JP2005310675A - Folding structure of lamination flat cable - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To restrain rigidity of a folded part 14 of a lamination flat cable 12 with a plurality of flat cables 10 laminated as well as prevent damage of the flat cables 10 at the folded parts 14 in case the folded parts 14 are housed in a mobile body such as a slider and the lamination flat cable 12 receives repeated folding. <P>SOLUTION: A flat cable 10 after another laminated is folded so that a folding line gets slanted against a width direction and both faces are reversed and every piece of a folded part 18 is in a laminated structure. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a folded structure of a laminated flat cable.

  It is known to use a flat cable (Flexible Flat Cable, commonly called FFC) for electrical wiring of an electric device or an automobile. A flat cable is obtained by applying a flat collective insulation coating to a plurality of flat conductors arranged in parallel. For example, a strip conductor having a thickness of about 0.15 mm to 0.2 mm is used as the flat conductor, and a plastic film such as a polyethylene terephthalate film is used as the collective insulation coating.

  This flat cable is used as a power supply line from the vehicle body (fixed body) to the sliding door, movable seat, etc. (moving body) in the case of automobiles because of its slidability, space factor, and toughness. It has become like this. For example, Patent Document 1 describes that a flat cable is used for a power supply device for a sliding door of an automobile. Patent Document 2 describes that a flat cable is used as a power feeding device for a movable seat of an automobile.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-342807 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-109574

  In the case of the power supply device for a slide door described in Patent Document 1, between a slider that is guided and moved by a slide rail (fixed to the slide door) and a connector on the slide door side that is fixed to the terminal block of the slide rail. A flat cable is used as a wiring material that connects the two, but a wiring harness that collects ordinary round electric wires is used as the wiring material that connects between the slider and the connector on the vehicle body side. In such a configuration, since it is necessary to connect the flat cable and the wire harness inside the slider, the structure becomes complicated and the assembly is troublesome.

  In order to solve this problem, it is effective to use a continuous flat cable from the sliding door connector to the vehicle body connector through the slider to eliminate the connection of wires in the slider. It is. However, the flat cable in the section from the slide door side connector to the slider needs to be oriented horizontally in the width direction so that the U-turn part can move smoothly as the slider moves. The flat cable in the section up to the connector needs to be oriented in the width direction in order to bend left and right as the slide door opens and closes. For that purpose, it is necessary to bend the flat cable in the slider and change the direction.

  By the way, recently, since the number of energization circuits to the moving body is increasing, there are many cases in which a plurality of flat cables are stacked and used. Bending a plurality of flat cables at one location becomes more difficult as the number of flat cables stacked increases and the bending rigidity increases. In particular, in the part like the slider, the flat cable receives a force such as torsion and tension, so the slider cannot move smoothly due to the frictional resistance between the laminated flat cables, or the flat cable is damaged at the bent part. There is a risk of

  An object of the present invention is to provide a folded structure of a laminated flat cable in which the above problems are unlikely to occur at a bent portion of the laminated flat cable.

  The present invention is a structure of a folded portion of a laminated flat cable in which a plurality of flat cables are laminated, and each flat cable is formed one by one so that the folding line is inclined with respect to the width direction and both sides are It is bent so as to be reversed, and each of the bent portions is laminated.

  Further, in the laminated flat cable bending structure according to the present invention, when the number of flat cables is large, the laminated flat cables are divided into a plurality of sets of laminated flat cables. Each sheet is folded so that the fold line is inclined with respect to the width direction and both sides are reversed, and a folded section in which the folded sections for each sheet are stacked is provided. It is preferable to employ a configuration in which the position is shifted so that the bent portions of the laminated flat cable do not overlap.

  According to the present invention, since the flat cables are folded and laminated one by one, a gap is generated between the flat cables at the bent portion, and when the external force is applied, the bent portions of the flat cables of each layer are displaced from each other. It becomes easy. As a result, the external force is distributed to the bent portions of the flat cables, so that the bent portions of the laminated flat cables are not stretched to obstruct the smooth movement of the slider or the like.

