JP6928500B2 - Terminal structure of covered electric wire and terminal processing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to, for example, a terminal structure of a coated electric wire in which an exposed conductor exposed from the tips of a plurality of coated electric wires to be arranged is protected, and a method for treating the terminal of the coated electric wire.

In recent years, smaller diameter coated electric wires have been adopted for the purpose of reducing the weight of vehicles. A plurality of such coated electric wires having a small diameter are arranged in a vehicle or the like, and the exposed conductors exposed by peeling off the insulating coating at the tip of the coated electric wire are connected to each other and covered with an insulating cap or the like. In addition to conducting each other, it prevents short circuits due to contact with other members.

Many terminal structures of coated electric wires to which such exposed conductors of the coated electric wires are connected have been proposed. For example, in Patent Document 1, exposed conductors exposed at the tip portions of a plurality of coated electric wires are welded to each other. At the same time, a terminal structure of a coated electric wire capable of reliably conducting the exposed conductors by covering the welded exposed conductor with a heat-shrinkable tube is disclosed.

In the terminal structure of the coated electric wire disclosed in Patent Document 1, the insulating coating (inner insulating coating) constituting each of the coated electric wires is integrally coated with the outer insulating coating and welded to the coated electric wire to obtain an external force. It is said that the outer insulating coating can alleviate the external force and prevent the exposed conductors from coming off from each other even when the above-mentioned action is applied.

However, since the outer diameter of the outer insulating coating covering the plurality of inner insulating coatings is larger than that of the welded portion to which the exposed conductor is welded, the heat-shrinkable tube covering the exposed conductor is likely to come off. There was a risk that the exposed conductor would come into contact with other members and cause a short circuit.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-26018

In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a terminal structure of a coated electric wire capable of preventing the heat-shrinkable tube placed on the tip of the coated electric wire from falling off, and a method for treating the terminal of the coated electric wire.

The present invention is composed of a covered electric wire coated with an insulating coating of the conductor, and heat shrinkable tube placed over the wire tip having an exposed conductor exposed Ri by said insulating the covering in the conductor, the exposed conductor, It has a conductor welded portion that is welded and integrated in the vertical direction, and the tip extends in the width direction that is perpendicular to the vertical direction, and the conductor welded portion has a width that is perpendicular to the vertical direction. It is a terminal structure of a covered electric wire having a narrow portion narrower than the tip and having a width in a direction similar to the width of one exposed conductor and the heat shrinkable tube being in close contact with the exposed conductor. It is a feature.

Further, in the present invention, the exposed conductors of a plurality of covered electric wires having the tip portion of the electric wire having the exposed conductor in which the conductor coated with the insulating coating is exposed from the tip of the insulating coating are welded and integrated, and the tip is widened. The welding step of forming the portion, the arrangement step of arranging the tip portion of the electric wire having the conductor welded portion at a predetermined position, and the relative movement of one of the coated electric wire and the heat-shrinkable tube toward the other are described. An insertion step of inserting the tip of the electric wire having a conductor welded portion into the heat-shrinkable tube, a cutting step of cutting the heat-shrinkable tube to a predetermined length, and heating to heat-shrink the heat-shrinkable tube. A heat shrinkage step of bringing the exposed conductor into close contact is performed, and in the welding step, a narrow portion having a narrow width in the intersecting direction intersecting the length direction is formed in a part of the exposed conductor in the length direction. It is characterized in that it is a terminal processing method for a covered electric wire that performs a narrow forming step.

The conductor includes a stranded wire obtained by twisting strands or a bundled wire formed by bundling a single wire, or a conductor composed of a single wire, and the conductor is made of any conductor as long as it has conductivity. It may be used, and includes a copper-based conductor made of copper or a copper alloy, or an aluminum-based conductor made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy.

The above-mentioned tip spread includes the case where the tip of the conductor welded portion is widened and the case where the unwelded conductor on the tip side of the conductor welded portion is widened.
Further, the above-mentioned tip is widened when the tip is wider than the base end of the exposed conductor, or when the tip is recessed inside the diameter of the exposed conductor between the base end and the tip. This includes the case where the concave portion is provided and the tip side is wider than the concave portion or the base end portion, and also includes the case where the tip is gradually widened or the case where the tip is widened with a step.

Furthermore, the above-mentioned tip is widened in any direction toward the tip side of the covered electric wire, for example, even if it is widened in the width direction, the vertical direction, or the diagonal direction of the covered electric wire. good.
The narrow portion includes a case where it is narrower than a widened portion at the tip of the conductor, a case where it is narrower than a widened portion at the tip of the conductor, and a case where it is narrower than the proximal end side of the conductor.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the heat-shrinkable tube that covers the tip of the covered electric wire from falling off.
More specifically, since the heat-shrinkable tube is formed in close contact with the conductor extending on the tip side rather than the base end side, even if an external force acts in the direction in which the heat-shrinkable tube comes out, the conductor It is possible to prevent the heat-shrinkable tube from coming off from the coated electric wire by interfering with the tip of the conductor in which the heat-shrinkable tube surrounding the welded portion is spread.

