KR102420230B1 - Crimp connection for mesh shielding material used in steering wheel with capacitive sensing - Google Patents

Abstract

According to one aspect of the present invention, an assembly includes an electrically conductive member, an electrically conductive mesh, and a crimp connector. The electrically conductive mesh includes a first region and a second region. The first region is twisted and extends from the second region. One of the electrically conductive member and the warped first region is twisted around the other of the electrically conductive member and the first warped region to form a warped connection. A crimp connector is crimped over the twisted connection to form a crimped connection.

Description

CRIMP CONNECTION FOR MESH SHIELDING MATERIAL USED IN STEERING WHEEL WITH CAPACITIVE SENSING

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/250,659, filed on November 4, 2015, which is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to electrical connections, and more particularly to crimp connections for connecting wires to electrically conductive meshes, for example in a steering wheel.

Soldering is a method in which the solder material is melted and used to form an electrical connection in which two items are joined together. Soldering is used to connect wires together or, for example, to connect wires to a circuit board. However, solder connections can be problematic for a number of reasons. One of the reasons for this is that it can be difficult to utilize a certain amount of solder in the connection. While it is desired to use the same amount of solder in multiple connections, different amounts may be used. This can be problematic in steering wheel assemblies where the electrical connections are located under the steering wheel cover. This is because some steering wheels may have a moderate amount of solder, while others may contain raised lumps that the driver can feel to the touch.

According to the invention, it is possible to connect the wires to an electrically conductive mesh, for example in a steering wheel, by means of a crimp connection.

One exemplary embodiment of the assembly includes an electrically conductive member, an electrically conductive mesh and a crimp connector. The electrically conductive mesh comprises a second region; and a first region extending from the second region and warped. One of the electrically conductive member and the first twisted region is twisted around the other of the electrically conductive member and the first twisted region to form a twisted connection. The crimp connector is crimped onto the twisted connection.

In another exemplary embodiment of the assembly described above, the first region of the electrically conductive mesh comprises a rectangular tab and the second region of the electrically conductive mesh comprises the first region of the electrically conductive mesh. bigger than

In another exemplary embodiment of the above-described assembly, the electrically conductive member is a wire, and the wire and the protruding first region are twisted around each other to form the twisted connection.

In another exemplary embodiment of the assembly described above, a first region of the electrically conductive mesh comprising crimped connections is folded onto a second region of the electrically conductive mesh. In this embodiment, the cover covering the crimped connection between the cover and the second region of the electrically conductive mesh is adhered onto the second region of the electrically conductive mesh.

In another exemplary embodiment of the assembly described above, the electrically conductive mesh includes a plurality of electrically conductive interlocking loops.

In another exemplary embodiment of the assembly described above, the electrically conductive mesh comprises aluminum, copper or tungsten.

In another exemplary embodiment of the assembly described above, the assembly includes a steering wheel core and an aesthetic cover wrapped around the steering wheel core. A second region of the electrically conductive mesh wraps around the steering wheel core and is located at least partially between the steering wheel core and the exterior cover.

In another exemplary embodiment of the assembly described above, the assembly comprises: a capacitive sensor positioned between the second region of the electrically conductive mesh and the exterior cover; and a heating element positioned between the second region of the electrically conductive mesh and the steering wheel core. A second region of the electrically conductive mesh is configured as an EMI shield for shielding the capacitive sensor from electromagnetic interference (EMI) of the heating element.

One example of a method of electrically connecting an electrically conductive member to an electrically conductive mesh is the electrically conductive mesh extending from a second region of the electrically conductive mesh to form warped mesh regions. twisting the first area of To form a warped connection, one of the electrically conductive member and the warped mesh area is twisted around the other of the electrically conductive member and the warped mesh area. A crimp connector is crimped onto the twisted connection to form a crimped connection.

In another exemplary embodiment of the method described above, the first region of the electrically conductive mesh comprises a rectangular tab and the second region of the electrically conductive mesh comprises the first region of the electrically conductive mesh. bigger than

In another exemplary embodiment of the method described above, the electrically conductive member is a wire, and the electrically conductive member is one of the electrically conductive member and the warped mesh region to form the warped connection. and twisting around the other of the warped mesh areas includes twisting the wire and the warped mesh areas around each other.

In another exemplary embodiment of the method described above, the method includes folding a first region of the electrically conductive mesh comprising a crimped connection onto a second region of the electrically conductive mesh and a cover and the adhering a cover overlying the crimped connection between the second regions of the electrically conductive mesh onto the second region of the electrically conductive mesh.

In another exemplary embodiment of the method described above, prior to the crimping, the crimp connector has a cylindrical shape.

