JP2578497Y2 - Wire clamp for wire harness manufacturing - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric wire clamp for manufacturing a wire harness used for gripping an end portion of an electric wire when, for example, laying an electric wire constituting a wire harness.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A wire harness is manufactured by bundling a plurality of types of insulated wires. The process of measuring and cutting the wire length, the step of stripping the end of the wire, the step of stripping the stripped wire, Terminal crimping process of crimping terminal fittings to the ends,
This includes a terminal insertion step of inserting the terminal into the connector housing, a binding step of binding the electric wires, and the like.

[0003] Conventionally, these manufacturing processes have been performed manually, but recently, mechanical devices for automating each process have been proposed. As one of them, there is an automatic wiring device which takes charge of a part of an electric wire cutting process and a binding process. The automatic wiring apparatus has a configuration in which a wiring head that feeds out an electric wire relatively moves with respect to a wiring plate having wiring pins standing at predetermined positions according to a predetermined program. That is, for example, the wiring head moves in parallel with the wiring plate, and at this time, the drawn out electric wire is wound around the wiring pin, whereby the electric wire is wired in a predetermined pattern.

At a predetermined position of the wiring board, an electric wire clamp for gripping an end of the electric wire is provided. When laying individual wires, the ends of the wires are first gripped by wire clamps. At the end of the wiring, the wiring head guides the electric wire to another electric wire clamp and causes this electric wire clamp to grip the electric wire. Then, the electric wire is cut in the vicinity of the electric wire clamp.

[0005] A typical prior art wire clamp is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Heisei 1-132009, and its configuration is shown in FIG. 9 of the present application. This electric wire clamp is used by being arranged on one side edge of a wiring board.
A plurality of clamp members 62 for gripping are mounted on a long frame 63. With this configuration, the electric wires 61 can be held in an aligned state at regular intervals along the longitudinal direction of the frame 63.

The clamp member 62 has a pair of clamps 64A and 64B standing on a base 70. Guide inclined surfaces 5 for guiding electric wires are formed at the distal ends of the clamps 64A and 64B. As shown in FIG. 10, a ridge 66 is formed on the holding surface of one of the holding members 64A, and a ridge 66 is formed on the holding surface of the other holding member 64B.
Is formed.

The base 70 has a hole 68 formed therein. The bases 70 are sequentially fitted one by one from the side of the substantially U-shaped frame 63, and are connected to each other by screw pins 69 that pass through the holes 68 of the respective bases 70 in common. In this electric wire clamp, as shown in FIG. 10, since the electric wire 61 is firmly held between the ridge 66 and the groove 67, the direction of the arrow R1 acting on the electric wire 61 during wiring (see FIG. 9). ) Can have a large holding force with respect to the tensile force.

[0008]

However, in this prior art, since the electric wire 61 is tightly held between the ridge 66 and the groove 67, the electric wire 61 is deformed when it is held, and this deformation is caused. There is a problem that the wire remains after the electric wire is removed from the clamp member 62. If such deformation occurs, a problem may occur when inserting the electric wire crimped to the end of the electric wire into the connector housing.

More specifically, recently, after laying an electric wire on a wiring board, the end of the electric wire is stripped, and a terminal is crimped to the stripped electric wire. A technique for automatically inserting the connector housing has been proposed. Stripping and crimping of the terminals are performed in a state where the ends of the wires are held by the above-described wire clamps, and the wires are removed one by one from the wire clamps when inserting the terminals. That is,
In the automatic terminal insertion technology, the proximal end of the terminal and the electric wire near the terminal are gripped, and when the distal end of the terminal is inserted into the connector housing, the grip of the proximal end of the terminal is released and the vicinity of the terminal is released. The insertion of the terminal is achieved by displacing the wire gripping portion holding the wire toward the connector housing.

However, it is difficult to accurately hold the deformed electric wire in the mechanical device, and there is a possibility that the terminal cannot be properly inserted into the connector housing. On the other hand, in the above-described prior art, it is difficult to reduce the size of the clamp member 62, and thus there is also a problem that it is difficult to reduce the interval between the held electric wires.

That is, in the above-described prior art clamp member 62, a pair of clamps 64A and 64B are erected from a base 70, and the clamp 70 is supported by the base 70 as a fulcrum.
A and 64B are elastically deformed, and hold the electric wire 61 by the restoring force. Therefore, the base 70 needs to have sufficient strength to withstand the elastic deformation of the clamps 64A, 64B.
B must be capable of producing a sufficiently large restoring force to obtain a sufficient gripping force.

