DE69028824T2 - Manufacture of wire harnesses - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates generally to the manufacture of wire harnesses and to equipment for the manufacture of wire harnesses. This equipment relates generally to tape wrapping assemblies and, more particularly, to assemblies for the mechanized wrapping of tape around an elongated object such as a bundle of wires from which a wire harness is made. The equipment further includes a tape wrapping machine, a terminal assembly tool, a common bus connector and harness part set tables.

The manufacture or fabrication of wire harnesses has taken various forms, using various techniques, ranging from extremely intensive use of manual labour to the use of a relatively high degree of automation. The former may only be acceptable if a low-cost source of labour is available, whereas the latter requires considerable capital expenditure and can be relatively inflexible. The manufacture of cost-effective, high-quality wire harnesses for motor vehicles can be a challenge, particularly where the high cost of equipment and variations in the wire harnesses due to different models of motor vehicles serve to argue against a high degree of automation. However, the relatively high cost of the available labour also argues against inefficient use of this labour.

Thus, while it may be desirable to maintain a manual manufacturing system for flexibility, it is important that the procedures and machinery used are as efficient and effective as possible to maintain cost competitiveness. Systems used in the prior art have involved different people or workers performing different item functions at different locations, ie one person cuts wires, another person does partial assembly, and yet another person does overall assembly. More recently, this has been improved by a flow process where one worker can perform multiple functions, such as cutting the wires, making sub-assemblies and final assembly of finished harnesses. However, this technique could also require considerable time and physical effort from a worker or operator due to the distances that must be covered on foot within a work station. In addition, the time required to train a worker to perform all of these functions can be considerable.

Since the installation of numerous wires in various routing arrangements is the heart of the wire harness fabrication, the efficient handling of these wires during the fabrication process is particularly important.

In the manufacture of wire harnesses and other bundles of elongated articles, it is often necessary to maintain the compactness of the bundle by wrapping it with tape. In the manufacture of wire harnesses, it has been common practice to accomplish the tape wrapping of the wire bundle by manually wrapping the tape around the bundle. Depending upon the size of the bundle, the type of tape, and the frequency of performing the operation, this operation can be extremely tiring and perhaps even painful to the person performing it. With this in mind, power-driven tape wrapping machines have been provided for the mechanized application of tape to a wire bundle. These tape wrapping machines typically have a frame or housing, a drive motor, and some form of orbiting mechanism within the housing which is driven by the motor and causes a reel of tape to move in an orbit around a wire bundle. In order to allow the introduction of the wire bundle into and out of the central area of the machine, it is usual to provide part of the machines with a permanently open mouth into this central area. An example An example of such a tape wrapping machine is the ISOTAP BABY 040 model, which is marketed by Design Equipments Representation France Internacional (DERFI) Cormeilles near Paris, France. Such a machine can be suspended from a cable or mounted on sliding rails for the necessary translational movement along the wire bundle.

While such tape wrapping arrangements may perform satisfactorily overall, further refinements of the tape wrapping arrangement in general and the tape wrapping machine in particular are desirable to improve the ease, efficiency and accuracy with which wire harnesses and the like can be taped.

In the manufacture of wired circuits, it is often necessary or desirable to connect a number of conductor wires to the same potential. This can often be done by connecting these wires to a common bus or to a common bus connector. Further, the common bus connector may have a plurality of terminals to which the individual wires, which are themselves provided with terminals, are respectively connected. This connection of several wires provided with terminals to a common bus connector often takes place in the manufacture of wiring harnesses such as wiring harnesses for automobiles.

The operation of connecting terminaled wires to the respective terminals of a common bus connector has often been performed manually, particularly where it is one of the steps in the manufacture of a wiring harness, using a considerable amount of manual labor. Manually connecting terminaled wires to the terminals of the common bus connector can be tiring for the operator, particularly when the terminals are connected one at a time using opposing manual forces. This can be further complicated when the positions of the terminals on the connector are closely adjacent to one another so that they hinder or complicate manual insertion of the terminals.

Some types of known harness manufacturing processes use one or more so-called harness part set tables, which are designed to facilitate the manufacture of parts of the harness thereon. These part set tables usually have various supports arranged on them in a pattern that helps to define the formation of the harness. Also, usually these part set tables are large and stationary, serve to define the location of a work station, and can be located at various locations within the manufacturing area.

DE-A-2 507 384, which represents the state of the art according to the preamble of claim 1, describes an apparatus used for the manufacture of cable harnesses. It has a device for transferring wire pieces, which device comprises, inter alia, an endless chain conveyor provided with gripping devices at regular intervals, the gripping devices being formed by movable clamp grippers which grip the wire pieces during transport through the conveyor. Upper and lower guides are provided on one side of the conveyor for guiding one end of the wire pieces when the clamps are attached thereto. On the other side, a horizontal frame is provided for supporting the middle part of the wires.

DE-A-3 327 583 describes a method for the manufacture of a cable harness. Separate wires are cut to the desired lengths, the insulation is removed and connectors are attached to the ends of the wires. These prefabricated wires are bundled to form a cable harness. The device for carrying out the method comprises a device for attaching the connectors to the wires and for feeding the wires. This device is followed by a connection unit which is connected to the device via the Wire feed device and has a coupling device by means of which the wires can be detachably connected to one another via their connectors.

EP-A-0 290 641 describes an apparatus for manufacturing wire harnesses, wherein the wire harnesses are automatically fabricated with pre-cut and pre-configured ends in a wire harness assembly robot system comprising a wire preparation subsystem, a wire winding subsystem, a subsystem for applying terminals to the wire, a wire queuing subsystem, a build-up subsystem, associated robots and a logic control unit.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an apparatus for the cost-effective production of high-quality cable harnesses.

