JP2023131547A - Binding tool and band clamp mounting machine - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a binding tool and a band clamp mounting machine with which the tip of a band can be securely inserted into the insertion hole of a band clamp and wrapped around a wire bundle.SOLUTION: A binding unit 50 wraps a band clamp 10 around a wire bundle W. The binding unit 50 includes a holding part that holds the fixing part 11 of the band clamp 10, and guide members 51d, 55, 54, 57 that guide a band part 12 of the band clamp 10 toward the fixing part 11 in a U-shape. The wire bundle W can be arranged on the guide member 51d. The guide member 57 retreats laterally as it approaches the holding part, and allows the tip of the band part 12 to be inserted into the insertion hole of the band clamp 10.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a binding tool and a band clamp attachment machine.

A band clamp is used as a means for bundling a plurality of wire harnesses and routing the wire harnesses to an object to be attached such as a vehicle body. The process of wrapping a band clamp around a wire bundle is often done manually. Because the work is done manually, there may be cases where the band clamp is forgotten to be attached, the band is wrapped in the wrong direction, or the band is misaligned.

On the other hand, a band winding device for winding a band component around a wire bundle has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1). The band component includes a band part and a band fixing part capable of fixing the distal end side of the band part, and the band winding device is a device that wraps the band part around an electric wire and passes the distal end side of the band part through the band fixing part. be. The band winding device includes a holding part that can hold the band part, a moving mechanism that can move the holding part holding the tip of the band part toward the band fixing part, and a movement mechanism that can change the direction of the holding part to make the band part. and a rotation mechanism that can change the direction of the tip. The band wrapping device wraps the band component around the electric wire by passing the band tip through a band hole provided in the band fixing portion while gripping and bending the middle portion of the band portion.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-062387

However, in the above-mentioned band winding device, a band portion whose tip is bent due to its tendency to bend may not be able to pass through the band hole.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a binding tool and a band clamp attaching machine that can securely insert the tip of a band into the insertion hole of a band clamp and wrap it around a wire bundle. It's about doing.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the bundling tool according to the present invention has the following features.
a band portion that is wound around the outer periphery of the wire bundle; a locking portion that has an insertion hole and is capable of locking the band portion inserted into the insertion hole; A binding unit that wraps a band clamp having a fixing part that can be fixed around the wire bundle,
a holding part that holds the fixed part;
a guide portion that guides the band portion toward the fixed portion in a U-shape,
The guide part is
an electric wire arrangement section capable of arranging the electric wire bundle;
a tip guide portion that retreats laterally as it approaches the holding portion and inserts the tip of the band portion into the insertion hole;
binding unit.

Moreover, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the band clamp attachment machine according to the present invention has the following features.
A band clamp attaching machine comprising the above bundling unit and an insertion unit that grips the band clamp and inserts it into the bundling unit,
The insertion unit includes:
a gripping part that grips the fixing part of the band clamp;
a correction guide that sandwiches the tip side and intermediate portion of the band portion of the band clamp in the thickness direction of the band portion;
configured to be able to approach the bundling unit;
Band clamp attachment machine.

According to the binding tool and band clamp attaching machine according to the present invention, even if the band tip is bent, the band tip can be reliably inserted into the insertion hole.

The present invention has been briefly described above. Furthermore, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading the mode for carrying out the invention (hereinafter referred to as "embodiment") described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. .

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a band clamp attachment machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the band clamp shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing how the pushing unit sets the band clamp on the binding unit. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing how the pushing unit sets the band clamp on the binding unit. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing how the pushing unit sets the band clamp on the binding unit. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing how the pushing unit sets the band clamp on the binding unit. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing how the wire bundle is arranged on the binding unit. FIG. 8 is a plan view of the binding unit shown in FIG. 7 viewed from above. FIG. 9 is a plan view showing the guide part in the middle of being retracted laterally, and shows a state in which the tip of the band part is inserted into the insertion hole. FIG. 10 is a plan view showing the guide part retracted to the side, and shows a state in which the band part is wound around the wire bundle.

Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to each figure.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a band clamp attachment machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the band clamp 10 shown in FIG. 1. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, as shown in FIG. Define "lower". The "front-back direction", the "left-right direction", and the "up-down direction" are orthogonal to each other.

