Patent Application
20250104889
The present patent application claims the priority of Japanese patent application No. 2023-155564 filed on Sep. 21, 2023, and the entire contents thereof are hereby incorporated by reference.
This disclosure relates to a composite cable having a plurality of power lines and a plurality of signal lines, and to a composite harness in which a connector is provided at the end of the composite cable.
Conventionally, for example, in electric brake systems for vehicles, duplication or redundancy of equipment has been considered to improve reliability. Patent Literature 1 discloses an electric brake device in which a motor that applies braking force to the wheel, a first motor drive unit that drives a first set of winding wires of the motor, and a second motor drive unit that drives a second set of winding wires of the motor are provided on the vehicle wheel-side, and a controller that controls the first motor drive unit and the second motor drive unit is provided on the vehicle body-side, wherein the first motor drive unit and the controller are connected by a first communication line, and the second motor drive unit and the controller are connected by a second communication line.
In the electric brake device described in Patent Literature 1, the vehicle wheel-side and the vehicle body-side are connected by the first communication line, the second communication line, and an electric wire that supplies power from the vehicle body-side to the vehicle wheel-side. If these two communication lines and the electric wire are covered together with a sheath and configured as a single cable, the outer diameter of the cable becomes thicker. Here, it is desirable for a cable for the electric brake device to have a thin outer diameter and high flexibility, because a part of the cable in the longitudinal direction is repeatedly bent by the wheel movement against the vehicle body when the vehicle is running. In other words, if the two communication lines and the electric wire for supplying power are configured as a single cable in the electric brake device described in Patent Literature 1, the outer diameter of the cable becomes thicker due to the two communication lines, which may reduce the routability, and the repeated bending may cause the cable to break easily.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a composite cable that enables a reduction in the cable outer diameter while including redundant wires for transmitting control signals to control a device to be controlled, and a composite harness equipped with the composite cable and a connector.
For solving the above problem, one aspect of the present invention provides a composite cable, comprising:
For solving the above problem, another aspect of the present invention provides a composite harness having the composite cable described above and a connector provided at an end of the composite cable.
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a composite cable that enables a reduction in the cable outer diameter while including redundant wires for transmitting control signals to control a device to be controlled, and a composite harness equipped with the composite cable and a connector.
The suspension system 7 is composed of a knuckle 71, an upper arm 72, a lower arm 73, a damper 74, and a suspension spring 75. The upper arm 72 and the lower arm 73 are respectively connected to the knuckle 71 at one end and to the vehicle body 30 at the other end. The hub unit 6 has an outer wheel 61 attached to the knuckle 71, a hub wheel 62 rotatably supported with respect to the outer wheel 61, and a wheel speed sensor 63 that detects the rotation speed of the vehicle wheel 4. The knuckle 71 has a first connecting section 711 to which the upper arm 72 and damper 74 are connected, a second connecting section 712 to which the lower arm 73 is connected, and a mounting section 713 to which the electric brake unit 9 is attached.
The wheel 41 and the brake rotor 5 are fixed to the hub wheel 62 of the hub unit 6 by a plurality of hub bolts 621. The wheel speed sensor 63 detects the rotation speed of the hub wheel 62 relative to the outer wheel 61 as the rotation speed of the vehicle wheel 4 and outputs a detection signal indicating the detection result to the general controller 8 by means of a sensor cable not shown in the drawing. The general controller 8 controls the electric brake unit 9 based on information such as the amount of depressing the brake pedal by the driver of the vehicle 3 and the rotation speed of the vehicle wheel 4 detected by the wheel speed sensor 63. The electric brake unit 9 is a target device of the general controller 8, which is to be controlled by the general controller 8.
The electric brake unit 9, together with the wheels 4, the brake rotor 5, the hub unit 6, and the knuckle 71 moves vertically with respect to the vehicle body 30 as the suspension spring 75 extends and retracts. A part in the longitudinal direction of the composite cable 1 is wired in the air and connects the electric brake unit 9 to the general controller 8.
The reduction gear 95 reduces the rotation of the motor shaft 941 and transmits the torque of the motor 94 to the rotation-linear motion converting mechanism 96. The rotation-linear motion converting mechanism 96 is composed of a ball screw mechanism, for example. When the motor 94 rotates by the current supplied from the inverter 98, the outer brake pad 911 and the inner brake pad 912 are pressed toward the brake rotor 5 by the pressing force corresponding to the torque generated by the motor 94, and the vehicle wheel 4 is braked by the frictional force generated between the outer brake pad 911 and the inner brake pad 912 and the brake rotor 5.
The two power lines 10 consist of one positive power line and one negative power line. These power lines 10 are insulated wires consisting of a center conductor 101 covered with an insulator 102 made of insulating resin. The center conductor 101 is a stranded wire consisting of a plurality of conductor strands 101a twisted together. The voltage supplied to the electric brake unit 9 by the two power lines 10 is, for example, DC 12 V. The control unit 90 of the electric brake unit 9 is equipped with an electric circuit that operates by means of a voltage transformed by a DC-DC converter from the voltage supplied to the electric brake unit 9 by the two power lines 10, and the inverter 98 switches the voltage supplied to the electric brake unit 9 by the two power lines 10, and outputs it to the motor 94.