It is a further objective to provide this device with an acceptable degree of flexibility to accommodate changes in the design of the wiring harness.

It is yet another object to provide a device for the efficient handling of used wires and for use in the process of fabricating wire harnesses.

It is an additional aim to create such a device which facilitates the assembly and handling of cable harnesses and in particular the formation of sub-assemblies for incorporation into these cable harnesses.

It is an additional further aim to create such a device in an efficient combination with an improved overall system for the fabrication of wire harnesses.

Another additional objective is to create such a device that facilitates the assembly and handling of cable harnesses during the formative phases.

These objects are achieved according to the invention by the features of the device as claimed in the independent claims. Advantageous structural embodiments of the invention are specified in the dependent claims.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 shows in overall diagrammatic form and in plan view a cable harness mounting arrangement according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the wire harness mounting assembly at the upstream end in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a carriage and trough trays for wire storage and feeding as used in the harness assembly of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a hinged double gutter tray as seen in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing an alternative embodiment of the carriage and trough tray of Fig. 4 ;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of the harness assembly of Fig. 1 showing a pivotable sub-assembly table;

Fig. 7 is a side view of a terminal assembly tool used in the wire harness assembly assembly of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the terminal assembly tool of Fig. 7 showing terminaled wires and a common bus connector prior to connection;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of Fig. 8 and showing a jig, the terminaled wires and the common bus connector;

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a portion of the wire harness assembly of Fig. 1 and showing a taping machine in a taping assembly;

Fig. 11 is a view of a tape wrapping machine according to Fig. 10 looking in the upstream direction; and

Fig. 12 is a sectional view of a portion of the tape wrapping machine taken along line 12-12 in Fig. 11.

Best way(s) for carrying out the invention

Referring first to the figures, and in particular to Fig. 1, there is shown in plan view and in overall diagrammatic form a harness assembly arrangement or system 10 according to the invention. Typically, the harness assembly arrangement 10 will be located in a conventional area comprising at least a first area 11 for certain preparatory functions and a second area 12 in which harness assembly takes place. A test or third area 13 may also be provided.

The preparatory operations carried out in the first area 11 result in cut, terminaled wires 4 and involve large-scale cutting of the wires to predetermined lengths, stripping the insulation to suit and applying and crimping terminals 6 (shown in other figures) to one or both ends of most wires. This is carried out by a wire cutting, stripping and terminal crimping machine 14 of conventional design which may be, for example, the Komax 405 type. The machine 14 may prepare one or both ends of a wire for receipt of a terminal 6 or other termination without actually making the termination. An operator 15 typically controls the operation of the cutting and terminal applying machine 14. These wire cutting and terminal applying functions could be performed as single item operations.

In addition to the wire cutting and clamping machine 14, there is also provided an initial storage facility for temporarily storing wires 4 that may have been cut and clamped. This storage is represented by the wire storage rack 18. The cut and clamped wires 4 stored in the rack 18 are stored in trough trays 20, which are described in more detail below. The cut and clamped wires 4 are placed in associated trough trays 20 according to their length, thickness and/or clamp type.

Reference is now made to the harness assembly area 12, wherein a mechanized conveyor system 22 is shown. The conveyor system 22 consists of one or, more usually, several motorized conveyors 23 arranged in series or in series. More particularly, the conveyors 23 are arranged to form a line of continuous, mechanized transport from an upstream end thereof, designated 25, to a downstream end, designated 26. In many respects, the conveyors 23 are of conventional construction, including a support frame 27 (shown in Figs. 2 and 3), moving belts or the like 28, and associated motors 29 for driving the belts 28 according to a desired schedule. The motors 29 are usually controlled by a control unit of known type which is pre-programmed to provide the desired control schedule. Typically such control units also have the capability for manual override and control if desired.

A number of local work stations are located or arranged along the conveyor 23 of the conveyor system 22. Since the present harness assembly system 10 primarily relies on a number of operators 15 interacting with various types of tooling and machine equipment along the conveyor system 22, for convenience these work stations are referred to herein with the same symbols and reference numerals representing the presence of an operator 15. It should be understood, however, that a work station 15 could also be represented in certain limited cases by machine equipment capable of automated operation and/or by manually operated machine equipment to which an operator 15 moves from another work station.

At each work station 15, harness fabrication and assembly equipment of various types and capabilities is located, depending on the one or more functions to be performed there. Representative of this equipment are the terminal dispensing and crimping machines 30, the racks or carts 32, which typically support a number of the trough trays 20, which in turn contain the cut and terminated wires 4, stationary work tables 34, part set tables and particularly pivoting part set tables 36, one or more tape wrapping machines 38, and various receptacles or containers 40 containing the appropriate material to be added to the harness at that location. Certain types of assembly equipment, such as the terminal assembly tool 42, may also be located at the work station 15 and located on a work table 34.

At this point it should be mentioned that the arrangement of the work stations 15 along the conveyor system 22 and the work functions that are performed there are designed in such a way that the operator 15 in this work station has the The need to walk more than a step or two is minimized or eliminated. In many cases, the operator 15 may have the option of sitting down at the work stations. In some cases, of course, it will be necessary for the operator 15 to walk a step or two in performing the work function involved, but this movement is generally quite limited. This characteristic exists because most of the equipment required at a work station 15 is located closely around the work station on one or both sides of the conveyor 23 and further because the conveyor belt 28 is only periodically moved forward to move the work in progress from one work station to the next.