In another exemplary embodiment of the method described above, the electrically conductive mesh includes a plurality of electrically conductive interlocking loops.

In another exemplary embodiment of the method described above, the electrically conductive mesh comprises aluminum, copper or tungsten.

In another exemplary embodiment of the method described above, the method comprises: wrapping the electrically conductive mesh around a steering wheel core; and wrapping the capacitive sensor layer around the steering wheel core such that the electrically conductive mesh is positioned between the steering wheel core and the capacitive sensor layer.

In another exemplary embodiment of the method described above, the method includes wrapping around the steering wheel core with the heating element such that the heating element is positioned between the electrically conductive mesh and the steering wheel core.

One exemplary embodiment of a steering wheel assembly includes a steering wheel core, an electrically conductive shield layer; and a sensor layer. Each of the shield layer and the sensor layer at least partially surrounds the steering wheel core. The shield layer is positioned between the steering wheel core and the sensor layer. The shield layer includes an electrically conductive mesh comprising a nickel-copper alloy.

In another exemplary embodiment of the aforementioned steering wheel assembly, the electrically conductive mesh is knitted and includes a plurality of electrically conductive interlocking loops.

The embodiments described herein may be taken independently or in combination. Features described with respect to one embodiment may be applied to all embodiments unless such features are incompatible. Features and other features described herein will become more apparent from the drawings and description that follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention may be better understood by reference to the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings.
1 schematically shows a motor vehicle with a steering wheel and associated sensing circuitry,
2 schematically shows an example of sensing and heating characteristics for a steering wheel;
3a-g schematically show a method for electrically connecting a conductive member to a conductive mesh using a crimped connection;
Figure 4a schematically shows a crimped connector before crimping,
Fig. 4b schematically shows the crimp connector of Fig. 4a after crimping;
5 is a flow diagram of a method for electrically connecting a conductive member to a conductive mesh using a crimped connection; and
6 shows an exemplary electrically conductive mesh.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a method of electrically connecting a conductive member (eg, a wire) to a conductive mesh using a crimped connection is described. The crimped connection can be used, for example, as part of electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding for a steering wheel using capacitive sensing. Crimped connections may omit any soldering if desired. In one or more embodiments, a first region of the conductive mesh extending from a second region of the conductive mesh is twisted to form a twisted mesh region. The warped mesh region and the conductive member are twisted together to form a warped connection and a crimp connector crimped onto the twisted connection to form a crimped connection.

In one or more embodiments, a first region of the conductive mesh comprising the crimped connection is folded onto a second region of the conductive mesh, and a cover is adhered onto the second region of the conductive mesh such that the cover and the second region of the conductive mesh are adhered to. Wrap the crimped connection between them.

1 illustrates a motor vehicle 10 including a steering wheel 12 , sensor circuitry 14 (eg capacitive sensing circuitry), and shielding circuitry 16 (eg EMI shielding). Although the automobile 10 shown in FIG. 1 is different, it will be understood that the techniques described herein may be applied to other automobiles and may also be applied to items other than a steering wheel. The driver 18 is holding the steering wheel 12 with the hand 20 . In one or more embodiments, the sensor circuit 14 is configured to sense when the driver's hand 20 makes contact with the steering wheel 12 , and the shield circuit 16 is an electrically conductive mesh within the steering wheel 12 . configured to provide electromagnetic interference shielding for the sensor circuit 14 via

FIG. 2 shows an example of the sensing and heating characteristics for the steering wheel 12 of FIG. 1 . In the example of FIG. 2 , the steering wheel 12 includes a plurality of components between the steering wheel core 22 and the exterior cover 24 . The exterior cover 24 may be, for example, a leather cover. The heating element wiring 27 is configured as an electric heating element to provide heat to the steering wheel 12 . The heating element wiring 27 is connected to a power source 17 such as a car battery.

The heating element wiring 27 is located between the steering wheel core 22 and an insulating layer 28 configured as an electrical insulator. Adhesive layer 30 bonds insulating layer 28 to electrically conductive mesh 26 . The conductive mesh is connected to the shield circuit 16 via two crimped connections 52 . Crimped connections 52 are described in greater detail below with reference to FIGS. 3A-G . In one or more embodiments, the shielding circuit 16 allows the conductive mesh 26 to function as an EMI shield that shields the sensor wiring 36 from EMI in the heating element wiring 27 .

The adhesive layer 32 bonds the conductive mesh 26 to an additional insulating layer 34 configured as an electrical insulator. In one or more embodiments, the insulating layers 28 and 34 are foam layers comprising a foam material such as polyurethane foam or polymer rubber.

The sensor wiring 36 is connected to the sensor circuit 14 . In embodiments where the sensor circuit 14 is a capacitive sensing circuit, the sensor wiring 36 is used to sense when the driver's hand is over the steering wheel 12 , for example.

