DE102022110739B3 - PALLET FOR A WIRE HARNESS MACHINE AND METHOD OF MAKING A WIRE HARNESS - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a pallet (100) for an automatic cable harness, wherein on the pallet (100) there are at least two housing adapters (104) for receiving plug housings (108) of a cable harness (102) and a test circuit (106) with at least one electrical Test circuit (116) are arranged, the test circuit (116) running via at least one contact (114) per housing adapter (104), the test circuit (116) being closed when the at least two contacts (114) are inserted into the plug housing via at least one (104) properly inserted line (110) of the line set (102) are connected in an electrically conductive manner, the test circuit (106) being designed to measure the test circuit (116) and to signal a status of the test circuit (116), the test circuit ( 116) runs via contact pairs (120) consisting of two contacts (114) per housing adapter (104), the contacts (114) of one of the contact pairs (120) being connected to one another in an electrically conductive manner and the test circuit (106) being connected to the contact pair (120). of the other housing adapter (104), the test circuit (116) being closed when the contact pairs (120) are connected in an electrically conductive manner via two lines (110) of the line set (102) which are plugged into the plug housing (108) as intended.

Description

technical field

The present invention relates to a pallet for an automatic wiring harness and a method for producing a wiring harness using such a pallet.

State of the art

The present invention will be described in the following mainly in connection with electrical wiring harnesses for vehicles.

A wiring harness can be produced by automatically cutting electrical wires to length, stripping their ends and providing contact parts, and pushing the contact parts into slots in connector housings until they snap into place. These steps can, for example, be carried out fully automatically by a wiring harness machine. One pallet can be used for each line set. The connector housings can be positioned by housing adapters on the pallet in such a way that the contact parts can be pushed into the intended slots in a working area of the cable harness machine using a gripper in a coordinate-controlled manner. The housing adapters can be fitted with the connector housings before the pallet is moved into the work area. The intended engagement of the contact parts can be monitored by a force-displacement detection when plugging. After the contact parts have been pushed in and locked in place, the pallet with the cable set that has just been produced can be removed from the work area and replaced with another pre-assembled pallet. While the next cables in the work area are being connected to the connector housings, the cable set that has just been produced can be removed from the pallet and the housing adapters of the pallet that has become free can again be fitted with connector housings.

The pamphlet U.S.A. 4,951,385 describes an electrical wire harness assembly device having a wiring board on which computer controlled, lighted connector modules are mounted. The wiring interface includes wiring guides to show the configuration of the wire harness. The module is detachable and directly connected to the computer control. A row of lights is attached to each module to indicate to the installer where in the harness connector the wire termination should be made. In response to the assembly of a wire harness, a central controller automatically scans the wire harnesses to test the wire harness.

The pamphlet DE 10 2007 024 476 A1 relates to a wiring harness production system consisting of an electronic controller and at least one laying plate on which several assembly stations are attached, each of which carries either a receptacle for a functional element directly connected to at least one cable of the wiring harness or as a cable laying aid, e.g. B. as a fork, wherein in at least one assembly station at least one electronic transmitter with a test sensor is integrated, which can be activated by the assembly of a functional element or by inserting a cable into the cable laying aid, wherein a test message can be sent as an electric wave and can be received and evaluated by the controller.

The pamphlet DE 87 13 233 U1 relates to a device for assembling and testing cable harnesses from individual cables or partial strands, the ends of which are each connected to a plug, comprising a carrier for a plurality of test probes, each of which has a plug receptacle with at least one contact pin intended for contact with a plug contact element and a holding device for exhibit temporary retention of a connector in the connector receptacle.

Description of the invention

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved pallet for a wiring harness machine and an improved method for producing a wiring harness using means that are as simple as possible in terms of construction. An improvement here can relate, for example, to an electrical functional test of the wiring harness during manufacture.

The object is solved by the subject matter of the independent claims. Advantageous developments of the invention are specified in the dependent claims, the description and the accompanying figures.

