JP2017108486A - Length adjustment structure for wiring harness - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a length adjustment structure for a wiring harness capable of sharing one kind of wiring harness for two kinds of wiring harnesses with different lengths, and easily changing a length.SOLUTION: The length adjustment structure comprises: a covered conductor 12; a first tape fixing part 20 for which an extra length portion 12a in the middle of the covered conductor 12 is folded in a zigzag manner and which is formed by winding a tape 20a in a state where the extra length portions 12a folded in the zigzag state are bundled and cancels the state of bundling when a required tensile force F acts on the covered conductor 12; a corrugated tube 22 packaging front and rear regions including the extra length portion 12a folded in the zigzag manner; and a second tape fixing part 28 in which an adhesive tape 28a is wound around a protective tube in the case where the protective tube covers the corrugated tube 22 and the covered conductor 12 or covers the covered conductor 12, in such a manner that an opening in one end of the corrugated tube 22 is closed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a length adjustment structure for a wire harness.

  Conventionally, wire harnesses for automobiles are routed in a route suitable for the vehicle layout or the like, and wire harnesses having different lengths are generally used for vehicle types having different vehicle layouts.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 6, a wire harness 100 in which connectors 16 and 18 are attached to both ends of a covered electric wire 12 and a corrugated tube 22 is sheathed in the middle is used in a certain vehicle. There is a case where the wire harness 110 in which the length of the covered electric wire 12 up to the connector 18 is long by L is used for another type of vehicle. In this way, if two types of wire harnesses 100 and 110 having the same basic configuration such as the wire configuration and the exterior configuration, but different only in length, can be shared, manufacturing and management costs can be reduced, so various measures can be taken for sharing. (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In Patent Document 1, as shown in FIG. 7, an exposed wire bundle 113 not covered with a corrugated tube is folded back to form a folded portion 114 in the middle of the path of the wire harness 120, and a connecting corrugated so as to cover it. A length adjustment structure of a wire harness in which a tube 115 is sheathed is disclosed. When the wire harness 120 is used for a long length, the folded portion 114 is used by extending in a straight line.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-312716

  However, in the length adjustment structure of the wire harness described in Patent Document 1, as shown in FIG. 7, when the wire harness is used for a short length, the connecting corrugated tube 115 is formed with the folded portion 114 formed. Are fixed to the first and second exterior portions 112a and 112b by tape winding T, respectively. For this reason, when changing from the short one to the long one, it is necessary to unwind the tape winding T, which is troublesome and the length changing operation is not efficient.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and can share one type of wire harness for two types of wire harnesses having different lengths, and can easily change the length. It aims at providing the length adjustment structure of the wire harness which can be performed to.

  In order to achieve the above object, the clip according to the present invention is formed by tape winding so that a covered electric wire and a surplus portion in the middle of the covered electric wire are folded together and bundled together. A first tape fixing portion that eliminates the bundling state when a required tensile force is applied to the corrugated tube, a corrugated tube that covers the front and rear regions including the surplus length portion that has been folded, and one end opening of the corrugated tube is closed. In this manner, the adhesive tape includes the corrugated tube and a second tape fixing portion wound around the protective tube when the covered electric wire or the covered electric wire is covered with the protective tube.

  With this configuration, one type of wire harness can be shared for two types of wire harnesses having different lengths. At the same time, by simply applying the required tensile force to the covered wire, it is possible to eliminate the state of bundling the excess length of the intermediate spelled portion of the covered wire without having to perform complicated work such as unwinding the tape. The wire harness can be easily changed from a short length to a long length by a simple pulling operation.

  The tape used for the first tape fixing part may have a weak adhesive force that eliminates the bundling state when a required tensile force is applied to the covered electric wire.

  With this configuration, when the necessary tensile force is applied to the covered electric wire protruding from the other end of the corrugated tube while keeping the tape winding in a state of bundling the surplus portion folded in the middle of the covered electric wire, it is bundled The state can be eliminated with a simple configuration.

  The first tape fixing portion is formed by winding the remaining length portion of the extra length portion after the tape is wound so as not to be unwound to a portion of the extra length portion that is closer to the second tape fixing portion side. It is good also as a structure wound by the state bundled.

