JP4832799B2 - Motion transmission device and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a motion transmission device that transmits motion from a driving side to a driven side, and a manufacturing method thereof.

  The motion transmission device includes, for example, a housing portion and a motion transmission member that performs motion transmission in a state of being housed in the inner periphery of the housing portion, and includes a large number of vehicles, industrial equipment, precision equipment, medical devices, and the like. Used in the field. Specifically, as a control cable (wire guide device) used as a power transmission component in automobiles, various industrial machines, and conveyance systems, as a connecting device that transmits rotational power on the driving side to the driven side, or endoscope It is widely used as a tip operation device for (fiberscope).

For example, the control cable includes an inner cable that transmits power or displacement from one end to the other end, and a metal wire that is inserted into the inner circumference and wound in a coil shape in close contact with the axial direction. There is known one (see, for example, Patent Document 1) provided with an outer casing in which a metal pipe is disposed on the inner periphery. In addition, for the purpose of improving the slidability, there has been known one provided with an outer casing in which a resin liner containing a lubricating component is disposed on the inner periphery (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP-A-5-312209 JP 2003-4021 A

  This type of motion transmission device is required to have high sliding characteristics (familiarity and wear resistance) between the motion transmission member and the housing portion that houses the motion transmission member on the inner periphery. In particular, when used for power transmission as in the control cable, a high power transmission characteristic is required due to its characteristics. Therefore, the outer casing constituting the cable has a higher sliding characteristic ( Low friction coefficient and high wear resistance) are required. Also, in order to transmit power while maintaining a good sliding state with the motion transmission member, or to increase the degree of freedom of deformation of the cable and expand its application field, the outer casing itself has a corresponding flexibility. Sex is required.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a motion transmission device that exhibits good sliding characteristics and is highly flexible.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a motion transmission device that transmits the motion on the driving side to the driven side, and the outer shell portion having flexibility and the inner periphery of the outer shell portion are intermittently provided in the tube axis direction. a plurality of electroformed part provided, possess a inserted movement transmission member on the inner periphery of the plurality of electroformed parts, deposition starting of the inner peripheral surface of a plurality of electroformed part is to both master surface Provided is a motion transmission device which is formed by a surface on the side, and a sliding surface with the motion transmission member is formed on the surface on the deposition start side .

  As described above, the motion transmission device according to the present invention enables sliding motion between the electroformed part formed by electroforming and the motion transmitting member inserted in the inner periphery of the electroformed part. It is characterized by. In general, electroforming is performed by depositing metal on the surface of the master, which is the molding base, and the surface on the deposition side, in this case, the inner peripheral surface of the electroformed part, is formed in a shape that follows the master surface. Is done. Therefore, by finishing the master surface with high accuracy, the master surface is transferred with high accuracy to the inner peripheral surface of the electroformed part. Thereby, the inner peripheral surface of the electroformed part with improved surface accuracy is obtained, and a motion transmission device with improved sliding characteristics between the inner peripheral surface and the motion transmission member can be obtained.

  The motion transmission device according to the present invention includes a flexible outer shell portion and a plurality of electroformed portions provided intermittently in the tube axis direction on the inner periphery of the outer shell portion. And Therefore, for example, when a force in the bending direction is applied to the motion transmission member, the flexible outer shell portion is greatly deformed (bent) following the motion transmission member at a location where the electroformed portion is interrupted, and as a result, The entire motion transmission device can be bent greatly. As this type of outer shell, for example, a resin or rubber pipe material can be used.

  Since these electroformed parts are formed by electroforming as described above, it is easy to form them thinly, and the inner diameter is complicated by reducing the master shaft diameter. It is possible to easily reduce the diameter without requiring a complicated processing step or a change in equipment related to this. Therefore, it is possible to easily and cost-effectively reduce the size of the motion transmission device having high surface accuracy and high flexibility.

Further, in order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention intermittently performs insulating masking on the outer peripheral surface of the master shaft in the axial direction when manufacturing a motion transmission device that transmits the motion on the driving side to the driven side. Electroforming is performed above, thereby forming a plurality of electroformed parts on the master shaft, and fixing the outer shell part having flexibility to the outer periphery of the plurality of electroformed parts formed by precipitation , Thereafter, a master shaft is separated from the electroformed part, and a motion transmitting member is inserted into the inner periphery of the electroformed part.