Further, since the conductor welded portion has a narrow portion whose width in the width direction perpendicular to the vertical direction is about the same as the width of one exposed conductor and narrower than the tip, the conductor has a narrow portion. cover is in the heat shrinkable tube that is contracted in close contact along the shape of the narrow part, even if external force acts toward the distal end side relative to the heat-shrinkable tube, close contact with the periphery of the narrow portion The heat-shrinkable tube interferes with the tip of the conductor in which the heat-shrinkable tube is spread, so that the heat-shrinkable tube can be more reliably prevented from falling off.

As an aspect of the present invention, the conductor may be composed of a stranded conductor, and the tip of the exposed conductor may be spread in a loosened state.
According to the present invention, since the tip of the exposed conductor can be expanded by simply loosening and welding the stranded conductor, it is possible to easily process the exposed conductor so that the tip expands, and the heat-shrinkable tube can be easily and reliably processed. It can prevent falling out.

Further, as an aspect of the present invention, the heat shrinkable tube may be transparent.
According to the present invention, it is possible to recognize to what position in the heat-shrinkable tube the exposed conductor is inserted, so that the quality of the terminal structure can be easily and surely confirmed.

Further, as an aspect of the present invention, the tip of the heat shrinkable tube may be sealed.
According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent water from entering from the tip of the heat-shrinkable tube, so that the waterproof performance of the conductor can be improved.

Further, as an aspect of the present invention, the heat-shrinkable tube may be integrally covered over the exposed conductor and the tip of the insulating coating.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the heat-shrinkable tube from coming off from the insulating coating. Further, since it is possible to prevent water from entering between the insulating coating and the exposed conductor portion, the waterproof function can be further improved.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a terminal structure of a coated electric wire capable of preventing the heat-shrinkable tube covered on the tip of the coated electric wire from falling off, and a method for treating the terminal of the coated electric wire.

Schematic perspective view of the electric wire terminal structure. Schematic plan view of the electric wire terminal structure. Schematic diagram of terminal structure forming device Schematic perspective view of the insertion instrument. Flowchart of terminal structure processing. Flow chart of electric wire manufacturing process. Explanatory drawing of welding process. Explanatory drawing of electric wire terminal structure processing. Explanatory drawing of electric wire terminal structure processing. Explanatory drawing of another embodiment of the terminal structure of an electric wire.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of the electric wire terminal structure 1, and FIG. 2 shows a schematic plan view of the electric wire terminal structure 1. Here, the longitudinal direction of the electric wire 10 is defined as the longitudinal direction X, the lateral width direction of the electric wire 10 and the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction X is defined as the width direction Y, and the left side along the longitudinal direction X in FIG. 1, that is, the electric wire The tip side of 10 is in the + X direction, the right side is in the −X direction, that is, the base end side of the electric wire 10 is in the −X direction, the left side is in the −Y direction along the width direction Y, and the right side is in the + Y direction.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the electric wire terminal structure 1 includes an electric wire 10 integrated by welding a part of the tips of three covered electric wires 100 and an electric wire tip portion 11 which is a tip portion of the electric wire 10. It is composed of an insulating cover 20 that surrounds the cable.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the electric wire 10 is integrally formed by welding the tip side of three bundled coated electric wires 100, and conductor welding is performed on the tip side of the welded coated electric wire 100. The portion 12 and the wide tip portion 13 provided at the most advanced portion of the electric wire 10 are arranged in this order along the longitudinal direction X.

The coated electric wire 100 constituting the electric wire 10 is formed by coating a stranded conductor 110 formed by twisting aluminum alloy strands with an insulating coating 120 made of an insulating resin, and is formed on the tip side of the coated electric wire 100. A conductor exposed portion 130 composed of a stranded conductor 110 obtained by stripping and exposing an insulating coating 120 by a predetermined length is provided.
Here, a portion having a length substantially equal to the length of the conductor exposed portion 130 from the tip of the insulating coating 120 is referred to as a coating tip portion 121.

The stranded conductor 110 may be made of any material as long as it has conductivity, and for example, strands such as aluminum, copper, and a copper alloy may be twisted together. Further, the stranded conductor 110 does not necessarily have to be a stranded wire, and may be configured by bundling conductive strands. Further, in the present embodiment, the number of covered electric wires 100 is three, but the number is not limited to three and can be adjusted as appropriate.