In the approach presented here, at least one circuit is provided on a pallet for an automatic wiring harness, which is closed by a cable that is plugged into two slots of connector housings as intended. Alternatively, the circuit can also be closed if the lead is plugged into an incorrect slot. The circuit is part of an electrical circuit. The circuit senses and signals a condition of the circuit to a monitoring device.

The approach presented here can be used directly when equipping plug housings of a wiring harness with electrical lines a continuity test and/or resistance measurement is carried out. It is also possible to test lines that are manually pre-assembled for technical reasons, for example. A downstream continuity test and/or resistance measurement in a separate test station can thus be dispensed with. If an incorrectly inserted cable is detected, this can be corrected immediately or the pallet with the affected cable set can be transferred to a designated station for reworking.

In particular, the individual cores of a multi-core cable can be plugged into the connector housing with protection against polarity reversal. If a wire is inserted into the wrong slot, this can be detected directly. The incorrectly inserted wire can be pulled out again automatically and inserted into another slot. If there are more than two possible slots, the correct slot can be searched for step by step.

According to a first aspect of the invention, a pallet for a wiring harness machine is presented, with at least two housing adapters for receiving plug housings of a wiring harness and a test circuit with at least one electrical test circuit being arranged on the pallet, with the test circuit running via at least one contact per housing adapter, with the test circuit is closed when the at least two contacts are connected in an electrically conductive manner via at least one line of the line harness plugged into the plug housing as intended, the test circuit being designed to measure the test circuit and to signal a status of the test circuit. The test circuit runs via contact pairs consisting of two contacts per housing adapter. The contacts of one of the contact pairs are connected to one another in an electrically conductive manner. The test circuit is connected to the contact pair of the other housing adapter. The test circuit is closed when the contact pairs are electrically connected via two cables of the cable set that are plugged into the connector housing.

With a test circuit over more than two contacts, several lines can be tested using this test circuit. With four contacts, one line can be designated as the outgoing line and the other line as the return line.

According to a second aspect of the invention, a method for producing a wiring harness using a pallet according to the first aspect of the invention is presented, the housing adapters being fitted with connector housings of the wiring harness and a first contact part of at least one cable of the wiring harness being inserted into a slot in one of the connector housings and a second contact part of the line is plugged into a slot of another connector housing, with the contact parts being electrically contacted when plugged in as intended through the contacts of the housing adapter and the test circuit being measured, with a status of the test circuit being mapped in a status signal.

A set of lines can include several lines. The lines can run between at least two connector housings. The wiring harness can also have branches to other connector housings. The connector housing can have slots for contact parts of the lines. The contact parts can be electrically conductively connected to stripped ends of the lines. The contact parts can snap into the slots if they are pushed deep enough into the slots. A contact part can be part of an electrically conductive plug connection.

A wiring harness can essentially be produced fully automatically by a wiring harness machine. The lines can be provided on at least one supply roll as an endless material. The cables can be unwound from the supply reel and cut to a predefined length. The ends of the cables can then be stripped. The contact parts can be attached to the now stripped ends. The lines of a line set can be manufactured one after the other and stored.

For technical reasons, certain lines cannot be plugged in fully automatically. For example, the lines can be too short to be able to insert the contact parts one after the other from a gripper into the intended slots. Such lines can be manually preloaded or manually postloaded. Likewise, only one of the contact parts can be inserted by the gripper, while the second contact part is subsequently inserted manually.

A contact part can be a stamped and bent part that is connected to a stripped end of a line by a connection technique such as welding or crimping. The contact part can be female or male. The contact part can have at least one latching element which, when pushed into its slot, latches into a counterpart of the slot and thus prevents the contact part from being pulled back or being pushed back at least until a desired force is reached.

