JPH0441589Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an electrical connection device for electrically connecting a fixed body and a movable body using a flat cable.

[Prior Art] An electrical connection device that electrically connects a fixed body and a movable body is used, for example, in the steering of an automobile. It must be installed so that it can rotate to the same extent. If this movable body is assembled with rotation in one direction, there will be a difference in the amount of rotation in both directions, and excessive tension will be applied to the flat cable, causing it to buckle or be damaged. Not only does this cause inconvenience, but when used for steering a car, it is extremely dangerous when driving.

Therefore, when incorporating the above-mentioned electrical connection device into various types of equipment, in order to make it possible to incorporate it in an appropriate state, alignment is necessary as a guideline for alignment between a fixed body and a movable body. Those equipped with a mechanism have been used in the past.
As such a positioning mechanism, one of the fixed body and the movable body is provided with a rotation member equipped with a gear, and the other is provided with an engagement member that engages with the gear of the rotation member, and the movable body is rotated once. When the movable body is provided with a gear, the gear is engaged with the engagement member so that the gear follows the rotation of the movable body and is rotated by a predetermined angle. A mark is provided between the fixed body and, when a gear is provided on the fixed body, between the gear and the movable body to indicate the proper assembly position.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] By the way, the above-mentioned gear is usually formed of a molded product of synthetic resin, and if a soft resin material is used as the material of the gear, the gear will become an engaging member. The frictional resistance increases when engaging with the gear, which not only prevents smooth operation, but also deforms the gear during operation, causing it to lose its function as a guide for proper positioning. There is a drawback.

For this reason, hard synthetic resin is generally used as the material for the gear, but when the gear is made of a hard material like this, the movable body rotates and the gear becomes the engaging member. It has the disadvantage that it generates noise every time it engages with the

The present invention was developed in view of the above points, and its purpose is to provide an electrical connection device that has low frictional resistance, excellent durability, and can reduce noise. be.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention flattens the electrical connection between a fixed body and a movable body rotatably attached to the fixed body. A rotary member equipped with a gear for positioning is provided on either the fixed body or the movable body, and when the movable body rotates once, the rotation member is rotated. An electrical connection device comprising an engaging member that engages with a gear to rotate the gear, and a display provided on the rotating member to properly align the fixed body and the movable body. In,
The engaging member includes a pair of protruding walls facing each other via a groove, and the rotating member is engageable with a first gear that is engageable with an outer end of the protruding wall and an inner end of the protruding wall. a second gear, and a core material of at least one of the engaging member and each gear of the rotating member is formed of a soft material, and the surface of the core material is hardened. It is characterized by the formation of a film.

[Operation] Since a hardened coating is formed on at least one of the gear in the rotating member or the engaging portion of the engaging member, the frictional resistance therebetween is reduced, allowing smooth operation, and the gear Since it will not be deformed or worn out, it will remain in a state where it can perform a good alignment function even after long-term use. In addition, since a soft material is used as the core material inside the hardened coating mentioned above, it is possible to significantly reduce the impact generated during the engagement between the gear and the engagement member. Noise activation is possible.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

First, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 indicates a movable body, and the movable body 1 has a large-diameter portion 1a at the top and a small-diameter portion 1b vertically disposed on the bottom surface of the large-diameter portion 1a.
A partition wall 2 is continuously provided in such a manner that it faces the outer circumferential surface of the small diameter portion 1b with a predetermined distance, and the partition wall 2
One end of a flexible thin plate-like flat cable 3 with conductor foil embedded therein is fixed between the small diameter portion 1b and the outer peripheral surface of the small diameter portion 1b. The large diameter portion 1a has through holes 4 and 5 formed therethrough, and the various terminals 6a and 6b provided at one end of the flat cable 3 pass through the through holes 4 and 5. It is designed to be led out to the outside via. Further, at the other end of the flat cable 3, the conductor foil is exposed to form a connection part 8 to be joined to the lead wire 7, and a rubber attachment plate 9 is provided in the middle of the lead wire 7. It is inserted.

