JPS59212929A - Parking brake cable coupler - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the space for the titled coupler by storing an equalizer which connects parking cables into a casing and fixing liquidtightly the parking cable to the casing via an outer tube. CONSTITUTION:An equalizer 60 is stored into a sealed casing 34. The 1st cable 16 is put into the casing 34 through an opening part 56, and the 2nd cable 26 is inserted to the casing through two opening parts 58. Then cables 16 and 26 are connected to a shaft-shaped member 68 at the center of the equalizer 60 and to a metallic parts 80 fixed at a cutout respectively. Then these cables 16 and 26 are fixed liquidtightly to the parts 56 and 58 respectively via outer tubes 18 and 28, mouthpieces 82 and 100, flanges 88 and 89 and fitting parts 84 and 96. In such a constitution, the conventional rubber dust boots attached to the opening parts of tubes 18 and 28 can be dispensed with. This can reduce the size of a cable coupler.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a parking brake cable connecting device, and in particular, a first cable connected to a parking brake operating member such as Leno-Pal or Petal, and a device for connecting a parking brake cable to a vehicle. This invention relates to a device for connecting two second cables connected to parking brake mechanisms having left and right wheel numbers, respectively.

This type of connection device uses one equalizer, connects the first cable to the center of the equalizer, and connects the second cables, one each to the equalizer, to the center of the equalizer. However, it was difficult to arrange the conventional coupling devices in one central space. That is, normally outer tubes are fitted to the outside of the first cable and the second cable, respectively, and the ends of these outer tubes are fixed to the bladder throat fixed to the car (main), and the outer The end of the cable extending from the end of the tube was connected to an equalizer and used as a connecting device, so the outer tube of the cable was It is necessary to cover the part protruding from the tube end with a rubber dust boot and fix one end of it to the end of the outer tube and the other end to the cable, so the distance between the equalizer and the bracket must be at least this. It is necessary to make the length of the boot larger than the sum of the length of the boot and the length of the cable protruding from the boot (this is essential to avoid interference between the boot and the equalizer when connecting the cable to the equalizer). , the distance between the equalizer and the brackets provided on both sides of the equalizer becomes long, making it difficult to arrange these components in a narrow space.

Furthermore, since the brackets are subjected to a reaction force of the same magnitude as the cable tension when the brakes are applied, it was necessary to reinforce the parts of the vehicle body to which these brackets are attached.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention has been made with the object of providing a parking brake cable connecting device that can be installed in a narrow space and does not require special reinforcement of the vehicle body.

The gist of the present invention is to store an equalizer in a sealed casing, introduce a first cable into the casing through an opening formed in a first side wall of the casing, and connect it to the equalizer. At the same time, one second cable is introduced into the casing from two openings formed in a second side wall opposite to the first side wall, and these are connected to both ends of the equalizer. , and the ends of the outer tubes fitted on the outside of each of the first and second cables are fixed liquid-tightly to the periphery of each opening.

In this way, dust will not enter the outer tube.

Since the intrusion of water and the like is prevented by the sealed casing, there is no need to provide a boot as in the conventional case, and the coupling device can be made smaller accordingly. Further, since the ends of the outer tubes fitted to each cable are fixed to one casing, the forces applied from the outer tubes to the casing are necessarily balanced, and there is no need to particularly firmly fix the casing. Therefore, the part of the vehicle body to which the casing is attached need not be particularly reinforced, as long as it has enough strength to keep the casing from shaking while the vehicle is running.

Moreover, in the conventional coupling device, the part of the cable protruding from the boot and the equalizer were not particularly protected against water etc., so these parts were easily corroded, whereas the coupling according to the present invention Since these parts of the device are completely covered by the casing, they will not corrode.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

In FIG. 1, 10 is a winter bracket, which is fixed to a dash panel of a vehicle body (not shown).

A parking brake pedal 12 is rotatably attached to this pedal bracket 1o by a shaft 14. The pedal brake 7) 10 is further equipped with a return prevention mechanism that prevents the pedal 12 from returning to its original position when it is depressed, and a release mechanism that releases the M prevention mechanism (41). Since the mechanism is not directly related to the present invention, illustration and description thereof will be omitted.

A cable 16 is connected to the pedal 12, and a flexible outer tube 18 is placed over the outside of the cable 16. The cable 16 and the outer tube 18 are routed along the upper surface of the floor 20 of the vehicle body,
After passing through the floor 20 at the reinforcing portion 22 and being pulled out downward, it is connected to two cables 26 and an outer tube 28 by a connecting device 24 . These cables 26 and outer tubes 28 are clamped by clamps 30 and routed along the two-pronged arm 32 of the suspension system. and a parking brake mechanism (not shown).

The coupling device 24 is shown enlarged in FIGS. 2 and 3. As can be seen from the figure, the coupling device 24 is provided with a casing 34 . The casing 34 consists of a container-shaped casing main body 40 including a bottom plate part 36 and a peripheral wall part 38, and a cover 42 that covers the opening of the casing main body 40. The casing body 40 is mounted with the bolt 44 and the nut 4 with the bottom plate portion 36 facing upward.
6 is fixed to the lower surface of the floor 20, and a downwardly opening opening is covered by a cover 42. The cover 42 is attached to the bolt 5 through the packing 48.
0 to the casing body 40, and the casing 34 is hermetically sealed.