  According to this method, by appropriately managing the area to be masked in advance, the electroformed parts deposited and formed in the non-masking area on the outer peripheral surface of the master shaft can be arranged at appropriate intervals. Moreover, since these several electroformed parts can be simultaneously formed on a master axis | shaft by one electroforming process, formation of this electroformed part can be performed efficiently. Further, according to this method, since the plurality of electroformed parts are formed by the same electroforming process, the variation in the radial thickness for each of the electroformed parts formed apart from each other in the axial direction is suppressed. Can be made uniform.

  In addition, in this type of electroforming, the inner peripheral surface of the electroformed part, which is a sliding surface with the motion transmission member, can be formed with a high precision finish. Compared with the case where the finishing process is performed in separate steps, the cost can be reduced.

  As a means for fixing the outer shell part to the electroformed part, for example, a method by adhesion is conceivable. However, with this method, it is difficult to apply the adhesive to the electroformed part without excess or deficiency. In addition, since the adhesive enters the region between the adjacent electroformed parts, the adhesive may adhere to unnecessary portions (for example, the outer peripheral surface of the master shaft), which may adversely affect the pulling out of the master shaft. . On the other hand, in the present invention, after inserting the master shaft having an electroformed part having an outer diameter larger than the inner diameter of the outer shell part into the inner periphery of the outer shell part while the outer shell part is heated, A method of fixing the outer shell part to the outer periphery of the electroformed part by cooling the shell part was adopted. According to such a method, since an adhesive is not required, the above-described problems can be solved and the outer shell portion can be reliably and easily fixed to the outer periphery of the electroformed portion.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a motion transmission device that exhibits good sliding characteristics and is highly flexible.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view including a shaft of a motion transmission device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the motion transmission device 1 includes a housing portion 2 and a motion transmission member 3 inserted into the inner periphery of the housing portion 2. Among these, the accommodating portion 2 includes an outer shell portion 4 and a plurality of electroformed portions 5 fixed to the inner periphery of the outer shell portion 4. In this illustrated example, the plurality of electroformed portions 5 are intermittently arranged in a state of being spaced apart at equal intervals in the axial direction. The inner peripheral surface of the electroformed part 5 is a sliding surface 5a that can slide between the outer peripheral surface 3a of the motion transmitting member 3 inserted in the inner periphery of the housing part 2. In the figure, the radial dimension of the electroformed part 5 is exaggerated compared to the radial dimension of the motion transmitting member 3 in order to clarify the arrangement position in the axial direction of the electroformed part 5 constituting the housing part 2. I draw.

  Hereinafter, an example of the manufacturing process of the motion transmission device 1 will be described focusing on the manufacturing process of the housing portion 2.

  The housing portion 2 includes a step of masking the outer surface of the master shaft 6 used in electroforming with an insulating material, a step of electroforming the outer peripheral surface 6a of the master shaft 6, and an outer periphery of the master shaft 6 by electroforming. The outer shell part 4 is fixed to the outer periphery of the electroformed part 5 formed in the above, and the process of separating the master shaft 6 from the electroformed part 5 is sequentially manufactured.

  The master shaft 6 serving as a molding base of the electroformed part 5 is formed of, for example, stainless steel in a circular cross-sectional outline and a uniform diameter in the axial direction. The material of the master shaft 6 can be arbitrarily selected regardless of metal or non-metal as long as it has masking property, conductivity and chemical resistance, such as chromium alloy and nickel alloy, in addition to stainless steel. It is.

  The master shaft 6 may be a solid shaft in which a hollow shaft or a hollow portion is filled with resin in addition to the peeled shaft (solid shaft). Moreover, since the outer peripheral surface accuracy (surface roughness, cylindricity, coaxiality, etc.) of the master shaft 6 directly affects the surface accuracy of the inner peripheral surface of the electroformed part 5 that becomes the sliding surface 5a with the motion transmission member 3. It is desirable to finish with as high accuracy as possible.

  As shown in FIG. 2, masking is performed on the outer surface of the master shaft 6 except for a region where the electroformed part 5 is to be formed (a dotted area in FIG. 2). In this case, the masking portion 7 is formed in a region of the outer peripheral surface 6 a of the master shaft 6 excluding a region where the electroformed portion 5 is to be formed. As the covering material for forming the masking portion 7, a material having insulating properties and corrosion resistance against the electrolyte solution is selectively used.

  In electroforming, the master shaft 6 is immersed in an electrolyte solution containing metal ions such as Ni and Cu, and the target metal is removed from the outer peripheral surface 6a of the master shaft 6 by energizing the electrolyte solution. This is performed by electrolytic deposition in a region (exposed region of the outer peripheral surface 6a). The kind of the deposited metal contained in the electrolyte solution has the required characteristics such as hardness required for the sliding surface, or a friction coefficient (familiarity) with respect to the outer peripheral surface 3a of the motion transmission member 3 as a sliding counterpart. It is selected as appropriate. In addition, the electrolyte solution may contain a fluorine-based material, a sliding material such as carbon, or a stress relaxation material such as saccharin as necessary for the purpose of further improving the slidability with respect to the motion transmission member 3. Is possible.

