JP2012242667A - Routing structure of wire harness - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a routing structure of a wire harness having a novel structure, which allows an optical cable to be incorporated into a branch portion of the wire harness with excellent work efficiency in such a bending state that a bend radius greater than an allowable value is ensured.SOLUTION: An optical cable guide member 12 on which a housing guide groove 18 opened on an outer peripheral surface 16 of a body portion 14 with a curvature radius equal to or greater than an allowable bend radius of an optical cable 20 and extending throughout in a circumferential direction of the body portion 14 is formed is provided. The optical cable 20 is housed in the housing guide groove 18 and is bent along the housing guide groove 18, and meanwhile, at least the body portion 14 of the optical cable guide member 12 is routed so as to be embedded in a plurality of electric wires 24 in a branch portion 10 of the wire harness.

Description

  The present invention relates to a wiring harness wiring structure, and more particularly to a wiring harness wiring structure in which an optical cable is routed at a branching portion of the wiring harness.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an automobile or the like, a wire harness configured by bundling a plurality of electric wires has been used in order to transmit electric power or an electric signal to a plurality of in-vehicle electrical components disposed in various places of the vehicle. Particularly in recent years, in car audio, for example, optical fibers have been used to realize high-capacity and high-speed data communication, such as when transmitting DVD images from a component in front of the passenger compartment to a rear seat monitor. An optical cable may be employed and incorporated into the wire harness.

  By the way, the wire harness is routed through various routes according to the shape of the vehicle body panel or the like, and often has a branched portion. In some cases, the optical cable is also bent and wired at, for example, 90 °, 180 °, etc., but as is well known, an allowable value for the bending radius is set for the optical cable. Therefore, if it is excessively bent with a bending radius smaller than the allowable value, there is a possibility that the transmission efficiency of the optical cable is lowered or the optical cable is damaged.

  Therefore, in order to route the optical cable in a curved state while ensuring the bending radius at an allowable value or more, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-215339 (Patent Document 1) discloses a plate attached to a wire harness by tape winding or the like. There has been proposed a wiring harness wiring structure using a fixture including a portion and a guide projection that protrudes from a plate portion and bends with an optical cable along a bending radius greater than an allowable value.

  However, in the routing structure described in Patent Document 1, the guide protrusion of the fixture protrudes outside the wire harness, and the optical cable is routed on the outer peripheral surface of the wire harness. Therefore, the guide protrusion may interfere with other members, and the optical cable routed on the outer peripheral surface of the wire harness may be damaged by contact with the other members or may be detached from the guide protrusion. In addition, since the fixture and the optical cable are further attached by tape winding after the wire harness tape winding, there is a problem that the number of work steps increases.

JP 2001-215339 A

  The present invention has been made in the background of the above-mentioned circumstances, and the problem to be solved is to incorporate the optical cable into the branch portion of the wire harness with a superior working efficiency in a curved state in which a bending radius of an allowable value or more is secured. An object of the present invention is to provide a wiring harness wiring structure having a novel structure.

  A first aspect of the present invention is a wiring harness routing structure in which an optical cable is routed to a branching portion of a wiring harness configured to include a plurality of electric wires, and is opened on an outer peripheral surface of a block-shaped main body portion. An optical cable guide member having an accommodating guide groove formed over the entire circumference of the main body portion with a radius of curvature equal to or greater than an allowable bending radius of the optical cable is provided, and the optical cable is accommodated in the accommodating guide groove of the optical cable guide member. In addition, the optical cable guide member is curved along the housing guide groove, and at least the main body portion of the optical cable guide member is embedded in the plurality of electric wires in the branch portion of the wire harness.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the optical cable from being excessively curved by accommodating the optical cable in the accommodation guide groove of the optical cable guide member and bending the optical cable along the accommodation guide groove. Then, the optical cable is wired in a curved state in which an allowable bending radius is ensured by burying the main body portion of the optical cable guide member in a plurality of electric wires in the branch portion of the wire harness in a state where the optical cable is along the housing guide groove. Can be routed to the branch of the harness.