The band clamp attaching machine shown in FIG. 1 includes a binding unit 50 that wraps the band clamp 10 around the wire bundle W and binds it, and a pushing unit 30 that grips the band clamp 10 and inserts it into the binding unit 50.

(Band clamp 10)
As shown in FIG. 2, the band clamp 10 includes a fixing part 11 that can be fixed to a fixed part, a band part 12 that is wrapped around the outer periphery of the wire bundle W, and a locking part 13 that can lock the band part 12. , has. The fixing part 11 is provided on the base side of the band part 12, and can be fixed to a locking hole in a vehicle body panel (not shown), which is an example of a fixed part. The fixing part 11 is fixed by having the pillar part 11a inserted into the locking hole, the locking step part of the pillar part 11a being locked to the periphery of the locking hole, and being pressed against the vehicle body panel by the pressing part 11b. The band portion 12 is provided with unevenness on at least a portion of the main surface and side surfaces along the extending direction of the band portion 12. The locking portion 13 has an insertion hole 13a through which the tip 12a of the band portion 12 is inserted. The insertion hole 13a is provided with locking teeth 13b on its inner peripheral surface. When the band portion 12 is inserted into the insertion hole 13a and the unevenness of the band portion 12 is locked with the locking teeth 13b, the band portion 12 is fixed to the locking portion 13.

(Bundling unit 50)
The binding unit 50 includes a band holding part 51, a rod 52A, a pair of rods 52B, 52B, a movable part 53, a guide member 54, a guide member 55, a rotation shaft 56, a guide member 57, and a band cutter 70.

The band holding part 51 includes a flat plate part 51a extending in the vertical and horizontal directions, a rectangular opening 51b provided above the flat plate part 51a, and a cylindrical part protruding rearward on the left side of the opening 51b. It has a protrusion and a guide member 51d. A part of the pressing part 11b of the band clamp 10 is accommodated in the opening 51b, and the fixing part 11 is held (see FIG. 6). The guide member 51d is composed of two plates disposed in the center from above the flat plate portion 51a and extending in the vertical direction and the front-rear direction, and a connecting portion that connects the plates. The two plates are arranged in the left-right direction at intervals corresponding to the width of the band portion 12 of the band clamp 10, and have fan-shaped edges when viewed in the left-right direction. The wire bundle W is arranged at the edge of this sector. That is, the guide member 51d is an example of an electric wire arrangement part in which the electric wire bundle W can be arranged. The connecting portion constitutes the bottom of a guide groove 51da (see FIG. 7) made up of two plates, and the bottom has a shape similar to the fan-shaped edges of the two plates. The guide member 51d guides the band portion 12 inserted between the two plate members in a curved manner through the guide groove 51da.

Below the flat plate portion 51a, a rod 52B, a rod 52A, and a rod 52B each extending rearward are arranged in parallel in the left-right direction. The front ends of the rods 52B, 52B are attached to be inserted into the through holes of the flat plate portion 51a, and the rear ends are fixed to the left and right ends below the movable portion 53, respectively. The rod 52A is a piston rod of an air cylinder, and its rear end is fixed to the center of the lower part of the movable part 53 in the left-right direction.

The movable part 53 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped-shaped member arranged behind the flat plate part 51a, and has rods 52A, 52B, and 52B attached to the lower part, and guide members 54 and 55 to the upper part. The movable part 53 is moved in the front-back direction by moving the rear end of the rod 52A in the front-back direction by an air cylinder. Since the rods 52B, 52B follow the movement of the rod 52A in the front-back direction, the movable portion 53 can move in the front-back direction without tilting in the left-right direction.

The guide member 54 is a block fixed above the movable part 53, and has a U-shaped recess when viewed in the left-right direction, and has a guide groove 54a (see FIG. 7) in the recess. A guide member 57 is rotatably attached above the guide member 54 via a rotation shaft 56 extending in the vertical direction.

The guide member 55 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped member extending over the flat plate portion 51a and the front side of the movable portion 53, and has a guide groove 55a (see FIG. 7) on the upper side. The guide member 55 has its rear end fixed to the movable part 53, and its front end side is arranged so as to be able to be inserted into a through hole provided on the lower side of the guide member 51d in the flat plate part 51a. The guide member 55 moves in the front-back direction as the movable part 53 is moved in the front-back direction by the rod 52A.