  Through the above steps, as shown in FIG. 3, an electroformed shaft 8 in which a plurality of electroformed portions 5 having a cylindrical shape are formed intermittently in the axial direction in a region other than the masking portion 7 on the outer periphery of the master shaft 6. Is produced. At this stage, the electroformed shaft 8 has a form in which the masking portions 7 and the electroformed portions 5 are alternately formed in the axial direction on the outer peripheral surface 6a of the master shaft 6 as shown in FIG. If the thickness of the electroformed part 5 is too thin, the inner peripheral surface (sliding surface 5a) may be reduced in durability, and if it is too thick, the peelability from the master shaft 6 may be reduced. The optimum thickness is set in accordance with the required characteristics, and further, for example, the use, for example, in the range of 10 μm to 200 μm.

  The electroformed shaft 8 manufactured through the above steps is fixed to the inner periphery of the outer shell portion 4 by, for example, the following method. The insulating masking portion 7 formed on the outer peripheral surface 6a of the master shaft 6 is removed before the outer shell portion 4 is fixed, but is not particularly removed because it does not adversely affect the separation of the master shaft 6 described later. If there is no need for this, the removal step of the masking portion 7 can be omitted.

  FIG. 4 conceptually shows the process of fixing the electroformed shaft 8 having the electroformed part 5 to the inner periphery of the outer shell part 4. In this embodiment, the electroformed part 5 is formed on the outer periphery. After the cast shaft 8 is inserted into the inner periphery of the outer shell portion 4 with the outer shell portion 4 being heated, the outer shell portion 4 is cooled to the state before heating so that the outer shell is formed on the outer periphery of the electroformed portion 5. The part 4 is fixed. The outer shell portion 4 that forms the outer periphery of the housing portion 2 is formed of a flexible material. In this embodiment, the outer shell portion 4 is supplied as a pipe material made of resin or rubber. This pipe material is formed, for example, by continuous molding such as extrusion or drawing using the flexible material as a raw material. Before heating (at normal temperature), the inner diameter D1 of the outer shell portion 4 having a pipe shape is slightly smaller than the outer diameter D2 of the electroformed portion 5 formed on the outer periphery of the electroformed shaft 8.

  By heating the outer shell portion 4 from the above state, the inner diameter D1 of the outer shell portion 4 is expanded to D3 (broken line portion in FIG. 4). At this time, the amount of heating to the outer shell portion 4 is such that the inner diameter D3 of the outer shell portion 4 after the diameter expansion is the outer diameter of the electroformed portion 5 formed on the master shaft 6 (the outer diameter of the electroformed shaft 8). It is set to be larger than D2. Then, the electroformed shaft 8 is inserted into the inner periphery of the outer shell 4 while maintaining this state (a state where the inner diameter D1 of the outer shell 4 is expanded to D3).

  Then, in a state where the electroformed shaft 8 is arranged at a predetermined position in the axial direction of the inner periphery of the outer shell portion 4, heating to the outer shell portion 4 is stopped and the natural cooling is performed, or the outer shell is forcedly cooled. The part 4 is returned to the state before heating. Thereby, the inner peripheral surface of the outer shell portion 4 is reduced in diameter from the state of the inner diameter D3 toward the state of the inner diameter D1. At this time, since the inner diameter D1 of the outer shell portion 4 at normal temperature is smaller than the outer diameter D2 of the electroformed portion 5, this difference in diameter {D2-D1} acts as a kind of interference, Thus, the electroformed part 5 is fixed to the inner periphery of the outer shell part 4.

  In the above method, the case where the electroformed shaft 8 is inserted and fixed to the inner periphery by heating and cooling only the outer shell portion 4 has been described. However, depending on the heating method, the outer shell portion 4 and the electroformed shaft 8 The electroformed shaft 8 may be inserted and fixed by heating and cooling both. In any case, since it is necessary that the electroformed shaft 8 can be inserted into the inner periphery of the outer shell portion 4 after the diameter expansion, this point is taken into account in addition to flexibility. The material of the portion 4, the inner diameter and thickness, or the ratio of the thickness to the inner diameter may be set.

  After the master shaft 6, the electroformed part 5, and the outer shell part 4 are integrally formed by the above process, the master shaft 6 is separated from the integrally formed product.

