JP2013026018A - Wire bundle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate troubles in removing joining of a junction part by relieving force added to the junction part due to tensile force to an electric wire, in a wire bundle having the junction part made by bonding core wires to each other.SOLUTION: The wire bundle 1 includes a plurality of insulated wires 10 made of a core wire 40 of a conductor and an insulation coating 70 coating a periphery of the core wire. A junction part 45 bonded by the core wires 40 to each other are formed in a part of each of insulated wires 10. The insulation coating 70 of each of the insulated wires 10 includes an inner insulation coating 30 formed inside thereof and an outer insulation coating 20 formed outside of the inner insulation coating 30 and deposited between other adjacent insulated wires 10 with each other.

Description

  The present invention relates to a wire bundle composed of a plurality of wires.

  Conventionally, in a wire harness mounted on a vehicle represented by an automobile, core wires of a plurality of insulated wires may be electrically connected. In this case, the bare core wire portions formed in a part of each of the plurality of insulated wires are joined together by welding or pressure bonding of a conductive sleeve to form a joined portion. For example, Patent Document 1 describes that a plurality of bare core wires at the end of an electric wire bundle are joined by pressure bonding of a conductive sleeve.

  Patent Document 1 also describes that the portion of the insulation coating on the base side of the terminal joint in the wire bundle is bound by being wound with a tape.

JP 2005-129326 A

  By the way, in recent years, in wire harnesses mounted on vehicles, it has been desired to adopt thinner electric wires in order to reduce weight and reduce costs. However, when the core wires of a plurality of thin electric wires are joined, it is difficult to sufficiently secure the joining strength of the joining portion, and the problem that the joining portion is easily detached due to the tensile force applied to the wire becomes obvious. This is a hindrance to the weight reduction and cost reduction of the wire harness due to the use of thin electric wires.

  For example, as shown in Patent Document 1, even if a wire bundle in which a joint portion is formed is bound with a binding material such as an adhesive tape or a belt, the portions of the insulation coating in each wire are easily slipped from each other. For this reason, the tensile force applied to the electric wire is also applied to the joined portion almost as it is, and the joined portion is easily disconnected.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in an electric wire bundle having a joint portion where core wires are joined to each other, the force applied to the joint portion by the tensile force applied to the electric wire is alleviated, and the joint portion is unbonded. The purpose is to avoid.

  1st invention is provided with the some insulated wire which consists of a core wire of a conductor and the insulation coating which covers the circumference | surroundings of this core wire, and the junction part by which the said core wires were joined in a part of each of the said some insulated wire formed The insulated coating of each of the plurality of insulated wires is an inner insulating coating formed on the inner side, and formed on the outer side of the inner insulating coating, and adjacent to the other insulated wires. And an outer insulating coating fused to each other.

  2nd invention is a wire bundle which concerns on 1st invention, Comprising: The said outer side electric wire coating | cover is formed with the material whose melting | fusing point is lower than the said inner side insulation coating | cover.

  3rd invention is an electric wire bundle which concerns on 2nd invention, Comprising: The heat-shrinkable insulation cap which covers the said junction part is further provided.

  4th invention is an electric wire bundle which concerns on 1st or 2nd invention, Comprising: A part of said outer side insulation coating of each of the said some insulated wire covers the said junction part, after melt | dissolving in the said junction part The insulating cover part solidified in the state is formed.

  In the first invention, the insulation coating of each of the plurality of insulated wires has a double structure, and each of the plurality of insulated wires is mutually connected to the other insulated wires adjacent to each other by the fused outer insulation coating. It is glued. For this reason, the pulling force applied to the insulated wire acts mainly on the fused portion of the outer insulated wire, and the force transmitted to the joint is greatly reduced. As a result, it is possible to avoid the inconvenience that the joint portion is disconnected due to the pulling force applied to the insulated wire.

  In the second invention, the outer insulating coating is formed of a material having a lower melting point than the inner insulating coating. For this reason, the outer insulating coating can be melted and the insulated wires can be welded together by a simple process of heating.

  In the third invention, the core wire extending from the insulating coating is covered with a heat-shrinkable insulating cap. Accordingly, since the outer insulating coating can be fused and the joints can be insulated by a series of heating steps, the number of man-hours can be reduced.

