Electricity: circuit makers and breakers – Special application – Steering wheel – shaft or column mounted
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-30
2001-03-13
Friedhofer, Michael (Department: 2832)
Electricity: circuit makers and breakers
Special application
Steering wheel, shaft or column mounted
C439S015000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06201198
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a rotary connector to be used as a means for electrically connecting electrical components, such as an airbag inflator mounted on a steering wheel, to a car-body-side circuit. More particularly, the present invention relates to a rotary connector supported by a combination switch whose stator member has a canceling mechanism for a winker.
2. Description of the Related Art
A rotary connector is incorporated into a steering device of a car and is used as an electrical connection means for electrically connecting a steering wheel to a steering column. In such a case, the rotary connector broadly employs a mounting structure in which a rotor member thereof is connected to the steering wheel and in which a stator member thereof is attached to a combination switch that is fitted to the steering column.
FIG. 3
is a sectional diagram showing a conventional rotary connector. This rotary connector
1
broadly comprises a stator member
2
, a rotor member
3
, a slip-off preventing member
4
for rotatably connecting the rotor member
3
to the stator member
2
, and a flexible cable
5
accommodated in an annular space provided between the stator member
2
and the rotor member
3
. The stator member
2
consists of a cylindrical outer peripheral wall
2
a
and a ring-like bottom plate
2
b
. The outer peripheral wall
2
a
and the bottom plate
2
b
are integrated into one piece by being screwed or thermally caulked. The rotor member
3
has a cylindrical inner peripheral wall
3
a
and a ceiling plate
3
b
. A driving pin
3
c
is provided on the top surface of the ceiling plate
3
b
in such a way as to project therefrom. The slip-off preventing member
4
has a cylindrical portion
4
a
and a flange portion
4
b
. A cancel cam
4
c
is formed outside the lower part of the cylindrical portion
4
a
. The cylindrical portion
4
a
of the slip-off preventing member
4
is inserted from below into the space surrounded by the inner peripheral surface wall
3
a
of the rotor member
3
fitted to the upper opening of the stator member
2
. Then, the cylindrical portion
4
a
and the rotor member
3
are snap-connected to each other. Thus, the rotor member
3
and the slip-off preventing member
4
are rotatably connected to the stator member
2
in such a manner as to be integral with each other. The flexible cable
5
is constituted by a flat cable having a plurality of conductors carried by belt-like insulating tape. Both the ends of this flexible cable
5
are respectively fixed to the outer peripheral wall
2
a
of the stator member
2
and the inner peripheral wall
3
a
of the rotor member
3
and are electrically led to the exterior.
On the other hand, a center hole
8
is provided in a casing
7
constituting an outer shell of the combination switch
6
. This casing
7
is mounted on a column cover (not shown) of the steering device. An operation lever
9
for performing a winker operation and a passing operation is rotatably supported on the combination switch
6
. The combination switch
6
incorporates a locking mechanism for locking this operation lever
9
in an operating position and a canceling mechanism for a winker. The canceling mechanism is operative to automatically return the operation lever
9
, which is in the operating position, to a center position. A leading edge of a canceling lever
10
, which is a constituent component of the canceling mechanism for a winker, projects into the center hole
8
. Incidentally, a wiper switch (not shown) is attached through the center hole
8
to a place being opposite to the operation lever
9
.
The stator member
2
of the rotary connector
1
constructed as described above is fixed to the top surface of the casing
7
of the combination switch
6
by being screwed or snap-connected. At that time, the cylindrical portion
4
a
of the slip-off preventing member
4
projecting downwardly from the stator member
2
is inserted into the center hole
8
of the combination switch
6
. A leading edge of the canceling lever
10
of the canceling mechanism for a winker is placed in a turning region of the cancel cam
4
c
, which is formed in the cylindrical portion
4
a
. Further, a driving pin
3
c
provided on the ceiling plate
3
b
of the rotor member
3
in a protruding manner is caught in a hub hole of the steering wheel
11
. When the steering wheel
11
is rotated clockwise or anticlockwise, the rotor member
3
is rotated in the same direction by the rotating force of the wheel
11
. Thus, the flexible cable
5
is wound or unwound in the annular space. At that time, the rotor member
3
and the slip-off preventing member
4
snap-connected thereto integrally rotate. The rotation of the slip-off preventing member
4
causes the cancel cam
4
c
and the canceling lever
10
of the canceling mechanism to operate. Consequently, in the case that a winker operation is performed by moving the operation lever
9
to a left-hand or right-hand position, as the steering wheel
11
is rotated and returned to a neutral position, the operation lever
9
is automatically returned to a center position.
Meanwhile, in the aforementioned conventional rotary connector, the cancel cam
4
c
is formed on the slip-off preventing member
4
snap-connected to the rotor member
3
. It is usually necessary to provide some clearance in this snap-connected portion. This clearance causes backlash in the rotational direction (or in the radial direction) between the rotor member
3
and the slip-off preventing member
4
and also causes deviation in the rotational direction between the steering wheel
11
and the cancel cam
4
c
. Consequently, the conventional rotary connector has a drawback in that the canceling lever
10
does not operate accurately.
Moreover, because the cancel cam
4
c
is formed on the slip-off preventing member
4
, the stator member
2
of the rotary connector
1
is fixed to the top surface of the casing
7
of the combination switch
6
. It is thus necessary to provide a space, in which the rotary connector
1
is placed, between the steering wheel
11
and the combination switch
6
. Consequently, the conventional rotary connector has another drawback in that the height dimension of the rotary connector
1
is seriously limited.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a rotary connector that eliminates the drawbacks of the conventional one.
To achieve the foregoing object, according to the present invention, there is provided a rotary connector which has a cancel cam mounted on an upper portion of a rotor member that is rotatably caught in a stator member by a slip-off preventing member, and which makes this cancel cam face a canceling mechanism for a winker, in a combination switch. With such a configuration, the canceling mechanism for a winker is operated by the cancel cam provided on the upper portion of the rotor member to which the rotating force of the steering wheel is directly transmitted. Consequently, the canceling mechanism for a winker is accurately operated. Furthermore, the rotary connector is accommodated in the combination switch. Thus, the distance between the steering wheel and the combination switch is reduced. Consequently, the degree of flexibility in designing a rotary connector is enhanced.
According to the present invention, there is provided a rotary connector which comprises a stator member supported by a combination switch having a canceling mechanism for a winker, a rotor member adapted to rotate in response to a steering wheel, a slip-off preventing member for catching this rotor member in the aforesaid stator member such that the rotor member is rotatable, and a flexible cable accommodated in a space defined between the aforesaid stator member and the aforesaid rotor member. This cancel cam is made to face the aforesaid canceling mechanism in the aforesaid combination switch.
With such a configuration, the canceling mechanism for a winker is operated by the ro
Alps Electric Co. ,Ltd.
Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione
Friedhofer Michael
LandOfFree
Rotary connector does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Rotary connector, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Rotary connector will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2546374