Winding – tensioning – or guiding – Reeling device – Multiple windings
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-29
2002-12-03
Matecki, Kathy (Department: 3654)
Winding, tensioning, or guiding
Reeling device
Multiple windings
C242S388000, C242S385400, C439S164000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06488225
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a temporary clamp mechanism in a cable reel mounted on a steering apparatus of vehicles. The present invention also relates to a temporary clamp mechanism that eliminates the need to provide a steering wheel with a pullout clamp hole under the condition where a rotor of a cable reel is fastened to a steering column with the cable reel temporarily clamped to a stator through a rotation clamping member and the rotation clamping member, which has temporarily stopped the rotation of a rotor, are pulled out after assembling a steering wheel over the stator and rotor.
2. Description of Background Information
A known temporary rotation clamping mechanism for a cable reel is shown in
FIG. 6
from, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No.2000-48925. The cable reel
51
is mounted on a steering apparatus of a vehicle for electrically connecting circuits of a vehicle body with electrical devices (a horn switch, an air bag, etc.) A stator
52
fastened to a steering column and a rotor
53
fastened to a steering wheel (hereafter abbreviated as a wheel) side are constructed so that they relatively rotate. In the annular hollow space
54
formed by the stator
52
and the rotor
53
, a flat cable
55
is housed in a wound condition and the flat cable
55
is wound up of wound out in accordance with the direction of rotation of the rotor
53
which follows the wheel rotation.
In mounting the aforementioned cable reel
51
on the steering apparatus, the stator
52
and the rotor
53
are positioned in a predetermined rotation phase, and side, generally T-shaped, rotation clamping members
56
are temporarily placed over the stator
52
and the rotor
53
from an upper position so that the stator
52
and the rotor
53
cannot rotate in order to maintain the predetermined rotation phase. That is, a lateral piece
57
of the rotation clamping member
56
is fixed to an upper surface
53
a
of the rotor
53
through a clamp hole
57
a
, and a bottom portion
58
a
of a vertical piece
58
is fixed in the recess
59
a
of a stop
59
on the peripheral surface of the stator, preventing rotation of the stator and the rotor.
The aforementioned cable reel
51
is fastened to a steering column under the condition of the rotor
53
connected with the stator by the rotation clamping member
56
, and subsequently, the steering wheel
60
is assembled on top. After mounting the steering wheel
60
(note FIG.
7
), the rotation clamping member
56
is removed to enable the rotor
53
to rotate. That is, as shown in
FIG. 7
, the wheel hub
61
of the steering wheel
60
is provided with a clamp hole
61
a
for removing the rotation clamping member
56
. In order to effect removal of the rotation clamping member, an operator holds and pulls up the top portion
58
b
of the vertical piece
58
of the rotation clamping member
56
through the clamp hole
61
a.
However, with the temporary rotation clamping construction in the cable reel
51
, the clamp hole
61
a
cannot be machined through the wheel hub of the steering wheel
60
, the rotation clamping member
56
must be extracted laterally, and it is difficult to laterally remove the rotation clamping member because of a narrow working space. In addition, when the clamp hole
61
a
is provided through the wheel hub of the wheel
60
, there are problems such as decrease in strength of the wheel
60
, and the like.
The present invention has been made considering the aforementioned problems, and makes it possible to remove the rotation clamping member, not by removing it laterally, but by pulling it upwardly without providing the wheel hub of the steering wheel with a clamp hole.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to solve the aforementioned problems, the present invention offers a temporary rotation clamping mechanism for a cable reel, the cable reel being mountable on a steering apparatus and includes a rotor and stator. The rotor is temporarily clamped to the stator through rotation clamping members. The rotation clamping members include a vertical piece positionable in an axial direction of the cable reel and a lateral piece horizontally projecting toward the center of the cable reel from a middle position of the vertical piece, and a lateral piece is connected with the vertical piece through a hinge which is pivotable downwardly. A bottom portion of the vertical piece is inserted into an engaging area provided on an outer peripheral surface of the stator and the lateral piece projects over an upper surface of the rotor. A projection on the upper surface of the rotor is inserted into an engaging clamp hole provided in the lateral piece to temporarily stop rotation of the rotor.
When releasing the rotation clamping, the lateral piece and the rotor are disengaged by holding and pulling up an upper portion of the vertical piece to allow the lateral piece to be lifted up through the outside of the wheel boss by engagement against a periphery of a wheel hub followed by downward pivoting of the hinge, so that the rotation clamping members may be removed.
In another aspect of the temporary rotation clamping mechanism in a cable reel of the present invention, the rotation clamping members temporarily placed over the stator and the rotor have a construction where the lateral piece is connected through the hinge which permits the lateral piece to pivot downwardly from the level of the root. Therefore, the lateral piece of the rotation clamping members may be lifted up to release the clamped rotation of the rotor and the stator which engages the periphery of the wheel hub to pivot downwardly from the level of the root and passes through the outer surface of the wheel hub to be removed smoothly upwardly. As a result, even if a removal clamp hole is not provided through the wheel hub, the rotation clamping members can be quickly removed by turning aside the wheel hub smartly.
In a further aspect of the present invention, the hinge is formed unitarily and in one piece to include a lateral piece with a thin neck portion, and the lateral piece and the vertical piece are formed unitarily and in one piece through the hinge. The rotation clamping members may be formed of any suitable resin, and the vertical piece and the lateral piece are connected through the hinge. It is also possible that the vertical piece and the lateral piece are formed separately and integrated into a unit by engagement.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5257943 (1993-11-01), Ueno et al.
patent: 5593310 (1997-01-01), Kawamoto et al.
patent: 5674081 (1997-10-01), Hoffmann et al.
patent: 5683260 (1997-11-01), Kato et al.
patent: 5741145 (1998-04-01), Kikkawa et al.
patent: 5800191 (1998-09-01), Honda et al.
patent: 5871366 (1999-02-01), Nishikigi et al.
patent: 6059590 (2000-05-01), Bolen et al.
patent: 6309233 (2001-10-01), Nakade et al.
patent: 6368127 (2002-04-01), Araki et al.
patent: 8-37072 (1996-02-01), None
patent: 2000-48925 (2000-02-01), None
patent: 2000-48926 (2000-02-01), None
English Language Abstract of JP 8-37072.
English Language Abstract of JP 2000-48925.
English Language Abstract of JP 2000-48926.
Matecki Kathy
Pham Minh-Chau
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