  In the fourth invention, an insulating cover part solidified in a state in which a part of the outer insulating coating melts into the joint part and covers the joint part is formed. For this reason, a junction part can be electrically insulated and protected, without attaching the cap member used as another member. Moreover, since the outer insulating coating can be fused and the joints can be insulated by a series of heating steps, the number of man-hours can be reduced.

It is a perspective view of the wire bundle 1 which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an insulated wire 10. It is a figure which shows the core wire joining process which is a part of manufacturing process of the electric wire bundle. It is a figure which shows the heating process which is a part of electric wire bundle 1 manufacturing process. It is a figure which shows the peeling process which is a part of manufacturing process of the wire bundle 1b which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the core wire joining process which is a part of manufacturing process of the wire bundle 1b. It is a figure which shows the heating process which is a part of manufacturing process of the wire bundle 1b. It is a side view of the wire bundle 1b and a cover formation apparatus.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiment is an example embodying the present invention, and is not an example of limiting the technical scope of the present invention.

<First Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the wire bundle 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the insulated wire 10 constituting the wire bundle 1. For convenience, in FIG. 1, the insulating cap 60 included in the wire bundle 1 is drawn by a virtual line (two-dot chain line).

  As shown in FIG. 1, the wire bundle 1 includes a plurality of insulated wires 10 (two insulated wires 10 in FIG. 1) composed of a conductor core wire 40 and an insulating coating 70 covering the periphery of the core wire 40. In addition, a joint portion 45 is formed by joining the core wires 40 in a part of each of the plurality of insulated wires 10. In the present embodiment, the joint portion 45 is formed by joining core wires 40 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as core wire exposed portions 41) extending from the insulation coating 70 at the end of the insulated wire 10. . Further, the joint 45 is covered with an insulating cap 60. Note that the core wire 40 shown in FIG. 1 is a stranded wire composed of a plurality of fine conductor wires further drawn, but it is also conceivable that the core wire 40 is a single wire.

  Each of the plurality of insulated wires 10 is electrically connected by a joint 45. The joint portion 45 is formed by welding such as ultrasonic welding, or by crimping the conductive member to the core wire 40 in a state where the entire core wire 40 is bundled together. FIG. 1 shows a joint 45 joined by welding.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the insulating coating 70 constituting the insulated wire 10 includes an inner insulating coating 30 formed inside and an outer insulating coating 20 formed outside the inner insulating coating 30. That is, the insulating coating 70 has a double structure composed of two kinds of materials.

  The inner insulating coating 30 is made of a material that has been adopted as an insulating coating for conventional general insulated wires. For example, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene and the like are applicable.

  On the other hand, a material having a lower melting point than the material of the inner insulating coating 30 is used for the outer insulating coating 20 in the present embodiment. For example, EMA (Ethyl Meth Acrylate), which is a copolymer of polyester and acrylic acid ethylate, is used for the outer insulating coating 20. EMA has a melting point of approximately 90 degrees and is lower than a material generally used as an insulating coating, that is, a material used for an inner insulating coating. Therefore, when the insulating coating 70 is heated at a temperature equivalent to the melting point of the material used as the outer insulating coating 20, the inner insulating coating 30 remains in the state of covering the core wire 40, but the outer insulating coating 20 It melts on the outer peripheral surface of the insulating coating 30.

  The outer insulating coating 20 may employ not only a material having a melting point lower than that of the inner insulating coating 30, but also a material that melts when a solvent such as alcohol is applied. In this case, the outer insulating coating 20 can be melted by immersing the portion of the insulated wire 10 in a solvent such as alcohol.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the outer insulating coating 20 is welded between the insulated wire 10 and another insulated wire 10 adjacent thereto. That is, the integral outer insulating coating 20 covers the outer peripheral surface of each inner insulating coating 30 that constitutes each insulated wire 10. In this way, the plurality of insulated wires 10 constituting the wire bundle 1 are joined not only at the joint 45 in the core wire exposed portion 41 but also at each insulation coating 70 portion.

  In the wire bundle 1 shown in FIG. 1, an insulating cap 60 is attached to the core wire exposed portion 41 in order to protect the joint portion 45 and to electrically insulate it from the outside.