The harness 8 being manufactured at any particular work station 15 is, generally speaking, at rest while at that work station. For this reason, it is clear that the distance between successive work stations 15 along the conveyor 23 will in most cases be substantially the same. It is clear, however, that some variation in this distance may occur to allow two operators at one or two work stations 15 working on the same harness 8 but at opposite ends thereof. In the system illustrated here, the distance between successive work stations is approximately 2-3 meters, the number of work stations is in the range of 8-12, and the conveyor belt 28 is indexed or advanced from one work station 15 to the next at intervals of several minutes.

It is clear that optimum efficiency is achieved when each operator has just completed his assigned tasks at the respective work station 15 immediately before the conveyor belt 28 is advanced one step. This, of course, requires a proper balancing of the number and types of functions to be performed at a work station 15 and a consideration of the skills of the operator 15 involved therein. Because most of the equipment in each work station 15 is mobile or relatively lightweight, it can be easily moved from one work station to another during setup of the harness assembly 10 for the manufacture of a particular type of harness. In fact, it is the aforementioned flexibility of the harness assembly system 10 described herein that enables it to be used economically to manufacture harnesses of various sizes and configurations at various times. While the system described herein relies primarily on manual labor available at an acceptable cost, it reduces the large capital costs and inflexibility of a more automated system. In addition, the workflow program and equipment used herein provide the savings and flexibility desired.

In Fig. 1, the wire harness 8 is shown in its completed form at or near the downstream end 26 of the conveyor 23. The wire harness 8 has its beginning or beginning of formation at the upstream end 25 of the conveyor 23 where it is designated in its earliest or "embryonic" form as wire harness 8a. The wire harness is given additional form and detail at each of the successive work stations and is therefore designated by an added sequential letter following the basic wire harness reference numeral 8. Moreover, the illustration of the wire harness assembly system 10 in Fig. 1 shows the conveyor 23 at the moment immediately before it is advanced from one work station 15 to the next. Thus, the wire harness at each work station 15 is shown in the condition or stage which represents the completion of the work being performed at that work station. When the completed harness 8 appears at the downstream end 26 of the conveyor 23, an operator 15 moves the harness off the conveyor and transports it to a suitable test panel 43 in the test area 13 where it is tested for electrical accuracy and integrity. In In the illustrated embodiment, the completed wiring harness 8 is synonymous with an unused reference suffix 81.

The completed harness 8 often contains 200-300 wires and may be more than 2 meters long. The harness 8 usually has a number of different "arms" or "branches", each containing a different number of wires. Usually these branches are physically, if not electrically, gathered into a common area represented by a connector block 44 through which most of the circuits pass. The connector block 44 is sometimes referred to as the "head" of the harness 8. In addition, many of the branches of the completed harness 8 terminate at their opposite ends in multi-terminal connectors 46 of different types and configurations. It will be appreciated that the embryonic harness 8a has a connector block 44 and relatively few wires and is therefore relatively flexible, malleable and lightweight. On the other hand, as the formation of the wiring harness 8 progresses, it becomes heavier and relatively less flexible.

Further, it can be seen in Fig. 1 and additionally in Fig. 2 that the conveyor system 22 is provided with at least one primary trough 50 and perhaps also a secondary trough 52 on opposite sides of the conveyor 23 along that portion of the conveyor towards the upstream end 25 thereof in which the embryonic harness 8a, 8b, 8c, etc. is formed. The troughs 50 and 52 extend along the upstream portion of the conveyor 23 to allow the embryonic harnesses 8a, 8b, etc. to extend back and forth across or across the conveyor belt 28 in a U- or serpentine shape in which portions of the harness extend beyond the sides of the conveyor and hang into the troughs 50, 52. It has been found most convenient to locate the first two or three work stations 15 on a separate side of the conveyor 23 and to provide the primary trough 50 along the same side of the conveyor.

The primary trough 50 has an overall deep U-shape in cross-section and may typically extend 5-6 feet below the surface of the conveyor belt 28. The primary trough 50 is sufficiently wide to comfortably accommodate a large connector block 44 resting therein as shown in Fig. 2. In addition, the trough 50 is sufficiently wide and smooth to facilitate sliding of the embryonic harnesses 8a, 8b and associated connector blocks 44 therein as the conveyor belt 28 continues to move. The depth of the primary trough 50 is sufficiently shallow to allow various portions of the embryonic harnesses 8a, 8b and/or any components to be attached to the harness to rest on the floor of the trough and be within reach of the operator 15 therein. In addition. the vertical walls within the troughs 50 and 52, and in particular those walls adjacent to the conveyor 23, are relatively smooth and preferably continuous so as to prevent interference between the conveyor frame 27 on the one hand and the embryonic harness 8a and the connecting block 44 on the other hand as the conveyor belt 28 continues to move and to prevent chafing of the harness against the troughs.

The secondary trough 50 on the opposite side of the conveyor 23 is somewhat more optional than the primary trough 50 and serves to facilitate the smooth flow of the embryonic harness 8a, 8b as it moves along the conveyor 23. In addition, the trough 52 serves to "catch" any components that may accidentally fall freely from the harness on that side of the conveyor. Since it is anticipated that the larger elements of the embryonic harness 8a, such as the connector block 44, will be located in the trough 50, the secondary trough 52 need not be as wide as the primary trough 50.

The troughs 50 and 52 may be made of any suitable material such as sheet metal, plastic or glass fiber reinforced plastic, the contour of which is given the appropriate shape. The troughs 50 and 52 are secured to the conveyor frame 27 in a suitable manner, for example by screws, bolts and/or angles, so that they are sufficiently supported at a height to allow a smooth transition of the embryonic harness 8a, 8b from the conveyor belt 28 into and as the troughs 50, 52. In fact, the troughs 50, 52 may be provided with curved lips at their uppermost ends to prevent the harnesses 8a, 8b and/or the operators 15 from rubbing or cutting themselves.