  With this configuration, the weak adhesive tape is wound so as not to unwind around the portion of the extra length portion of the covered electric wire that is close to the second tape fixing portion, so that the wire harness is changed from a short length to a long length. Moreover, when the required tensile force is applied to the covered electric wire to eliminate the state where the extra length folded in the middle of the covered electric wire is bundled, the weak adhesive tape remains attached to the covered electric wire. Thereby, the weak adhesive tape which became unnecessary from the wire harness can be prevented from coming out as garbage.

  The covered electric wire may have a configuration in which a part or all of the region excluding the extra length portion is covered with the protective tube.

  With this configuration, when the covered electric wire is protected and a required tensile force is applied to the covered electric wire, the covered electric wire is hardly broken by grasping and pulling the protective tube together with the connector.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, while being able to share one type of wire harness with respect to two types of wire harnesses from which length differs, the length adjustment structure of the wire harness which can perform a change of length easily Can be provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is the partially broken front view of the wire harness of the short state which shows the length adjustment structure of the wire harness which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the partially broken front view of the wire harness which became long by the length change of the wire harness of FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating a modification thereof. It is explanatory drawing which shows the manufacturing method of the length adjustment structure of the wire harness which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is the partially broken front view of the wire harness of the short state which shows the length adjustment structure of the wire harness which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows 2 types of long and short wire harness shared. It is explanatory drawing which shows the wire harness of patent document 1. FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
As shown in FIG. 1, the length adjustment structure of the wire harness 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a covered electric wire 12, a first tape fixing portion 20, a corrugated tube 22, and a second A tape fixing portion 28. By changing the length of the wire harness 10 by this length adjustment structure, two types of wire harnesses having different lengths as shown in FIG. 6 can be shared by one type of wire harness. The wire harness 10 shown in FIG. 1 is a short (short) wire harness. The wire harness 10 shown in FIG. 2 is a state in which the length is changed from the short wire harness 10 of FIG. 1 by the length adjustment structure, and is a long (long) state wire harness.

  The covered electric wire 12 is composed of one or a plurality of wires, and connectors 16 and 18 are attached to both ends. Each covered electric wire 12 has a conducting wire that is a bundle of copper wires having a small diameter, and an insulating coating material such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) that coats the conducting wire. The conducting wire may be a single copper wire having a large diameter. The conducting wire may be an aluminum wire.

  The first tape fixing part 20 is formed by tape winding in such a manner that the intermediate extra length portion 12a of the covered electric wire 12 is folded in a zigzag manner, and the extra length portion 12a that is zigzag folded is bundled, and the required tensile force F acts on the covered electric wire 12. When it is done, it is configured to eliminate the bundling state. In the present invention, “zipper folding” refers to a case where folding is performed so as to be reversed one after another in the direction of folding, and the folding is performed twice or more (preferably twice). As shown in FIG. 6, the surplus length portion 12 a has a length larger than the length difference L between the long wire harness 110 and the short wire harness 100. When the length is changed from the short length to the long length, the extra length portion 12a can be lengthened by the length L (see FIG. 2).

  FIG. 2 shows a state in which the wire harness is changed to a long wire harness. The state of bundling the extra length portion 12a in the middle of the covered electric wire 12 shown in FIG. 1 is eliminated, and the length of the long wire harness 110 and the short wire harness 100 is pulled out from the corrugated tube 22 by the difference L. It is in a state. By adjusting the length with which the covered electric wire 12 is pulled out from the corrugated tube 22, the difference L between the lengths of the two types of wire harnesses can be adjusted.

  The weak adhesive tape 20a used in the first tape fixing portion 20 has a weak adhesive force that eliminates the above-described bundling state when the required tensile force F is applied to the covered electric wire 12. Further, as shown in FIG. 3A, the first tape fixing part 20 is wound with the weak adhesive tape 20a about 1.5 to 2 times in a state where the surplus length portions 12a folded in a zigzag manner are bundled. The weak adhesive tape 20a may be formed with slits or notches in the width direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, the first tape fixing portion 20 is wound so that the weak adhesive tape 20a does not unwind around the portion of the extra length portion 12a that is closer to the second tape fixing portion. It is good also as a structure wound in the state which bundles the extra length part 12a folded by the said spelling after turning. With such a configuration, in order to change from a short to a long wire harness, when the required tensile force F is applied to the covered electric wire 12 and the state where the excess length portion 12a of the covered electric wire 12 is bundled is eliminated, the weak adhesion The possibility that the tape 20a remains attached to the covered electric wire 12 is increased. Thereby, the weak adhesive tape 20a which became unnecessary from the wire harness 10 can be prevented from coming out as garbage.