The two first signal lines 11 are insulated wires each consisting of a center conductor 111 covered with an insulator 112 made of insulating resin. The center conductor 111 is a stranded wire consisting of a plurality of conductor strands 111a twisted together. Similarly, the two second signal lines 12 are insulated wires each consisting of a center conductor 121 covered with an insulator 122 made of insulating resin. The center conductor 121 is a stranded wire consisting of a plurality of conductor strands 121a twisted together. The first signal line 11 and the second signal line 12 have the common specifications such as outer diameter and material.
The two first signal lines 11 are twisted together to form a first twisted signal lines 110. The two second signal lines 12 are twisted together to form a second twisted signal lines 120. In
The filler 13 is a fibrous material such as, for example, aramid or nylon fibers. The sheath 14 is made of a resin such as soft polyurethane with excellent flexibility and durability. The sheath 14 collectively covers the plurality of power lines 10, the plurality of first twisted signal lines 110, the plurality of second twisted signal lines 120, and the filler 13. In the vicinity of the electric brake unit 9, the sheath 14 is removed and the plurality of power lines 10, the plurality of first signal lines 11, and the plurality of second signal lines 12 are exposed from the sheath 14. In
The general controller 8 outputs command signals indicating the magnitude of the braking force to be generated by the electric brake unit 9 to the two first signal lines 11 and the two second signal lines 12. The signals output to the two first signal lines 11 and the signals output to the two second signal lines 12 are identical. The control unit 90 outputs PWM signals to the inverter 98 to control the motor 94 so that a braking force is generated in accordance with these command signals.
The plurality of power lines 10, the first twisted signal lines 110, and the second twisted signal lines 120 are spirally twisted together inside the sheath 14 to form a wire assembly 100. A tape member 15 made of resin such as PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate), for example, is wound around an outer circumference of the wire assembly 100.
In
The first twisted signal lines 110 and the second twisted signal lines 120 are disposed apart so as to sandwich the plurality of power lines 10. In other words, the first twisted signal lines 110, one power line 10, the second twisted signal lines 120, and an other power line 10 are arranged in this order along the circumferential direction of the composite cable 1 with the center axis C of the composite cable 1 as the center. In the present embodiment, the distance between the two power lines 10 is smaller than the outer diameters of the first signal line 11 and the second signal line 12. This prevents the first twisted signal lines 110 and the second twisted signal lines 120 from getting closer through a gap between the two power lines 10.
As shown in
The composite harness 2 has a composite cable 1, a wheel-side connector 21 disposed at one end of the composite cable 1, and a vehicle body-side connector 22 disposed at the other end of the composite cable 1. The wheel-side connector 21 is attached to the electric brake unit 9. The body-side connector 22 is attached to the general controller 8. The plurality of power lines 10, the plurality of first signal lines 11, and the plurality of second signal lines 12 have one end connected to the terminals of the vehicle wheel-side connector 21 and the other end connected to the terminals of the vehicle body-side connector 22.
The mating connector 99 has a connector housing 990 made of insulating resin, and first to sixth terminals 991 to 996 that are respectively connected to the first to sixth terminals 211 to 216 of the vehicle wheel-side connector 21. The first and second terminals 991, 992 of the mating connector 99, which are electrically connected to the first and second terminals 211, 212 of the vehicle wheel-side connector 21 to which the plurality of power lines 10 are connected, are respectively connected to a power pattern and a ground pattern of the substrate of the control unit 90.
In the example shown in
The CPU (central processing unit) of the control unit 90 communicates with the general controller 8 using the first transceiver 901 and the first receiver 902 in normal operation, and when the communication with the general controller 8 is not normal, the first and second switching circuits 905, 906 are switched to communicate with the general controller 8 using the second transceiver 903 and the second receiver 904.
In the composite cable 1A, the maximum outer diameter of signal line section 100A is the combined dimensions of the outer diameters of the two first signal lines 11 and the two second signal lines 12. Then the signal line section 100A is stranded with the two power lines 10, as a result, the outer diameter of the composite cable 1A becomes larger than that of the composite cable 1 according to the first embodiment.
According to the first embodiment described above, the configuration in which the first twisted signal lines 110 and the second twisted signal lines 120 are disposed apart from each other so as to sandwich the plurality of power lines 10, can reduce the outer diameter of the composite cable 1, and therefore, the composite cable 1 can obtain improved routability as well as high flexing durability and wire breakage resistance.
Next, the second embodiment is described with reference to
The first wheel-side connector 23 and the second wheel-side connector 24 are vertically aligned. In the example shown in
Next, the third embodiment will be described with reference to
The composite harness 2B according to the third embodiment has a vehicle wheel-side connector 25 provided at the end of the vehicle wheel 4 side of the composite cable 1, and a sensor cable 26 that extends from the vehicle wheel-side connector 25 to the wheel speed sensor 63 and transmits the detection signals of the wheel speed sensor 63. In the present embodiment, a sensor connector 27, which can be attached to or detached from the wheel speed sensor 63, is provided at the end of the sensor cable 26. However, the sensor cable 26 and the wheel speed sensor 63 may be integrated. In other words, the wheel speed sensor 63 may be integrated into the end of the sensor cable 26.