  In particular, at least a main body portion of the optical cable guide member is embedded in a plurality of electric wires constituting the wire harness. As a result, the main body part and the optical cable accommodated in the accommodation guide groove of the main body part can be arranged without protruding from the wire harness, and interference with other members of the main body part or interference with other members can be achieved. It is possible to reduce the risk of damage to the optical cable due to detachment and separation from the optical cable guide member. Furthermore, when forming the branch portion of the wire harness, the optical cable guide member and the optical cable together with a plurality of electric wires are taped and bundled so that the optical cable can be incorporated into the wire harness in the branch portion forming process at the same time with high work efficiency. I can do it.

  Moreover, the main-body part of an optical cable guide member is embed | buried in a some electric wire, and is supported by the some electric wire surrounding a main-body part. Thereby, it is not necessary to provide a special wire harness attachment portion on the optical cable guide member, and the number of components can be reduced. Furthermore, since the attachment part to the wire harness is unnecessary, it is also unnecessary to prepare a plurality of attachment parts according to the branch shape of the wire harness, and the versatility of the optical cable guide member can be improved. I can do it.

  Furthermore, the accommodation guide groove of the optical cable guide member extends over the entire circumference of the main body portion of the optical cable guide member. Therefore, the optical cable can be bent in any direction using any part on the circumference of the accommodation guide groove without being conscious of the directionality of the accommodation guide groove. Thereby, an optical cable guide member can be used with the outstanding versatility corresponding to the various curved aspects of an optical cable. The housing guide groove only needs to make at least one round on the outer peripheral surface of the main body portion of the optical cable guide member. It may be a spiral shape or the like that circulates over a number of times. Moreover, the accommodation guide groove formed in the main body portion is not limited to one, and a plurality of accommodation guide grooves may be formed. Furthermore, the number of optical cables accommodated in the accommodation guide groove is not necessarily limited to one, and a plurality of optical cables may be accommodated in one accommodation guide groove.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the main body portion of the optical cable guide member has a cylindrical shape. According to this aspect, since the main body portion does not have a corner portion, it is possible to reduce the risk of damaging those electric wires in the embedded state in a plurality of electric wires.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, an opening width dimension on the outer peripheral surface of the main body portion of the housing guide groove in the optical cable guide member is the optical cable. The diameter is smaller than that.

  According to this aspect, the optical cable can be locked at the opening portion of the accommodation guide groove so that it is difficult to come out of the accommodation guide groove. Thereby, in the embedded state in a plurality of electric wires, it is possible to prevent the optical cable from being detached from the optical cable guide member, and it is possible to more stably maintain a bending radius greater than the allowable value. In addition, when a plurality of electric wires are routed around the optical cable guide member to form a branch portion, the electric cable can be routed with the optical cable held by the optical cable guide member, thereby improving workability. I can do it.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the one according to any one of the first to third aspects, the accommodation guide groove in the optical cable guide member is continuously provided over the entire circumference of the main body portion. It is an annular shape that extends. According to this aspect, the accommodation guide groove can be formed on the outer peripheral surface of the main body portion with good space efficiency, and the main body portion of the optical cable guide member can be made compact.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the above-described fourth aspect, a plurality of the housing guide grooves are formed in parallel in the main body portion of the optical cable guide member.

  According to this aspect, since the plurality of accommodation guide grooves are formed in the main body portion, it is possible to route a larger number of optical cables in a curved state with one optical cable guide member. And since the accommodation guide groove is an annular shape, it is possible to efficiently form a plurality of accommodation guide grooves in the main body portion of the cable guide member so that the plurality of optical cables overlap in parallel. It can be routed efficiently at the branching part of the wire harness.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the one described in any one of the first to fifth aspects, a non-circular component fixing jig hole is provided in the body portion of the optical cable guide member. It is what.