  Below, the manufacturing process of the wire bundle 1 is demonstrated using FIG.3 and FIG.4. FIG. 3 shows a side view of the insulated wire 10 in the core wire bonding step for forming the bonding portion 45. FIG. 4 shows a side view of the wire bundle 1 in the heating process for joining the plurality of insulated wires 10 and attaching the insulation cap 60.

  Each of the plurality of insulated wires 10 to be joined is previously subjected to a skinning process for removing the insulating coating 70 in a part thereof. By this peeling process, each insulated wire 10 is processed in a state where the core wire 40 is partially exposed at the portion where the joint 45 is formed. In the present embodiment, the stripping process is performed on the end of the insulated wire 10 to form the core wire exposed portion 41. In the present embodiment, the skinning process is performed on the end of the insulated wire 10.

  The plurality of insulated wires 10 after the skinning process are bundled in a state where the core wire exposed portions 41 are aligned in one place, and welding of the core wire exposed portions 41, for example, ultrasonic welding is performed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, the core wires 40 are joined together in a part of the core wire exposed portion 41 to form a joined portion 45. Each of the insulated wires 10 is electrically connected at the joint 45.

  Subsequently, an insulating cap 60 made of a heat-shrinkable material is put on a portion extending from the core wire exposed portion 41 where the joining portion 45 is formed at the end of the bundle of the insulated wires 10 to the insulating coating 70. . At this stage, the insulating cap 60 is put on the end of the bundle of the insulated wires 10 and is in an unshrinked state, and a gap is formed between the inner surface of the insulating cap 60 and the insulated wires 10. . The insulating cap 60 includes a heat shrinkable tube 61 and a plug 62 that closes one opening of the heat shrinkable tube 61. The stopper 62 is, for example, a resin member.

  Next, heat treatment is performed on the plurality of insulated wires 10 partially covered with the non-shrinkable insulating cap 60.

  The heat treatment is performed by, for example, blowing a plurality of insulated wires 10 with hot air using a dryer. At this time, the blowing of hot air by the dryer is mainly performed on the portion where the outer insulating coating 20 of the insulated wire 10 is in contact with each other and the outer portion of the insulating cap 60 fitted into the core wire exposed portion 41.

  The heat treatment may be performed not only by blowing hot air with a dryer, but also by inserting the insulated wire 10 into a space maintained at a high temperature using a thermostatic bath or the like. Moreover, you may carry out using the resistance heat_generation | fever of the insulated wire 10 by electricity supply.

  While the heat treatment is performed, the plurality of insulated wires 10 are held in a state of being temporarily bound by a tool, a tape, a human hand, or the like for bundling them.

  Thus, when the heat treatment is performed and the temperature of the portion where the outer insulating coating 20 of the insulated wire 10 is in contact with each other reaches the melting point of the outer insulating coating 20, the outer insulating coating 20 starts to melt. Then, the melted outer insulating coating 20 is spread between the outer peripheral surfaces of the inner insulating coating 30 and fills the space between the insulated wires 10 to be integrated.

  When the outer insulating coating 20 is melted, the heat treatment is stopped, so that the temperature of the melted outer insulating coating 20 decreases. As a result, the melted outer insulating coating 20 is solidified, and the outer insulating coatings 20 are welded to each other outside the inner insulating coating 30 constituting the plurality of insulated wires 10.

  The heat treatment is also performed on the outer portion of the insulating cap 60 fitted into the core wire exposed portion 41, and the heat shrinkable tube 61 of the insulating cap 60 contracts by heating. Therefore, the insulating cap 60 is in close contact with the end of the bundle of the insulated wires 10 including the core wire exposed portion 41, and the core wire exposed portion 41 is covered with the insulating cap 60. In this way, the insulating cap 60 is attached to the core wire exposed portion 41.

  As described above, in the wire bundle 1 according to the present embodiment, the insulation coating 70 of each of the plurality of insulated wires 10 has a double structure, and each of the plurality of insulated wires 10 is connected to another adjacent insulated wire 10. They are bonded to each other by the welded outer insulation coating 20.

