JPH09177902A - Cable chain - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To carry out the installing work in a short time, by composing a cable chain by numerous chain unit members having a support plate which is formed integral to be connected to the lower part of a pair of side plates opposing at a specific interval; and an elastic connecting member to connect the blocking members to cover the upper openings, and the neighboring indicator plates in the longitudinal direction. SOLUTION: A cable chain 1 is formed by connecting numerous chain unit members 3 each other by an elastic member 5. Each chain unit member 3 is composed of a base 67, and a cover 69 to be a blocking member to cover the hollow of the base 67. To the base 67, a side plate 73 having a pair of opposing shafts 79 at the ends in the connecting orthogonal direction of a support plate 71 is formed integrally, and at the both end parts in the connection direction of the support plate 71 recess parts 75 furnishing plural holes are formed along the connecting orthogonal direction respectively. The cover 69 is formed in the U-shape on the front surface, and a journal hole 81b is formed inserting to a shaft 79. An elastic connecting member 65 is a plate form body with the length in the connecting direction along the recess parts 75 respectively in each neighboring base 67.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to various driving members mounted on a movable body that moves linearly in a reciprocating manner.
The present invention relates to a cable chain that bends and guides a hose or a cable (hereinafter, referred to as control signal transmission means) that transmits a signal, a fluid such as air or oil (hereinafter, referred to as control signal means).

[0002]

In various machines, control signal means such as electric power, control signal, and fluid are supplied to a driving member attached to a movable body which moves linearly in a reciprocating manner. Although the signal transmission means is connected,
Since the control signal transmitting means itself consists of at least the maximum moving distance of the movable body, it may be dragged or bent due to the movement of the movable body and may be damaged. The means could not be transmitted reliably.

In order to solve this disadvantage, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 186146, a plurality of frame plates each having a pair of link plates having a shaft portion at one end and a shaft support portion at the other end, and guide plates provided above and below the link plates are formed in a frame shape. The guide member is connected to the shaft support portion so as to be bendable by engaging the shaft portion, and each of the guide plates is provided with a flexible tongue piece in at least one of the front-rear direction, and the tongue piece is Various types of cable chains have been developed in which the space between the guide plates is closed, but this type of cable chain uses a large number of guide members according to the moving distance of the movable body, and a shaft portion of one link plate on the other side. It has been necessary to engage the shaft support portion of the link plate and connect the link plate in a long shape, and then accommodate the control signal transmission means between the pair of link plates and close the upper end portion by the closing member.

For this reason, the connecting structure of the guide member is complicated, the manufacturing cost thereof is high, and the connecting work takes a lot of time, so that the mounting workability is poor.

Further, in the cable chain having the above-mentioned structure, the ends of the chain unit members are worn away as the cable is bent and resin powder is generated. Therefore, it cannot be used as a cable chain for bending and guiding the control signal transmitting means connected to the movable body of various processing machines installed in a clean room where food is processed or electronic parts are manufactured.

The present invention has been invented in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and an object thereof is to provide a cable chain which can simplify the structure of the chain unit member and reduce the cost. To provide.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cable chain which can be attached in a short time without connecting the chain unit members to each other.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cable chain capable of bending and guiding while preventing damage to the control signal transmission means accommodated therein and reducing noise.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a cable chain capable of preventing the generation of resin powder or the like due to mutual wear of chain unit members.

[0010]

For this reason, the first aspect of the present invention is to provide a large number of chain unit members each having a support plate integrally formed at a lower portion of a pair of side plates facing each other at a predetermined interval. A cable chain is composed of a closing member that covers the upper opening of each chain unit member, and an elastic connecting member that connects the support plates of the adjacent chain unit members in the longitudinal direction.

Then, after the control signal means is housed between the side plates of the chain unit members connected to each other, the closing member is attached to the upper part of the side plates to maintain the housed state. In this state, when the control signal means and the movable body to which one end of the cable chain is attached are reciprocally moved, the chain unit member is bent by the elastic connecting member that elastically deforms to support and guide the accommodated control signal means. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a chain unit member integrally formed with a support plate for connecting the lower parts of a pair of side plates facing each other at a predetermined interval and an upper plate for connecting the upper parts of the side plates to each other is provided. A cable chain is constituted by an elastic connecting member that connects the supporting plates of the chain unit members to be installed in the longitudinal direction.