The sensor cable 26 is composed of a plurality of first sensor signal lines 261, 262 that transmit the detection signals of the wheel speed sensor 63, a plurality of second sensor signal lines 263, 264 for redundancy of the plurality of first sensor signal lines 261, 262, and a sheath 265 that collectively covers the first sensor signal lines 261, 262 and the second sensor signal lines 263, 264. The sensor connector 27 has a connector housing 270 made of molded resin formed by molding and first and second terminals 271, 272 held in the connector housing 270. The number of the first sensor signal lines 261, 262 and the number of the second sensor signal lines 263, 264 are two, respectively.
One first sensor signal line 261 of the first sensor signal lines 261, 262 is connected to the first terminal 271 of the sensor connector 27, and the other first sensor signal line 262 is connected to the second terminal 272 of the sensor connector 27. Also, one second sensor signal line 263 of the second sensor signal lines 263, 264 is connected to the first terminal 271 of the sensor connector 27, and the other second sensor signal line 264 is connected to the second terminal 272 of the sensor connector 27. In other words, the two first sensor signal lines 261, 262 and the two second sensor signal lines 263, 264 are connected in parallel to the first and second terminals 271, 272 of the sensor connector 27.
The wheel speed sensor 63 has a magnetic field detection element 631, a molded body 632 encapsulating (sealing) the magnetic field detection element 631, and electrode terminals 635, 636 connected to the terminals of the magnetic field detection element 631 by electric wires 633, 634. The magnetic field detection element 631 outputs pulse signals with pulse intervals corresponding to the rotation speed as detection signals. The electrode terminals 635, 636 are connected to the first and second terminals 271, 272 of the sensor connector 27, respectively.
The vehicle wheel-side connector 25 has a sensor housing 250 and first to fourth sensor signal line terminals 251 to 254 to which the first sensor signal lines 261, 262 and the second sensor signal lines 263, 264 of the sensor cable 26 are connected respectively. The mating connector 99A of the electric brake unit 9 has a connector housing 990 and first to fourth terminals 991A, 992A, 993A, 994A connected to the first to fourth sensor signal line terminals 251 to 254 of the vehicle wheel-side connector 21, respectively.
In the present embodiment, the control unit 90 of the electric brake unit 9 receives the detection signals of the wheel speed sensor 63 via the sensor connector 27 and the sensor cable 26, and transmits a wheel speed signal indicating the rotation speed of the vehicle wheel 4 based on the received detection signal to the general controller 8 via the composite cable 1. More specifically, the number of pulses of the pulse signals output by the wheel speed sensor 63 as detection signals is counted every predetermined time, and a signal indicating information on the counted number of pulses is transmitted to the general controller 8 as the wheel speed signal.
The control unit 90 transmits the wheel speed signal by the plurality of first signal lines 11 in normal operation, and transmits the wheel speed signal to the general controller 8 by the plurality of second signal lines 12 when the communication with the general controller 8 is not normally performed by the plurality of first signal lines 11. In other words, in normal operation, the plurality of first signal lines 11 transmit wheel speed signals indicating the rotation speed of the vehicle wheel 4 in addition to control signals for controlling the electric brake unit 9. When communication by the plurality of first signal lines 11 cannot be performed normally, the second signal line 12 of the reserve system transmits the control signal for controlling the electric brake unit 9 and the wheel speed signal indicating the rotation speed of vehicle wheel 4.
In addition to the wheel speed signal, the control unit 90 may also transmit to the general controller 8 the detection signals of sensors other than the wheel speed sensor 63. Such sensors include, for example, a current sensor that detects the current supplied to the motor 94 of the electric brake unit 9, a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the motor 94, and a load sensor that detects the pressing force of the piston 93.
In the present embodiment, the sensor cable 26 has the second sensor signal lines 263, 264 for redundancy of the first sensor signal lines 261, 262, so that when the first sensor signal lines 261, 262 are damaged, the control unit 90 can receive the detection signal from the wheel speed sensor 63 via the second sensor signal lines 263, 264. The control unit 90 has a second switching circuit 907, 908 that switches between receiving the detection signals of the wheel speed sensor 63 by the first sensor signal lines 261, 262 and by the second sensor signal lines 263, 264.
According to the third embodiment described above, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, the wheel speed signal indicating the rotation speed of vehicle wheel 4 can be transmitted to the general controller 8 via the composite cable 1. Furthermore, in a case where the first sensor signal lines 261, 262 of the sensor cable 26 are damaged, the control unit 90 can receive the detection signals of the wheel speed sensor 63 via the second sensor signal lines 263, 264.
Next, technical ideas understood from the first to third embodiments explained above will be described with reference to the reference numerals and the like used in the embodiments. However, each reference numeral in the following description does not limit the constituent elements in the scope of claims to the members and the like specifically shown in the embodiments.
The first to third embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but these embodiments do not limit the invention according to the scope of claims. Additionally, it should be noted that not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential to the means for solving problems of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-155564 | Sep 2023 | JP | national |