In the initial construction of the harness 8a, a connection block 44 is taken from a storage bin 40 at the upstream end 25 of the conveyor. Various wires 4 are taken from various trough trays 20 located on the carriage 32, which is also located near the upstream end 25 of the conveyor 23. The wires 4 are then connected to the connection block 44 by the first operator 15, thereby producing the embryonic harness 8a. It will be understood that additional operations on the harness 8a at this work station may include the application of additional terminals to one or more of the wires 4 by means of the terminal dispensing and crimping machines 30. Another or more other containers 40 near the upstream end 25 of the conveyor 23 may contain various types of connectors 46 for connection to the terminals at the opposite ends of some of the wires 4 connected to the connection block 44.

Because the embryonic harnesses 8a, 8b are arranged above the conveyor belt 28 and can therefore be compressed in the longitudinal direction, the entire length of the harness is easily within the reach of a single operator 15 in the work station concerned. Thus, a single operator 15 can perform operations on the entire length of the embryonic harness 8a without having to move a considerable distance within the work station. In addition, the longitudinal extent of the conveyor belt 28 occupied by the embryonic harnesses 8a, 8b etc. will be considerably smaller than will be required in later stages of production further downstream.

Because portions of the embryonic harnesses 8a, 8b, etc. extend transversely of the conveyor belt 28, it has been found helpful to provide members on the conveyor belt 28 in this area that engage the harness to assist in positioning it while operations are being performed and to further assist in moving the harness with the conveyor belt 28 as it is advanced. These engagement members may be in the form of pairs of fingers 54, as most clearly seen in Figure 2. Each pair of fingers 54 is secured at its base to the conveyor belt 28, for example by a suitable adhesive and/or by mechanical fasteners, and includes a pair of fingers spaced apart in the direction of conveyor belt movement. In this way, a part of the cable harness 8a extending transversely to the conveyor belt 28 can be positioned between the fingers of the part 54. Each finger pair part 54 can be made of rubber or a rubber-like material and the dimensioning and construction of the fingers are such that they elastically grip the cable harness between them. The distance between successive finger pair parts 54 can be about 0.5 m or more or less. Since the principal advantage of the finger pairs 54 described above is evident in the embryonic formation of the cable harness 8a, 8b, 8c etc., they can be omitted from the conveyor belt 28 downstream if the conveyor system is constructed from several separate conveyors 23 and associated conveyor belts 28, which is usually the case.

In addition, the structure and function of the trough trays 20 and the associated stands or carriages 32 on which they are arranged will now be considered, with particular reference to Figs. 3-5. Each trough tray 20 usually receives cut, clamped wires 4 of a particular type and length. In this way, there is no mixing of wires 4 of different types within a single gutter shell 20. The gutter shells 20 are generally U-shaped, elongated and open at least at one outlet end and preferably at both ends. The gutter shells 20 may be of varying lengths depending mainly on the length of the wires 4 to be received therein, the majority being between 1 and 2 metres in length, although they may be shorter or longer. Whilst the conventional rounded U-shape of continuous curvature is a suitable contour for the cross-section of the gutter shells 20, as particularly shown in the gutter shell 20a in Fig. 3, it has been found preferable to use a modified U-shape having a flattened bottom and substantially vertical sides like the majority of the shells shown in the various Figures. The flat bottom U-shaped configuration appears to provide a more even distribution of the wires 4 contained therein and reduces the risk of snagging which would hinder the removal of individual wires from the tray. Perhaps the curved cross-section of the trough tray 20a results in a greater number of wires 4 being located in the centre of the tray and thus contributes somewhat to the risk of snagging. The trough trays 20 are made of any suitable, relatively stiff and durable material such as metal, plastic or glass fibre reinforced plastic.

If the wires 4 in a particular trough tray 20 are clamped at one end only, this clamped end will be presented to the operator 15 when the tray 20 is located in a position on a carriage 32 adjacent a particular work station. It will be understood that the trays 20 so arranged may be positioned on one or both sides of the conveyor 22 relative to the position of the operator 15 who will be pulling wires 4 from these trays. Perhaps the most common arrangement and the one which provides the easiest access by the operator 15 to a relatively large number of trough trays 20 is that in which the carriage 32 carrying this tray is positioned opposite the operator 15 on the opposite side of the conveyor 23, as specifically shown in Figs. 2 and 6.

In some cases where the length of a wire 4 is unusually long and far exceeds the length of a single trough shell 20, two such shells may be connected together at their forward ends by a suitable connector or fastener such as a hinge 55 to form a double shell, designated 20' in Figs. 3 and 4. In this case, a portion of each of the long wires 4 is contained in one of the trough shells and the remainder is contained in the other, the wires merging between the shells immediately beyond the forward ends of the shells in the area of the hinge 55 so that they are easily accessible for removal by an operator 15. The connecting hinge 55 constitutes a convenient means for connecting the two shells 20 forming the combined unit 20' to facilitate handling during loading and transport.

The racks or carts 32 on which the various trough shells 20 rest can be of relatively simple and inexpensive construction. In a few cases the racks 32 can be permanently stationary, and their mobility is not required. In most cases, however, it has been found desirable for the racks or carts 32 to be mobile, and so some form of rollers or wheels 56 are attached to the cross members 57 at the base of the cart 32. In some cases it may be desirable to reduce or "arrow" the profile of the cross members 57 with the wheels 56, for example by making them adjustable by means of struts 59 in the manner shown in dashed lines in Fig. 3.