Then, the control signal means is inserted and attached between the side plates of the chain unit members connected to each other. In this state, when the control signal means and the movable body to which one end of the cable chain is attached are reciprocally moved, the chain unit member is bent by the elastic connecting member that elastically deforms to support and guide the accommodated control signal means. .

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 In FIGS. 1 to 3, a cable chain 1 has a structure in which a large number of chain unit members 3 are connected by elastic connecting members 5.

Each chain unit member 3 is polypropylene,
A synthetic resin such as a fluorinated resin is integrally molded into a substantially square front surface having a hollow portion inside. Of course, the front shape of the chain unit member 3 is not limited to this shape. The supporting plate 7 of each chain unit member 3 has a shape in which the connecting orthogonal direction is elongated with respect to the connecting direction, and a recess 9 is formed almost entirely on the upper surface of the supporting plate 7, and the front and rear of the recess 9 are formed. A plurality of (three in the figure) engagement holes 11 are formed in the side and central portions at equal intervals in the connecting orthogonal direction. Each engagement hole 11 is formed in a shape having a small diameter portion 11a in the upper portion and a large diameter portion 11b in the lower portion.

Legs 13 are integrally formed on both ends of each support plate 7 in the direction perpendicular to the connection so as to hang down with a predetermined width, and side walls 15 are integrally formed so as to stand upright at a predetermined height and face each other. The upper surface plate 17 is formed on the upper portion of each side wall portion 15.
Are integrally formed in parallel with the support plate 7. Each top plate 17 has an opening 17a that is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the connecting direction (or the connecting orthogonal direction).

Each chain unit member 3 has its own opening 17
The elastic connecting members 5 are connected in a state in which the inclination directions of a are staggered. The elastic connecting member 5 is made of elastomer resin, synthetic rubber, or the like, and is provided in the recess 9 of the support plate 7.
A plurality of chain unit members 3 having a thickness and a width that can be inserted into
The length in the connecting direction. An engaging shaft portion 19 that engages with each engaging hole 11 is integrally formed on the bottom surface of the elastic connecting member 5. A large-diameter head portion 19a that engages with the large-diameter portion 11b is integrally formed at the tip end portion of each engaging shaft portion 19, and the large-diameter head portion with respect to the large-diameter portion 11b is pressed into each engagement hole 11. The engagement of 19a prevents it from coming off.

Further, the elastic connecting member 5 is formed in advance in a belt shape from elastomer resin, synthetic rubber or the like, and the engaging shaft portions 19 on the bottom are press-fitted into the respective engaging holes 11 in each chain unit member 3 and fixed. You may. The large-diameter head portion 1 of the engaging shaft portion 19 in the elastic connecting member 5 preformed in this way
When the chain unit members 3 are connected to each other by press-fitting into the engagement holes 11 while elastically deforming 9a, the large division head 19a is formed with the front dividing groove 19b as shown in FIG. The deformation can be facilitated and the fixing work can be made efficient.

In addition, a plurality of chain unit members 3 arranged so that the openings 17a thereof are staggered one by one.
Unit (in the figure, two chain unit members 3
However, the structure may be such that the elastomer resin is injected from an arbitrary engaging hole 11 in the chain unit member 3 and integrally molded and fixed in the recess 9. When the elastic connecting member 5 is integrally molded, the chain unit members 3 can be firmly connected to each other by fusing the elastic connecting member 5 to the recess 9 and filling the engaging hole 11.

When the elastic connecting member 5 is integrally molded with the chain unit member 3 by the elastomer resin, the engagement hole 11 may be a non-penetrating hole. Further, when the elastic connecting member 5 is integrally formed with the chain unit member 3 with an elastomer resin, the chain unit member 3 and the elastic connecting member may not be fused to each other depending on the type of resin. However, since the elastic connecting member 5 is integrally formed with the chain unit member 3 while filling a part of the elastic connecting member 5 into the engagement hole 11, the chain unit members 3 are firmly connected to each other even in a non-fused state. Can be made. Further, in the chain unit member 3 located on the mounting side of the movable body and the mounting side of the supply source (neither is shown), the elastic connecting member 5 on the end side is cut off and the engaging hole 11 is formed.
Is open. Then, each end of the cable chain 1 is fixed to the movable body and the supply source by a fixing screw (not shown) inserted into the opened engagement hole 11.