Due to such demands, there is naturally a limit in reducing the size of the integrally formed base 70 and the clamps 64A and 64B. Therefore, since the interval between the electric wires cannot be reduced, the wiring board inevitably becomes large. As a result, there has been an inevitable problem that the size of the wiring device and the transport device for transporting the wiring plate are also increased. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned technical problem, and to provide a wire harness manufacturing wire clamp that can firmly hold the wire without causing the wire to bend and can be configured in a small size. To provide.

[0013]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric wire clamp for manufacturing a wire harness, comprising: a pair of holding pieces having a holding surface in contact with an electric wire; A plurality of ridges that intersect in the longitudinal direction of the wire to be gripped are formed on the holding surface, and the pair of ridges are formed on the holding surface. The plurality of ridges formed on each holding surface of the holding piece are opposed to each other.

According to this configuration, a plurality of ridges intersecting in the longitudinal direction of the electric wire are formed on each holding surface of the pair of holding pieces for holding the electric wire, and the ridges of each holding piece are relatively opposed to each other. Are arranged to face each other. Each holding piece is fitted into a substantially U-shaped leaf spring and is urged in a direction approaching each other. Therefore, the electric wire is gripped between the ridges formed on each holding surface of the pair of holding pieces. At this time, the spring force from the leaf spring acts from the ridge toward the electric wire, and the ridge formed on the holding surface of the other holding piece is positioned in a plane including the direction of the force acting on the electric wire. doing. For this reason, in the position where the force from one holding piece acts on the electric wire,
Since a force in the opposite direction acts from the other holding piece, the wire does not bend.

In addition, since the electric wire is gripped between the ridges extending in a direction intersecting the direction of the electric wire, it is possible to have a strong holding force against the pulling force along the direction of the electric wire. In addition, when inserting an electric wire between a pair of holding pieces or removing an electric wire from between the holding pieces, the ridge functions as a guide, so that insertion and removal of the electric wire are easy.

Further, since the gripping force for gripping the electric wire is obtained from a substantially U-shaped leaf spring which urges the pair of holding pieces in a direction approaching each other, the holding pieces themselves have a large restoring force. It does not need to have. For this reason, a sufficient gripping force can be obtained using a small holding piece, so that downsizing can be achieved. In the wire clamp for manufacturing a wire harness according to the second aspect, a pair of holding pieces having a holding surface facing the wire facing each other are fitted into a substantially U-shaped leaf spring and urged in a direction approaching each other. In addition, a plurality of ridges intersecting in the longitudinal direction of the wire to be gripped are formed on the holding surface, and the plurality of ridges formed on each holding surface of the pair of holding pieces are opposed to each other. A plurality of clamp members facing each other and an elongated frame holding the plurality of clamp members in a predetermined alignment state are provided.

In this configuration, the plurality of clamp members are held in the frame in a predetermined alignment. In this case, since each clamp member obtains the gripping force of the electric wire from a substantially U-shaped leaf spring that urges the pair of holding pieces in a direction approaching each other, the holding pieces themselves have a large restoring force. Sufficient gripping force can be obtained without having. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the size of the clamp member by using a small holding piece, so that the clamp members can be arranged at a short pitch. Thereby, the electric wire clamp having a plurality of clamp members can be configured to be small.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the wire clamp for manufacturing a wire harness, a portion of each of the holding pieces closer to the bottom of the leaf spring than the point of action of the spring force of the leaf spring faces the other holding piece. The plate spring has a recess formed therein, an insertion hole is formed at the bottom of the leaf spring, and a mounting pin inserted through the hole formed by the recess and attached to the frame. And a mounting bolt that is inserted into an insertion hole formed at the bottom of the frame and attached to the frame.

