JPH10241819A - Feeder system for supplying power to rotor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide feeder system for supplying power to a rotor having a large contact area and high durability and reliability free of instantaneous power interruption or chattering due to deformation of a conductive elastic body by slidably intervening a conductive elastic body between ring-shaped conductors opposed to each other in pressure contact state. SOLUTION: A ring-shaped conductor 9 corresponding a ring-shaped conductor 8 is provided at a bottom of a cover body 3. A conductive elastic body 4 is inserted into a recess part 7 of a case body 2 and s sandwiched between top and bottom ring-shaped conductors 8 and 9 in pressure contact state. The conductive elastic body 4 comes into contact with the ring-shaped conductors 8 and 9 over its full circumference, thus increase a contact area, and the conductive elastic body 4 has restoring force, thus making it possible to prevent instantaneous power interruption or chattering without causing a contact failure due to permanent deformation. Even if the number of circuits is increased, height is not changed, and a feeder system for supplying power to a rotor of its thin shape and small size can be obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a power supply apparatus for a rotating body, and more particularly, to a power supply apparatus for transmitting an electric signal between a rotating body and a fixed body that rotate relatively.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A rotating conductive roller as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 has been disclosed as a conventional power supply device for a rotating body (see Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-137767).

The rotating conductive roller has an inner cylinder 26 and an outer cylinder 27 which are rotatably fitted via a rolling roller 25, and a plurality of conductive rings 28 are provided on the outer periphery of the rolling roller 25. Signal line 2 that contacts through sex ring 28
9 and 30 are provided on the outer circumference of the inner cylinder 26 and the inner circumference of the outer cylinder 27, respectively.

The rolling roller 25 is made of rubber and has a conductive ring 28 made of a stainless steel garter spring or a conductive rubber ring on the outer periphery thereof.
Is installed.

[0005]

In the rotating conductive roller, the signal lines 29 and 30 are three-dimensionally arranged in the height direction of the outer cylinder 27 and the inner cylinder 26, so that the number of the signal lines 29 and 30 is small. Increases, the overall height increases, and when used in a space where the height is limited, only a limited number of circuits can be provided.

Further, the conductive ring 28 and the signal lines 29, 3
Since the contact with 0 is a partial contact close to a point contact, there is also a problem that a contact failure is likely to occur and instantaneous power cutoff and chattering are likely to occur.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has a small size and a thin shape in which a power supply circuit is arranged in a plane, has a large contact area, and has durability and reliability without instantaneous power cutoff and chattering. It is an object of the present invention to provide a power feeding device for a rotating body having high performance.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a power supply apparatus for a rotating body that electrically connects between two relatively rotating members. The two members are composed of a thin cylindrical case with a bottom and a cover, which are rotatably assembled. One or a plurality of opposed ring-shaped conductors are attached to each bottom of the case and the cover. A conductive elastic body is slidably interposed between the opposed ring-shaped conductors in a press-contact state.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the ring-shaped conductor of the case body and the cover body are electrically connected via the conductive elastic body, and the ring-shaped conductive body is rotated when the case body and the cover body rotate relative to each other. The body slides and rotates with respect to the conductive elastic body. Since the ring-shaped conductor is a flat wiring, the height does not change even if the number of circuits increases, and it can be made thin and compact, and the ring-shaped conductor and the conductive elastic body are in contact over the entire circumference. Therefore, the contact area increases, and instantaneous power cutoff and chattering due to permanent deformation of the conductive elastic body are eliminated.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the power supply device for a rotating body according to the first aspect, the ring-shaped conductor is insert-molded in the case body and the cover body. It is characterized by the following.

Therefore, according to the second aspect of the invention, the ring-shaped conductor can be easily formed simultaneously with the molding of the case body and the cover body.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the power supply apparatus for the rotating body according to the first aspect, wherein the ring-shaped conductor is printed and wired in a ring shape on a disc-shaped insulating substrate. It is characterized by having.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the ring-shaped conductor is formed by the printed wiring of the printed circuit board, and the number of wirings and the wiring interval of the ring-shaped conductor can be set arbitrarily.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the power supply apparatus for a rotating body according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the conductive elastic body is formed as a hollow ring made of conductive rubber. It is characterized by that.