Next, an example of use of the cable chain formed as described above will be described.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, the control signal transmitting means 41 is inserted into the opening 17a of the upper plate 17 of each chain unit member 3 while curving in order and accommodated in the cable chain 1 (see FIG. 4). . At this time, while the control signal transmission means 41 accommodated in the cable chain 1 is in a substantially straight line state, the respective opening portions 17 are formed.
Since “a” is continuous in a staggered waveform, it is possible to prevent the control signal transmission means 41 from slipping out of the cable chain 1 and maintain the housed state.

As described above, the cable chain 1 and one end of the control signal transmitting means 41 accommodated therein are attached to the supply source of the control signal means, and the other end is attached to the movable body. When the movable body is reciprocated, as shown in FIG. 5, the cable chain 1 is accommodated while following the reciprocal movement of the movable body and elastically deforming the elastic coupling member 5 to bend each chain unit member 3 together. The control signal transmission means 41 is bent and guided to prevent its damage or wear.

Further, the elastic connecting member 5 of the cable chain 1
Since the chain unit members 3 are prevented from coming into contact with each other and the control signal transmission means 41 accommodated therein is elastically supported, the generation of noise due to the bending can be reduced. In particular, when the control signal means 41 bends, it excessively hits the chain unit member 3 at a corresponding position, but for the above reason, the elastic connecting member 5 buffers excessive abutment to reduce noise generation and damage. can do.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the chain unit members 3 are connected by the elastic connecting members 5 so as to be bendable to form the cable chain 1, the link plate is used as a conventional cable chain. Since it is not necessary to provide a shaft portion, a shaft support portion, and a rotation amount regulation portion, the structure of the chain unit member itself can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.
Further, when the elastic connecting member 5 is integrally formed with each chain unit member 3 by the elastomer resin, the assembling work can be omitted. Further, it is possible to reduce the generation of noise associated with bending and damage to the control signal means 41.

The above description is for a plurality of chain unit members 3
The structure is such that the upper surface of the support plate 7 is entirely covered by the band-shaped elastic connecting member 5 extending over the length of the chain unit members 3, and the chain unit members 3 are connected to each other as shown in FIG. Are formed at the opposite ends of the chain unit members 3 and the elastic connecting members 5 are fixed by the above-described press-fitting method or integral molding method so as to be inserted into the respective recesses 7a to connect the chain unit members 3 to each other. It may be a structure.

Embodiment 2 In FIGS. 7 and 8, a cable chain 61 has a structure in which chain unit members 63 are connected to each other by elastic connecting members 65. The chain unit member 63 is composed of a base portion 67 made of polypropylene, fluorinated resin or the like, and a cover 69 as a closing member for covering the hollow portion of the base portion 67.

The base portion 67 has a substantially U-shaped front surface in which a pair of side plates 73 opposed to the connecting orthogonal direction end portions of the support plate 71 are integrally formed, and a recess 75 is formed at both end portions of the support plate 71 in the connecting direction. Are formed in the connecting orthogonal direction. A plurality of holes 77 are formed in each recess 75 at predetermined intervals in the connecting orthogonal direction. Needless to say, the shape of the base plate 67 is not limited to this.

A shaft 79 as an engaging portion is integrally formed at the center of the outer surface of each side plate 73 so as to project outward, and the upper half of the shaft end surface of each shaft 79 is gradually raised upward. The tapered surface 79a is formed so that the height becomes low.

The cover 69 is integrally formed with a pair of hanging plates 81 that hang down along the outer surface of each side plate 73 and an upper surface plate 83 that connects the hanging plates 81 at the top. Has been done. A taper surface 81a is formed on the inner surface of the lower end portion of each hanging plate 81 so as to substantially coincide with the taper surface 79a of the shaft 79, and a shaft support hole 81b as an engaged portion is formed in the shaft 79 at the center thereof. It is formed to be inserted.