Although a plurality of wire sections are shown for each of the heating element wiring 27 and the sensor wiring 36, one of the heating element wiring 27 and the sensor wiring 36 is one wire, or a plurality of It can be understood that it may include a wire of In one or more embodiments, heating element wiring 27 also includes an electrically conductive mesh.

In one or more embodiments, conductive mesh 26 is electrically conductive and includes a plurality of knitted interlocking loops. The conductive mesh 26 may be metal and may include, for example, aluminum, copper or tungsten. Conductive mesh 26 may include these metals (eg, nickel copper alloys) as an alloy, or other alloys such as stainless steel, galvanized, steel, or tinned steel may be used, for example. have. Of course, it will be understood that other metals or other alloys may be used.

3A-G schematically illustrate a method of electrically connecting an electrically conductive member to an electrically conductive mesh 26 using a crimped connection 52 . Although the electrically conductive member shown in Figures 3A-G is wire 44, it should be understood that other electrically conductive members may be used. Referring first to FIG. 3A , conductive mesh 26 includes a first region 40 extending from a second region 42 . A second region 42 extends along a longitudinal axis L and a first region 40 extends along an axis T transverse to and orthogonal thereto. In some embodiments, the conductive mesh 26 is flat (eg, not braided tubular). In the example of FIG. 3A , the second region 42 is larger than the first region 40 , and the first region 40 of the conductive mesh 26 has a rectangular shape (eg, a rectangular tab of the conductive mesh 26 ). ) has Also, in the embodiment of FIG. 3A , the first region 40 is coplanar with the rest of the second region 42 . Although only a portion of the second area is shown, it will be appreciated that the second area may be sized to cover a designated area of the steering wheel core 22 . In one particular example, the second region 42 is an elongated strip having a length approximately equal to the circumference of the steering wheel 12 .

The first region 40 is folded relative to the second region ( FIG. 3B ). In one example, the folding causes the first region 40 to be oriented at an angle of 90° with respect to the second region 42 . The first region 40 is warped to form a warped mesh region 40' (FIG. 3C). Wire 44 comprising shield 46 is positioned adjacent warped mesh region 40' (FIG. 3D). One of wire 44 and warped mesh area 40' is twisted around the other of wire 44 and warped mesh area 40' to form warped connection 48 (FIG. 3E). In some embodiments, wire 44 and warped mesh region 40 ′ are twisted around each other to form warped connection 48 . In another embodiment, only one of wire 44 and warped mesh area 40' is twisted around the other of wire 44 and warped mesh area 40'.

The crimp connector 50 slides into the twisted connection 48 in the direction shown in FIG. 3e , and is crimped onto the twisted connection 48 to form a crimped connection 52 ( FIG. 3f ). Optionally, the crimped connection 52 is folded back onto the second region of the conductive mesh 26 , and a cover 54 is glued on top of the crimped connection 52 so that the cover 54 and the conductive mesh 26 are glued. ) to wrap the crimped connection 52 between the second regions 42 (FIG. 3G). The cover serves as a protective layer for the crimped connection 52 . Attachment of cover 54 may be accomplished using an adhesive such as hot glue (eg from a glue gun). The cover may, for example, face the steering wheel core 22 within the steering wheel 12 or vice versa.

In one or more embodiments, wire 44 is a 22 US Wire Dimensions (AWG) wire. Of course, other dimensions may be used instead. The dimensions of the wire 44 and the width of the first region 40 (eg, measured in a direction parallel to the axis L) achieve the desired crimp size (ie the desired crimp cross-sectional area within the crimp connector 50 ). may be chosen to In one or more embodiments, the width (measured in a direction parallel to the axis L) of the first region 40 may be 15 mm, or any value between 10 mm-20 mm. In the same example, the length of the first region (eg, measured along axis T) may be 20 mm or 30 mm, or any value between 15-35 mm. Of course, these values are exemplary width and length values for the first region 40 , and it will be understood that other values may be used.

4A schematically illustrates an exemplary crimp connector 50 before crimping, and FIG. 4B schematically illustrates an exemplary crimp connector 50' after crimping. As shown in FIG. 4B , crimping the crimp connector 50 deforms the crimping connector 50 to secure the twisted connection 48 . Figure 4b also shows an example of how the first region 40 and wire 44 are positioned after crimping. In the example of FIG. 4A , before crimping, the crimp connector 50 has a cylindrical shape. Of course, other crimp connectors may be used instead.