The guide member 57 is attached to the movable part 53 via the rotation shaft 56 and the guide member 54. As shown in FIG. 7, the guide member 57 includes a lower plate portion 571, a plate portion 572 one size smaller than the plate portion 571, and a plate portion 573 one size smaller than the plate portion 572, which are stacked in the vertical direction. A guide groove 574 is formed between the plate portion 571 and the plate portion 572. The guide groove 574 extends linearly in the front-rear direction, and the distance between the plate portion 571 and the plate portion 572 is sized according to the thickness of the band portion 12. The guide groove 574 can restrict movement of the band portion 12 in the thickness direction. One end of the coil spring 58 is attached to the upper surface of the guide member 54, and the other end of the coil spring 58 is attached to the upper part of the plate portion 573. Note that the coil spring 58 is not shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 to 6. The plate portion 573 has side surfaces 573a and 573b that come into contact with the tip of the protrusion 51c. The side surface 573a is substantially linear when viewed in the vertical direction, and the side surface 573b is connected to the rear end of the side surface 573a and has a gentle curve when viewed in the vertical direction.

The guide member 57 is movable with the fixed part 11 held in the opening 51b and the tip 12a of the band part 12 guided in a U-shape by the guide members 51d, 55, and 54 inserted into the guide groove 574. By moving the portion 53 from the rear to the front, the portion 53 approaches the opening portion 51b. As the guide member 57 approaches the opening 51b, it retreats to the left side, which is an example of the side, against the elastic force of the coil spring 58, and inserts the tip 12a of the band portion 12 into the insertion hole 13a. After winding the band portion 12 around the wire bundle W, the guide member 57 returns to its original position by the elastic force of the coil spring 58 as the movable portion 53 moves rearward.

The band cutting machine 70 is disposed in front of the flat plate part 51a, and when the tip 12a is inserted into the insertion hole 13a and the band part 12 is wound around the outer periphery of the wire bundle W, the band cutter 70 is disposed in front of the flat plate part 51a. Cut the part.

The guide grooves 51da, 55a, 54a, and 574 of the guide members 51d, 55, 54, and 57 have a width (length in the left-right direction) corresponding to the width of the band portion 12, and have a width in the width direction of the band portion 12. The band part 12 is guided in a U-shape while restricting movement. The guide groove 574 has a width (length in the vertical direction) according to the thickness of the band part 12, and guides the tip 12a of the band part 12 toward the insertion hole 13a while restricting the movement of the band part 12 in the vertical direction. Guide.

(Pushing unit 30)
The pushing unit 30 is configured to be movable in the front-rear direction, left-right direction, and up-down direction, and the band portion 12 is arranged on the guide members 51d, 55, 54, and 57 of the binding unit 50, and the fixing portion 11 is held in the opening portion 51b. let

The pushing unit 30 has a grip part 31 and a band correction guide 33. The gripping portion 31 is configured with a pair of gripping pieces that can be opened and closed in the left-right direction, and grips the fixing portion 11 of the band clamp 10 .

The band correction guide 33 is provided below the grip part 31 and is configured to be movable in the vertical direction with respect to the grip part 31. The band correction guide 33 includes a pair of first correction claws 331, 331, a pair of second correction claws 333, 333, and four rods 332. The pair of first correction claws 331, 331 are configured to be openable and closable in the front-rear direction, and sandwich the tip 12a side of the band portion 12 of the band clamp 10 in the thickness direction of the band portion 12. The pair of second correction claws 333, 333 are configured to be openable and closable in the front-rear direction, and sandwich the intermediate portion of the band portion 12 of the band clamp 10 in the thickness direction of the band portion 12. Of the four rods 332, the two rods 332 on the front side connect the first correction claw 331 on the front side and the second correction claw 333 on the front side, and the two rods 332 on the rear side connect the first correction claw 331 on the front side and the second correction claw 333 on the front side. The first correction claw 331 and the second correction claw 333 on the rear side are connected. When the pair of first corrective claws 331, 331 are driven to open and close, the pair of second corrective claws 333, 333 connected to the pair of first corrective claws 331, 331 via a plurality of rods 332 are opened and closed.