  The corrugated tube 22 covers the front and rear regions including the extra length portion 12a that is folded in a zigzag manner. The corrugated tube 22 is a resin molded product, has a cylindrical main body, and has a bellows shape in which annular convex portions and annular concave portions are alternately formed along the longitudinal direction thereof. In addition, a slit is formed in the cylindrical main body along the longitudinal direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the second tape fixing portion 28 has a configuration in which an adhesive tape 28 a is wound around the corrugated tube 22 and the covered electric wire 12 so as to close one end opening of the corrugated tube 22. That is, the left end of the corrugated tube 22 is fixed to the covered electric wire 12. Note that the other end of the corrugated tube 22 may be wound with a tape so that the slit of the corrugated tube 22 is expanded and the covered electric wire 12 is not damaged. However, this tape winding does not extend to the covered electric wire 12, and the other end portion of the corrugated tube 22 is not fixed to the covered electric wire 12.

Next, a method for manufacturing the wire harness 10 having the length adjustment structure according to the present embodiment will be described.
First, as shown to Fig.4 (a), the 1 or several covered electric wire 12 used for the wire harness 10 is prepared. Although the connectors 16 and 18 are attached to both ends of the covered electric wire 12, the connectors 16 and 18 may be attached after the following series of steps are performed.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4B, the extra length portion 12a having a required length is folded in a predetermined intermediate position of the covered electric wire 12. This required length is set larger than the difference in length of the wire harness between the short state and the long state (see FIG. 6). In FIG. 4B, there are two folding portions, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the folding may be performed at any even number of times of 2 or more.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4C, the weak adhesive tape 20a is wound about 1.5 to 2 times in a state in which the extra length portions 12a that are folded in a zigzag manner are bundled. When the number of windings is too large, the weak adhesive tape 20a remains in the corrugated tube 22 when the covered wire 12 is pulled to change to a long wire harness, which is not preferable.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4 (d), the corrugated tube 22 is sheathed in the front and rear regions including the extra length portion 12 a of the covered wire 12 that is folded in a zigzag manner.

  After that, as shown in FIG. 4E, the left end of the corrugated tube 22 and the covered electric wire 12 are integrally wound (rolled down) with an adhesive tape 28a, and the left end of the corrugated tube 22 is covered with the covered electric wire 12. To fix. The end of the corrugated tube 22 on the right side of the figure is wound with tape for the purpose of indexing. Moreover, a band-type clip or the like for fixing the wire harness 10 to the vehicle-side support panel is externally attached to the corrugated tube 22 as necessary. Thus, the manufacture of the wire harness 10 having the length adjustment structure is completed.

[Verification test]
Using the wire harness length adjustment structure according to the present embodiment, a length change verification test was performed. The wire harness used in the verification test is configured by using the covered electric wire 12, the weak adhesive tape 20a for the first tape fixing portion, the adhesive tape 28a for the second tape fixing portion, and the corrugated tube 22. did.

  In the verification test, four types of short wire harnesses were created by changing the number of the covered electric wires 12 and the number of tape windings in the first tape fixing portion 20 (Examples 1 to 4), and each of the covered electric wires 12 was used. The work of changing to a long wire harness by pulling the wire was performed, and the success or failure was examined. The verification test was performed five times for each type (each example) of the wire harness.

  The conditions and results of the verification test are shown in Table 1. In Examples 1 and 3, the number of turns of the weak adhesive tape at the first tape fixing part is set to the standard 2, and in Examples 2 and 4, the number of turns is set to a larger number (15). I also investigated.

  As shown in Table 1, in all of Examples 1 to 4, problems such as disconnection and damage of the covered electric wires did not occur. Moreover, even if the number of turns of the weak adhesive tape at the first tape fixing part was 15, there was no problem in changing to a long wire harness. Therefore, it has been confirmed by this verification test that the wire harness according to the present embodiment can be favorably changed from short to long.