The peripheral wall portion 38 of the casing body 40 includes side wall portions 52 and 54 facing each other, one opening 56 is formed in the center of one side wall portion 52, and both ends of the other side wall portion 54 are formed. Two openings 58 are formed in the. The cable 16 is drawn into the casing 34 through the opening 56, and the equalizer 6o is installed inside the casing 34.
is connected to the center of the As shown in FIG. 4, the equalizer 60 is made of two pressed longitudinal plates 62.
are integrated by spot welding, and the two plates 62 are spaced apart from each other at the center and both ends in the longitudinal direction. Each plate material 62 has a through hole 64 in the center, and U-shaped notches 66 in both ends.
are formed respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, both ends of a shaft-like member 68 are rotatably fitted into the central through-hole 64, and a large-diameter portion 70 provided at the center of the shaft-like member 68 has a shaft. A through hole 72 is formed perpendicular to the axis of the shaped member 68 . A male threaded member 74 caulked to one end of the cable 16 is inserted into this through hole 72, a sleeve 76 is fitted into the portion protruding from the shaft member 68, and a Nand 78 is screwed. , whereby the cable 16 is connected to the central portion of the equalizer 60. On the other hand, one cable 26 is drawn into the casing 34 from each of the two openings 58, and metal fittings 80 fixed at right angles to their tips are respectively engaged with the U-shaped notches 66. Two cables 26 are connected to both ends of the equalizer 60.

The outer tube 1 fitted on the outside of the cable 16
The fitting part 84 of the base 82 fixed to the end of the opening 56
is mated to. The fitting part 84 is fitted until the flange 88 is seated on a seat surface 90 formed on the outer surface of the side wall part 52, and in this state, a pin hole formed across the side wall part 52 and the fitting part 84 is inserted. By inserting the bottle 92 into the opening 56, the bottle 92 is prevented from being removed from the opening 56. Additionally, an O-ring 9 is inserted into the O-ring groove formed at the base end of the fitting portion 84.
4 is installed. That is, outer tube 1
8 is liquid-tightly fixed to the periphery of the opening 56 of the side wall portion 52 in the base 82.

The same applies to the outer tubes 28 that are respectively placed over the two cables 26, and the base 100 having the fitting portion 96 and the flange 98 is connected to the pin 102 and the O-ring 1.
04 to the periphery of the opening 58 of the side wall portion 54 in a liquid-tight manner.

In the coupling device configured as above, one cable 16 is connected to two cables 2 via an equalizer 6o.
6 is similar to the conventional coupling device, but since these coupling parts are covered by one casing 34, rubber dust boots are installed at the openings of the outer tubes 18 and 2.8. There is no need to attach the equalizer 60 and the cables 16 and 26 connected thereto (and the structure can be made smaller than before.
Since the ends of the casing 34 are also completely covered by the casing 34, dust, water, etc. do not adhere to these parts as in the conventional case, and corrosion is prevented.

Furthermore, since the ends of the outer tubes 18 and 28 are fixed to one casing body 4o, the force acting on the outer tubes 18 and 28 during brake operation is received by the casing body 4o. The direction of the force applied to the casing body 4o by one outer tube 18 and the sum of the force applied to the casing body 4o by the two outer tubes 28 are opposite, but the size is always the same. The casing body 40 to be
It will be balanced within. Therefore, the casing 34 does not need to be firmly fixed, but only needs to be fixed to an extent that prevents the casing 34 from shaking when the vehicle is running, so the part of the floor 20 to which the casing 34 is fixed does not need to be particularly reinforced. do not have. Of course, the casing body 40 needs to have enough strength to withstand the force applied by the outer tube 18 and the outer tube 28, but as described above, the casing body 3
4 can be small, so making the casing body 40 sufficiently strong means that when the brackets to which the outer tube is fixed are individually attached to the car body as in the past, that part of the car body can be widened. This is easier and requires less increase in weight compared to the case where it has sufficient strength over the range.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, this is literally an illustration, and the present invention should not be interpreted as being limited to this. For example, in the above embodiment, the casing body 40 acts as a strength member, and the cover 4
2 was intended to simply serve to cover the opening of the casing body 40, but it is also possible for the cover 42 to also act as a strength member, and it is also possible to use a composite material with a metal arch member. The structure of the k-thing itself can be changed in various ways, such as the casing being made of resin insert molded product G! be. Further, the structure of the equalizer 60, the means for connecting the cable thereto, the means for fixing the end of the outer tube 18 to the guard casing, etc. can be variously modified based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of essential parts of a parking brake device including a coupling device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 and 3 are an enlarged front sectional view and a bottom view (partially in section) of the coupling device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an equalizer used in the above coupling device. 16.26: Cable 18.28: Outer tube 24: Connecting device 34: Casing 40: Casing body 42: Cover 48
= Packing 52. 54: Side wall portion 56, 58: Opening 60: Equalizer 68: Shaft member 74: Male thread portion 76
: Sleeve 82. 100: Base 84, 96: Fitting part 88. 98: Flange 92, 102: Pin 94.
104: O-ring applicant Toyota Motor Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] A device that connects one first cable that is connected to a parking brake operating member and two second cables that are connected to parking brake mechanisms provided on the left and right wheels of a vehicle, and that is a sealed device. An equalizer is housed in a casing, and the first cable is introduced into the casing through an opening formed in a first side wall of the casing and connected to the center of the equalizer, and the first cable is connected to the center of the equalizer. The second cables are introduced one by one into the casing through two openings formed in a second side wall opposite to the side wall, and these are connected to both ends of the equalizer, and the first and second cables are connected to both ends of the equalizer. 2. A parking brake cable connecting device characterized in that the ends of outer tubes fitted on the outsides of the respective cables are fixed liquid-tightly to the peripheries of the respective openings.