  According to this aspect, when forming a branch portion of a wire harness by bundling a plurality of electric wires, an optical cable is inserted by inserting a component fixing jig hole into a pin protruding from a jig used for the guide of the electric wire. The guide member can be positioned on the jig. In addition, since the component fixing jig hole is non-circular, rotation of the optical cable guide member can be suppressed while being inserted into the pin on the jig. Thereby, when bundling a plurality of electric wires to form a branch portion of the wire harness, the optical cable guide member and the optical cable can be more stably positioned on the jig, and further workability can be improved. I can do it.

  According to the present invention, the optical cable guide member is provided at the branch portion of the wire harness, and the accommodation guide groove extending over the entire circumference with a radius of curvature greater than the allowable bending radius of the optical cable is formed in the main body portion of the optical cable guide member. On the other hand, an optical cable is accommodated in the accommodation guide groove and bent along the accommodation guide groove, and at least a main body portion of the optical cable guide member is embedded in a plurality of electric wires in a branching portion of the wire harness. did. Thereby, it is possible to route the optical cable in a curved state at the branch portion of the wire harness while ensuring a bending radius that is equal to or greater than an allowable value. Furthermore, by embedding the main body portion of the optical cable guide member and the optical cable in a plurality of electric wires of the wire harness, interference between the main body portion and the optical cable and other members can be suppressed, and the risk of damage to the optical cable can be reduced. At the same time, when bundling a plurality of electric wires to form a branching portion, the main body portion and the optical cable are embedded in the plurality of electric wires and taped together with the electric wires, so that the optical cable can be efficiently operated simultaneously with the step of forming the branching portion. Can be incorporated into a wire harness.

Explanatory drawing of the branch part provided with the wiring structure of the wire harness of this invention. The perspective view of the optical cable guide member provided in the branch part shown in FIG. The top view of the optical cable guide member shown in FIG. IV-IV sectional drawing in FIG. Explanatory drawing for demonstrating the formation method of the branch part shown in FIG. Explanatory drawing of the branched part of a different aspect provided with the wiring structure of the wire harness of this invention. The perspective view of the optical cable guide member of the aspect different from FIG. The perspective view of the optical cable guide member of a different aspect from FIG. 2 and FIG.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  First, FIG. 1 shows a branch portion (hereinafter referred to as a “branch portion”) 10 of a wire harness provided with the wiring harness wiring structure of the present invention. The entire branched portion 10 is wound with a tape 26 to be described later, but in FIG. 1, the main portion of the tape 26 is omitted. Further, in FIG. 1, the inside of the accommodation guide groove 18 of the optical cable guide member 12 to be described later is shown through.

  An optical cable guide member (hereinafter appropriately referred to as a guide member) 12 is embedded in the branch portion 10. The guide member 12 is shown in FIGS. The guide member 12 is an integrally molded product having a cylindrical main body portion 14. The material of the guide member 12 is not particularly limited, and a metal, a rubber elastic body, or the like can be used, but a synthetic resin material is preferably used.

  The body portion 14 has a circular block shape and a cylindrical block shape extending in the axial direction (vertical direction in FIG. 4). The main body portion 14 is formed with a plurality of (four in this embodiment) accommodation guide grooves 18 a to 18 d that open on the outer peripheral surface 16 of the main body portion 14 and extend in the circumferential direction of the main body portion 14. Since the accommodation guide grooves 18a to 18d have substantially the same shape as each other, the accommodation guide grooves 18 will be described unless it is necessary to distinguish them.