  As described above, the length adjustment structure of the wire harness according to the first embodiment can be shared by one type of wire harness for two types of wire harness having different lengths. At the same time, by simply applying the required tensile force F to the covered electric wire 12, it is possible to eliminate the state where the extra length portion 12a folded in the middle of the covered electric wire 12 is bundled. It is possible to easily change from a short length to a long length wire harness without performing a simple pulling operation.

  Further, the weakly adhesive tape 20a used for the first tape fixing part 20 maintains the tape winding in a state where the extra length portion 12a folded in the middle of the covered electric wire 12 is bundled, while other than the corrugated tube 22 When the required tensile force F is applied to the covered electric wire 12 protruding from the end, it is possible to eliminate the bundling state with a simple configuration.

  Moreover, in order to change from the short length to the long wire harness by the configuration in which one end portion of the weak adhesive tape 20a is wound around the covered wire 12, the required tensile force F is applied to the covered wire 12 to cover the covered wire 12. When the state of bundling the extra-long portion 12a folded in the middle of the sheet is eliminated, the weak adhesive tape 20a remains attached to the covered electric wire 12. Thereby, the weak adhesive tape 20a which became unnecessary from the wire harness 10 can be prevented from coming out as garbage.

  As a modification of the length adjustment structure of the wire harness according to the first embodiment, the same effects can be obtained even when an exterior part such as a protective tube or a protector is used instead of the corrugated tube 22.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a length adjustment structure for a wire harness according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
The length adjustment structure of the wire harness 40 has the same configuration as the length adjustment structure of the wire harness 10 of the first embodiment described above except for the configuration of the protective tubes 24 and 26. The description of the corresponding constituent elements in the embodiment is omitted.

  The covered electric wire 12 is partially or entirely covered with protective tubes 24 and 26 except for the extra length portion 12a. As shown in FIG. 5, the second tape fixing portion 28 has a configuration in which an adhesive tape 28 a is wound around one end portion of the corrugated tube 22 and a protective tube 24 sheathed on the covered electric wire 12. An end portion of the left side of FIG.

  For example, when the wire harness 40 is used in an engine room, a vinyl tube may be used as the protective tube 24. Further, for example, when the wire harness 40 is used in the vehicle compartment, a configuration in which a vinyl tape is wound instead of the protective tube 24 may be used, and the winding of the vinyl tape may be omitted if necessary. .

  In the present embodiment, the entire region excluding the extra length portion 12a is covered with the protective tubes 24 and 26 to protect the covered electric wire 12 and apply the required tensile force F to the covered electric wire 12. When the protective tube 26 is gripped and pulled together with the connector 18, the covered electric wire 12 is hardly broken.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and the technical scope of the claims includes various design changes within the scope not departing from the gist of the invention.

  As described above, the present invention has an effect that one type of wire harness can be shared for two types of wire harnesses having different lengths, and the length can be easily changed. It is useful for the overall length adjustment structure of a wire harness.

10, 40 Wire harness 12 Covered electric wire 12a Extra length portion 20 First tape fixing portion 20a Weak adhesive tape (tape)
22 Corrugated tube 24, 26 Protective tube 28 Second tape fixing portion 28a Adhesive tape

Claims (4)

Sheathed wire,
An intermediate surplus length portion of the covered electric wire is zigzag folded, and is formed by tape winding so that the zigzag surplus length portion is bundled, and the bundling state is eliminated when a required tensile force is applied to the covered electric wire. 1 tape fixing part,
A corrugated tube that externally covers the front and rear regions including the extra-long portion that is folded
A second tape fixing portion wound around the protective tube when the protective tube is covered on the corrugated tube and the covered electric wire or the covered electric wire so as to close one end opening of the corrugated tube; ,
A structure for adjusting the length of a wire harness, comprising:   The tape used for the first tape fixing part has a weak adhesive force that cancels the bundling state when a required tensile force is applied to the covered electric wire. The length adjustment structure of the wire harness as described in 2.   The first tape fixing portion is formed by winding the remaining length portion of the extra length portion after the tape is wound so as not to be unwound to a portion of the extra length portion that is closer to the second tape fixing portion side. The wire harness length adjusting structure according to claim 2, wherein the wire harness length adjusting structure is wound in a bundled state.   The length of the wire harness according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a part or all of a region of the covered electric wire excluding the extra length portion is covered with the protective tube. Adjustment structure.

Images