexible cable. 4. The third protrusion according to claim 1, wherein a third protrusion is provided on at least one of an inner peripheral surface of the outer cylindrical portion and an outer peripheral surface of the inner cylindrical portion. And a cable reel, wherein the cable reel is arranged at a point symmetrical position of the second protrusion.