The channel shells 20 are simply placed on cross arms or supports 58, which form part of the rigid structural framework of the carriage. The flat base of the trough tray 20 may simply rest on a flat surface of a horizontal cross arm 58. In the case where the curved U-section tray 20a is to be used, it may be convenient to provide curved recesses on or in the cross arms 58 for receiving the curved bases of these trays or, alternatively, to attach curved supports to the cross arms 58. To provide adequate support for a tray 20, it is only necessary that two simple cross arms be spaced at the front and rear of the carriage 32 to support the trough tray. A number of trough trays 20 may be mounted side by side on any one cross arm 58 and the carriages 32 also usually have cross arms 58 at a plurality of heights to accommodate trough trays at these different heights.

While the carriages 32 described above provide for a horizontal orientation of the associated trough trays 20, a carriage 32' is designed to support the trays 20 therethrough in a nearly vertical orientation, as shown in Fig. 5. These racks or carriages 32' may be somewhat simpler in construction than the carriages 32 and will occupy relatively less floor space because of the vertical orientation of the trays 20. On the other hand, with such a vertical orientation, it is generally preferable to have only one row or tier of trays 20 and their length will be limited to that which is within a reasonable height range of the operators 15.

It has been found useful to attach resilient clamps 60 to at least those trough trays 20 intended for vertical orientation to hold the front or upper ends of the wires 4 in a position where they are easily accessible to an operator 15. More particularly, the clamps 60 may be attached to the lower surface of the trays 20 at or near the front, outlet or upper end thereof to hold a bundle of wires 4 hanging over that end of the gutter tray. In this way, the wires are prevented from falling down within the gutter tray 20 when the latter is in its vertical orientation and the ends are conveniently presented for easy removal.

During assembly of the wire harness 8, it is occasionally necessary or desirable to provide additional work space for connecting wires 4 to connectors 46 in the manufacture of various subassemblies and to facilitate the integration of these subassemblies into the main wire harness appearing on the conveyor 28 at this work station 13. In some cases, this work can be performed on simple stationary work tables 34 if they are located sufficiently close to the operator 15. In addition, additional work space is provided by the subassembly tables 36 and 36'.

The sub-assembly tables 36, 36' each have a number of wire or harness supports 62 mounted on the upper surface thereof in a predetermined pattern to assist in the formation of the wire harness 8 or, more likely, a sub-assembly or branch to be part of the main wire harness. The supports 62 typically have a base portion 63 mounted on the sub-assembly table 36 or 36' and a vertical support portion 64 extending upwardly therefrom and bifurcated at its upper end to form a pair of harness support fingers 65. The arrangement of the supports 62 on the sub-assembly tables 36, 36' is such that they define a plurality of wiring and branch paths during manufacture of the wire harness or harness sub-assembly. The sub-set tables 36' typically have wheels to allow easy positioning and repositioning of the tables in the area of the conveyor 23. In the system diagram shown in Fig. 1, movable sub-set tables 36' are positioned sufficiently close to the conveyor 23 so that relatively few steps are required by an operator 15. to move a wire harness or wire harness subassembly between the conveyor and the respective parts table. On the other hand, it will be readily apparent that the wheeled parts table 36 is generally movable within the area of a work station and can, in fact, be positioned so that an operator/work station 15 is located between the parts table 36' and the conveyor 23.

On the other hand, the sub-assembly table 36 can be even closer to the conveyor 23 and can undergo some limited displacement by an operator 15, for example by being pivoted between an operating position and an idle position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6 near a wiring harness 8f. In Fig. 6, the sub-assembly table 36 is shown in its idle position with solid lines and in its working position with broken lines. In this case, the sub-assembly table 36 is arranged closely next to and parallel to the conveyor 23 in its working position, whereas the idle position is achieved when the table 36 is rotated approximately 90 degrees away from the conveyor about a pivot axis 66 which is remote from the operator 15 and generally close to the conveyor 23. In its working position, the parts table is positioned for easy access by the operator 15 to perform the various operations on the harness or harness subassembly as required. However, when that work is completed, the harness or subassembly can be conveniently removed from the parts table 36 and placed on the conveyor belt 28, and the parts table can be pivoted to its idle position, thereby providing the operator with additional space to perform other operations at that particular work station.

It has proven particularly useful to mount the sub-set table 36 on the frame 27 of the conveyor 23 for pivoting rotation about the pivot axis 66. More particularly, a support bearing or hinge eye 68 can be mounted on the conveyor frame 27 and a pivot pin or tenon 69 extends from the underside of the subassembly table and downwardly through the hinge eye 68 to form the pivot axis 66. It may be desirable to associate some form of latch or clip or detent with the hinge eye 68 and the tenon 69 so as to hold the table 36 in a selected position about the pivot axis. A relatively simple way of providing the detent is to provide a pin or lug extending radially from the tenon 69 near the upper end thereof and to contour the upper end of the tenon such that detent recesses for the pin are provided at desired angular locations therearound.

7-9, a particular part of the assembly tooling is considered in more detail, which is the terminal assembly tool 42. The tool 42 is designed to connect a plurality of terminaled wires 4 to a common bus connector 70. The common bus connector 70 is used to connect these multiple wires to a common electrical potential, e.g. to B+ or ground in the electrical system of a motor vehicle. In fact, the current carrying capacity of the wires 4 connected to the bus connector 70 is usually greater than that of many other wires in the wiring harness 8. The terminals 6 at the ends of the wires 4 are female terminals and are intended to receive and be connected to the flat-type terminals 71 of the bus connector 70. The bus connector 70, in the embodiment shown, has three such plug-in terminals 71 extending substantially coplanarly and parallel from a common base portion 72. Side or end fingers 73 extend forwardly from each end of the common base 72 of the connector 70. In the illustrated connector 70, each of the terminals 71 extends from one edge of the common base portion 72, whereas the end fingers 73 are created by 90 degree bends in that base portion and therefore extend in planes perpendicular to the plane which contains the plug-in terminals 71. The end fingers 73 can themselves subsequently be electrically connected to other conductive parts.