  The accommodation guide groove 18 has an annular shape having a substantially circular cross-sectional shape and makes a round around the main body portion 14, and is continuously formed over the entire circumference of the main body portion 14. The radius of curvature R of the inner diameter of the accommodation guide groove 18 is set to be equal to or larger than the allowable bending radius of the optical cables 20a to 20d (see FIG. 1) to be accommodated. In the present embodiment, corresponding to the fact that the diameter dimensions of the optical cables 20a to 20d are set to about 3 mm and the allowable bending radius is set to 7.5 mm, the radius of curvature of the inner diameter of the accommodation guide groove 18: R is 7.5 mm. It is set above.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG. 4, the cross-sectional shape of the accommodation guide groove 18 is less than a half circumference by cutting out a substantially circular shape having a slightly larger diameter than the diameter of the optical cables 20a to 20d at the outer peripheral surface 16. It is a partial circular shape that slightly wraps around. Thereby, the accommodation guide groove 18 has a size capable of accommodating one of the optical cables 20a to 20d, and the opening width dimension w on the outer peripheral surface 16 of the accommodation guide groove 18 is the optical cable 20a to 20c. The diameter is slightly smaller than 20d. And four accommodation guide grooves 18a-18d are formed along with the axial direction (up-and-down direction in Drawing 4) of main part 14.

  Furthermore, a jig hole 22 for fixing components is provided in the central portion of the main body portion 14. The component fixing jig hole 22 has a non-circular cross-sectional shape and is provided on the central axis of the main body portion 14. The cross-sectional shape of the component fixing jig hole 22 is not particularly limited as long as it is non-circular, and is rectangular, such as a square or a rectangle, a polygon such as a hexagon or an octagon, an ellipse, or any other non-circular shape. The shape can be adopted, and in the present embodiment, the shape is a rounded square with rounded corners.

  As shown in FIG. 1, such an optical cable guide member 12 is provided at the branch portion 10 of the wire harness in a state where the optical cables 20 a to 20 d are respectively accommodated and curved in the accommodation guide grooves 18 a to 18 d. The branch portion 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 is a cross-shaped branch portion. The optical cables 20a to 20d are partially accommodated in the accommodation guide grooves 18a to 18d, and are curved along the accommodation guide grooves 18a to 18d. Accordingly, the optical cables 20a to 20d are guided by the accommodation guide grooves 18a to 18d, and are arranged while being bent at approximately 90 ° while ensuring a bending radius equal to or greater than an allowable value. And around the guide member 12, the some electric wire 24 which comprises the branch part 10 is wired, and while being surrounded by these some electric wires 24, the guide member 12 is supported, the electric wire 24 and the guide member 12, And the branch part 10 is formed by tape-wrapping the whole optical cables 20a-20d with the tape 26. As shown in FIG. Thereby, the guide member 12 and the optical cables 20a to 20d are incorporated in the branch portion 10 while being embedded in the plurality of electric wires 24. The guide member 12 is disposed in the branch portion 10 without the entire main body portion 14 being embedded in a bundle of a plurality of electric wires 24 and protruding from the tape 26 covering the entire outer surface of the branch portion 10. . Moreover, the optical cables 20 a to 20 d are routed in a bundle of the plurality of electric wires 24.

  The branch portion 10 is preferably formed as shown in FIG. 5, for example. First, the jig 28 is prepared. Four guide pins 30 are provided on the jig 28 so as to protrude from the four apexes of the quadrangle. In the jig 28, a positioning pin 32 protrudes from the central portion of the four guide pins 30. The positioning pin 32 has a substantially similar cross-sectional shape slightly smaller than the cross-sectional shape of the component fixing jig hole 22 of the optical cable guide member 12.

  Then, the optical cable guide member 12 is prepared, and the guide member 12 is assembled to the jig 28 by inserting the positioning pin 32 into the component fixing jig hole 22. Subsequently, the optical cables 20a to 20d are prepared and accommodated in the accommodation guide grooves 18a to 18d of the guide member 12, respectively, and bent into a desired routing shape along the accommodation guide grooves 18a to 18d.