The elastic connecting member 65 is made of an elastic material such as synthetic rubber or elastomer resin, and is a plate-like member having a connecting direction length extending over the respective recesses 75 in the adjacent base portions 67.
A shaft portion 65a is integrally formed on the lower surface of each end portion in the connecting direction so as to engage with the hole 77. As the elastic connecting member 65, a plate-shaped body formed of an elastic material in advance is used by press-fitting or adhering the shaft portion 65a into the holes 77 of the recesses 75 in the adjacent base portions 67 or by adhering the base portion. Alternatively, the base portions 67 may be connected to each other by connecting the base portions 67, or by injecting the elastomer resin into the recesses 75 in the adjacent base portions 67 and filling the holes 77 with each other to fuse them.

When the base portions 67 are connected to each other by using the preformed elastic connecting members 65, the holes 77 are penetrated and the holes 7 in the support plate 71 are formed as shown in FIG.
7, a large diameter portion 71a is formed around the circumference of the shaft portion 7, while the tip portion of the shaft portion 65a is formed in a large-diameter pre-split shape, and the tip large diameter portion of the shaft portion 65a press-fitted into the hole 77 is engaged with 71a. You can do it.

The supporting action of the control signal means by the cable chain 61 configured as described above is the same as that of the cable chain 1 of the first embodiment described above, and the description thereof is omitted.

The above description applies to the adjacent chain unit member 6
The structure in which the support plate 71 in 3 is connected by the elastic connecting member 65 in a state where a part of the top face is exposed, is the same as in the first embodiment. As described above, the elastic connecting member 65 may be attached to connect the chain unit members 63 to each other.

[0036]

Therefore, the present invention can simplify the structure of the chain unit member and reduce the cost. Further, according to the present invention, the attachment work can be performed in a short time by omitting the connecting work between the chain unit members. Further, the present invention provides
It is possible to bend and guide while preventing damage to the control signal transmission means accommodated therein. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the generation of resin powder and the like due to the mutual wear of the chain unit members.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a cable chain.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the outline of a cable chain.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an example of fixing an elastic connecting member.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a mounted state of control signal transmission means.

FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a bent state of the cable chain.

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an example of connecting chain unit members to each other.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing a chain unit member.

FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a connected state of chain unit members.

FIG. 9 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an example of fixing an elastic connecting member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 cable chain 3 chain unit member 5 elastic connecting member 60 cable chain 63 chain unit member 65 elastic connecting member 69 cover as a closing member

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of chain unit members having a support plate integrally formed so as to connect them to each other at a lower portion of a pair of side plates facing each other at a predetermined interval, and an upper opening of each chain unit member is covered. A cable chain comprising a closing member and an elastic connecting member for connecting support plates of adjacent chain unit members in the longitudinal direction. 2. A chain unit member integrally formed with a support plate for connecting the lower parts of a pair of side plates facing each other at a predetermined interval and an upper plate for connecting the upper parts of the side plates, and a chain unit member adjacent to each other. A cable chain comprising an elastic connecting member for connecting the supporting plates in the longitudinal direction. 3. The closure member according to claim 1, wherein the closing member hangs along each side plate, and connects the upper part of the hanging plate and the hanging plate which are engaged with each other with the engaging portion provided on the side plate. A cable chain with a top plate. 4. The elastic connecting member according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the elastic connecting member has an engaging portion which is previously made of synthetic rubber or elastomer resin and which engages with a mounting hole provided in a supporting plate of a chain unit member adjacently provided. Formed cable chain. 5. The elastic connecting member according to claim 4, wherein the elastic connecting member has a width across the end portions of the supporting plates of the adjacent chain unit members, and the bottom surface is provided with an engaging portion for engaging with a mounting hole of the supporting plate. Cable chain. 6. The cable chain according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the elastic connecting member is made by injecting an elastomer resin over the supporting plates of the adjacent chain unit members to fuse them together. 7. The cable chain according to claim 1, wherein the elastic connecting member is made by injecting an elastomer resin onto the upper surfaces of the supporting plates of a plurality of chain unit members adjacent to each other and fusing them together. 8. The elastic connecting member according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the elastic connecting member is provided in a hole provided at an end portion of the supporting plate when the elastomer resin is injected and integrated with the supporting plate of each adjacent chain unit member. A cable chain that is filled and fused.