JP5794843B2 - Wire conductor welding method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric wire welding method, an electric wire, and a wire harness that do not cause welding defects such as necking of a joint without using a special device.

  A wire harness used for an automobile or the like is used by joining a plurality of electric wires. Such joining of electric wires is performed by methods, such as caulking and ultrasonic joining, for example. However, caulking requires a separate caulking member. Moreover, there is a limit to the number of wires that can be connected depending on the size of the crimp terminal. In addition, since ultrasonic bonding applies vibration only from one direction, bonding directivity occurs, and tensile force in a direction different from the direction in which ultrasonic waves are applied is weak. Also, the number of wires that can be connected by ultrasonic welding is limited by the apparatus. Furthermore, ultrasonic welding uses friction between materials by ultrasonic vibration, removes an oxide film on the surface of the material, exposes a new surface and performs local bonding, and has a problem that the bonding area is small. For this reason, it is desirable to melt and integrate the entire joint.

  On the other hand, laser welding is a non-contact process and has a feature that the heat-affected zone is small, but there is a possibility that a neck called necking may occur in the welded portion of the electric wire. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a conventional welding method using a laser 107.

  The electric wire 100 is configured by covering an electric wire conductor 103 with an insulating coating 105. The electric wire conductor 103 is, for example, a stranded wire in which a plurality of strands are brought together. As shown to Fig.13 (a), the electric wire conductor parts 103 of the edge part of the electric wire 100 are abutted, and the electric wire conductor parts 103 are joined by irradiating the laser 107 to a junction part.

  However, as shown in FIG. 13B, a necking 115 may be formed in the welded portion 113 so that the cross-sectional area of the joint portion is reduced. This is because a gap is generated between the strands in the cross section, and the cross-sectional area corresponding to the gap is reduced by welding. When such necking occurs, there is a risk of a decrease in the strength of the necking portion due to a decrease in the cross-sectional area.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG.13 (c), there exists a possibility that the line spill 117 may arise in the welding part 113. FIG. That is, not all the strands to be joined are completely welded, and some strands may remain unmelted.

  As a welding method for preventing such necking or the like, for example, when laser welding is performed by overlapping the wire conductor portions, a method of pushing the wire conductor portion toward the weld portion using a drive motor, or a separate welding auxiliary material There is a method in which welding is performed while supplying a weld to a welding part (Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 3370799

  However, since the conventional method like patent document 1 needs to move an electric wire with a drive motor, an installation becomes complicated. Moreover, since it is necessary to attach an electric wire to a drive motor, there exists a problem that the installation work of an electric wire becomes complicated. In particular, when welding a large number of wires, the system itself becomes complicated.

  Moreover, in the method using a welding auxiliary material, since a welding auxiliary material is used separately, it becomes a cost increase. Moreover, since the installation for feeding a welding auxiliary material is required, there exists a problem that an installation becomes complicated.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for welding an electric wire conductor that can prevent the occurrence of poor welding such as necking and wire spillage by a simple method. And

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention irradiates a high energy density beam in the vicinity of the tip of the wire conductor portion exposed by peeling off the insulation coating of the end portion of the wire, melting the tip of the wire conductor portion, The outer diameter of the integrated portion in which the ends of the electric wire conductor are integrated by melting and solidifying with the surface tension of the molten metal is equal to or greater than the outer diameter of the insulating coating, and the plurality of electric wires are oriented in the longitudinal direction. It is arranged in parallel so that they are the same, and a part of each integrated part is brought into contact without bending the wire conductor part, and the integrated part is melted so that each integrated part melts. It is a welding method for the ends of the electric wire conductors, wherein the integrated parts that are irradiated with the density beam are fused and integrated by surface tension.

  Here, melting the tip of the electric wire conductor and melting and integrating by the surface tension of the molten metal means that the end of the electric wire conductor is melted and then solidified again. When the portion is a stranded wire, each stranded wire is melted and integrated, and when the portion is a single wire, it indicates that the expanded portion is formed by surface tension when the end portion of the single wire is melted.