  Next, a plurality of electric wires 24 are prepared and routed in a desired routing shape on the jig 28 while being guided and bent by the guide pins 30 of the jig 28 as necessary. When the electric wires 24 are arranged on the jig 28, the electric wires 24 arranged in the vicinity of the guide member 12 are guided by the plural electric wires 24 by being along the outer peripheral surface 16 and the upper and lower surfaces of the guide member 12. The member 12 is routed so as to surround it. The branch portion 10 can be formed by winding the tape 26 around the plurality of electric wires 24, the guide member 12, and the optical cables 20 a to 20 d and removing them from the jig 28.

  According to such a wiring structure of the wire harness, the optical cable guide member 12 is provided, so that the optical cables 20a to 20d are placed along the accommodation guide grooves 18a to 18d of the guide member 12 and have a bending radius greater than an allowable value. Can be routed to the branch portion 10 in a bent state in which Then, the entire guide member 12 and the optical cables 20 a to 20 d are embedded in a bundle of a plurality of electric wires 24 in the branch portion 10 and disposed in a tape 26 that covers the branch portion 10. Thereby, interference with the guide member 12 and other members of the optical cables 20a to 20d is reduced, and the possibility of damage to the optical cables 20a to 20d and detachment from the guide member 12 is reduced. In particular, in the present embodiment, since the entire main body portion 14 of the guide member 12 has a cylindrical shape, the risk of damaging the surrounding electric wires 24 is also reduced. Further, the guide member 12 is supported by a plurality of electric wires 24 surrounding the periphery. Therefore, it is not necessary to form a special wire harness attachment portion on the guide member 12 or to prepare a plurality of such attachment portions corresponding to the specific branch shape of the branch portion. The member 12 can be used with excellent versatility with respect to various branched portions.

  Further, when the branch portion 10 is formed, a plurality of electric wires 24 are routed around the guide member 12 and the optical cables 20a to 20d, and taped together with the guide member 12 and the optical cables 20a to 20d. And the incorporation of the guide member 12 and the optical cables 20a to 20d can be performed at the same time, and excellent working efficiency can be obtained. Further, since the non-circular component fixing jig hole 22 is formed in the guide member 12, the guide member 12 is cured by inserting the positioning pin 32 of the jig 28 into the component fixing jig hole 22. The tool 28 can be positioned so as not to rotate. Thereby, when routing the electric wire 24, the guide member 12 and the optical cable 20 can be more stably positioned on the jig | tool 28, and the more excellent working efficiency can be obtained. However, the component fixing jig hole 22 is not always necessary.

  The accommodation guide groove 18 of the optical cable guide member 12 is formed over the entire circumference of the main body portion 14. Thereby, any position on the circumference of the main body portion 14 can be used arbitrarily in the accommodation guide groove 18, and the bending angle of the optical cable 20 can be freely set. In particular, since the accommodation guide groove 18 has an annular shape, the accommodation guide groove 18 can be formed compactly in the axial direction of the main body portion 14 (vertical direction in FIG. 4). The plurality of housing guide grooves 18a to 18b are formed in parallel with high space efficiency, and the plurality of optical cables 20a to 20d can be guided by one guide member 12. Furthermore, the opening size of the outer peripheral surface 16 of the accommodation guide groove 18 is made smaller than the diameter size of the optical cable 20, and the optical cable 20 is difficult to come out of the accommodation guide groove 18. Accordingly, the optical cable 20 can be prevented from being detached from the guide member 12, and the optical cable 20 can be held by the guide member 12 when the electric wire 24 is routed to form the branch portion 10. Excellent work efficiency can be obtained.

  In addition, such a wiring structure of a wire harness can be applied to a branched portion of each shape. For example, FIG. 6 shows a branch portion 40 of a wire harness of a different mode provided with the wiring harness wiring structure of the present invention in substantially the same manner as FIG. In the following description, members and parts having the same structure as that of the branch portion 10 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those of the branch portion 10 in the drawing, and the description thereof is omitted as appropriate.