[0015] Therefore, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the conductive elastic body has excellent elasticity itself, and a uniform contact pressure acts on the ring-shaped conductive body, thereby improving the electrical contact.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the power supply device for a rotating body according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the conductive elastic body is a sphere made of conductive rubber. It is characterized by the following.

Therefore, according to the invention described in claim 5, the case
When the conductive body and the cover body rotate relative to each other, the conductive elastic body rolls while contacting the ring-shaped conductor, so that the rotation is performed lightly.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 7 and 8 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention. Power supply device 1 for rotating body according to first embodiment
A thin bottomed cylindrical case body 2, a thin bottomed cylindrical cover body 3 rotatably fitted to an upper portion of the case body 2, and a thin bottomed cylindrical cover body 3 between the case body 2 and the cover body 3. It is roughly constituted by the conductive elastic body 4 held therebetween.

Two concentric ribs 5 are formed at the bottom of the case body 2, and a through hole 6 is formed at the center. Ring-shaped conductors 8 are provided at the bottoms of three ring-shaped recesses 7 partitioned by the ribs 5.

A cylindrical portion 10 is formed in the center of the bottom of the cover body 3, and a through hole 11 communicating with the cylindrical portion 10 is formed on the upper surface. A ring-shaped conductor 9 corresponding to the ring-shaped conductor 8 is provided at the bottom of the cover 3.

The ring-shaped conductors 8 and 9 may be integrally formed with the case body 2 and the cover body 3 by insert molding, or may be formed separately on the case body 2 and the cover body 3. 9 may be fitted. The lead wires 12 and 13 connected to the ring-shaped conductors 8 and 9 are led out from the connector portions 14 and 15 (see FIG. 3).

The cover 3 is rotatably fitted to the upper outside of the case 2, and the central cylindrical portion 10 is rotatably fitted to the through hole 6 of the case 2. The conductive elastic body 4 is inserted into the concave portion 7 of the case body 2 and is sandwiched between upper and lower ring-shaped conductors 8 and 9 in a contact pressure state.

The conductive elastic body 4 is formed of a hollow conductive rubber, and preferably can be configured to have a large repulsive force by sealing a fluid (gas or liquid) in the hollow portion.

Thus, even if the case body 2 and the cover body 3 rotate relative to each other, the ring-shaped conductors 8 and 9 become conductive
And electrical conduction is provided. Therefore, for example, if the case body 2 is fixed to the steering column side of the vehicle and the cover body 3 is fixed to the steering wheel side, a signal is transmitted between the fixed side and the rotating side regardless of the rotation of the steering wheel. Will be.

The conductive elastic body 4 is in contact with the entire circumference of the ring-shaped conductors 8 and 9, so that the contact area is large. In addition, the conductive elastic body 4 has a restoring force, so that a contact failure due to permanent deformation is caused. And instantaneous power failure and chattering can be prevented.

As a material of the conductive elastic body 4, a well-known conductive rubber (including a conductive elastomer) can be used. The conductive elastic body 4 may have a cross-sectional shape of, for example, a quadrangle, a polygon, or any other shape as long as the conductive elastic body 4 is sandwiched between the ring-shaped conductors 8 and 9 and can conduct the two. It does not have to be. However, a hollow ring having a circular cross section as in the illustrated embodiment is a preferable shape because the elasticity is excellent and the contact pressure acts evenly on the ring-shaped conductors 8 and 9.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a second embodiment of the present invention.

The case body 2 and the cover body 3 are thin, bottomed, cylindrical without the ribs 5 of the first embodiment. Disc-shaped printed circuit boards 17 and 18 are attached to the bottoms of the case body 2 and the cover body 3, respectively. The printed circuit boards 17 and 18 are each formed by arranging a plurality of (three in the illustrated example) ring-shaped conductors 21 concentrically on a disc-shaped insulating substrate 20. Then, on the printed circuit board 17 of the case body 2, two ring members 22 are arranged on the exposed portion 20 a of the insulating substrate 20 where the ring-shaped conductor 21 does not exist, and between the ring member 22 and the upper printed circuit board 18. It is pinched by.