  For this reason, the pulling force applied to the insulated wire 10 mainly acts on the welded portion of the outer insulating coating 20, and the force transmitted to the joint 45 is greatly relieved. As a result, it is possible to avoid the inconvenience that the joint 45 is disconnected due to the tensile force applied to the insulated wire 10. This is particularly effective when thinner insulated electric wires 10 are joined.

  Further, the outer insulating coating 20 is formed of a material having a lower melting point than the inner insulating coating 30. For this reason, the outer insulating coating 20 can be melted and the insulated wires 10 can be welded together by a simple process of heating.

  Further, the core wire exposed portion 41, that is, the core wire 40 extending from the insulating coating 70 is covered with a heat-shrinkable insulating cap 60. Therefore, since the welding of the outer insulating coating 20 and the insulation and protection of the core wire exposed portion 41 including the joining portion 45 can be realized by a series of heating steps, the number of man-hours can be reduced.

<Second Embodiment>
An electric wire bundle 1b according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 shows a peeling process which is a part of the manufacturing process of the wire bundle 1b according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 shows a part of the manufacturing process of the wire bundle 1b. A core wire joining process is shown. Moreover, the heating process which is a part of manufacturing process of the wire bundle 1b is shown by FIG. FIG. 8 shows a side view of the wire bundle 1b and the cover forming device. The same members as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the wire bundle 1 b is an insulating cover portion 90 that is a portion in which a part of the outer insulating coating 20 is formed instead of the insulating cap 60 provided in the wire bundle 1 according to the first embodiment. Is provided. Below, the preparation process of the wire bundle 1b is demonstrated.

  First, a peeling process is performed on each of the plurality of insulated wires 10 to be joined. In the peeling process, first, the end of the insulated wire 10 is fixed and held by a terminal fixture (not shown). And the stripping process of the insulation coating 70 is performed toward the direction opposite to the part of the insulated wire 10 which a terminal fixture hold | maintains, and the core wire 40 is partially exposed. Thereby, the core wire exposed part 41 is formed. In addition, the terminal fixing | fixed part 48 (the dashed-dotted line part in FIG. 5) of the insulated wire 10 hold | maintained with the terminal fixing tool is excised later. Alternatively, the insulating coating 70 remaining on the terminal fixing portion 48 is pulled out from the end of the core wire 40 and removed.

  In this embodiment, the insulation coating 70 peeled off from the portion of the core wire exposed portion 41 is not removed as in the first embodiment, but in the vicinity of the root portion of the core wire exposed portion 41 (the end portion of the insulation coating 70). ). That is, the portion of the insulating coating 70 that has been peeled off from the core wire 40 remains in a state of being turned up around the end of the insulating coating 70. The portion of the insulating coating 70 that has been turned up is hereinafter referred to as a remaining coating portion 75. Since the insulating coating 70 has a double structure of the inner insulating coating 30 and the outer insulating coating 20, more specifically, the remaining coating portion 75 includes the remaining inner coating portion 76 that is a portion of the inner insulating coating 30 and the outer insulating coating. 20 and a remaining outer covering portion 77 which is a portion of 20.

  Insulated electric wires 10 processed in a state where the remaining covering portion 75 is formed in this way are bundled with the respective core wire exposed portions 41 aligned in one place, and welding of the core wire exposed portions 41, for example, ultrasonic welding is performed. Done. As a result, the core wires 40 of the core wire exposed portion 41 are joined together to form a joined portion 45. Each insulated wire 10 is electrically connected at the joint 45.

  And heat processing are performed with respect to the insulated wire 10 in which the junction part 45 was formed. This heat treatment includes a step of welding the insulated wire 10 by a heat treatment of a portion where the outer insulating coatings 20 of the insulated wire 10 are in contact with each other, and a step of forming the insulating cover portion 90 by a heat treatment using the cover forming device 110. Including. Hereinafter, although the process in which the process of welding the insulated wire 10 and the process of forming the insulating cover part 90 are performed simultaneously will be described, the process of welding the insulated wire 10 and the process of forming the insulating cover part 90 are individually performed. It may be implemented.

  About the heat processing of the part which the outer side insulation coating 20 of the insulated wire 10 mutually contacts, it is the same as that of 1st Embodiment. Therefore, here, the heat treatment by the cover forming apparatus 110 will be described.