  Moreover, if the laminated flat cable is divided into a plurality of sets of laminated flat cables and the positions of the bent portions of each set are shifted, the thickness of the entire bent portion of the laminated flat cable can be reduced and the thickness can be reduced. As the thickness is reduced, the rigidity of the entire bent portion of the laminated flat cable can be kept low.

  FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a flat cable formed by collectively covering a plurality of flat conductors, 12 is a laminated flat cable in which a plurality of flat cables 10 are laminated, 14 is a bent portion for changing the direction of the laminated flat cable 12, Reference numeral 16 denotes an adhesive tape that holds the laminated state of the laminated flat cable 12 on both sides of the bent portion 14. In the bending portion 14, the plurality of flat cables 10 are bent one by one so that the bending line is inclined with respect to the width direction and both surfaces are reversed. Has a laminated structure.

  On the other hand, FIG. 2 shows a general folding structure of a laminated flat cable. In this bent structure, the laminated flat cable 12 is bent in a laminated state to form a bent portion 14.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a power supply device for an automobile sliding door to which a folded structure of a laminated flat cable is applied. In the figure, 20 is a vehicle body side unit attached under the step of the vehicle body, 22 is a slide rail fixed horizontally to the lower part of the slide door, 24 is a door side unit slidably attached to the slide rail 22, A flexible tube (corrugated tube) 26 connects the vehicle body side unit 20 and the door side unit 24. The flat cable 10 is wired without a connection portion from the vehicle body side to the slide door side through the vehicle body side unit 20, the flexible tube 26, the door side unit 24, and the slide rail 22. 3A1 and 3A2 show a state in which the sliding door is closed, FIGS. 3B1 and 2B2 show a state in the middle of opening and closing the sliding door, and FIGS. 3C1 and 2C2 show a state in which the sliding door is opened.

  The vehicle body side unit 20 includes a fixed block 28 fixed to the vehicle body, and a tube end clamp 30 attached to the fixed block 28 so as to be able to swing in the lateral direction. The fixed block 28 is formed with a curved surface guide 32 that regulates the minimum bending radius when the flat cable 10 is bent left and right.

  The door-side unit 24 includes a slider 34 that is slidably attached to the slide rail 22 and a tube end clamp 36 that is attached to the slider 34 so as to be able to swing in the lateral direction. The slider 34 is also formed with a curved guide 38 that regulates the minimum bending radius when the flat cable 10 is bent left and right.

  The orientation of the flat cable 10 is regulated by the fixed block 28 and the slider 34 so that the width direction is directed in the vertical direction. For this reason, the flat cable 10 is maintained in a posture in which the width direction is directed in the vertical direction even in the flexible tube 26 (see FIG. 4). The flexible tube 26 is provided with flexibility by corrugation, but is formed with a vertically long cross section so that it is easily bent in the horizontal direction and difficult to bend in the vertical direction.

  One end of the flexible tube 26 is gripped by a tube end clamp 30 of the vehicle body side unit 20 and can be swung laterally with respect to the fixed block 28, and the other end of the flexible tube 26 is the door side unit 24. It is gripped by the tube end clamp 36 and can swing in the lateral direction with respect to the slider 34.

  The door side unit 24 is attached to the slide rail 22 as shown in FIG. That is, the slide rail 22 is composed of a pair of parallel upper and lower rails, and the door-side unit 24 can slide on the slide rail 22 by attaching grooves formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the slider 34 to the slide rail 22. Is attached.

  The slide rail 22 is formed integrally with a U-turn box 40 having a substantially U-shaped cross section that accommodates the U-turn portion 10 a (see FIG. 3) of the flat cable 10. The slider 34 has a flat cable lead-out portion 42 located at the lower part in the U-turn box 40. The lead-out portion 42 leads the flat cable 10 from the slider 34 into the U-turn box 40 with the width direction oriented horizontally and the longitudinal direction directed toward the slide direction of the slider 34.

  The flat cable 10 led out from the lead-out portion 42 into the U-turn box 40 makes a U-turn from the bottom to the top in the U-turn box 40 and is drawn out of the U-turn box 40. The end portion of the flat cable 10 drawn out of the U-turn box is connected to wiring or equipment in the slide door by a connector or the like. The U-turn portion 10 a of the flat cable 10 moves following the slide of the slider 34, thereby absorbing the expansion and contraction of the flat cable 10 necessary for the movement of the slider 34.