  With the position of the electric wire and the position of the irradiation axis center of the high energy density beam in the longitudinal direction of the electric wire conductor portion fixed, the beam irradiation axis center of the high energy density beam is a predetermined distance from the end of the electric wire conductor portion. The high-density beam is irradiated to melt the wire conductor from the beam irradiation axis to the end of the wire conductor. The integrated portion may be cooled and solidified by being retracted in the direction opposite to the tip and the position of the end portion of the wire conductor portion being deviated from the center of the beam irradiation axis.

The wire conductor portion is a 0.13-5.0 cm ² aluminum strand, and from the end of the wire conductor portion, a distance of 1/3 to 3 times the outer diameter of the wire conductor portion, The integrated part may be formed by beam irradiation with a spot diameter of 20 to 40 μm .

  Three or more electric wires whose ends are melted and integrated are arranged so that the respective integrated portions are in contact with each other in a plane, and the adjacent integrated portions are in contact with each other, and the electric wires Sweep irradiation is performed while relatively moving a high energy density beam along the direction of the integrated unit from one end side to the other end side in the side of the conductor unit, and the integrated unit is melted. It may be integrated.

The three or more electric wires whose ends are fused and integrated are arranged so that the integrated portions are in contact with each other in a plane, and are arranged side by side.
The integrated part of the central electric wire may be larger than the integrated part of the other electric wires .

When the electric wires are stacked in a plurality of layers so that the longitudinal directions thereof are the same, the adjacent electric wires are arranged so that the side surfaces of the integrated portions at the respective tips are in contact with each other, Each integrated portion may be melted and integrated by irradiating a high energy density beam from the end portion side of the electric wire. You may arrange | position the said electric wire in three or more layers so that the direction of the longitudinal direction may become the same.

  The high energy density beam may be a laser, an electron beam, or the like.

According to the present invention, since the ends of the electric wire conductor portions are fused and integrated in advance, no wire spillage occurs during welding of the integrated portions thereafter. Moreover, there is no fear of necking because the molten volume of the wire welded portion is secured. Here, it is desirable that the integrated portion in the present invention be spheroidized. In this case, spheroidization does not mean only a perfect sphere, but is a rounded part formed at the tip of the electric wire conductor and refers to a part where the strands are fused and integrated. .

  Moreover, when the size of the integrated part is larger than the outer diameter of the insulating coating, the integrated parts can be easily brought into contact with each other when a plurality of electric wires are arranged in parallel.

  Moreover, when forming an integrated part by irradiation with a laser etc., an electric wire conductor part becomes short in a longitudinal direction with integration of an electric wire conductor part. At this time, the integration progresses and the wire conductor portion becomes shorter, so that the integrated portion can be removed from the laser irradiation position. Thus, by making a laser irradiation position appropriate, it can integrate reliably, and when integration is completed, an electric wire conductor part itself will remove | deviate from a laser irradiation range, and solidification can be advanced as it is. Therefore, an excessively large integrated portion is not formed.

  In addition, if the vicinity of the integrated part is brought into contact, a plurality of wire conductor portions can be easily welded to each other, so that a large number of joints can be reliably performed. At this time, the electric wires can be joined in a staggered manner so as to face each other.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the welding method of the electric wire conductor part etc. which can prevent generation | occurrence | production of welding defects, such as necking and a wire spill, can be provided by a simple method.