  The cover forming apparatus 110 is formed of a member having high thermal conductivity, and a heater 112 is embedded therein. By driving the heater 112, the temperature of the cover forming apparatus 110 can be increased to at least a temperature at which the outer insulating coating 20 is melted.

  The cover forming apparatus 110 is formed with an insertion port 111 into which the core wire exposed portion 41 to the remaining covering portion 75 of the plurality of insulated wires 10 are inserted, and the insertion port 111 is formed in a hollow shape opened upward. Has been. The inner surface of the insertion port 111 has the same shape as the outer surface of the insulating cover part 90.

  The plurality of insulated wires 10 are inserted from the joint portion 45 into the insertion port 111 of the cover forming apparatus 110 with the joint portion 45 facing downward. A gap is formed in any part between the core wire exposed portion 41 of the insulated wire 10 inserted into the insertion port 111 and the inner surface of the insertion port 111, and the remaining covering portion 75 is located inside the insertion port 111. It touches the side.

  When the temperature of the cover forming apparatus 110 is increased by the heater 112 and reaches the melting point of the outer insulating coating 20, the remaining outer covering portion 77 of the remaining covering portion 75 inserted into the insertion port 111 starts to melt. The molten remaining outer covering portion 77 flows down along the inner surface of the insertion port 111 downward in the insertion port 111. As described above, since a gap is formed between the core wire exposed portion 41 and the inner surface of the insertion port 111, the eluted remaining outer covering portion 77 fills this gap portion. That is, the core wire exposed portion 41 is in a state of being immersed in the remaining outer covering portion 77 eluted in the insertion port 111.

  The remaining inner covering portion 76 is not easily affected by the temperature of the melting point of the outer insulating coating 20, and thus remains in the state formed at the end of the inner insulating coating 30, and the eluted remaining outer covering portion 77 is the core wire. It is covered together with the exposed portion 41.

  After a predetermined time has elapsed, heating by the heater 112 is stopped, and the temperature of the cover forming apparatus 110 drops. When the insulated wire 10 is pulled out from the cover forming device 110 at the stage when the cover forming device 110 reaches a predetermined temperature, the insulating cover portion 90 in which the eluted remaining outer covering portion 77 is solidified according to the shape of the insertion port 111 is formed. Is formed. The insulating cover part 90 covers the core wire exposed part 41 and the remaining inner covering part 76 in close contact with each other. In this way, the peeled outer insulating coating 20 is reused as the insulating cover portion 90 for protection and electrical insulation of the core wire exposed portion 41, particularly the joint portion 45.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, the insulating cover portion 90 is formed in which a part of the outer insulating coating 20 is solidified in a state of covering the joint portion 45 after being eluted to the joint portion 45. For this reason, the junction part 45 can be protected and electrically insulated without attaching the insulating cap used as another member.

  Further, since the welding of the outer insulating coating 20 and the insulation of the joint portion 45 can be realized by a series of heating steps, the number of steps can be reduced.

1, 1b Wire bundle 10 Insulated wire 20 Outer insulation coating 30 Inner insulation coating 40 Core wire 41 Core wire exposed portion 45 Joint portion 48 Terminal fixing portion 60 Insulation cap 70 Insulation coating 75 Remaining coating portion 76 Remaining inner coating portion 77 Remaining outer coating portion 90 Insulating cover part 110 Cover forming device 111 Insertion slot 112 Heater

Claims (4)

A wire bundle comprising a plurality of insulated wires each comprising a conductor core wire and an insulating coating covering the periphery of the core wire, wherein a joined portion is formed by joining the core wires to a part of each of the plurality of insulated wires. And
The insulation coating of each of the plurality of insulated wires is
An inner insulation coating formed on the inside;
An electric wire bundle, comprising: an outer insulating coating that is formed on the outer side of the inner insulating coating and is fused to another adjacent insulated wire. The wire bundle according to claim 1,
The outer electric wire coating is a wire bundle formed of a material having a melting point lower than that of the inner insulating coating. The wire bundle according to claim 2,
A wire bundle further comprising a heat-shrinkable insulating cap covering the joint. The wire bundle according to claim 1 or 2,
A part of the outer insulating coating of each of the plurality of insulated wires forms an insulating cover part that is solidified in a state of covering the joint part after melting into the joint part.

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