The cable set can be put together on a pallet of the automatic power set. The pallet can have several receptacles for the connector housing. A recording can be referred to as a housing adapter. The recording can at least partially depict a contour of the connector housing as a negative form. The housing adapters can align the connector housings relative to the pallet so that all contact parts of the cables can be pushed into the slots of the connector housing from a common insertion direction. The housing adapter can have at least one electrically conductive contact. The contact can be arranged opposite a slot of the plug housing in the plug-in direction. The contact can establish an electrically conductive connection to a contact part inserted into the slot.

A test circuit can be connected to at least two contacts on the pallet. The contacts can be arranged in a common circuit. The circuit can be called a test circuit. The test circuit can apply an electrical potential between the at least two contacts. The electrical potential can be referred to as an electrical signal. For this purpose, the test circuit can have its own energy source on the pallet. The energy source can be a battery or a capacitor, for example. As an alternative, the test circuit can be supplied with electrical energy by the automatic cable harness. The test circuit can map a status of the test circuit in a status signal. The status signal can be provided via a data line for the wiring harness machine. Alternatively, the status signal can be provided wirelessly. The test circuit can monitor and provide the status both during automated assembly of the pallet in the wiring harness machine and during manual pre-assembly or post-assembly.

An electrical continuity and/or an electrical resistance of the test circuit can be mapped in the status signal as the status. The test circuit can perform a continuity test of the test circuit. The test circuit can detect whether the test circuit is electrically continuous or not. The test circuit can map a result of the continuity test in the status signal. Alternatively or additionally, the test circuit can measure an electrical resistance of the line and/or an electrical capacitance of the line and map it in the status signal. The wiring harness can be documented as correct if the status signal indicates that the test circuit is continuous and/or an electrical resistance of the test circuit is within a tolerance range. The line set may have an identification number. Documentation can be created for each line set. Manufacturing parameters and material parameters can be stored in the documentation. For example, the origin of individual parts of the wiring harness can be documented. A functional test can also be documented in the documentation. The electrical continuity test or resistance measurement can be referred to as a functional test. Forces and/or distances when inserting the contact parts into the slots can also be documented in the documentation. In the documentation, automated processes and manual processes can be documented using the approach presented here.

A diode can be connected between the electrically conductively connected pair of contacts. The test circuit can then be closed when the contact parts of two lines are plugged into the slots with the correct polarity. The slots on one of the connector housings can be swapped if the status signal indicates that the test circuit is interrupted. A diode can only allow current to flow in one direction. In this way, the outgoing line and the return line between the contacts can be distinguished, i.e. which line is electrically conductively connected to which contact. The two lines can be distinguished by the clear current direction. Errors can be detected and corrected automatically. The two lines can in particular be twisted. Twisted lines can be a twisted pair data line, for example. The twisted pairs can run within a common sheath. The twisted wires can also be shielded. The twisted wires can be distinguished by color coding. With the approach presented here, twisted cables can also be plugged into the connector housing fully automatically.

The test circuit can be arranged on one of the housing adapters and can be connected directly to the at least one contact of the housing adapter. An adjacent arrangement can reduce the amount of wiring. With contact pairs in the housing adapters in particular, two lines per test circuit can be checked with little wiring effort.

The test circuit can be connected to the at least one contact of at least one remote housing adapter via at least one line bridge. A single line per test circuit can be checked between two connector housings via a line jumper. The pallet can have its own cable jumper for each cable in the cable set. Each line can be tested with its own test circuit.

The jumper can run across a back of the pallet. The cable bridge can be easily laid on the back. Pallet cabling is easily serviced at the rear because the case adapters are out of the way.

The contacts of the housing adapters can be spring loaded. The spring-loaded contacts can be referred to as spring contacts. The contacts can protrude into the unused slots in the connector housing. When inserting the contact part, the contacts can be pushed back against an increasing spring force. A secure electrical connection can be achieved by the spring force. Furthermore, the electrical connection can already be achieved before the contact part snaps into place. In this way, an incorrectly plugged-in contact part can easily be withdrawn and plugged into another slot.

