JPS6211140Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a mechanism for preventing twisting of a folding ribbon cable that connects an outer case and an inner device that can freely move in and out of the outer case.

2. Description of the Related Art Ribbon cables, in which multiple conductors are insulated from each other and integrated into a tape-like structure, are often used for internal wiring of electrical equipment, electronic equipment, and the like. This ribbon cable is highly flexible by itself, but when used for wiring between the outer box and the inner device of equipment such as industrial meters where the inner device can be moved in and out of the outer box, great elasticity is required. Therefore, it is often made into a shape that can be folded and expanded, that is, a warp-like shape. Such a ribbon cable is a folding ribbon cable. For example, as shown in FIG. shall be. In FIG. 1, 4 is an outer box of the instrument, 5 is an inner part of the instrument that can be moved in and out of the outer box, and 6 is a connector at the end of a folding ribbon cable. The base end of the cable is fixed to the outer box.

However, in devices that use a folding ribbon cable to connect the outer box and the inner unit, the folding ribbon cable may become twisted when stretched and the inner unit may not be able to be stored in the following cases. be.

For example, in FIG. 1, when the internal device 5 is pulled out for inspection of the meter, etc., the cable connector 6 is connected to the internal device 5.
Suppose you remove the . Now, the total extension of the folding ribbon cable 1 is not very long with respect to the depth D of the outer box 4, and therefore, if the connector 6 is outside the outer box, the angle of the bent part widens greatly, and the bent part retainer is used. If the vertical dimension T ₁ between 3 and 3 has a relationship of T ₁ < W with respect to the inner width of the outer box, that is, the frontage W, if twist is applied to the cable end, such as by rotating the connector 6, the cable inside the outer box will be distorted. is also twisted at the same time. If the cable is twisted inside the outer box, even if the external force at the end of the cable is removed, the cable may remain stuck between the left and right side plates and may not recover. The cable must be manually untwisted, which is extremely troublesome. In addition, to prevent this twisting, it is sufficient to make the total extension of the cable sufficiently long relative to the depth D of the outer box so that T ₁ > W even if the cable is pulled out by the required amount, but this would reduce the cost of the cable. This is not a good idea because it increases the cable storage space and reduces the packaging density.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a twist prevention mechanism for a folding ribbon cable that eliminates the above-mentioned conventional problems, does not require a very long total length of cable, and can improve packaging density. In order to achieve this objective, the present invention provides a sheet-like member in the bending part retainer of the folding ribbon cable, and the size of this sheet-like member is determined so that it collides with the wall of the outer box when the cable is twisted. The size should be large enough to prevent twisting. Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained along with examples with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention. This example is an example in which the present invention is applied to the folding ribbon cable of the instrument shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 shows an extracted and enlarged portion corresponding to section A in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the bent portion maintaining tool 3 in the example of FIG.
b It has a structure consisting of pins 3c and 3d that protrude inward in two stages. The ribbon cable is attached to the presser part 3.
The bent portion is formed by once passing through a, then winding it approximately half a turn around the upper pin 3c to form a loop, and passing it through the presser portion 3a again. Note that the lower pin 3d is for preventing the loop from swelling.

In this example, the sheet-like member 7 provided in such a bending part maintaining tool 3 is a plate made of plastic or paper, with a hook part 7a formed at the tip, as shown in FIG. Upper pin 3c of section retainer 3
engage with. Therefore, if this sheet-like member 7 is engaged with the pin 3c and passed through the holding part 3a in advance, and then the ribbon cable is passed through and bent as described above, the sheet-like member 7 will be formed as shown in FIG. is attached to the bending part maintaining tool 3 so as to be substantially parallel to the holding part 3a.

In FIG. 2, the size of each member is determined so that the dimension T ₂ from the lower end of the bending part retainer 3 to the upper end of the sheet-like member 7 is relative to the frontage W of the outer box 4, and W<T ₂ . It has been set. In this way, even if the cable tries to twist inside the outer box, the sheet-like member 7 hits the wall of the outer box, thereby preventing the cable from twisting.

Therefore, even if the inner device 5 is pulled out and the bent portion is opened at a wide angle, there is no risk of the cable being twisted, and the total length of the folding ribbon cable can be shortened to the minimum required for inserting and removing the inner device. . As a result, the cable storage space provided between the outer box 4 and the inner device 5 in the stored state can be narrowed, and the packaging density can be improved. Also, the cost is reduced because the cable is shorter.

Note that the present invention is not limited in any way to the structure of the bending part maintaining tool 3, and the structure for attaching the sheet-like member 7 thereto is also not limited to that shown in the drawings, but the bending part maintaining tool 3 If the sheet-like member 7 has the structure of the embodiment, there are advantages that assembly is easy, the shape is simple, and the cost is low.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view for explaining a folding ribbon cable, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a bending part retainer, and Fig. 4 is A perspective view showing an example of a sheet-like member,
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the bent portion. In the drawing, 1 is a folding ribbon cable, 3 is a bending part retainer, 3a is a presser part, 3b is an extended end part, 3
c and 3d are pins, 4 is an outer box, 5 is an inner device, 6 is a connector, 7 is a sheet-like member, and 7a is a hook portion.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In the folding ribbon cable that connects the outer box and the inner device that can be moved in and out of the outer box,
A sheet-like member is attached to the folding part retainer facing substantially perpendicularly to the entrance/exit direction, and this sheet-like member is formed in a size that prevents twisting of the folded ribbon cable by contact with the outer box. A mechanism for preventing twisting of a folding ribbon cable.