  In the sliding door power supply device, when the sliding door is closed, the flexible tube 26 is substantially extended as shown in FIG. 3 (A1). When the slide door moves from this state in the opening direction, the slide rail 22 first moves together with the slide door, and the slider 34 stays in the same position (the slide rail 22 moves relative to the slider 34). When the slide rail 22 moves a predetermined distance, a stopper (not shown) hits the slider 34, and the slider 34 moves together with the slide rail 22 in the direction in which the slide door opens. In the middle of this, the swinging direction of the flexible tube 26 with respect to the slider 34 is reversed, and the flexible tube 26 is bent into a substantially U shape as shown in FIG. When the sliding door is further opened, the swinging direction of the flexible tube 26 with respect to the fixed block 28 is reversed in the middle of the sliding door. When the sliding door is fully opened, the flexible tube 26 is almost fully extended as shown in FIG. When the sliding door is closed, the process returns to the state shown in FIG.

  In the sliding door power supply apparatus described above, the continuous flat cable 10 from the vehicle body side to the inside of the sliding door is oriented in the vertical direction in the flexible tube 26 and in the horizontal direction in the U-turn box 40. It is necessary to arrange so that it faces. For this reason, the flat cable 10 is bent in the slider 34 at two places, that is, the first bent portion 18A and the second bent portion 18B as shown in FIG. In the first bent portion 18A, the flat cable 10 that has entered the slider 34 from the flexible tube is bent so that the bent line is at an angle of 45 ° with respect to the width direction, and both sides are reversed. In the second bent portion 18B, the bent line is bent at a right angle in the width direction.

  In the slide door power supply apparatus described above, when the slider 34 moves laterally with respect to the fixed block 28 by opening and closing the slide door, the flat cable 10 is bent left and right at the mouth of the slider 34. If there is only one flat cable 10 as shown in FIG. 6, this bending will not be disturbed. However, if a plurality of flat cables are laminated, the laminated flat cables can be bent as shown in FIG. It has been found that the rigidity in the vicinity of the bent portion increases, and the slider cannot move smoothly. The bending structure of FIG. 1 solves this problem.

  In other words, when the folded structure as shown in FIG. 1 is used, a gap is created between the flat cables 10 and the flat cables of the respective layers can be displaced from each other. When bent, the stress is easily distributed to the flat cable 10 of each layer. For this reason, the bending rigidity of the laminated flat cable in the vicinity of the bent portion is lowered, and the possibility that the movement of the slider is hindered is reduced. Further, in the bent structure of FIG. 2, when the bending of the laminated flat cable 12 is repeated at the mouth of the slider, the bent portion 14 may be opened or closed, and if this is repeated, fatigue breakage of the flat conductor is caused. There is a fear. In this respect, in the bent structure of FIG. 1, even if the laminated flat cable 12 is bent, the individual bent portions 18 do not open, so there is little risk of fatigue breakage of the flat conductor.

  3 is a case where the slider 34 and the fixed block 28 are at substantially the same height, but depending on the vehicle model, the fixed block may be installed at a position lower than the slider. In that case, as shown in FIG. 7, since the flexible tube 26 is drawn obliquely downward from the slider 34, the portion accommodated in the flexible tube 26 of the laminated flat cable 12 also needs to be directed obliquely downward. There is. In FIG. 7, portions corresponding to the respective portions in FIGS. 3 to 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 3 to 5.

  In the case of such a sliding door power supply device, the laminated flat cable 12 may be bent in the slider 34 as shown in FIG. That is, the laminated flat cable 12 introduced from the flexible tube to the slider 34 is bent at a right angle in the width direction by the first bent portion 14A, and the second bent portion 14B is bent as shown in FIG. It is bent, the bending line is again bent in the width direction by the third bent portion 14C, and it is bent again by the fourth bent portion 14D as shown in FIG. When bent in this way, the inclination angle B of the portion accommodated in the flexible tube of the laminated flat cable 12 can be easily changed to the inclination angle of the flexible tube by adjusting the bending angle A of the third bent portion 14C. Can be matched.