  The branch portion 40 in this embodiment is a T-shaped branch portion, and the optical cable guide member 12 and one optical cable 20 are embedded in a bundle of a plurality of electric wires 24. In this embodiment, the optical cable 20 is accommodated in the accommodation guide groove 18a, and is arranged in a U-shape by being bent by approximately 180 °. In addition, as shown by the phantom line in FIG. 6, the branching portion 40 has three guide pins 30 projecting at the apexes of the triangle, and the positioning pin 32 at the center of the three guide pins. Can be formed in the same manner as the branch portion 10 by using the jig 42 protruding. As is apparent from the branching portion 10 and the branching portion 40 in this embodiment, according to the wire harness routing structure according to the present invention, the accommodation guide groove 18a of the optical cable guide member 12 is formed over the entire circumference of the guide member 12. Therefore, the bending angle of the optical cable 20 can be freely set, and the same optical cable guide member 12 can be used for a branch portion of each shape for general purposes. Accordingly, the branch portion 10 and the branch portion 40 are merely examples, and the wiring structure of the wire harness according to the present invention can of course be applied to a Y-shaped branch portion or the like.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was explained in full detail, this invention is not limited by the specific description. For example, the specific shape of the optical cable guide member is not limited to the shape as in the above embodiment. As in the optical cable guide member 44 having a different mode shown in FIG. 7, the accommodation guide groove 46 may have a spiral shape that circulates a plurality of times on the outer peripheral surface 16 of the main body portion 14. Further, as in the optical cable guide member 48 of a further different mode shown in FIG.

  Furthermore, the cross-sectional shape of the accommodation guide groove is not limited to a circle, and may be, for example, a rectangular shape. In addition, one accommodation guide groove may be formed with a size that can accommodate a plurality of optical cables. In addition, it is only necessary that at least one accommodation guide groove is formed in the main body portion. For example, only one accommodation guide groove may be formed in the main body portion.

  Further, if necessary, the optical cable guide member may be formed with a protrusion for gripping protruding from the main body portion. In such a case, the optical cable guide member only needs to have at least the main body portion embedded in the bundle of electric wires, and only the main body portion is embedded in the bundle of electric wires, and the gripping protrusion is placed in the bundle of electric wires. You may make it protrude from.

  Furthermore, the number of optical cable guide members provided in the branch portion is not necessarily limited to one, and a plurality of optical cable guide members may be provided in one branch portion as necessary.

10, 40: Branch part of wire harness, 12, 44, 48: Optical cable guide member, 14, 50: Main body part, 16: Outer peripheral surface, 18a to d, 46: Housing guide groove, 20a to d: Optical cable, 22: Component fixing jig hole, 24: Electric wire, 28, 42: Jig, 30: Guide pin, 32: Positioning pin

Claims (6)

In the wiring structure of the wire harness in which the optical cable is routed in the branch portion of the wire harness configured to include a plurality of electric wires,
An optical cable guide member that is opened on the outer peripheral surface of the block-shaped main body portion and has an accommodation guide groove that extends over the entire circumference of the main body portion with a radius of curvature equal to or greater than the allowable bending radius of the optical cable;
While accommodating the optical cable in the accommodation guide groove of the optical cable guide member and curving along the accommodation guide groove,
A wiring structure of a wire harness, wherein at least the main body portion of the optical cable guide member is embedded in the plurality of electric wires in a branch portion of the wire harness. The wiring structure of the wire harness according to claim 1, wherein the main body portion of the optical cable guide member has a cylindrical shape. The wiring structure of the wire harness according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an opening width dimension on the outer peripheral surface of the main body portion of the housing guide groove in the optical cable guide member is smaller than a diameter dimension of the optical cable. The wiring structure of the wire harness according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the accommodation guide groove in the optical cable guide member has an annular shape continuously extending over the entire circumference of the main body portion. . The wiring structure of the wire harness according to claim 4, wherein a plurality of the housing guide grooves are formed in parallel in the main body portion of the optical cable guide member. The wiring structure of the wire harness according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a non-circular component fixing jig hole is formed through the main body portion of the optical cable guide member.

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