The test circuit can have a radio module for signaling the status. Alternatively, the status can also be signaled optically, acoustically or via a direct electrical connection. A radio module can also signal the status without line of sight or electrical contact to the pallet.

Brief character description

• 1 eine Darstellung einer Palette gemäß einem Ausführungsbeispiel; und
• 2 eine Darstellung einer Prüfschaltung mit einem Prüfkreis gemäß einem Ausführungsbeispiel.

An advantageous exemplary embodiment of the invention is explained below with reference to the accompanying figures. Show it:

• 1 a representation of a pallet according to an embodiment; and
• 2 a representation of a test circuit with a test circuit according to an embodiment.

The figures are schematic representations and only serve to explain the invention. Elements that are the same or have the same effect are provided with the same reference symbols throughout.

Detailed description

1 10 shows an illustration of a pallet 100 according to an exemplary embodiment. The pallet can be used in a wiring harness machine for the automated production of a wiring harness 102 . The pallet 100 can also be preloaded and/or reloaded manually. Two housing adapters 104 and a test circuit 106 are arranged on the pallet 100 here. The test circuit 106 is arranged here directly next to one of the housing adapters 104 on the pallet 100 . The other housing adapter 104 is arranged on the pallet 100 at a distance from the test circuit 106 .

The line set 102 consists of at least two plug housings 108 and lines 110 running between the plug housings 108. The lines 110 have contact parts 112 at both ends. The contact parts 112 are inserted into slots in the connector housing 108 and locked in the slots.

The housing adapters 104 are receptacles for the plug housings 108 of the wiring harness 102. The housing adapters 104 are preloaded with empty plug housings 108 and then the pallet 100 is automatically populated with the wiring 110 in the wiring harness machine. If necessary, lines 110 that cannot be fitted automatically can be pre-fitted or retrofitted.

The line harness machine equips the connector housing 108 with pre-assembled lines 110. The lines 110 are cut to a predetermined length, the ends of the lines 110 are stripped and one contact part 112 is connected to the line 110 at each end. Using a gripper, the line harness machine inserts the contact parts 112 of a line 110 into one slot per connector housing 108 until they engage in the connector housing 108 . A path and/or a force during insertion can be monitored. The inserted lines 110 then run between the connector housings 108.

In the approach presented here, contacts 114 are arranged in the housing adapters 104 . A contact 114 makes contact with a contact part 112 of a line 110 when the contact part 112 is automatically or manually inserted into a slot. At least two of the contacts 114 are arranged in an electrical test circuit 116 of the test circuit 106 . The test circuit 116 is closed when the contact parts 112 of at least one line 110 are plugged into the intended slots. If the contact parts 112 are plugged into the wrong slots, the test circuit 116 remains open. The test circuit applies an electrical potential to the contacts 114 and registers a current flow when the test circuit 116 is closed. The test circuit 106 signals an electrically conductive continuity through the test circuit 116 via a status signal 118. In addition, the test circuit 106 can determine an electrical resistance of the test circuit 116 using the current flow. The resistance can also be represented in the status signal 118 . Alternatively, the resistance measurement can be used to check continuity. The resistance of the test circuit is measured and continuity is recognized if the resistance is less than a threshold value. If the resistance is less than a minimum value, a measurement error can be detected.

In one embodiment, the contacts 114 are spring loaded. As a result, the contacts 114 protrude into the slots of the connector housing 108 in an unloaded state. A contact part 112 thereby touches the contact 114 before the contact part 112 snaps into the slot. The test circuit 116 can be closed before the contact part 112 engages in the slot. If the test circuit 116 is not closed, the contact part 112 can be withdrawn and inserted into another slot.

Manufacturing tolerances of the connector housing 108 and/or the contact parts 112 can be compensated for by the spring-loaded contacts 114 . The contacts 114 can also make contact with the contact parts 112 if they stand back somewhat in the connector housing 108 .