  FIG. 9 shows still another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment shows a folded structure of a laminated flat cable when the number of laminated flat cables is large. The use is the same as that of FIG. In this folding structure, the laminated flat cable 12 is divided into a plurality of sets (two sets in this example) of the laminated flat cables 12A and 12B, and the positions are shifted so that the bent portions of the laminated flat cables of each set do not overlap. ing.

  That is, the laminated flat cable 12 introduced from the flexible tube to the slider 34 is divided into two sets of laminated flat cables 12A and 12B, and one laminated flat cable 12A has a folding line at the first folding portion 14A1 in the width direction. 1 is bent at a right angle toward the left side, is bent at the second bent portion 14B1 as shown in FIG. 1, is bent again at the third bent portion 14C1 in the width direction, and is bent at the fourth bent portion 14D1. Then, it is bent again as shown in FIG.

  The other laminated flat cable 12B is bent at a right angle by turning the bending line in the width direction at the first bent portion 14A2 and bent at the second bent portion 14B2 as shown in FIG. In the portion 14C2, the fold line is again bent in the width direction, and is bent again as shown in FIG. 1 in the fourth fold portion 14D2, and finally the one laminated flat cable is introduced into the U-turn box. 12A is laminated.

  When the number of laminated flat cables is large, the thickness of the bent portion is increased and the rigidity is increased in the bent structure as shown in FIG. 8, but if the bent structure is as shown in FIG. 9, the thickness of the bent portion is reduced. And increase in rigidity can be suppressed.

  In order to demonstrate the effect of the folding structure of the present invention, five flat cables with a thickness of 0.15 mm and a width of 6 mm and two flat conductors, and five flat cables with a thickness of 0.15 mm and a width of 2 mm, which are four cores, A total of 10 laminated flat cables were divided into 2 cores 5 sheets and 4 cores 5 sheets, bent as shown in FIG. 9 and stored in a slider, and subjected to repeated slide durability tests 100,000 times. As a result, it was confirmed that the movement of the slider was not impaired, and the flat conductor was not broken and the flat cable itself was not damaged.

The perspective view which shows one Embodiment of the bending structure of the lamination | stacking flat cable which concerns on this invention. The perspective view which shows the general bending structure of a lamination | stacking flat cable. An example of the sliding door electric power feeder to which the bending structure of the lamination | stacking flat cable which concerns on this invention is applied, (A1) is a top view at the time of a door closing, (A2) is a front view in the U-turn box at the time of a door closing, (B1) is a plan view in the middle of opening the door, (B2) is a front view in the U-turn box in the middle of opening the door, (C1) is a plan view when the door is closed, and (C2) is a U-turn when the door is closed The front view in a box. The perspective view which shows the accommodation state of the flat cable in the flexible tube in the apparatus of FIG. The perspective view which shows the attachment state of the slider to the slide rail in the apparatus of FIG. The perspective view which shows the bending state of the flat cable in the apparatus of FIG. Sectional drawing which shows the other example of the sliding door electric power feeder with which the bending structure of the lamination | stacking flat cable which concerns on this invention is applied. The perspective view which shows other embodiment of the bending structure of the lamination | stacking flat cable which concerns on this invention. The perspective view which shows other embodiment of the bending structure of the lamination | stacking flat cable which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10: flat cable 12: laminated flat cable 14: bent portion 18 of laminated flat cable 12: bent portion 20 for each flat cable 20: vehicle body side unit 22: slide rail 26: flexible tube 34: slider

Claims (2)

  It is the structure of the folded part of the laminated flat cable in which multiple flat cables are laminated so that each flat cable is folded one by one so that the folding line is inclined with respect to the width direction and both sides are reversed. A folded structure of a laminated flat cable, wherein the folded structure is bent and each bent portion is laminated. A structure of a bent portion of a laminated flat cable in which a plurality of flat cables are laminated. The laminated flat cable is divided into a plurality of laminated flat cables, and one flat cable is provided for each laminated flat cable. Each fold line is provided so that the fold line is inclined with respect to the width direction and both sides are reversed, and a fold portion is formed by laminating each fold portion. A folded structure of a laminated flat cable, wherein the bent parts of the cable are provided so as to be shifted so that the bent parts of the cable do not overlap.

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