The figure which shows the process of forming the spherical part 9 in the edge part of the electric wire 1. FIG. The figure which shows the magnitude | size of the spherical part 9. FIG. The figure which shows the process of joining a pair of electric wire 1a, 1b. The figure which shows the other process of joining a pair of electric wire 1a, 1b. The figure which shows the state which joins the three electric wires 1a, 1b, and 1c. The figure which shows the state in which the three electric wires 1a, 1b, and 1c were joined. (A) is a figure which shows the state which joins a pair of electric wire 1a, 1b, (b), (c) is a figure which shows the state which joins the conventional electric wires 1m, 1n. (A) is a figure which shows the state which joins the three electric wires 1a, 1b, 1c, (b) is a figure which shows the joined state. The figure which shows the state which joins the three electric wires 1a, 1b, and 1c. The figure which shows the state which joins the three electric wires 1a, 1b, and 1c. The figure which shows the method of joining the five electric wires 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, and 1e. The figure which shows the method of joining the electric wire 1 arrange | positioned at multiple layers. The figure which shows the conventional welding method.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a step of forming a spherical portion 9 at the end of the electric wire 1. The electric wire 1 is configured by covering the outer periphery of the electric wire conductor portion 3 with an insulating coating 5. A predetermined range of the insulating coating 5 is removed from the end of the electric wire 1, and the electric wire conductor 3 is exposed. The electric wire conductor 3 is, for example, a copper or aluminum stranded wire in which a plurality of strands are combined, and generally has a size of about 0.13 to 5.0 cm ² .

  First, as shown in FIG. 1A, a laser 7 which is a high energy density beam is irradiated in the vicinity of the tip of the wire conductor portion 3 (in the direction of arrow A in the figure). At this time, the laser optical axis 11 of the laser 7 is set at a predetermined position from the end of the wire conductor portion 3.

  As shown in FIG. 1B, when the laser 7 is irradiated, the end portion of the wire conductor portion 3 is melted. When a part of the wire conductor part 3 is melted, the melted part is melted and integrated by the surface tension of the molten metal, and the tip position of the wire conductor part is retracted in the direction opposite to the tip side. That is, the position of the end portion of the wire conductor portion 3 moves in the longitudinal direction of the wire conductor portion 3 (the direction of arrow B in the figure). In the following embodiments, an example in which the integrated portion in which the tip of the wire conductor portion is melted and integrated is spherical will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the integrated portion is in any aspect. There may be.

  As shown in FIG. 1C, when the spherical portion 9 is formed, the end position of the wire conductor portion 3 deviates from the irradiation portion (laser optical axis 11) of the laser 7. That is, in this state, the wire conductor portion 3 is not heated and the spherical portion 9 is solidified. As described above, when the spherical portion 9 having a predetermined size is formed, the irradiation position of the laser 7 is previously set so that the position of the end portion (spherical portion 9) of the wire conductor portion 3 is deviated from the irradiation portion of the laser 7. Is set.

  The irradiation position of the laser 7 is appropriately set according to the diameter of the electric wire conductor and the size of the spherical portion to be formed. For example, in the state of an appropriate laser output, the end of the electric wire conductor 3 Therefore, the distance of about 1/3 to 3 times the outer diameter of the wire conductor portion 3 may be set as the irradiation position of the laser 7. If the distance is too short, an appropriate spherical portion 9 cannot be formed, and if the distance is too long, the spherical portion becomes too large and the spherical portion falls or melts into some lines like wire spills. This is because the rest may occur. The size of the laser spot at this time is, for example, about 20 to 40 μm.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the formed spherical portion 9. Here, the outer diameter D of the ball upper portion 9 is larger than the outer diameter E of the wire conductor portion 3. Further, it is desirable that the outer diameter D of the sphere upper portion 9 is the same as or slightly larger than the outer diameter of the insulating coating 5. This is because it becomes easy to easily bring the spherical portions 9 into contact with each other when arranging a plurality of the electric wires 1 formed with the spherical portions 9 in parallel.

  Next, a method for joining the electric wires will be described. Drawing 3 is a figure showing an example of a process of joining electric wires 1a and 1b to make a wire harness. First, as shown to Fig.3 (a), the front-end | tip of electric wire 1a, 1b is made to oppose. At this time, the spherical portions 9 are brought into contact with each other to fix the spherical portions 9 together. In this state, the laser 7 is irradiated in the vicinity of the contact portion of the spherical portion 9. In addition, as long as the spherical parts 9 come closer to each other when the laser 7 is irradiated, they may move somewhat.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, the spherical portion 9 is melted and integrated by the laser 7. At this time, since the amount of molten metal that is effectively used for welding is different from the case where the tip integration process is not performed, necking does not occur in the welded portion 13. Moreover, since the edge part of the electric wire conductor part 3 is made spherical beforehand, a wire spill does not arise.

