JPH10241820A - Rotary conductive roller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rotary conductive roller contacting a signal line with a good contact pressure and having its superior reliability and durability without causing a conductive failure by a conductive ring composed of a cavity conductive rubber and sealing a filler made of gas or liquid in this cavity part. SOLUTION: A rolling roller 3 is formed of a rubber-shaped elastic body having insulation property and adequate elasticity, a pore 13 is formed at a center thereof, and a thickness removal groove 14 for imparting elasticity is formed at an inside thereof. A conductive ring 16 is restored in its original shape by repulsive force of gas or liquid that is a filler 17 even if it is deformed by pressure contact and released from a signal line, and a contact failure due to permanent deformation is not generated. Therefore, the conductive ring 16 contacts the signal line with an always good contact pressure, and a rotary conductive roller with its superior reliability and durability is obtained without causing a conductive failure. As a material of the conductive ring 16, a known conductive rubber (including elastic elastomer) can be used.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rotating conductive roller for transmitting an electric signal between a rotating body and a fixed body, and more particularly, to a rotating conductive roller used between members which cause relative rotation such as between a steering column and a steering shaft of a vehicle. Related to a rotating conductive roller to be used.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional rotary conductive roller of this type,
A technique as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is disclosed (see Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-137767).

[0003] The rotating conductive roller has a plurality of conductive rings 16 provided on the outer periphery of the rolling roller 3 by rotatably fitting the inner cylinder 2 and the outer cylinder 1 via the rolling roller 3. Signal lines 10 and 6 that are in contact with each other via a sex ring 16 are provided on the outer circumference of the inner cylinder 2 and the inner circumference of the outer cylinder 1, respectively.

[0004] The rolling roller 3 is made of rubber, and has a conductive ring 16 made of a stainless steel garter spring or a conductive rubber ring or the like having conductivity on its outer periphery.

[0005]

In the above-described rotating conductive roller, the conductive ring 16 of the rolling roller 3 is a garter spring or a rubber ring made of stainless steel. If deformed, the restoring force is small, and if left for a long time at high temperature, etc., the part where the contact pressure is applied may be permanently deformed, and conduction failure may occur at the time of rotation operation. However, there is a problem that it lacks durability and reliability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to provide a rotating conductive roller having improved durability and reliability by using a conductive ring having excellent restoring force. And

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a rolling roller is interposed between an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder which rotate relative to each other, and the outer periphery of the inner cylinder is fixed to the outer cylinder. A rotating conductive roller configured to contact a signal line provided on an inner periphery of a cylinder with a conductive ring provided on an outer periphery of a rolling roller, wherein the conductive ring is formed of hollow conductive rubber. A filler made of gas or liquid is sealed in the hollow portion.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the rolling roller is fitted between the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder, and the conductive ring rolls while pressing against the signal lines of the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder. , And the inside and outside signal lines are connected by a conductive ring to conduct.

Even if the conductive ring is deformed due to pressure contact, when it is separated from the signal line, the conductive ring is immediately restored to its original shape by the repulsive force of the gas or liquid as the filler, and no poor contact due to permanent deformation occurs. A rotary conductive roller excellent in reliability and durability can be obtained without contacting the signal line with pressure and causing conduction failure.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the rotating conductive roller according to the first aspect, wherein the rolling roller is rotatably mounted on a pin of a carrier disposed in the outer cylinder. It is characterized by the following.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the rolling rollers are always kept at equal intervals by the carrier, and the carrier slides and rotates in the outer cylinder together with the rolling of the rolling roller. The relative rotation between the cylinder and the inner cylinder becomes lighter.

[0012]

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 and 2 show a first embodiment of the present invention. An outer cylinder 1 having a bottomed cylindrical shape, an inner cylinder 2 rotatably arranged at the center of the outer cylinder, and It is roughly composed of a rolling roller 3 arranged between the inner cylinder 2 and the outer cylinder 1 and a cover 4 fitted on the outer cylinder 1.

A plurality of tubes (3 in the illustrated example)
) Signal lines 6 are attached in parallel. The signal line 6 may be formed integrally with the outer cylinder 1 by insert molding, or a flexible wiring board having the signal line 6 wired on a flexible insulating substrate may be attached to the inner periphery. It may be. Each signal line 6 is connected to a connector 7 on the outer periphery of the outer cylinder 1, and a lead wire 8 is led out of the connector 7.