The upper and lower ring-shaped conductors 21, 21 are pressed against the conductive elastic body 4 by fitting the above-mentioned conductive elastic body 4 into the space sectioned by the ring member 22 (see FIG. 4).

In the second embodiment, the printed circuit board 1
By simply changing the components 7 and 18, a power supply device having an arbitrary number of circuits can be configured without changing the case body 2 and the cover body 3 as they are.

The conductive elastic body 4 is not limited to a ring-shaped one as in the first and second embodiments, but may be a conductive sphere 24 as shown in FIG. it can. The sphere 24 is a hollow sphere similarly using a well-known conductive rubber (including a conductive elastomer), and has a gas (or a liquid) sealed therein. If one or more of the conductive spheres 24 are inserted at the position of the conductive elastic body 4, the conductive sphere 24 becomes the case 2.
When the cover body 3 rotates relative to the ring-shaped conductors 8, 9 or 21, it rolls.

As described above, the power supply device for the rotating body according to the present embodiment is provided with the ring-shaped conductors 8, 9 or 21 on the thin case body 2 and the cover body 3 which rotate relative to each other, and the Or spherical conductive elastic body 4 is contacted, so that the height does not change even if the number of circuits increases.
A thin and small power supply device for the rotating body can be obtained. In addition, since the ring-shaped conductors 8, 9, 21 and the conductive elastic body 4 are in contact with each other over the entire circumference, the contact area is increased,
Instantaneous power failure and chattering due to deformation of the conductive elastic body 4 are eliminated.

[0034]

As described above in detail, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the ring-shaped conductor is a planar wiring,
Even if the number of circuits increases, the height does not change, and a thin and small power supply device can be configured. In addition, the ring-shaped conductor and the conductive elastic body are in contact with the entire circumference, so the contact area increases. In addition, instantaneous power failure and chattering due to deformation of the conductive elastic body are eliminated.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the ring-shaped conductor is insert-molded on the case body and the cover body, the ring-shaped conductor can be integrally formed simultaneously with the molding of the case body and the cover body. Can be formed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the ring-shaped conductor is printed in a ring shape on the disc-shaped insulating substrate, the ring-shaped conductor can be formed by the printed circuit board. Can be set arbitrarily in the number of wirings and wiring intervals.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the conductive elastic body is formed of a hollow ring made of conductive rubber, the conductive elastic body has excellent elasticity and has a ring-shaped conductive property. The contact pressure acts evenly on the body, and the electrical contact is improved.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the conductive elastic body is constituted by a sphere made of conductive rubber,
In addition to the effects of the invention described in claims 1 to 4, the conductive elastic body rolls while contacting the ring-shaped conductor when the case body and the cover body rotate relative to each other. Will be

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a first embodiment of a power supply device for a rotating body according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

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

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional side view of a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the second embodiment.

FIG. 6A is a side view showing a modified example of the conductive elastic body,
(B) is the longitudinal side view.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a conventional rotating conductive roller.

FIG. 8 is a partially broken side view of a conventional rolling roller.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Power supply apparatus to rotating body 2 Case body 3 Cover body 4, 24 Conductive elastic body 8, 9, 21 Ring-shaped conductor 20 Insulating substrate

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A power supply device for a rotating body that electrically connects between two relatively rotating members, wherein the two members are a thin bottomed cylindrical case body rotatably mounted. One or more opposed ring-shaped conductors are attached to each bottom of the case body and the cover body, and the conductive elastic body is slid between the opposed ring-shaped conductors. A power supply device for a rotating body, wherein the power supply device is freely pressurized and interposed. 2. The power supply device for a rotating body according to claim 1, wherein the ring-shaped conductor is insert-molded in the case body and the cover body. 3. The power supply device for a rotating body according to claim 1, wherein the ring-shaped conductor is printed in a ring shape on a disk-shaped insulating substrate. 4. The conductive elastic body is a hollow ring made of conductive rubber.
The power supply device for a rotating body according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. The power supply device according to claim 1, wherein the conductive elastic body is a sphere made of conductive rubber.