  By the way, in the electroformed part 5 formed on the outer peripheral surface 6a of the master shaft 6 by the above electroforming process, the inner peripheral surface of the electroformed part 5 is prevented from being displaced in the direction of peeling from the master shaft 6 (inner diameter direction). ) Internal stress (residual stress) often occurs. This residual stress is achieved by eliminating the contact state between the inner peripheral surface (sliding surface 5 a) of the electroformed part 5 and the outer peripheral surface 6 a of the master shaft 6 by giving an impact to the electroformed shaft 8, for example. To be released. As the stress is released, the inner peripheral surface of the electroformed part 5 is enlarged, and a radial gap is formed between the inner peripheral surface and the outer peripheral surface 6 a of the master shaft 6.

  In the separation step, the electroformed part 5 and the master shaft 6 are separated using the above-described principle. Specifically, an impact is applied to the electroformed shaft 8 or the electroformed part 5 and the outer shell part 4 to expand the inner peripheral surface of the electroformed part 5 in the radial direction, and the outer peripheral surface 6 a of the master shaft 6. A minute gap is formed between them. Then, the master shaft 6 is pulled out from the inner periphery of the electroformed part 5 through the minute gap. Thereby, the accommodating part 2 as a finished product is obtained.

  The motion transmission device 1 shown in FIG. 1 is completed by inserting the motion transmission member 3 separate from the extracted master shaft 6 into the inner periphery of the housing portion 2 formed as described above. At this time, the motion transmitting member 3 to be inserted into the inner periphery of the accommodating portion 2 is considered to slide with the sliding surface 5a provided on the inner periphery of the accommodating portion 2, or bend and bend together with the accommodating portion 2. In addition, a material having flexibility and a diameter slightly smaller than the sliding surface 5a (the inner peripheral surface of the electroformed portion 5) on the inner periphery of the accommodating portion 2 is preferably used.

  As described above, the flexible outer shell portion 4 is provided, and a plurality of electroformed portions 5 are provided intermittently in the tube axis direction on the inner periphery of the outer shell portion 4. By using the accommodating portion 2 formed with the sliding surface 5a between the motion transmitting member 3, a force in the bending direction is applied to the motion transmitting member 3 or the sliding body, for example, as shown in FIG. In this case, the accommodating portion 2 bends particularly greatly in the region between the electroformed portions 5, that is, in the axial direction region constituted only by the outer shell portion 4. Therefore, if it is the motion transmission apparatus 1 provided with this accommodating part 2, the sliding formed in the inner periphery of the electroformed part 5 maintains the state bent largely as the whole motion transmission apparatus 1 at the time of motion transmission. A good sliding state can be obtained between the surface 5 a and the outer peripheral surface 3 a of the motion transmitting member 3.

  Further, in the case of the accommodating portion 2 formed by the above method, for example, the sliding surface 5a (electroforming) having an easily reduced inner diameter can be obtained simply by reducing the size (outer diameter) of the master shaft 6 used for electroforming. Part 5) can be obtained with high accuracy. Therefore, at least electroforming can be handled with existing equipment, and as a result, an increase in cost associated with a reduction in the size of the accommodating portion 2 can be suppressed as much as possible.

  In the flexibility (flexibility) test of the motion transmission device conducted by the present inventors, an electroformed part having a thickness of 20 μm and an axial width of 2 mm was formed on a φ0.3 mm master shaft. The maximum bending of the motion transmission device, in which a motion transmission member of 0.25 mm is inserted into the inner periphery of the housing part formed of silicon rubber on the outer periphery of the part and fixed with a pipe material having an inner diameter of 0.3 mm and an outer diameter of 1.5 mm The amount was R = 15 mm.

  As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of the accommodating part 2 which concerns on this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It is also possible to take another structure.

  In the said embodiment, although the motion transmission apparatus 1 which accommodated one motion transmission member 3 in the inner periphery of the accommodating part 2 was demonstrated, it is not restricted to this, The structure which can accommodate two or more motion transmission members 3 Can also be taken. For example, FIG. 6 shows an axis orthogonal cross section of a motion transmission device 11 including two motion transmission members 3 and a housing portion 12 in which these motion transmission members 3 are inserted in the inner periphery. In this case, the electroforming for forming the electroformed part 9 having the sliding surface 9a with each motion transmission member 3 is formed by intermittently forming the insulating masking part 7, for example, as shown in FIG. The number of master shafts 6 (two in the illustrated example) corresponding to the motion transmitting members 3 to be inserted is arranged in parallel. Thereby, the electroformed part 9 shown in FIG. 6 is formed around the master shaft 6 in which a plurality of them are arranged in parallel. In addition, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted, at the time of electroforming, the several master shaft 6 can also be arrange | positioned in the state which mutually twisted the master shaft 6 other than arranging in parallel as mentioned above. Moreover, it is possible to ensure a sufficient electroformed part thickness around each motion transmission member 3 by performing electroforming with the master shafts 6 arranged adjacent to each other being separated by a predetermined distance in the radial direction. It becomes.