  FIG. 4 is a basic electric wire arrangement method characterized in that the number of contact points between electric wires is larger than that in FIG. 3 and heat conduction occurs efficiently. First, as shown to Fig.4 (a), the front-end | tips of the electric wires 1a and 1b are made to oppose. At this time, the spherical parts 9 are brought into contact with each other so that the spherical parts 9 are fixed. If necessary, the wire 1a and 1b may be fixed in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the electric wires 1a and 1b by pressing in the contact direction between the spherical portions 9 (in the direction of the arrow in the figure). The laser 7 is irradiated in the vicinity of the contact portion of the portion 9 (laser irradiation position 12).

  As shown in FIG. 4B, the spherical portion 9 is melted and integrated by the laser 7. At this time, necking or line spillage does not occur in the welded portion 13.

  5 and 6 are diagrams showing another example of a method for joining electric wires. In the present invention, a wire harness can be configured by reliably joining a large number of electric wires. For example, even three or more electric wires can be reliably bonded.

  First, the electric wires 1a, 1b, 1c are arranged in a staggered manner so as to face each other. That is, the electric wire 1b is arranged next to the electric wire 1a so as to face the electric wire 1a, and further, the electric wire 1c is arranged next to the electric wire 1b so as to face the electric wire 1b.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 5A, the spherical portions 9 may be arranged so as to engage with each other. That is, each spherical portion 9 may be in contact with the wire conductor portion (non-spherical portion) of the adjacent electric wire. In this case, if the laser is irradiated so that the laser irradiation position 12 of the laser comes to the spherical portion of the central electric wire 1b, the spherical portion 9 of the electric wire 1b is first melted and the adjacent electric wire conductor portion ( The spherical portion) is heated and melted, and can be integrated as shown in FIG.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG.5 (b), it can also arrange | position so that the spherical part 9 may be located in a line in the direction substantially perpendicular | vertical to the longitudinal direction of an electric wire conductor part. Also in this case, if the laser is irradiated so that the laser optical axis 11 of the laser comes to the spherical portion of the central electric wire 1b, the spherical portion 9 of the electric wire 1b is first melted and the adjacent electric wire conductor portion ( The spherical part) can be heated and melted and integrated. However, the arrangement shown in FIG. 5A is better in order to more reliably integrate the entire joint. This is because there are many contact points between the electric wires and heat conduction occurs efficiently.

  Moreover, as shown to Fig.7 (a), you may parallel the electric wires 1a and 1b toward the same direction. At this time, in this case, the middle of the electric wires 1a and 1b is the laser irradiation position 12. If the outer diameter of the spherical portion 9 is larger than the outer diameter of the electric wire (insulation coating portion), a gap may be generated between the spherical portions 9 even when the electric wires 1a and 1b are arranged in parallel. And can be reliably welded. For example, when trying to contact the tips of conventional electric wires 1m and 1n, as shown in FIG. 7 (b), the electric wires are arranged diagonally, or as shown in FIG. Needs to be bent and contacted. Therefore, it is difficult to place the tip so that the tip contacts, and the welding work is difficult. On the other hand, in this invention, arrangement | positioning of electric wires is easy and it can weld by making a front-end | tip part contact reliably.