In the pushing unit 30, the gripping part 31 grips the fixed part 11 of the band clamp 10, and the tip 12a side and the middle part of the band part 12 are held by a pair of first correction claws 331, 331 and a pair of second correction claws 333, 333 in the thickness direction of the band portion 12. Therefore, the band clamp 10 is inserted into the guide member 51d of the binding unit 50 from above with the bending tendency of the band portion 12 corrected by the pushing unit 30.

(Operation of band clamp attachment machine)
The operation of the band clamp attaching machine configured as above will be explained. First, with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6, the operation of the pushing unit 30 to set the band clamp 10 on the binding unit 50 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the pushing unit 30 gripping the band clamp 10 moves from the state where the tip 12a of the band portion 12 is located directly above the guide member 51d above the binding unit 50, as shown in FIG. , the grip portion 31 descends. By lowering the gripping part 31, the band part 12 is inserted into the guide groove 51da of the guide member 51d from the tip 12a while the bending tendency is corrected.

When the tip 12a of the band portion 12 is inserted into the guide member 51d, the band correction guide 33 opens in the front-rear direction as shown in FIG. 4, and as shown in FIG. The grip portion 31 further descends. Then, the fixing part 11 is held in the opening 51b with the pressing part 11b in contact with the upper edge of the opening 51b. The band portion 12 is guided in a U-shape by the guide groove 51da of the guide member 51d, the guide groove 55a of the guide member 55, and the guide groove 54a of the guide member 54, and the tip 12a is directed toward the opening 51b of the guide member 57. (See FIG. 7). When the setting of the band clamp 10 to the binding unit 50 is completed, the pushing unit 30 rises and retreats as shown in FIG.

Next, the operation of the binding unit 50 to wrap the band clamp 10 around the wire bundle W will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 10. 7 and 8 are a perspective view and a plan view of the binding unit 50 with the band clamp 10 set. When the movable part 53 is moved forward from the state shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the tip 12a of the band part 12 is guided by the guide groove 574 and moves forward, and as shown in FIG. The side surface 573a abuts the tip of the protrusion 51c. As the movable part 53 further moves forward, the front side of the guide member 57 faces leftward while the side surface 573a is in sliding contact with the protrusion 51c, and the band part 12 is wound around the outer periphery of the wire bundle W. . Then, when the movable part 53 moves to the front end and the protrusion 51c comes into contact with the rear end of the side surface 573b as shown in FIG. 10, the winding of the band part 12 around the wire bundle W is completed. After the winding is completed, the band cutter 70 cuts off the excess portion of the band portion 12, and the bundling of the wire bundle W is completed. Thereafter, the movable portion 53 retreats, and the guide member 57 returns to the position shown in FIG. 8 due to the elastic force of the coil spring 58.

As explained above, according to the band clamp attaching machine of this embodiment, the pushing unit 30 sets the band clamp 10 in the binding unit 50 while correcting the curling tendency of the band portion 12. The binding unit 50 holds the fixing part 11 and guides the band part 12 by the guide grooves 51da, 55a, 54a, and 574 of the guide members 51d, 55, 54, and 57 so that the tip 12a faces the opening 51b. Guide it in a U-shape and insert the tip 12a into the insertion hole 13a. Therefore, even if the distal end side of the band portion is bent due to the bending tendency of the band clamp 10, the posture of the band portion 12 can be corrected and the band portion 12 can be reliably inserted into the insertion hole 13a. Furthermore, by bundling the band clamps 10 with a band clamp attachment machine, the number of man-hours can be reduced compared to manual bundling, and it is possible to prevent forgetting to attach the band clamps 10, wrapping in the wrong direction, and shifting the position. .

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be modified, improved, etc. as appropriate. In addition, the material, shape, size, numerical value, form, number, arrangement location, etc. of each component in the embodiments described above are arbitrary as long as they can achieve the present invention, and are not limited. In the above embodiment, an example was shown in which the pushing unit 30 sets the band clamp 10 in the bundling unit 50 with the wire bundle W placed on the guide member 51d. After that, it may be moved to the position of the wire bundle W. In this case, the binding unit 50 in which the band clamp 10 is set rises from below the wire bundle W, and after the wire bundle W is placed on the guide member 51d, the band portion 12 is moved up from below the wire bundle W. Wrap it around and tie it.