The signal line 10 having the same structure is also provided on the outer periphery of the inner cylinder 2.
Are formed, and a lead wire 12 is led out of the signal line 10 above the inner cylinder 2.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the rolling roller 3 is formed of a rubber-like elastic material having insulating properties and moderate elasticity. A hole 13 is formed at the center and elasticity is formed inside. A lightening groove 14 for providing the groove is formed (see FIG. 4), and three ring grooves 15 (see FIG. 5) having an arc-shaped cross section are formed on the outer periphery.

In the ring groove 15, three conductive rings 1 are provided.
6 is attached (see FIG. 5). The conductive ring 16 is made of a hollow conductive rubber, and seals a filler 17 made of gas or liquid in the hollow portion.

The rolling roller 3 is fitted between the outer cylinder 1 and the inner cylinder 2, and when the outer cylinder 1 and the inner cylinder 2 rotate relative to each other, the conductive ring 16 is connected to the signal line 6 of the outer cylinder 1 and the inner cylinder 2. And rolls by pressing against 10. As a result, the signal lines 6 and 10 are connected by the conductive ring 16 to conduct.

Therefore, for example, the inner cylinder 2 is provided on the steering wheel side of the vehicle and the outer cylinder 1 is provided on the steering column side.
Is fixed, a signal is transmitted between the fixed side and the rotating side.

Even if the conductive ring 16 is deformed due to pressure contact, when it is separated from the signal lines 6 and 10, the conductive ring 16 is immediately restored to its original shape by the repulsive force of the gas or liquid as the filler 17, and a contact failure due to permanent deformation occurs. Absent. Therefore, the conductive ring 16 always contacts the signal lines 6 and 10 with a good contact pressure, and a rotating conductive roller excellent in reliability and durability can be obtained without causing conduction failure.

As a material of the conductive ring 16, a known conductive rubber (including a conductive elastomer) can be used.

The gas or liquid filling material 17 is filled with nitrogen (N 2) gas as the filling material 17 when performing gas assist molding using a material obtained by mixing a conductive filler in a polyester elastomer, for example. As the sealing means, a suitable means can be adopted depending on the material of the conductive ring 13 and the material of the filler 17, and the material of the sealing means and the filler 17 is not limited.

FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the configuration of the outer cylinder 1, the inner cylinder 2, the rolling rollers 3, the cover 4 and the like is the same as that of the first embodiment. In the second embodiment, the rolling roller 3 is attached to the carrier 18.

The carrier 18 has three pins 20 attached to a ring plate 19, and the holes 20 of the rolling roller 3 are attached to the pins 20.
3 is rotatably inserted. In addition, arc-shaped projections 21 a and 21 b are formed on the ring plate 19 at the root of the pin 20, and the projections 21 a and 21 b come into sliding contact with the inner circumference of the outer cylinder 1 and the outer circumference of the inner cylinder 2. ing.

In the second embodiment, since the transfer roller 3 always keeps the same interval, and the carrier 18 slides and rotates in the outer cylinder 1 with the rolling of the roller 3, The relative rotation between 1 and the inner cylinder 2 becomes light.

[0026]

As described in detail above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the conductive ring is formed of a hollow conductive rubber, and a filler made of gas or liquid is sealed in the hollow portion. Therefore, even if the conductive ring is deformed by pressure welding,
Immediately regains its original shape due to the repulsive force of the gas or liquid filler, without contact failure due to permanent deformation, contacts with signal lines with good contact pressure, reliability and durability without poor conduction And a rotating conductive roller having excellent characteristics can be obtained.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the rolling rollers are mounted on the carrier, the rolling rollers are always maintained at equal intervals by the carrier. Because it slides and rotates inside the outer cylinder,
The relative rotation between the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder becomes lighter.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of a rotating conductive roller according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the first embodiment of the rotating conductive roller of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a rolling roller applied to the first embodiment.

4 is a partially broken side view of the rolling roller of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing a second embodiment of the rotating conductive roller of the present invention.

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 Outer cylinder 2 Inner cylinder 3 Rolling roller 6 Signal line 10 Signal line 16 Conductive ring 17 Filler 18 Carrier 20 Pin

Claims (2)

[Claims] A rolling roller is interposed between a relatively rotating inner cylinder and an outer cylinder, and a signal line provided on the outer circumference of the inner cylinder and the inner circumference of the outer cylinder and provided on the outer circumference of the rolling roller. A rotating conductive roller configured to make contact with a conductive ring, wherein the conductive ring is made of a hollow conductive rubber, and a filler made of gas or liquid is sealed in the hollow portion. And a rotating conductive roller. 2. The rotating conductive roller according to claim 1, wherein the rolling roller is rotatably mounted on a pin of a carrier disposed in the outer cylinder.