JPH0418236Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Field of industrial application] The present invention relates to a cable reel that uses a flat cable to electrically connect a fixed body and a movable body, and is particularly applicable to steering devices of automobiles. The present invention relates to a cable reel suitable for use.

[Conventional technology]

A cable reel fixes one end of a flat cable to a fixed body and the other end to a movable body, and when the movable body is rotated, the flat cable is wound into the movable body or unwound from there. The movable body can be rotated by a predetermined amount, and is used in automobile steering devices and the like.

4 to 6 illustrate conventional examples of this type of cable reel for automobiles, in which FIG. 4 is a plan view, FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view. In these figures, 1 is a cylindrical outer ring wall 1
The fixed body has a fixed body having a diameter of 1.a, and a mounting piece 1b for fixing to a stationary part of the vehicle is integrally formed on the outside of the outer ring wall 1a. A cover 2 is attached to the open end of the fixed body 1, and guide holes 1c and 2a, whose centers coincide with the outer ring wall 1a, are bored in the bottom surface of the fixed body 1 and the center of the cover 2, respectively. ing. 3
1 is a movable body having a cylindrical inner ring wall 3a, and a mounting hole 3b is provided in the center of the movable body 3 into which a steering shaft (not shown) is inserted and fixed.
This movable body 3 has an inner ring wall 3a guided by the guide holes 1c and 2a, so that the fixed body 1
It is rotatably attached to the 4 is a flexible flat cable in which a plurality of conductor foils are embedded between a pair of base films;
A and the inner ring wall 3a are wound with a plurality of turns. One end of this flat cable 4 is connected to the inner ring wall 3a.
A connecting part 5 passing through a part of the
It is led out to an external harness 6 via a radiator 6, and is connected to an electrical circuit on the steering side, such as a horn circuit. Further, the other end of the flat cable 4 is led out to an external harness 8 via a connecting portion 7 attached near the outer ring wall 1a, and is connected to an electric circuit on the stationary side.

In the case of the cable reel configured as described above, when the steering wheel is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise from the neutral position, the movable body 3 connected to it also rotates in the same direction, so the flat cable 4 It gets caught up in the inner ring wall 3a of the movable body 3 or is rewound therefrom. In the illustrated case, the flat cable 4 is unwound, but in any state, the electrical connection between the fixed body 1 and the movable body 3 is maintained by the flat cable 4.
This is done reliably through

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

By the way, in the cable reel described above, since the center 0 of the outer ring wall 1a and the center 0' of the inner ring wall 3a coincide, the length H from the center 0' of the movable body 3 to the upper end of the cable reel is the outer ring wall. It cannot be made smaller than the radius of 1a. Therefore, when such a cable reel is used in an automobile steering system, the cable reel corresponding to the above-mentioned dimension H protrudes above the steering shaft, and this protruding portion makes it difficult to see the instrument panel that displays the speedometer, etc. There was a problem. In this case, it is conceivable to reduce the diameter of the outer ring wall 1a to reduce the above-mentioned dimension H, but this would be inconvenient in terms of safety since the amount of rotation of the steering wheel (movable body 3) would be reduced. occurs.

An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art described above and to provide a cable reel that does not obstruct the visibility of the instrument panel.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention electrically connects a fixed tube and a movable tube rotatably attached to the fixed tube via a flexible flat cable. In the cable reel that
The movable tube is mounted at a position eccentric from the center of the fixed tube, and the flat cable is wound a plurality of times between the outer circumference of the movable tube and the inner circumference of the fixed tube. It is.

[Effect]

As mentioned above, when the movable tube is rotatably mounted at a position offset from the center of the fixed tube, with a predetermined amount of space secured between the movable tube and the fixed tube,
The length from the center of the movable cylinder to the outer edge of the cable reel can be partially reduced. Therefore, if the cable reel is assembled into the steering device with this small diameter portion facing the instrument panel side, the instrument panel is less likely to be hidden by the cable reel, and the instrument panel can be inserted while maintaining the amount of rotation of the movable cylinder. Panel visibility can be improved.

〔Example〕

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

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a cable reel according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view thereof. are given the same reference numerals and redundant explanations will be omitted.

This embodiment differs from the conventional example described above in that the center 0' of the inner ring wall 3a is shifted by a predetermined dimension h with respect to the center 0 of the outer ring wall 1a (the third
(see figure), the diameter dimensions of the outer ring wall 1a and the inner ring wall 3a, and the length and thickness of the flat cable 4 are the same as in the conventional example described above. In this way, when the center 0' of the inner ring wall 3a is offset by the predetermined distance h from the center 0 of the outer ring wall 1a, the length from the rotation center 0' of the movable body 3 to the outer ring wall 1a becomes uniform. First, the longest part has a dimension equal to the radius of the outer ring wall 3a plus the above offset amount h, while the shortest part has a dimension equal to the radius of the outer ring wall 3a minus the above offset amount h, as shown in FIG. It becomes _H1 . Therefore,
By incorporating the cable reel into the steering device so that the shortest part faces the instrument panel, the amount of cable reel protrusion increases toward the lower side of the steering shaft, but decreases toward the upper side (instrument panel). Panel visibility is greatly improved. In this case, the outer ring wall 1a and the inner ring wall 3
Since the space capacity defined by a is the same as when the centers of the outer ring wall 1a and the inner ring wall 3a are aligned, a sufficient amount of rotation of the movable body 3, that is, the amount of rotation of the steering wheel can be ensured.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above, in the present invention, the center of the movable tube is eccentric to the center of the fixed tube, so the cable reel can be moved from the center of rotation of the movable tube without reducing the amount of rotation of the movable tube. The length to the outer edge can be partially shortened, and by arranging this shortened portion to face the instrument panel, it is possible to significantly improve the visibility of the instrument panel.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a cable reel according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view thereof, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view thereof, and FIG. 4 is a plan view of a cable reel according to a conventional example. FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view thereof, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view thereof. 1... Fixed body, 1a... Outer ring wall, 1c... Guide hole, 2... Cover, 2a... Guide hole, 3...
Movable body, 3a...Inner ring wall, 3b...Mounting hole, 4...
...Flat cable, 5, 7... Connection part, 6, 8
……Harness.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a cable reel that electrically connects a fixed tube and a movable tube rotatably attached to the fixed tube via a flexible flat cable, the cable reel has its center relative to the fixed tube. A cable reel characterized in that the movable tube is mounted at a position eccentric from the cable reel, and the flat cable is wound a plurality of times between the outer periphery of the movable tube and the inner periphery of the fixed tube.