Here, the features of the bundling unit and band clamp attaching machine according to the embodiments of the present invention described above are summarized and listed below in [1] to [4], respectively.

[1] A band part (12) wrapped around the outer periphery of the wire bundle (W), and a locking part (13) having an insertion hole (13a) and capable of locking the band part inserted into the insertion hole. , a binding unit (50) for wrapping a band clamp (10) having a fixing part (11) provided on the base side of the band part and fixable to a fixed part around the electric wire bundle,
a holding part (opening part 51b) that holds the fixing part;
A guide part (guide members 51d, 55, 54, 57) that guides the band part in a U-shape toward the fixed part,
The guide part is
an electric wire arrangement part (guide member 51d) in which the electric wire bundle can be arranged;
a tip guide portion (guide member 57) that retreats laterally as it approaches the holding portion and inserts the tip (12a) of the band portion into the insertion hole;
binding unit.

According to the binding unit having the configuration [1] above, the band portion is guided by the guide portion, and the tip of the band portion is inserted into the insertion hole of the band clamp by the tip guide portion. Therefore, according to this binding unit, even if the band tip is bent due to the bending tendency of the band clamp, the posture of the band tip can be corrected and the band can be reliably inserted into the insertion hole.

[2] The guide portion has a first groove portion (guide grooves 51da, 54a, 55a, 574) having a width corresponding to the width of the band portion.
The bundling unit according to [1] above.

According to the bundling unit configured as described in [2] above, movement of the band portion in the width direction can be restricted.

[3] The tip guide portion has a second groove portion having a width corresponding to the thickness of the band portion.
The bundling unit according to [1] or [2] above.

According to the binding unit having the configuration [3] above, movement of the band portion in the thickness direction can be restricted.

[4] A band clamp attaching machine comprising the bundling unit according to [1] above, and an insertion unit that grips the band clamp and inserts it into the bundling unit,
The insertion unit includes:
a gripping part that grips the fixing part of the band clamp;
a correction guide that sandwiches the tip side and intermediate portion of the band portion of the band clamp in the thickness direction of the band portion;
configured to be able to approach the bundling unit;
Band clamp attachment machine.

According to the band clamp attaching machine configured in [4] above, the insertion unit can be brought close to the bundling unit, the band part can be placed in the guide part, and the fixing part can be held in the holding part, so that the band clamp can be attached. The process from taking it out to setting it in the binding unit can be automated.

10 Band clamp 11 Fixed part 12 Band part 12a Tip 13 Locking part 13a Insertion hole 30 Pushing unit 31 Gripping part 33 Band correction guide 50 Binding unit 51 Band holding part 51a Flat part 51b Opening part 51c Projection 51d, 54, 55, 57 Guide members 51da, 54a, 55a, 574 Guide groove 53 Movable part 56 Rotating shaft 70 Band cutting machine W Wire bundle

Claims (4)

a band portion that is wound around the outer periphery of the wire bundle; a locking portion that has an insertion hole and is capable of locking the band portion inserted into the insertion hole; A binding unit that wraps a band clamp having a fixing part that can be fixed around the wire bundle,
a holding part that holds the fixed part;
a guide portion that guides the band portion toward the fixed portion in a U-shape,
The guide part is
an electric wire arrangement section capable of arranging the electric wire bundle;
a tip guide portion that retreats laterally as it approaches the holding portion and inserts the tip of the band portion into the insertion hole;
binding unit. The guide portion has a first groove portion having a width corresponding to the width of the band portion.
A binding unit according to claim 1. The tip guide portion has a second groove portion having a width corresponding to the thickness of the band portion.
A binding unit according to claim 1 or claim 2. A band clamp attachment machine comprising the binding unit according to claim 1 and an insertion unit that grips the band clamp and inserts it into the binding unit,
The insertion unit includes:
a gripping part that grips the fixing part of the band clamp;
a correction guide that sandwiches the tip side and intermediate portion of the band portion of the band clamp in the thickness direction of the band portion;
configured to be able to approach the bundling unit;
Band clamp attachment machine.

Images