The terminal assembly tool 42 assists in accurately positioning the terminals 6 relative to the male terminals 71 of the common bus connector 70 and further assists not only in the easy connection of these elements but also in the removal of the connected terminals from this tool. The tool 42 includes first and second jigs 75 and 77, respectively. The jig 75 is adapted to receive the terminaled ends of the plurality of wires 4. The jig 77 is adapted to receive the common bus connector 70 oriented in a substantially horizontal arrangement. The chucks 75 and 77 are mounted on a base 78 in a manner that allows one of the chucks to be moved relative to the other between relatively close and distant positions corresponding to a connection position and a load/unload position, respectively. In this embodiment, the chuck 75 remains stationary and the chuck 77 is capable of linear movement transverse to the base 78.

A pneumatic actuator in the form of a piston and cylinder 80 is connected to the base 78 and the jig 77 to effect and control the displacement of this jig relative to the jig 75. A piston arm 81 of the actuator 80 is positively connected to the jig 77, for example by welding or threaded engagement or the like, to positively move this jig back and forth. The cylinder of the actuator 80 is rigidly attached and provides considerable transverse stability to the jig 77. However, to the extent that further transverse guidance of this jig is required, a raceway can be machined into the base 78 to ensure alignment with the jig 75. At the front end of the jig 77 there is provided a chamber or cavity 82 which is open in both the forward and upward directions. The cavity 82 is adapted to receive a common bus connector 70 which is deposited from above and is open at its front end to permit mating engagement with the terminals 6 held in the jig 75. When the common bus connector 73 is disposed horizontally as shown in Fig. 7b, there is clearance below the lower surfaces of the male terminal 71 sufficient to permit sliding of the female terminals 6.

The jig 75 has a plurality of longitudinally extending slots 83 in its upper surface for receiving the wires 4. More particularly, the grooves or slots 83 form side walls 84 which are undercut near their front ends to provide seats 85 for the terminals 6. The undercut in the walls 84 is such that the terminal seats 85 retain the terminals 6 in both vertical and lateral directions when they are inserted and seated therein, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

In Figures 7-9, the jig 77 is shown in its load/unload position away from the jig 75. Thus, the terminal 6 of a clamped wire 4 can be loaded into the jig 75 by placing the terminal forward of the front end of the jig 75 and moving the terminal and wire 4 downward until the terminal is level with the terminal seat 85. Pulling rearward on the wire 4 then serves to seat the terminal 6 into the terminal seat 85. The same process is repeated for the other two clamped wires (not shown) with respect to the other two slots 83 in the jig 75. Similarly, the common bus connector 70 is loaded into the jig 77 by placing it into the cavity 82 in the position shown in Figure 7b. orientation. The rear wall and side walls of the jig 77 which define the cavity 82 are sized and configured to orient the common bus connector 70 so that its terminals 71 are in constant alignment with the female terminals 6. Actuation of the jig 77 via the actuator 80 serves to bring the male terminals 71 into mating engagement with the female terminals 6 to complete the connection.

Retaining members 86 are formed at the front end of the biasing device 77 by a pair of projections that extend a short distance across each other to provide a partial closure at the front end of the cavity 82. More particularly, the retaining members 86 extend over the front ends of the end fingers 73 on the common bus connector 70. Following connection of the terminals 6 and their associated wires 4 to the common bus connector 70, the actuator 80 is actuated to retract the arm 81 and move the chuck 77 back to the load/unload position. During this movement, the retaining members 86 on the chuck 77 also grip the end fingers 73 and the common bus connector 70 at the rear. This rearward displacement of a common bus connector 70 removes the female terminals 6 from their seating positions in the jig 75, thereby facilitating removal of the connected wires and connector from the tool 42 by simply lifting the plurality of wires 4 in unison to remove the connector 70 from the cavity 82.

At various stages in the formation of the wiring harnesses 8, it is desirable and necessary to gather and tie certain wires together to form branches within the wiring harness. In some cases, these branches will terminate in connectors or other types of electrical termination. To tie the branches of a wiring harness 8 together, it has been common to tie or wrap adhesive tape in a helical pattern around the collection of wires forming the branch. In some cases the tape is wound entirely manually, but in other cases mechanized devices have been used. In the present system, an improved tape wrapping arrangement is shown in the work station containing the tape wrapping machine 38 and near which the wire harness 8i is positioned. Both the tape wrapping machine 38 and the arrangement of which it is a part are based on an improved design as will be explained in the following description with particular reference to Figs. 10-12.

Referring now to Fig. 10, the tape wrapping machine 38 is shown mounted for translation along a pair of rails 87 which are in turn mounted on and supported by a platform 88. The platform 88 is pivotally mounted and supported on the frame 27 of the conveyor 223 in the same manner as the pivoting sub-assembly tables 36, for example by a hinge eye 68 and a pin 69 of the type described above. The work platform 88 may be long and narrow and formed of a rigid material such as metal, wood or plastic. Attached to one end of the platform 88 is a forked harness support 65 of the same general type as described above with respect to the sub-assembly tables 36. Relatively close to the other end of the work platform 88, a mechanism for clamping or securing the cable harness is positioned in the form of the clamping mechanism 89.

The clamping mechanism 89 is rigidly attached to the platform 88 and extends upwardly therefrom for releasably gripping a bundle of wires forming a branch of the harness 8i to permit the application of a tensile force to the harness branch during taping thereof. The clamping mechanism 89 may be of any suitable construction and typically comprises two jaws 90a, 90b, one or both of which are vertically movable between a clamping and a release position by means of a manual actuating arm 91. Conveniently, the lower jaw 90a is stationary, and the upper jaw 90b is moved vertically about a horizontal pivot axis by actuation of the arm 91 in a vertical plane. The actuating arm 91 can be pivoted downward from its release position shown in Fig. 10 to an end position locking position in which the jaws 90a and 90b firmly clamp a branch of the wiring harness placed between them. The jaws 90a, 90b can have a concave contour and thus be adapted to the overall circular shape of a wiring harness branch. Furthermore, a spring or other biasing element is usually associated with one or both jaws 90a, 90b so that they elastically and compliantly grip wiring harness branches of different diameters.