  Moreover, as shown to Fig.8 (a), you may parallel the electric wires 1a, 1b, 1c toward the same direction. In this case, the central electric wire 1b is slightly shifted in the distal direction. In addition, the laser is irradiated so that the laser irradiation position 12 comes to the base side of the spherical portion of the central electric wire 1b. By doing in this way, the spherical part 9 of the electric wire 1b fuse | melts first, and the adjacent electric wire conductor part (spherical part) is heated and fuse | melted with the heat | fever, and it can integrate. Moreover, even if the molten metal of the electric wire 1b moves in the longitudinal direction, the electric wires 1a and 1c on both sides are well wetted to ensure sufficient heat conduction, and welding can be performed as shown in FIG. 8B.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9A, the electric wires 1a, 1b, and 1c may be arranged in parallel so that the spherical portions 9 are arranged in a line in the same direction. It is desirable to make the spherical portion 9 slightly larger than the spherical portion of the other electric wires. By doing in this way, each spherical part 9 can be made to contact in the state which has arrange | positioned the electric wires 1a, 1b, and 1c in parallel.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9B, the spherical portions 9 may be arranged so as to be closest to each other. That is, you may arrange | position so that each spherical part 9 of each electric wire 1a, 1b, 1c may contact. In this case, it is only necessary that the laser irradiation position 12 of the laser comes to one of the spherical portions 9 in the vicinity of the center position of the three spherical portions 9.

  Moreover, as shown to Fig.10 (a), you may arrange | position the electric wires 1a, 1b, and 1c to oppose at least from 3 directions. In this case, you may fix so that it may press on a mutual contact part direction from three directions.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 10B, the electric wires 1b and 1c are arranged so as to face each other so that the spherical portions 9 are in contact with each other, and the electric wire 1a is opposed substantially perpendicularly to the spherical portions 9 You may arrange | position so that it may oppose from 3 directions so that they may contact each other. In this case, with the electric wires 1b and 1c fixed, the electric wires 1a may be fixed so as to be pressed in the contact portion direction (a direction substantially perpendicular to the opposing direction of the electric wires 1b and 1c).

  Moreover, in this invention, as shown in FIG. 11, it is also easy to join many more electric wires. FIG. 11A is a perspective view showing a method of joining, for example, five electric wires 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, and 1e, and FIG. 11B is a plan view. In this case, the spherical portions of all the electric wires may be arranged in a staggered manner so as to face each other, and the laser optical axis 11 of the laser may be sequentially moved relative to the laser moving axis 14 from the end. In this case, the stage (on the electric wire side) may be moved, or the laser beam may be irradiated with a line by a remote device using a galvano scanner.

  In this way, when performing welding by sweeping irradiation while relatively moving the laser irradiation portion, the arrangement is not limited to that shown in FIG. 11, and FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, and FIG. The present invention can also be applied to a case where a plurality of electric wires are additionally provided according to the electric wire arrangements such as 8 (a), FIG. 9 (a), and FIG. 9 (b).

  Moreover, in this invention, as shown in FIG. 12, it is also easy to join a some electric wire not only planarly but in the state laminated | stacked on multiple layers. FIG. 12A is a perspective view showing a method for joining, for example, nine electric wires 1, and FIG. 12B is a view seen from the end direction of the electric wires. First, it arrange | positions in multiple rows x multiple steps so that the spherical part of an adjacent electric wire may mutually contact (in the figure, the state of 3 rows x 3 steps is shown as an example).

  In this state, as shown in FIG. 12B, the laser beam may be irradiated from the end side of the electric wire 1 so that the laser optical axis 11 sequentially moves the tip of the spherical portion 9 sequentially from the end. . In this case, the stage (on the electric wire side) may be moved, or the laser beam may be irradiated with a line by a remote device using a galvano scanner. At this time, if the outer diameter of the spherical portion 9 is equal to or larger than the outer diameter of the insulation coating, no gap is generated between the spherical portions 9 when the electric wires 1 are arranged in parallel.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably join electric wires without causing necking. Further, no line spillage occurs at the joint. Also, no special equipment or system is required. Moreover, even if it is many electric wires, it can join reliably.

  Further, by optimizing the position of the laser irradiation portion when forming the spherical portion, the spherical portion 9 can be reliably formed and the spherical portion does not become excessively large. In other words, when the size of the appropriate spherical part is reached, the wire conductor part itself is detached from the laser irradiation part, so that further spheroidization stops and solidification can be started. Therefore, it is possible to easily form a spherical portion having a constant size at all times.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, the technical scope of this invention is not influenced by embodiment mentioned above. It is obvious for those skilled in the art that various modifications or modifications can be conceived within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. It is understood that it belongs.

