GB2295497A

GB2295497A - Modular board for assembling cabling

Info

Publication number: GB2295497A
Application number: GB9514176A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Magrina Francisco Nolla
Original assignee: Lear Automotive EEDS Spain SL
Current assignee: Lear Automotive EEDS Spain SL
Priority date: 1994-11-23
Filing date: 1995-07-12
Publication date: 1996-05-29
Anticipated expiration: 2015-07-12
Also published as: ITUD950045V0; ITUD950045U1; IT239073Y1; DE29510501U1; SE9502759D0; ES1029511U; ES1029511Y; GB2295497B; FR2727275B3; SE9502759L; FR2727275A3; GB9514176D0

Abstract

A modular board for assembling cabling comprising a frame 11 manufactured from wooden or metal sections in which are mounted and supported a set of modular supports 12 each having a substantially rectangular or quadrangular perimeter, the supports being of a material based on polyamide containing glass fibre, having a thickness of 10 to 20 mm and provided with a regular distribution of holes 12a which run from the front side to the rear side and pass perpendicularly through the supports to serve as housings for self-tapping screws which fix posts 14 to the face of the supports, the posts 14 being of the type having a plane perpendicular base 15 with a hole 20 open to one side edge of the base. <IMAGE>

Description

IMPROVED MODULAR BOARD FOR ASSEMBLING CABLING This invention relates to an improved modular board for assembling cabling which will fulfil the task for which it has been specifically designed, safely and with maximum efficiency.

There is on the market a set of modular boards, which can therefore be regarded as the state of the art, whose purpose is to be mounted on a continuous chain in order that corresponding posts designed to mark tracks and positions can be mounted thereon over suitable supports for a set of cabling preferably for motor vehicles on the ends of which all kinds of terminals and connectors are set.

These boards are moved horizontally with the aid of an endless chain and with personnel on both sides of the chain incorporating different components into the posts and boards described above at each resting point, thus and with the help of these boards carrying out a mass production operation whose purpose is to construct a loom consisting of a set of cables on the ends of which the corresponding terminals and connectors are secured and fixed.

There are on the market boards manufactured with standard sections according to the prior art forming frames which incorporate within them by appropriate means a set of supports of preferably wood or metal, such as iron coated with a 3 mm thickness of zinc, which are used as a base for mounting the corresponding post supports, for which purpose it is necessary to introduce a bolt to the upper part thereof, which has to be secured by the other side, i.e. by a corresponding nut on the underside of the board, to immobilise the posts in the desired positions.

The plurality of posts and the different positions which these must adopt according to the different types of cables and looms makes it first necessary to stop the entire continuous chain so that the corresponding posts and securing members can be dismantled via the front and rear portions and located in other holes, which also makes it necessary to unscrew the nut and the bolt in different planes in which the support forms a form of impassable barrier which obliges the users to work both in front of and behind the board, with many stoppages of the chain when the positions of the posts have to be changed.

From another technical point of view the materials used for the manufacture of these boards, which are preferably of metal, except in some cases where the support is of wood, results in these boards being heavy, and therefore the chain which moves them and the drive members therefor have to be of great strength in the case of the former, and of great power in the case of the latter, which means high investment, and continual delays when the types of cables have to be changed or inserted between them so that the various persons located in their immediate vicinity can locate and fit the various components which form part of the said electrical conductors and the said cabling and looms, changing the position of the posts.

The purpose of this invention is to provide a new type of entirely modular board for cabling and looms which firstly reduces the downtime when it is necessary to change the composition of the cabling, and therefore the position of the posts, and which makes it possible to work in a single working plane, i.e. the upper plane, for which purpose the posts which are mounted above the modular supports are equipped with selftapping screws, thus making it unnecessary to work on the lower side of the modular supports and thus avoiding the corresponding stoppages.