The movable body 1 is assembled in a space formed in the center of a fixed body 10 whose small diameter portion 1b is formed into a cylindrical shape, so that the inner circumferential surface of the fixed body 10 and the movable body 1 A housing portion 11 for the flat cable 3 is formed between the small diameter portion 1b and the outer peripheral surface of the small diameter portion 1b. A vertical notch 10a is formed in a part of the side wall of the fixed body 10, and a frame 12 with open upper and lower ends is attached to the part where the notch 10a is formed. body 1
2 and the outer peripheral portion of the fixed body 10 define an arcuate space 13. An engaging protrusion 12a is formed on the frame 12, and the engaging protrusion 12a is accommodated in the space 13 in a state in which a groove 9a formed on the mounting plate 9 is engaged with the engaging protrusion 12a. It is configured so that it can be Also,
A rubber block body 14 having a substantially triangular cross section is fixed to a position close to the connecting portion of the flat cable 3 to the mounting plate 9, and the block body 14 is attached to a portion provided with a cutout portion 10a. It is becoming more and more common. With the mounting plate 9 and the block body 14 attached to the fixed body 10, they can be fixed using an epoxy resin adhesive or the like.

In this way, both ends of the flat cable 3 are fixed to the movable body 1 and the fixed body 10, respectively, and the intermediate portion thereof is stored in the storage portion 11 so as to be wound around the movable body 1b. Terminals 6a, 6 provided at one end of the flat cable 3
b are inserted into through holes 4 and 5 formed in the large-diameter portion 1a of the movable body 1, respectively. It can be connected to the terminal 6a by a means, and a similar member can be connected to the terminal 7b in the through hole 4. On the other hand, a lead wire 7 provided at the other end of the flat cable 3 is led out to the outside so that it can be electrically connected to a control section, a power supply section, and other members.

Electrical connection device 2 formed as described above
For example, as shown in FIG. 2, 0 is designed to be assembled in a state where it is connected to a steering wheel 21 and a steering shaft 22 of an automobile. They must be able to rotate by approximately the same amount when rotated.

In order to enable the movable body 1 constituting the electrical connection device 20 to be assembled to the fixed body 10 in an appropriate state, the large diameter portion 1a of the movable body 1 is provided with a groove. As shown in FIG. 3, a first gear 30 has four teeth 30a at positions 90° out of phase with each other, and four teeth 30a have four teeth 30a at a 90° angle similar to the first gear 30. A rotating member 3 formed by fixing a second gear 31 having a number of teeth 31a at an angle of 45 degrees to each other.
2 is rotatably supported by a support shaft 33 fixed to the movable body 1. On the other hand, the fixed body 10 has a pair of engagement members 34, 3 at its upper end.
4 protrudes, and the interval between the engaging members 34, 34 is formed to be slightly larger than the width of the teeth 30a, 31a of the first and second gears 30, 31, so that the movable body 1 is fixed. When the rotating member 32 is rotated one rotation relative to the body 10, the rotating member 32 can be rotated 90° by the action of the engaging member 34. And this rotating member 3
2 contains guidelines for proper alignment.
A mark 35 is provided on the side of the movable body 1, and an extending portion 10b extending outward is formed on the fixed body 10 at a position where the aforementioned rotating member 32 is protruded. A mark 36 on the fixed body 10 side is provided at. Furthermore, this fixed body 10
When alignment is performed between the mark 36 on the side and the mark 35 on the movable body 1 side, the assembly is made such that proper positioning is achieved.

Thus, the first and second gears 30 and 31 described above
Core material 4 in each tooth portion 30a, 31a that constitutes
As shown in FIG. 4, the core material 40 is made of a relatively soft synthetic resin material, and a hardened coating 41 is formed on the surface of the core material 40. Here, the core material 40 is formed of, for example, polyester blockamide having a hardness of about 40D on the Shore D scale, and the hardened coating 41 is made of 66 nylon whose hardness is about 119 on the Rockwell R scale, or Cured resins and urethane-based resins are preferably used.

This embodiment is constructed as described above, and its operation will be explained next.

One end of the flat cable 3 is fixed to the movable body 1, the other end is fixed to the fixed body 10, and the flat cable 3 is stored in the storage part 11 formed between the movable body 1 and the fixed body 10. Assemble it in the
An electrical connection device 20 is configured. When installing this electrical connection device 20 between the steering wheel 21 and the steering shaft 22 of the automobile shown in FIG. In order to assemble the movable body 1 as shown in Fig. 5a,
This can be done by matching the mark 35 on the side and the mark 36 on the fixed body 10 side as guidelines.

At the time of assembly, if the positions of the marks 35 and 36 are shifted to the left and right as shown in FIG. 5b or c, the movable body 1 is rotated.
All you have to do is align them. Further, when the movable body 1 is displaced by one rotation or more, the movable body 1 is rotated one rotation in the opposite direction. As a result, first, the tooth portion 31a of the second gear 31 of the rotating member 32 is connected to the engaging member 3.
4, the rotating member 32 is rotated by 45 degrees, and then the tooth portion 30a of the first gear 30 rides over the engaging member 34, thereby further rotating the rotating member 32. It is to be rotated by 45 degrees, and when the movable body 1 rotates once, the rotating member 32 can be rotated by 90 degrees. After that, when the movable body 1 is rotated and the mark 35 provided on the rotating member 32 is aligned with the mark 36 provided on the extending portion 10b of the fixed body 10, the movable body 1 is rotated. body 1 and fixed body 10
This makes it possible to perform proper alignment.