The platform 88 serves as a mounting frame for the parallel rails 87 which in turn support the tape wrapping machine 38 in sliding relation thereto via a sliding support 92 which slides along the rails between two adjustable stops 93 positioned at relatively opposite ends thereof. The stops 93 may be positioned on only one of the rails 87 and are manually adjustable, for example by means of thumbscrews.

Referring to Fig. 11, the tape wrapping machine 38 is considered in more detail. The tape wrapping machine 38 has, more generally, a two-part housing 94, a two-part circulating disk or plate 95, and a tape dispensing assembly such as the tape reel 97 mounted on the circulating plate 95 by means of a spindle 98.

The rotating plate 95 is driven by a motor 96 through a pinion 100 which is in driving engagement with an annular bevel gear 99 on the face of the plate 95. The rotating plate 95 has a circular central opening 102 through which the branch of the harness to be taped extends during the taping process. The plate 95 may be made of a suitable material such as metal, plastic or a composite.

While the housing and/or the surrounding plate 95 could be formed so as to not open, it will be appreciated that the harness branch to be wrapped would have to be inserted and removed axially through the central opening 102. This can be inconvenient and limits the size of the connectors that can be previously connected to one end of that branch. Instead, as shown in Figure 11, both the housing 94 and the surrounding plate 95 are formed in two parts and the housing is hinged so that it can be opened at a front end to form a mouth 104 through which a harness branch can be inserted into and removed from the central opening 102 without requiring axial movement of the branch. In the illustrated embodiment, the lower portion of the housing 94 and the peripheral plate 95 extend angularly equidistantly and are less than 180º degrees, whereas the upper portions of them are each slightly greater than 180º degrees. The lower portion of the housing 94 is connected to the upper portion by a hinge mechanism 106. The hinge 106 is in turn connected to a pneumatic actuator 108 by a linkage 109. The actuation of the actuator 108 serves to move the lower portion of the housing 94 up and down between a closed and an open position.

As best seen in Fig. 12, the housing 94 is C-shaped in cross-section to provide a housing and raceway for the two-piece plate 95 which orbits therein. The outer periphery of the two-piece orbiting plate 95 is sufficiently narrow to fit within the housing 94, but sufficiently wide to have a plurality of slots extending radially therein about the periphery for supporting a plurality of rolling bearings 110. The rolling bearings 110 are held in position by pins 112 which extend axially through the plate 95 and upon which the bearings are supported for rotation. The rolling bearings 110 provide the main bearing contact between the housing 94 and the rotating parts of the plates 95. In addition, to retain each part of the rotating plate 95 in the respective housing part 94 when the housing is open, axially extending grooves 114 are provided in the opposite side walls of the parts of the rotating plate 95, and retaining pins 116 secured in the opposite side walls of the housing 94 extend therefrom into the grooves 114. A connecting bracket 118, seen in Fig. 11, spans the two halves of the housing 94 and has a slotted keyway 119 in which a key (not shown) associated with one of the halves slides to guide relative opening and closing movement between the halves.

It will be understood that although the orbiting plate 95 is formed of two complementary parts, the part which is driven at any one moment by the pinion 100 serves to drive or push the other plate part to follow it. The pinion 100 spans both halves of the orbiting plate 95 in the two positions of the interface between them. Thus, when the two halves of the housing 94 are closed, as shown in broken line in Fig. 11, the operation of the motor 96 drives the pinion 100 which in turn drives the orbiting plate 95 to thereby impart orbital movement to the tape reel 97 around the harness branch disposed in the central opening 102. Assuming that the adhesive surface of the tape was first brought into contact with the harness branch, this orbiting motion of the tape spool 97 causes the tape to wrap around the branch.

To ensure that the housing 94 of the tape wrapping machine 38 remains closed during operation, an engaging hinge is provided which has a bushing fastening element 120 on a lip of the housing and a locking pin 121 which is actuated by a pneumatic actuator 122 which is located on the other lip of the housing. The control of the actuator 122 serves to move the locking pin 121 into and out of locking engagement with the socket fastener 120.

In order for the tape wrapping machine 38 to operate correctly, it is important that the two parts of the rotating plate 95 each stop at positions that extend angularly equal to the two halves of the housing 94 when the tape wrapping machine is to be opened. This ensures that the opening of the mouth 104 is relatively wide and also that there is little or no likelihood of the parts of the rotating plate becoming separated from the respective housing parts. To achieve this purpose, provisions are made for sensing the angular orientation of the rotating plate 95 within the housing 94 and for stopping the rotation of the plate at exactly the correct angle. The sensing of the angle is accomplished by an inductive detector 124 mounted on the housing 94 to detect a particular angular position on the circumference of the rotating plate 95. This position can be indicated by providing a piece of metal 125 on the periphery of the rotating plate for appropriate electromagnetic interaction with the detector 124 in a known manner. This form of detection is particularly suitable for use with a plate 95 made of a non-metallic material.

Operating in conjunction with the detector 124 is a pneumatic cylinder 126 located on the upper portion of the housing 94. The cylinder 126 causes a braking/locking force to be applied to the upper rotating plate 95 to lock it in the correct angular position sensed by the detector 124. The pneumatic cylinder 126 can cause a braking or locking member to be moved into and out of braking and/or locking engagement with the rotating plate 95.