In one embodiment, the housing adapters 104 have at least two contacts 114 . The contacts 114 are connected as a pair of contacts 120 . In one of the housing adapters 104, the contacts 114 of the contact pair 120 are electrically conductively connected to one another. In the other housing adapter 104 both contacts 114 are connected to the test circuit 106 . The test circuit 116 is closed when the contact parts 112 of two lines 110 are plugged into their intended slots. The two lines 110 can thus be measured using the same test circuit 116 .

In one exemplary embodiment, a diode 122 is connected between the contacts 114 of the contact pair 120 which are electrically conductively connected to one another. Diode 122 allows current to flow in only one direction within a voltage range. The test circuit 116 is only closed by the diode 122 when the contact parts 112 of a forward line 124 are plugged into their intended slots and the contact parts 112 of a return line 126 are also plugged into their intended slots. In other words, in the case of a line pair 128, the test circuit 116 is only closed if the line pair 128 is plugged into the connector housing 108 with the correct polarity.

In one exemplary embodiment, the line pair 128 is a data line 130 referred to as a twisted pair. The individual lines 110 or cores of the data line 130 are color-coded, but run within a common sheath. When assembling the data line 130, the lines 110 or cores can only be differentiated with additional effort, for example by optical methods, which is why the data lines 130 have hitherto only been manually pre-assembled or manually re-assembled. With the approach presented here, data lines 130 can be fitted fully automatically in the line harness machine. For this purpose, the contact parts 112 of the data line 130 are inserted into the slots on one of the connector housings 108 and thus make contact with the contacts 114 arranged there. On the other connector housing 108, the contact parts 112 are only inserted into the slots until they touch the contacts 114. If the test circuit 116 is thereby closed, the contact parts 112 are inserted further until they engage in the slots. If the test circuit 116 is not closed, the contact parts 112 are pulled out of the sockets and swapped over. The swapped contact parts 112 are reinserted into the slots and the test circuit 116 is checked. If the test circuit 116 is thereby closed, the contact parts 112 are inserted further until they engage in the slots.

Alternatively, the manual, upstream, or downstream assembly of the line pair 128 can be monitored and documented. The closing of the test circuit 116 can be signaled to an operator using the status signal 118, for example optically and/or acoustically.

In an alternative embodiment, a contact 114 of the spaced-apart housing adapter 104 is connected to the test circuit 106 via a jumper wire 132 . The line bridge 132 is thus part of the test circuit 116. The test circuit 116 is closed when the contact parts 112 of a line 110 both contacts 114 touch. Individual lines can be checked through the line bridge 132 . Here the line bridge 132 runs over a rear side of the pallet 100.

2 10 shows a representation of a test circuit 106 with a test circuit 116 according to an embodiment. The test circuit 106 essentially corresponds to the test circuit in FIG 1 . Two outputs 200 of test circuit 106 are connected to contacts 114 . The contacts 114 are located in the same housing adapter. Two more contacts 114 are arranged in a further housing adapter. A diode 122 is connected between the other two contacts 114 . If all four contacts 114 are contacted by two lines 110 fitted as intended, the test circuit 116 is closed. If two contact parts 112 are plugged in reversed, the test circuit 116 is not closed.

When the test circuit 116 is closed, a current flow through the test circuit 116 and a status of the test circuit 116 is signaled by a status signal 118 . Here the status signal becomes 118 wirelessly via a radio module 202 to a monitoring device 204.

In the following, possible configurations of the invention are summarized again or presented with a slightly different choice of words.

A production process-accompanying test of twisted or manually assembled cables on the cable harness machine with pallets is presented.

In the field of automated wiring harness assembly, the assembly process is secured by force-displacement measurement. Until now, for example, twisted-pair cables could not be assembled automatically. Wires that are twisted or too short for the machine are therefore fitted manually before or after. This requires a process-accompanying test in the form of a continuity measurement or the determination of the electrical resistance of the connection and, in the case of twisted lines, a test of the electrical polarity.