In this configuration, the concave portion formed on each of the holding pieces abuts on the mounting pin mounted on the frame, thereby restricting the displacement of the holding piece in the direction along the rising piece of the substantially U-shaped leaf spring. You. Further, the leaf spring is fixed to the frame by inserting the mounting bolt into the frame by passing through the insertion hole formed in the bottom of the leaf spring. In this way, the attachment of the clamp member to the frame is achieved.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric wire clamp for manufacturing a wire harness, wherein each of the pair of holding pieces has an inclined surface that expands mutually at each end.
With this configuration, the electric wire can be easily inserted between the pair of holding pieces.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an automatic wiring device for wiring an electric wire on a wiring plate having an electric wire clamp for manufacturing a wire harness according to the present invention. This automatic wiring apparatus performs wiring by winding an electric wire 10 around a wiring pin 3 erected on the surface of a wiring board 2. The wiring board 2 includes a fixing mechanism 5 provided on the main body 4.
Is fixed at a predetermined position. In the main body 4, a rail 6 is provided at a position facing one side edge of the wiring board 2. On the rail 6, a movable holder 7 that moves in the X direction is slidably provided. This moving holder 7
A column 8 is provided upright, and a head retracting portion 9 extending in the horizontal direction is fixed to the column 8. A plurality of wiring heads 11 to which different types of electric wires 10 are respectively supplied are detachably held by the head retracting section 9.

At a position facing the head retracting portion 9, a guide member 12 extending in the Y direction orthogonal to the X direction is provided. The guide member 12 moves together with the movable holding member 7 in the X direction. A head grip 13 is slidably attached to the guide member 12. The head gripper 13 can select and grip an arbitrary wiring head 11 retracted by the head retractor 9. The head holding unit 13 is provided with an elevating device (not shown) for displacing the wiring head 11 in a Z direction which is a direction orthogonal to the X direction and the Y direction.

The movable holder 7 and the head gripper 13 are driven in the directions of arrows X and Y by a transport mechanism (not shown). The transfer in the X and Y directions and the vertical displacement of the wiring head 11 in the Z direction are performed according to a predetermined program. As a result, the wiring head 11 is moved to X,
It is displaced in the Y and Z directions. In the course of the displacement of the wiring head 11, the electric wires 10 drawn out from the wiring head 11 are wound around the wiring pins 3, whereby the wiring is achieved.

In the wiring board 2, a wire clamp 15 for manufacturing a wire harness according to the present embodiment is provided at a side edge portion facing the rail 6 to hold the wire. At the start and end of the wiring of one electric wire 10, the end of the electric wire 10 is gripped by the electric wire clamp 15. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a detailed configuration of the wiring board 2. The wiring board 2 includes a pin board 21 on which three wiring pins are erected, and a base plate 22 holding the pin board 21. On the surface of the pin board 21, a plurality of wiring pins 3 are erected at positions corresponding to a desired wiring pattern.
On a side edge of the base plate 22 facing the rail 6, an electric wire clamp 15 for holding an end of the electric wire 10 at a constant interval is arranged.

The structure of the wire clamp 15 is shown in an enlarged manner in FIGS. That is, the wire clamp 1
Reference numeral 5 denotes a structure in which the clamp members 1 for holding the electric wires one by one are attached to a long frame 16 at a constant pitch. 4 is a cross-sectional view as viewed from a cut surface along the longitudinal direction of the frame, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view as viewed from a cut surface that intersects the longitudinal direction of the frame 16. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the clamp member 1.

The clamp member 1 is a flat U-shaped leaf spring 32 having a pair of sandwiching pieces 31 each having an inclined surface 50 which expands at the front end facing each other and fitted into a substantially U-shaped leaf spring 32. The pair of holding pieces 31 are urged by the leaf spring 32 in a direction approaching each other. A semi-cylindrical concave portion facing each other is formed at the base end of each holding piece 31, and a hole 33 is formed by this concave portion. The position where the concave portion forming the hole 33 is formed is a position closer to the bottom of the leaf spring 32 than the point of action of the spring force of the leaf spring 32.

The frame 16 has a substantially U-shaped cross section crossing in the longitudinal direction, and is formed by a mounting hole 18 formed in a pair of rising portions 17 of the frame 16 and the concave portion of a pair of holding pieces 31. And the mounting pin 3
4 is inserted. The mounting bolt 36 is inserted through an insertion hole 35 formed in the bottom of the leaf spring 32 to
6 is screwed to the inner bottom surface 19.

In this manner, the holes 33 are formed in the mounting pins 34.
Abuts to restrict the upward displacement of the holding piece 31, and attach the leaf spring 32 to the frame 16 with the mounting bolt 36.
The clamp member 1 is attached to the frame 16 by being screwed to the inner bottom surface 19 of the frame. Frame 1
6, a positioning groove 20 is formed along the longitudinal direction. The positioning groove 20 is fitted into a positioning ridge 41 formed on a side edge of the base plate 22, and in this state, a substantially L-shaped mounting member is formed. The movement of the frame 16 in the longitudinal direction and the crossing direction thereof is regulated by 42. Thus, the base plate 22 and the frame 1
6 are positioned and fixed to each other.