According to the invention there is provided a modular board for assembling cabling comprising a frame manufactured from wooden or metal sections in which are mounted and supported a set of modular supports each having a substantially rectangular or quadrangular perimeter, the supports being of a material based on polyamide containing glass fibre, having a thickness of 10 to 20 mm and provided with a regular distribution of holes which run from the front side to the rear side and pass perpendicularly through the supports to serve as housings for self-tapping screws which fix posts to the face of the supports, the posts being of the type having a plane perpendicular base with a hole open to one side edge of the base.

From another technical point of view, the modular supports are constructed of recycled polyamide material containing glass fibre, from 10 to 20 mm thick, equipped with corresponding holes, which if they are subjected to undesirable forces and do not maintain a constant internal diameter can be quickly changed and wholly recovered in that they are manufactured using expendable material which can be recovered as new particles and injection moulded again.

The choice of material of manufacture offers great ease in the manufacture of the boards, and therefore of the members of the chain supporting them, and the power components driving the chains can be of lower power, which achieves a saving both in the power required for the drive means and in the chains supporting the boards, which can be lighter, and reducing the unit price of the modular support which is always recyclable in all circumstances.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing which is a lateral perspective view of a board according to the invention.

The board 10 shown in the accompanying figure has a plurality of posts 14 for different types of use, all provided with a base 15 perpendicular to the vertical part of the posts 14 and provided 15 with an open hole 20 on one side thereof.

In one of the preferred embodiments, as may be seen In the single accompanying figure, board 10 comprises a frame 11 preferably of angular cross-section which serves as a member supporting a plurality of modular supports 12 the surfaces of which are provided with a set of holes 12a which pass through from the upper side 16 to the lower side 17, and all being of the same diameter.

The modular supports 12 are supported in the frame 11 by conventional means, and the various modular supports 12 are connected together in the same way.

In the manufacture of cabling it is necessary to draw a set of imaginary routes or tracks by arranging a plurality of posts 14 of different types and geometry which serve to support and secure the various cables and cable members making up cabling or looms on the surface of the modular supports 12.

To secure posts 14 on the front side 16 of support 12 the posts have completely flat bases 15 in which the front side has the open hole 20 through which one passes a self-tapping screw (which is not shown in the figure) and which firmly fixes posts 14 to the modular support 12.

The use of these modular supports 12, together with selftapping screws, makes it possible to work on the front side of the supports 12, thus eliminating the operations on the rear side of 12, i.e. on side 17, with consequent shutdown of the entire chain in order to permit the workers to unscrew the said posts 14 from the modular supports 12.

The elimination of work on the rear side of modular supports 12, and the use of self-tapping screws, which are not shown in the figure, makes it easy to locate and move posts 14 quickly to new holes 12a without the need to shut down the chain or to slow down board 10 in its position with respect thereto, with the result that the operation of cabling manufacture increases in efficiency, while at the same time if a modular support 12 should deteriorate the work of restoring the entire board is much more economical as the said modular supports 12 are manufactured using recycled material which can be ground up in appropriate machines to produce a recoverable particulate which can be injection moulded again to manufacture a completely new part 12, with the result that the maintenance costs of these boards 10 is reduced by a maximum.

The perimeter of the modular supports 12 is preferably quadrangular or rectangular, and each board 10 comprises various modular supports 12 so that if the holes 12a deteriorate it is not necessary to replace the entire modular support 12, but only one unit of it.

It will be understood from what is seen in the drawings and the explanation made thereof that the invention provides a simple and effective form of construction which can be put into practice with great ease.

Claims

1. A modular board for assembling cabling comprising a frame manufactured from wooden or metal sections in which are mounted and supported a set of modular supports each having a substantially rectangular or quadrangular perimeter, the supports being of a material based on polyamide containing glass fibre, having a thickness of 10 to 20 mm and provided with a regular distribution of holes which run from the front side to the rear side and pass perpendicularly through the supports to serve as housings for self-tapping screws which fix posts to the face of the supports, the posts being of the type having a plane perpendicular base with a hole open to one side edge of the base.

2. A modular board as claimed in Claim 1 in which the sections of the frame are of angular cross-section.

3. A modular board for assembling cabling substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.