Therefore, as mentioned above, the movable body 1 and the fixed body 10
a first provided for alignment between the
Rotating member 32 consisting of second gears 30 and 31 and tooth portions 3 in these first and second gears 30 and 31
Even after the engaging members 34 that engage with the movable body 1 and the fixed body 10 are assembled together, the engaging members 34 that engage with the movable body 1 and the fixed body 10 can be used for reassembly after being removed for maintenance, inspection, etc. It must be maintained in a state where it can accurately function as a guide for proper positioning.

However, while the car is running, this movable body 1 is frequently rotated, and the first and second movable bodies 1 are rotated frequently.
The teeth 30a, 31a of the gears 30, 31 collide with the engaging member 34 and are rotated over it. However, each of these tooth portions 30a, 31a has a hardened coating 4 on its surface.
1 is formed, its strength is high and it has excellent wear resistance, so it will not be damaged or deformed, and the position between the movable body 1 and the fixed body 10 will be fixed. The function as a guideline for alignment will not be impaired. Also, gear 3
When the teeth 30a, 31a at 0, 31 collide with the engaging member 34 and get over it, noise is generated if the teeth 30a, 31a are entirely made of a hard material. However, since the core material 40 of these tooth portions 30a, 31a is made of a soft material, it can exhibit its buffering function and reduce the generation of noise.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, a structure was shown in which the rotating member consisting of a gear was provided on the movable body side and the engaging member was provided on the fixed body side.
As shown in the figure, the first and second gears 50, 51
A rotating member 52 with
It may be provided on the 5th side. In this case, the tooth portions 50a of the first and second gears 50, 51,
Needless to say, 51a forms a hardened coating on the surface of the core material made of a soft material as described above. Furthermore, the tooth portions of the first and second gears are formed of a hard material, and as shown in FIG.
A hardened coating 62 may be formed on the surface of a core material 61 made of a soft material.

[Effects of the invention] As detailed above, according to the invention, at least one of the teeth of the first and second gears constituting the rotating member or the engaging member that engages with them is made of a soft material. Since the structure is formed by a core material made of a member and a hardened coating formed on the surface of the core material, this hardened coating makes it possible to prevent the teeth from forming when the tooth portion and the engaging member are engaged. , low frictional resistance,
Enables smooth operation without causing wear, etc., and accurately performs the function of a guide in positioning the movable and fixed objects over a long period of time without causing deformation or damage. Moreover, since the core material is made of a soft material, it has a shock-reducing effect when the tooth portion and the engaging member engage.
This provides various effects such as being able to significantly reduce noise generation.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 5 show a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an electrical connection device, and FIG.
The figure is a perspective view showing the assembled state of the electrical connection device to the equipment, FIG. 3 is a configuration explanatory diagram showing the positioning mechanism between the movable body and the fixed body, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the tooth part. Figures 5a, b and c are explanatory diagrams of the operation of the alignment mechanism, showing different operating states, and Figure 6 is a diagram showing the alignment mechanism between the movable body and the fixed body, showing a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an engaging member showing a third embodiment of the present invention. 1,55...movable body, 3...flat cable, 10,53...fixed body, 11...storage section, 2
0... Electrical connection device, 30, 50... First gear, 31, 51... Second gear, 30a, 31
a, 50a, 51a... tooth portion, 32, 52... rotating member, 34, 54, 60... engaging member, 35,
36...Mark, 40,61...Core material, 41,6
2...Hardened film.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] Electrical connection between a fixed body and a movable body rotatably attached to the fixed body is made via a flat cable, and a positioning device is provided for either the fixed body or the movable body. a rotating member equipped with a gear, and an engaging member that engages with the gear in the movable member to rotate it when the movable body rotates once; In the electrical connection device, the engaging member includes a pair of protruding walls facing each other with a groove in between, and The member includes a first gear that can be engaged with the outer end of the projecting wall and a second gear that can be engaged with the inner end of the projecting wall, and the engaging member and the rotating member. An electrical connection device characterized in that a core material of at least one of the gears is formed of a soft material, and a hardened coating is formed on the surface of the core material.