As shown in FIG. 2, the end of the electric wire 10 is held by the clamp member 1 of the electric wire clamp 15 in a state of protruding from the side edge of the base plate 22 by a certain length. In the base plate 22, the wire clamp 15
The electric wire 1 which is guided from the pin board 21 while being diffused in a fan shape from the pin board 21 as shown by reference numeral 43
A parallel comb 44 for aligning the 0s in a parallel state is provided. By the action of the parallel comb 44 and the wire clamp 15, the ends of the wires 10 are aligned at a constant pitch at the side edges of the base plate 22 in a mutually parallel state. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 45 denotes a member for keeping the height of the electric wire constant.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the holding piece 31, and FIG. 7 is a plan view of the clamp member 1. The holding piece 31 has a pair of holding portions 52 protruding from both sides by forming a concave portion 51 in the center. The surface of the holding portion 52 forms a holding surface, and a plurality of protrusions 53 extending in a direction intersecting the direction of the electric wire to be gripped are formed on the holding surface.

The ridges 53 formed on each of the holding portions 52 of the pair of holding pieces 31 face each other. For this reason, as shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 8, when the electric wire 10 is clamped between the clamping portions 52, the force from the leaf spring 32 acts on the electric wire 10 at the ridge portion of the ridge 53. The ridge 53 of the other holding piece 31 is located in a plane including the direction of the force acting on the other. That is, the force from the opposing ridge 53 is
Acts on the electric wire 10 in the same plane. Therefore, ridge 5
Although the electric wire 10 is gripped between the three, the electric wire 1
No bending occurs at zero.

As described above, the electric wire clamp of the present embodiment can firmly hold the electric wire 10 without causing bending. For this reason, even if the terminal is automatically inserted into the connector housing through the stripping step and the terminal crimping step after the wiring, there is no possibility that a problem occurs. That is, in the automatic terminal insertion technique, the terminal is gripped and the electric wire near the terminal is also gripped. If a portion of the electric wire to be gripped is deformed, there is a possibility that the gripping of the electric wire by the mechanical device may be defective, and thus the insertion of the terminal into the connector housing may be defective. However, according to the electric wire clamp of the present embodiment, since there is no deformation in a portion near the terminal, this portion can be surely gripped by the mechanical device for automatic insertion of the terminal. In this way, the post-process after the wiring can be favorably performed.

Moreover, since the electric wire 10 is gripped between the ridges 53, even if a tension is applied in the direction of the arrow 55 during wiring,
It does not come off easily. For this reason, even if tension acts on the electric wire 10 during the wiring operation by the automatic wiring device shown in FIG. 2, the end of the electric wire 10 can be securely held by the electric wire clamp 15. Also, the pair of holding pieces 31 have recesses 5.
1 is formed, and thereby the contact area with the electric wire 10 is reduced. For this reason, each ridge 53 can be pressed against the electric wire 10 with a large pressure.
Strong holding power is obtained.

On the other hand, the ridge 53 formed on the holding surface of each holding piece 31 extends in a direction intersecting the direction of the electric wire 10. Also acts as a guide when inserted between. The same applies when the electric wire 10 is removed from the clamp member 1. Thus, there is an advantage that the installation and removal of the electric wire 10 are easy.

Furthermore, an inclined surface 50 that expands upward is formed at the top of each holding piece 31, which makes it easier to insert the electric wire 10 into the clamp member 1. In the clamp member 1 constituting the electric wire clamp 15 of the present embodiment, a pair of holding pieces 31 formed separately are fitted into a substantially U-shaped leaf spring 32, and the holding pieces 31 are mutually held by the leaf spring 32. The gripping force for gripping the electric wire 10 is obtained by biasing the electric wire 10 in a direction approaching the direction. For this reason, a pair of clamps for clamping the electric wire are integrally erected from the base, and the individual clamp members are markedly different from the above-described prior art in which the gripping force is obtained by the restoring force of the clamps. The size can be reduced. That is, the holding piece 3
Even if 1 is made small, a sufficient gripping force can be obtained by the spring force from the leaf spring 32.