Preferably, the motor 96 and actuator cylinders 108, 122 and 126 are pneumatically driven and are controlled according to an electrical program control provided by an OMRON C28K controller (not shown) in a manner consistent with the present description. Input signals for this control are provided by START/STOP and OPEN/CLOSE control buttons (not shown) operated by an operator 15 and additionally by an electrical input signal from the inductive detector 124. Appropriate actuation of the OPEN/CLOSE control buttons causes the tape wrapping machine 38 to open or close via the actuator 108 and the fastener 120, 121 to be unlocked or locked via the actuator 122. Likewise, appropriate actuation of the START control initiates the orbiting motion of the tape reel 97 to wrap the tape around a harness branch and actuation of the STOP control serves to stop the orbiting plate 95 in the correct position via the detector 124, motor 96 and cylinder 126.

Therefore, to effect the wrapping of a harness branch 8i with tape, the work platform 88 is typically pivoted into position on the conveyor 28 and one end of the branch to be wrapped with tape is clamped in the clamping mechanism 89. The harness branch is then moved through the open mouth 104 of the taping machine 38 into the central opening 102 and the other end of this branch can then be supported in the forked support 65. The operator 15 can apply manual tension to the harness branch against the resisting clamping force of the mechanism 89. The taping machine 38 is then closed, the tape 97 is fed to the harness branch and the motor 96 is then energized to begin the taping operation. The tape wrapping machine 38 is manually moved along the rails 87 from one stop 93 to the other in order to carry out the tape wrapping process. When the other stop 93 is reached, the

TEXT MISSING

Claims (16)

1. Apparatus for producing cable harnesses, each having a plurality of wires, the apparatus comprising: an endless conveyor (23), a plurality of work stations (15) along the conveyor for progressively forming the harnesses from the embryonic to the finished state from a plurality of wires cut to predetermined lengths, the conveyor having means attached to it for engaging and moving the embryonic harnesses therewith, the harness engaging means comprising a pair of fingers (54) extending upwardly from the conveyor (23), and the system being characterized by: a wire storage device (32, 20) associated with the work stations for providing a supply of the cut wires, the length of the cut wires being substantially greater than the width of the conveyor (23); a trough (50, 52) on at least one side of the conveyor (23) into which at least one end of each of the wires of the embryonic harnesses extends; wherein the fingers (54) of each of the pairs of fingers are fixedly mounted on the conveyor and are spaced a predetermined distance apart from one another with respect to the longitudinal direction of the conveyor. 2. Device according to claim 1, further characterized in that the at least one trough (50, 52) extends downward from the conveyor (23) by a distance greater than the width of the conveyor (23) to thereby accommodate a substantial portion of the cable harness. 3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, further characterized in that the conveyor (23) has a first and a second trough (50, 52), the first trough (50) extending along one side of the conveyor (23) and the second trough (52) extending along the opposite side of the conveyor (23) and wherein the troughs each accommodate a portion of the embryonic wiring harness. 4. Apparatus according to claim 3, further characterized in that the embryonic harnesses extend across the width of the conveyor (23) in an inverted U-shaped configuration, the base portion of the U-shaped harnesses being engaged by the pairs of fingers, one leg portion of the U-shaped harnesses extending into one of the troughs (50) and the other leg portion of the U-shaped harnesses extending into the other trough (52). 5. Device according to claim 1, further characterized in that the storage devices each have a plurality of trough trays (20) arranged on a carriage (32), the wires stored therein being of various different functional types and the wires of one functional type being stored in one of the trough trays (20). 6. Device according to claim 5, further characterized in that most of the carriages (32) are movable. 7. Device according to claim 5, further characterized in that the channel shells (20) are each U-shaped and open at one end to allow manual access for removing a wire in the longitudinal direction of the channel (20). 8. Apparatus according to claim 7, further characterized in that the trough tray (20) comprises a base and a pair of generally opposed side walls, the base portion connecting the side walls being generally flat to thereby facilitate even distribution of the wires therein. 9. Device according to claim 7, further characterized in that at least some of the carriages (32) each have horizontal supports (58) at several heights and that channel shells (20) are freely mounted horizontally on the supports at different heights. 10. Apparatus according to claim 7, further characterized in that the trough trays (20) on at least some of the carriages are oriented substantially vertically and that the wires arranged in the trough trays extend beyond them and hang down from the upper end thereof to facilitate manual removal. 11. Apparatus according to claim 10, further characterized in that the trough shells (20) each have a clamping device attached to them near their upper end for releasably holding the wires in the trough shells in a position in which they are conveniently manually accessible. 12. Device according to claim 1, further characterized by: one or more harness subassembly tables (36, 36') each adjacent to a work station for facilitating the fabrication of a harness subassembly from a plurality of wires thereon for installation in the harness in the associated work station. 13. Apparatus according to claim 12, further characterized in that one or more of the sub-assembly tables (36) are pivotally mounted for selective movement between a working position and an idle position, the sub-assembly table in the working position being arranged to facilitate fabrication of the wire harness subassembly, and the sub-assembly table in the idle position, in which it is removed from the working position, being arranged not to substantially interfere with operations in the work station other than fabrication of the wire harness subassembly. 14. Device according to claim 12, further characterized in that a partial set table (36) has a platform part and that a plurality of wire support members are attached to and extend from the platform member to receive, support and guide various wires of the multi-wire subassembly. 15. Apparatus according to claim 14, further characterized in that the platform member is horizontal and that each wire support member extends upwardly therefrom and has a fork at its upper end in which wires are received. 16. Device according to claim 13, further characterized in that the conveyor (23) has a support frame and that the partial set tables (36) are each pivotally attached to the frame.