In the approach presented here, the housing receptacles are expanded by electrical spring contacts, similar to those used in test adapters, e.g. in end-of-line testing. These are wired electrically so that both the polarity and the resistance of the electrical connection can be determined.

Energy-efficient, compact measuring electronics are used, which are placed directly on the pallet of the wiring harness machine. The measuring unit can be battery-powered to prevent restrictions on the process at the machine. In addition, the electronics can be provided with a wireless connection to make the output available for process control.

With the approach presented here, an important additional parameter can be obtained in order to qualify the partially/automated manufacturing process. A continuous traceability of the process parameters in the assembly process can be achieved. The approach presented here enables the process parameters to be recorded during the process, so that an end-of-line test can be dispensed with.

REFERENCE LIST

100

palette

102

wiring harness

104

housing adapter

106

test circuit

108

connector housing

110

Line

112

contact part

114

Contact

116

test circuit

118

status signal

120

contact pair

122

diode

124

direction

126

return line

128

line pair

130

data line

132

line jumper

200

Exit

202

radio module

204

monitoring device

Claims (10)

Pallet (100) for a wiring harness machine, with at least two housing adapters (104) for receiving plug housings (108) of a wiring harness (102) and a test circuit (106) with at least one electrical test circuit (116) being arranged on the pallet (100), wherein the test circuit (116) runs via at least one contact (114) per housing adapter (104), the test circuit (116) being closed when the at least two contacts (114) via at least one line ( 110) of the wiring harness (102) are electrically conductively connected, the test circuit (106) being designed to measure the test circuit (116) and to signal a status of the test circuit (116), the test circuit (116) being connected via pairs of contacts (120 ) consists of two contacts (114) per housing adapter (104), the contacts (114) of one of the contact pairs (120) being electrically connected to one another and the test circuit (106) having the contact pair (120) of the other housing adapter (104) is connected, the test circuit (116) being closed when the contact pairs (120) are connected in an electrically conductive manner via two lines (110) of the line set (102) plugged into the plug housing (108) as intended. Pallet (100) according to claim 1 , in which a diode (122) is connected between the electrically conductively connected pair of contacts (120). Pallet (100) according to one of the preceding claims, in which the test circuit (106) on one of the housing adapters (104) is arranged and is connected directly to the at least one contact (114) of the housing adapter (104). Pallet (100) according to one of the preceding claims, in which the test circuit (106) is connected via at least one line bridge (132) to the at least one contact (114) of at least one remote housing adapter (104). Pallet (100) according to claim 4 , in which the line bridge (132) runs over a rear side of the pallet (100). Pallet (100) according to one of the preceding claims, in which the contacts (114) of the housing adapters (104) are spring-loaded. Pallet (100) according to one of the preceding claims, in which the test circuit (106) comprises a radio module (202) for signaling the status. A method of manufacturing a harness (102) using a pallet (100) according to any one of Claims 1 until 7 , wherein the housing adapter (104) is fitted with plug housings (108) of the wiring harness (102) and a first contact part (112) of at least one line (110) of the wiring harness (102) is plugged into a slot in one of the plug housings (108) and a second contact part (112) of the line (110) is plugged into a slot of another plug housing (108), the contact parts (112) being electrically contacted when plugged in through the contacts (114) of the housing adapter (104) and the test circuit (116) is measured, with a status of the test circuit (116) being mapped in a status signal (118). procedure according to claim 8 , in which an electrical continuity and/or an electrical resistance of the test circuit (116) is mapped in the status signal (118) as the status. Method according to one of Claims 8 until 9 using a pallet (100) according to claim 2 , in which the test circuit (116) is closed when the contact parts (112) of a twisted pair of wires (128) are plugged into the slots with the correct polarity, the slots on one of the connector housings (108) being swapped when the status signal ( 118) signals the test circuit (116) as interrupted.

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