Electrical connectors – With relatively guided members and intermediate pliable... – Relatively movable about axis
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-21
2002-04-09
Patel, Tulsidas (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With relatively guided members and intermediate pliable...
Relatively movable about axis
C439S015000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06368127
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a rotary connector for electrically connecting an electric device disposed on the rotor side of a steering device and an electric device disposed on the stator side and particularly to the structure of a locking mechanism for preventing relative rotation of a housing prior to installation on a steering device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A rotary connector has been mainly provided with a pair of housings disposed concentrically and connected to be relatively rotatable, and a flexible cable stored in a cable storing part formed between the paired housings to be wound and unwound, both ends thereof being led through to the outside. One housing is fixed to a steering column of a steering device, the other housing is fixed to a steering wheel, and both ends of the flexible cable are connected to an electric part provided on the steering column side and an electric part provided on the steering wheel side, respectively to be used as electric connecting means of an air bag system, a horn circuit and the like.
The winding amount and unwinding amount of the flexible cable, that is, the moving amounts of the movable housing from the neutral position in one direction and in the other direction to the stationary housing are both limited, and respectively set a little larger than the counterclockwise moving amount and the clockwise moving amount from the neutral position of the steering wheel. Accordingly, in installing the rotary connector on the steering device, it is necessary to strictly align the neutral position of the steering wheel with the neutral position of the rotary connector to prevent the occurrence of the disadvantage that the flexible cable is wound up in one direction or in the other direction by the steering wheel operation so that excessive tension is applied to the flexible cable to cause breakage. Accordingly, a rotary connector has been previously proposed, having a locking mechanism for locking a stationary housing and a movable housing set in a neutral position to the stationary housing to prevent rotation between both housings prior to installation onto a steering device, and automatically releasing locking between both housings with installation of the rotary connector onto the steering device to enable the movable housing to rotate with the steering wheel operation.
FIG. 10
is a sectional view of this type of a rotary connector which has been known heretofore, and
FIG. 11
is a bottom view of the principal part showing the engagement state of a locking key provided on the rotary connector of
FIG. 10
with a stationary housing. In the drawings, the reference numeral
100
designates a movable housing,
200
a stationary housing,
300
a flexible cable,
400
a rotor snap,
500
a locking key structure, and
600
a spring member for urging the locking key mechanism
500
in one direction.
The movable housing
100
is constituted of a disc-like top plate
103
provided with a center hole
101
and a first conductor lead-through part
102
formed for fixing one end of the flexible cable
300
, and a first inner cylinder
104
suspended from the inner peripheral edge of the top plate
103
. A snap claw
105
for snap-joining the rotor snap
400
is formed on the inner surface of the first inner cylinder
104
. The first inner cylinder
104
is provided with a guide hole
106
bored in a part thereof to penetrate from the tip thereof to the surface of the top plate
103
.
On the other hand, the stationary housing
200
is constituted of a disc-like base plate
203
provided with a center hole
201
having such a diameter as to pass the first inner cylinder
104
therethrough, and a second conductor lead-through part
202
formed for fixing the other end of the flexible cable
300
, and an outer cylinder
204
raised from the outer peripheral part of the base plate
203
. The base plate
203
and the outer cylinder
204
are joined and united in a body by heat caulking or the like. The inner peripheral edge of the base plate
203
, as shown in
FIG. 11
, has a key engaging part
205
recessed for engaging with the tip of the locking key
501
constituting the other part of the locking key structure
500
.
The flexible cable
300
is spirally wound and stored in an annular cable storing part
111
formed by the concentric combination of the moving housing
100
with the stationary housing
200
. One end of the flexible cable
300
is wired and fixed in the first conductor lead-through part
102
to be connected to a lead wire or an external connector not shown in the first conductor lead-through part
102
, and electrically led through to the outside of the moving housing
100
. The other end of the flexible cable
300
is wired and fixed in the second conductor lead-through part
202
to be connected to a lead wire or an external connector not shown in the second conductor lead-through part
202
, and electrically led through to the outside of the stationary housing
200
. The constitution of the flexible cable and the connecting structure of the flexible cable and the lead wire or the external connector are known and not the gist of the present invention, so the description is omitted.
The rotor snap
400
is intended to rotatably connect the movable housing
100
to the stationary housing
200
, and constituted of a doughnut-like locking plate
402
provided with a center hole
401
having a diameter smaller than the inside diameter of the first inner cylinder
104
and having an outside diameter smaller than the outside diameter of the base plate
203
, and a second inner cylinder
403
raised from the inner peripheral part of the locking plate
402
. A portion of the locking plate
402
opposite to the guide hole
106
is provided with an escape hole
404
for preventing the locking key
501
from colliding with the locking plate
402
, and the second inner cylinder
403
has an engagement hole
405
for engaging with the snap claw
105
formed on the first inner cylinder
104
.
The locking key structure
500
is formed by the metal locking key
501
, the tip of which is bent L-shaped, and a resin-made operating part
502
secured to the tail end of the locking key
501
. A pair of snap joining units (not shown) are formed on the connecting part of the respective members
501
,
502
. After the operating part
502
and the spring member
600
are stored in the guide hole
106
bored in the movable housing
100
, the tail end of the locking key
501
is inserted in the guide hole
106
from below the guide hole
106
, and the snap joining means (not shown) formed on the tail end of the locking key
501
and the snap joining means (not shown) formed on the tail end of the operating part
502
are connected to thereby integrally connect the locking key
501
and the operating part
502
to each other.
At the time of shipping, the position in the rotating direction of the movable housing
100
is adjusted to the neutral position to the stationary housing
200
, and the locking key
501
is engaged with the key engaging part
205
formed on the base plate
203
of the stationary housing
200
. The tip of the operating part
502
is projected outward from the top plate
103
by the elastic force of the spring member
600
.
The thus constructed rotary connector is, as shown in
FIG. 10
, installed on a steering device by passing a steering shaft
700
through a central through hole of the rotary connector, aligning the steering shaft
700
with the neutral position of the stationary housing
200
, then fixing the stationary housing
200
to the steering column
701
, fitting a steering wheel
702
to the steering shaft
700
, and connecting the steering wheel
702
and the movable housing
100
to each other. The steering wheel
702
is mounted on the steering shaft
700
by passing the steering shaft
700
through a through hole
704
bored in the central part of a steering wheel hub
703
and bringing one side of the steering wheel hub
703
into contact with an engaging stepped part
Araki Shunji
Takahashi Seishi
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