5 is a flow diagram of a method 100 for electrically connecting an electrically conductive member (eg, wire 44 ) to an electrically conductive mesh 26 using a crimped connection 52 . A first region 40 of the electrically conductive mesh 26 , extending from a second region 42 of the electrically conductive mesh 26 , is warped to form a warped mesh region 40 ′ (block 102 ). ). To form the warped connection 48, one of the electrically conductive member and warped mesh region 40' is twisted around the other of the electrically conductive member and warped mesh area (block 104). A crimp connector is crimped onto the twisted connection 48 to form the crimped connection 52 (block 106).

In one embodiment, the electrically conductive member is a wire, and the twisting step of block 104 includes twisting the wire 44 and the warped mesh region 40' around each other. However, in other embodiments, only one of wire 44 and warped mesh area 40' is warped around the other of wire 44 and warped mesh area 40'.

In some embodiments of method 100 , first region 40 of electrically conductive mesh 26 comprising crimped connections 52 is second region 42 of electrically conductive mesh 26 . folded over In some such embodiments, the electrically conductive mesh 26 is such that the cover 54 covers the crimped connection 52 between the cover 54 and the second region 42 of the electrically conductive mesh 26 . Adheres on the crimped first region 40 of

2 , the second region 42 of the conductive mesh 26 is a portion of the steering wheel assembly including the steering wheel core 22 and the exterior cover 24 wrapped around the steering wheel core 22 . may be some In some such embodiments, the second region 42 of the conductive mesh 26 is wrapped around the steering wheel core 922 and located at least partially between the steering wheel core 22 and the exterior cover 24 . In some embodiments, the second area 42 of the conductive mesh is shaped to cover a designated area of the steering wheel core 22 .

In some embodiments, a capacitive sensor (eg, sensor wiring 36 ) is positioned between the exterior cover 24 and the second region 42 of the conductive mesh 26 , and a heating element (eg, The heating element wiring 27 ) is located between the steering wheel core 22 and the second region 42 of the conductive mesh 26 . In some embodiments, the second region 42 of the conductive mesh 26 is configured as an EMI shield for shielding the capacitive sensor from EMI of the heating element. In some embodiments, the steering wheel 12 may omit the electric heating element, and the heating element wiring 27 may not be included.

6 is an exemplary electrically conductive mesh that is a knitted mesh including interlocking loops 62 in one row 64 wrapped around the legs 66 of the loops 67 in adjacent rows 68 ( FIG. 26) is shown. The loops in the various rows of FIG. 6 may move relative to each other in the same plane without deforming the mesh 26, allowing the knitted mesh to expand in both directions. In one or more embodiments, each loop may function as a small spring when exposed to tensile or compressive stress, returning to its original shape once the stress is removed, unless deformed beyond its yield point. In one or more embodiments, conductive mesh 26 is knitted from wire within a diameter range of .0035" to .0200" or .0005" to .0350". Of course, it is understood that other meshes (eg, woven meshes) may also be used.

By using the crimped connection 52 to electrically connect between the wire 44 and the conductive mesh 26 instead of a soldered connection, more consistent results may be obtained, which may benefit steering wheel implementations. have. For example, if the crimped connection 52 is located under the exterior cover 240, the crimped connection 52 can be placed in the hand 20 of the operator 18, rather than in the case of a soldered connection using a lump of solder. can be arranged to maintain a small profile that is less perceptible by

Although disclosed as an exemplary embodiment, those skilled in the art will recognize that certain modifications may be made within the scope of the claims of the present invention. For this reason, the following claims should be considered to determine the scope and content of the present invention.

Claims (2)

an electrically conductive member;
An electrically conductive mesh comprising:
a second region extending along a second axis; and
a first region extending from the second region along a first axis intersecting the second axis and distorted;
wherein one of the electrically conductive member and the warped first region is twisted around the other of the electrically conductive member and the first warped region to form a warped connection
the electrically conductive mesh; and
a crimp connector crimped onto the twisted connection to form a crimped connection;
a first region of the electrically conductive mesh comprising the crimped connection is folded onto a second region of the electrically conductive mesh;
and a second area of the electrically conductive mesh is greater than a first area of the electrically conductive mesh. A method of electrically connecting an electrically conductive member to an electrically conductive mesh, the method comprising:
a first region of the electrically conductive mesh extending along a first axis intersecting the second axis from a second region extending along a second axis of the electrically conductive mesh to form a warped mesh region; twisting step;
twisting one of the electrically conductive member and the warped mesh region around the other of the electrically conductive member and the warped mesh region to form a warped connection; and
crimping a crimp connector over the twisted connection to form a crimped connection; and
folding a first region of the electrically conductive mesh comprising the crimped connection onto a second region of the electrically conductive mesh;
and a second area of the electrically conductive mesh is larger than a first area of the electrically conductive mesh.

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