  For example, the connection method of the electric wires is not limited to the examples shown in FIGS. 3 to 12, and the number of electric wires, the arrangement for connection, and the like can be appropriately set. Moreover, the connection methods shown in FIGS. 3 to 12 can be appropriately combined.

  As the high energy density beam, not only a laser but also an electron beam or the like can be applied. Moreover, the electric wire conductor portion may not be a stranded wire composed of a plurality of strands, and can be applied to a single wire.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electric wire 3 ... Electric wire conductor part 5 ... Insulation coating 7 ... Laser 9 ... spherical part 11 ... Laser optical axis 12 ... Laser irradiation position 13 ... Welded part 14 ......... Laser axis 100 ......... Wire 103 ......... Wire conductor 105 ......... Insulation coating 107 ......... Laser 113 ......... Welding 115 ...... Necking 117 ......... Line spillage

Claims (8)

A high energy density beam is irradiated to the vicinity of the tip of the wire conductor exposed by peeling off the insulation coating on the end of the wire, the tip of the wire conductor is melted, and melted and integrated by the surface tension of the molten metal to solidify. Let
The outer diameter of the integrated portion where the ends of the wire conductor portions are integrated is equal to or greater than the outer diameter of the insulating coating, and a plurality of wires are arranged in parallel so that the longitudinal directions thereof are the same, and the wire conductor A part of each integrated part is brought into contact without bending the part,
Further, the integrated conductors are irradiated with a high energy density beam so that the integrated parts are melted, and the contacted integrated parts are fused and integrated by surface tension. Welding method between tips.   In a state where the position of the electric wire and the position of the irradiation axis center of the high energy density beam with respect to the longitudinal direction of the electric wire conductor portion are fixed, the beam irradiation axis center of the high energy density beam is a predetermined distance from the end portion of the electric wire conductor portion. The wire conductor portion is irradiated with a high energy density beam so that the wire conductor portion from the beam irradiation axis to the end portion of the wire conductor portion is melted, and the wire conductor portion is melted and integrated due to surface tension. The tip position of the end is retracted in the direction opposite to the tip, and the position of the end of the wire conductor part is deviated from the center of the beam irradiation axis, whereby the integrated part is cooled and solidified. The welding method of the electric wire conductor part tips of Claim 1. The wire conductor part is 0.13-5.0 cm ² By irradiating a beam with a spot diameter of 20 to 40 μm from the end of the electric wire conductor part at a distance 1/3 to 3 times the outer diameter of the electric wire conductor part, An integrated part is formed, The welding method of the wire conductor part front-end | tips of Claim 1 or Claim 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. The three or more electric wires whose ends are fused and integrated are arranged so that the integrated portions are in contact with each other in a plane, and are arranged side by side.
In a state where the adjacent integrated parts are in contact with each other, a high energy density beam is provided along the direction in which the integrated part is provided from one end side in the direction in which the electric wire conductor part is provided to the other end side. The welding method for the ends of the electric wire conductor parts according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the integrated part is melted and integrated by sweeping irradiation while relatively moving. The three or more electric wires whose ends are fused and integrated are arranged so that the integrated portions are in contact with each other in a plane, and are arranged side by side.
The method for welding ends of the wire conductor portions according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the integrated portion of the central electric wire is larger than an integrated portion of the other electric wires . When the electric wires are laminated in a plurality of layers so that the longitudinal directions thereof are the same, the adjacent electric wires are arranged so that the side surfaces of the integrated portion at the respective tips are in contact with each other. 5. The wire conductor portion according to claim 1 , wherein each of the integrated portions is melted and integrated by irradiating a high energy density beam from an end portion side of the electric wire. Welding method between tips. The method for welding the ends of the electric wire conductor parts according to claim 6, wherein the electric wires are arranged in three or more layers so that the longitudinal directions thereof are the same. The high energy density beam is a laser, the wire conductor tip welding method between according to any one of claims 1 to claim 7, characterized in that one of the electron beam.

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