Accordingly, the pitch between the clamp members 1 can be shortened, and the entire wire clamp 15 can be made compact. This makes it possible to reduce the size of the wiring board 2 and, consequently, to reduce the size of the wiring apparatus and the apparatus for transporting the wiring board. Although the description of the embodiment of the present invention is as described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the wire clamp 15 in which the plurality of clamp members 1 are attached to the frame 16 in an aligned state so that the plurality of wires can be gripped at different positions is taken as an example. The clamp member 1 may be used alone as an electric wire clamp.

Further, in the above embodiment, the electric wire clamp 15 attached to the side edge of the wiring board 2 has been described, but for example, a peeling step of stripping the end of the electric wire,
When holding the ends of the wires in an aligned state, for example, in a crimping step of crimping a terminal fitting to the ends of the stripped wires, the wiring board 2 is not necessarily used, and the wire clamp 15 is used alone. You may be.

Various other design changes can be made without changing the gist of the present invention.

[0039]

As described above, according to the wire harness manufacturing wire clamp of the present invention, the ridges formed on each holding surface of the pair of holding pieces are such that the ridges of each holding piece face each other. Are located in For this reason, the electric wire can be gripped without causing bending.

In addition, since the ridge is formed to extend in a direction intersecting the direction of the wire to be gripped, it is possible to have a strong holding force against a pulling force acting on the wire. Not only that, when inserting or removing the wire between the holding pieces, the ridge acts as a guide,
There is an advantage that insertion and removal of electric wires are easy. If an inclined surface which expands mutually is formed in each tip part of a pair of holding pieces, insertion of an electric wire becomes still easier.

The gripping force for gripping the electric wire is obtained from a substantially U-shaped leaf spring which urges the pair of holding pieces in a direction approaching each other, so that the holding pieces themselves have a large restoring force. It does not need to have. For this reason, a sufficient gripping force can be obtained using a small holding piece, so that downsizing can be achieved. When a plurality of clamp members formed using the small holding pieces are held in a predetermined alignment state on the frame, the clamp members can be arranged at a short pitch. Thereby, the electric wire clamp having a plurality of clamp members can be configured to be small.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a clamp member used for an electric wire clamp for manufacturing a wire harness according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an automatic wiring device for wiring an electric wire on a wiring plate using the electric wire clamp.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the wiring board.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view as viewed from a cut surface along a longitudinal direction of the electric wire clamp.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view as viewed from a cross section that intersects the longitudinal direction of the wire clamp.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a holding piece constituting the clamp member.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a clamp member.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a state where an electric wire is gripped.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a conventional technique.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged plan view showing a state where an electric wire is gripped.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Clamp member 10 Electric wire 15 Electric wire clamp 16 Frame 31 Holding piece 32 Leaf spring 33 Hole 34 Mounting pin 35 Insertion hole 36 Mounting bolt 50 Inclined surface 52 Holding section 53 Protrusion

Claims (4)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A pair of holding pieces, each having a holding surface facing an electric wire facing each other, are fitted into a substantially U-shaped leaf spring and urged in a direction approaching each other. A plurality of ridges intersecting in the longitudinal direction of the electric wire to be formed are formed, and the plurality of ridges formed on each holding surface of the pair of holding pieces are opposed to each other. Wire clamp for manufacturing wire harness. 2. A pair of holding pieces, each having a holding surface facing an electric wire facing each other, are fitted into a substantially U-shaped leaf spring and urged in a direction approaching each other. A plurality of ridges are formed in which a plurality of ridges intersecting in the longitudinal direction of the electric wire are formed, and the plurality of ridges formed on each holding surface of the pair of holding pieces face each other. A wire clamp for manufacturing a wire harness, comprising: a member; and a long frame holding the plurality of clamp members in a predetermined alignment. 3. A concave portion which forms a hole when facing the other clamping piece at a position closer to the bottom of the leaf spring than the point of application of the spring force of the leaf spring in each of the clamping pieces. An insertion hole is formed at the bottom of the leaf spring, and an attachment pin that is inserted into the hole formed by the recess and is attached to the frame, and an insertion hole that is formed at the bottom of the leaf spring is inserted. The electric wire clamp according to claim 2, further comprising: a mounting bolt attached to the frame. 4. An electric wire clamp for manufacturing a wire harness according to claim 1, wherein each of the pair of holding pieces has an inclined surface which expands toward each other at each end.