  Further, the shape of the insertion hole of the motion transmitting member 3 formed on the inner peripheral surface of the electroformed part 5 greatly depends on the outer peripheral surface shape, particularly the cross-sectional shape, of the master shaft 6 used for electroforming. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the one having a perfect cross-sectional shape and a uniform diameter in the axial direction is used, but other cross-sectional shapes (for example, ellipses) are used in accordance with the cross-sectional shape of the motion transmission member 3 to be inserted. A master axis can be used.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, as shown, for example in FIG. 1, the axial width of the electroformed part 5 and the axial interval between the electroformed parts 5 are drawn substantially equal, but of course, it is not limited to this and is necessary. The axial width of the electroformed part 5 can be made different from the axial distance between the electroformed parts 5 according to the flexibility (bending amount) of the accommodating part 2.

  In the above embodiment, the thickness of the electroformed part 5 is defined from the viewpoint of durability of the sliding surface 5a or releasability from the master shaft 6, but the flexibility (flexibility) of the entire accommodating part 2 is defined. From the viewpoint of ensuring or from the viewpoint of minimizing fatigue damage of the electroformed part 5 due to repeated bending, the proportion of the electroformed part 5 can also be specified. For example, the ratio of the thickness to the inner diameter of the electroformed part 5 is preferably set in the range of 0.02 to 0.30.

  Since the motion transmission device 1 according to the present invention has excellent sliding characteristics and flexibility between the housing portion 2 and the motion transmission member 3, it can be widely applied to various fields. For example, as a control cable (wire guide device) used as a power transmission component in automobiles, various industrial machines, and conveyance systems, as a connecting device that transmits rotational power on the driving side to the driven side, or an endoscope It can be suitably used as a tip operating device for (fiberscope).

It is a shaft-containing sectional view of a motion transmission device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the master axis | shaft which formed the insulating masking part in the outer surface. It is a perspective view of the electroformed shaft which formed the electroformed part in the outer periphery. It is a figure which shows notionally the process of inserting and fixing an electroformed shaft to the inner periphery of an outer shell part. It is a figure which shows notionally an example of the usage condition of a motion transmission apparatus. It is an axis orthogonal sectional view showing other examples of composition of a motion transmission device concerning the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 11 Motion transmission apparatus 2, 12 Housing | casing part 3 Motion transmission member 3a Outer peripheral surface 4 Outer shell part 5, 9 Electroformed part 5a, 9a Sliding surface 6 Master shaft 6a Outer surface 7 Masking part 8 Master shaft 8a Outer surface 8 Electroformed shaft D1 Inner diameter of outer shell (at room temperature)
D2 Electroformed part outer diameter D3 Outer shell inner diameter (when heated)

Claims (4)

In the motion transmission device that transmits the movement on the driving side to the driven side,
A flexible outer shell, a plurality of electroformed parts intermittently provided in the tube axis direction on the inner periphery of the outer shell, and motion transmission inserted into the inner periphery of the plurality of electroformed parts have a and the member,
The inner peripheral surface of the plurality of electroformed parts is formed by the surface on the deposition start side on the master surface, and the surface of the deposition start side forms a sliding surface with the motion transmission member. apparatus.   The motion transmission device according to claim 1, wherein the outer shell is a pipe material made of resin or rubber. When manufacturing a motion transmission device that transmits the motion on the driving side to the driven side,
The outer peripheral surface of the master shaft is intermittently subjected to insulating masking in the axial direction, and then electroformed, thereby forming a plurality of electroformed portions on the master shaft, and a plurality of these formed precipitates . A motion characterized by fixing a flexible outer shell portion to the outer periphery of the electroformed portion, then separating the master shaft from the electroformed portion, and inserting a motion transmitting member on the inner periphery of the electroformed portion. A method of manufacturing a transmission device.   A master shaft having an electroformed part having an outer diameter larger than the inner diameter of the outer shell part is inserted into the inner periphery of the outer shell part while the outer shell part is heated, and then the outer shell part is cooled to perform electroforming. The method for manufacturing a motion transmission device according to claim 3, wherein the outer shell part is fixed to the outer periphery of the part.

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