The conductor welded portion 12 is formed by loosening and expanding the three exposed conductor portions 130 provided on the tip end side of the coated electric wire 100 as described above and welding them.
As shown in FIG. 2, the conductor welded portion 12 is composed of a narrow portion 14 welded so that the base end side is narrow. The narrow portion 14 is welded so as to be narrower than the wide tip portion 13, but it is sufficient if the narrow portion 14 is narrower than the wide tip portion 13, and the width is narrowed by welding. Not limited.

A wide tip portion 13 is provided on the tip end side (+ X direction side) of the conductor welded portion 12 so that the width in the width direction Y is wider than that of the conductor welded portion 12. Unlike the conductor welded portion 12, the wide tip portion 13 is not welded and has a shape in which the wire unraveling the conductor exposed portion 130 spreads and opens along the width direction Y as it goes in the + X direction. ..

In the present embodiment, the wide tip portion 13 is not welded and is formed by loosening the stranded conductor 110. However, for example, the wide tip portion 13 may be welded.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the electric wire tip portion 11 which is the tip portion of the electric wire 10 configured in this way is the tip of the conductor exposed portion 130 from the coating tip portion 121 which is the tip portion of the insulating coating 120. The range is up to the wide tip portion 13. The length of the coating tip portion 121 along the longitudinal direction X is substantially the same as the length of the conductor exposed portion 130, but it does not necessarily have to be substantially the same. For example, the coating tip portion 121 is exposed to the conductor. The length of the coating tip portion 121 with respect to the conductor exposed portion 130 can be appropriately adjusted, such as by making the portion shorter than the portion 130.

The insulating cover 20 is a transparent and insulating member that has been shrunk by heating a cylindrical heat-shrinkable tube 20a, and is a coating that is a tip portion of the insulating coating 120 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The tip portion 121 and the exposed conductor portion 130 are straddled and are in close contact with each other along the electric wire 10.
The tip portion of the insulating cover 20 is provided with a sealing portion 21 sealed along the width direction Y.

In the electric wire terminal structure 1 configured in this way, since the electric wire tip portion 11 which is the tip of the electric wire 10 is covered with the insulating cover 20, the tip side of the electric wire 10 can be protected and the conductor exposed portion 130 can be insulated. .. As a result, it is possible to prevent the wide tip portion 13 and the like constituting the electric wire 10 from coming into contact with other members and causing a short circuit. Further, since the sealing portion 21 is provided at the tip of the insulating cover 20 and the insulating cover 20 straddles the insulating coating 120 and the conductor exposed portion 130, the space between the insulating coating 120 and the conductor exposed portion 130 is provided. And water intrusion from the tip side can be prevented.

Next, the terminal structure forming device 3 manufactured by the electric wire terminal structure 1 configured as described above and the manufacturing method of the electric wire terminal structure 1 using the terminal structure forming device 3 will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 9. do.
Here, FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of the terminal structure forming instrument 3 used for manufacturing the electric wire terminal structure 1 as viewed from above, and FIG. 4 shows an insertion cutting instrument used for inserting the electric wire terminal structure 1 into the heat shrinkable tube 20a. The schematic perspective view of 30 is shown.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, the direction in which the linear portion of the heat-shrinkable tube 20a and the electric wire 10 (coated electric wire 100) extends is defined as the longitudinal direction X corresponding to FIG. 1, and the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction X is the width direction Y. And. That is, the upper part in FIG. 3 is in the + X direction, and the lower part is in the −X direction. Similarly, the left side in FIG. 3 is in the + Y direction, and the right side is in the −Y direction.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of the terminal structure processing in the manufacture of the electric wire terminal structure 1, and FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of the electric wire manufacturing process s1 for manufacturing the plurality of electric wires 10.
FIG. 7 shows an explanatory view of the electric wire manufacturing process s1 which is a method of manufacturing the electric wire 10. Specifically, FIG. 7A shows a schematic plane of the electric wire 10 in a state where the tips of the three covered electric wires 100 are loosened and unfolded. 7 (b) shows a schematic plan view of the electric wire 10 having a molded tip, and FIG. 7 (c) shows a schematic plan view of the electric wire 10 in a welded state.

8 and 9 are explanatory views for explaining the terminal structure processing of the electric wire terminal structure 1, and in detail, FIGS. 8 (a) to 8 (c) and FIGS. A schematic plan view is shown. More specifically, FIG. 8A shows a schematic plan view of the insertion / cutting tool 30 in the electric wire arrangement step s2 in which the electric wire 10 is held and arranged at the initial position, and FIG. 8B shows the position of the electric wire 10. The schematic plan view of the insertion cutting instrument 30 in the adjusted tip position adjustment step s3 is shown, and FIG. The figure is shown.

FIG. 9A shows a schematic plan view of the insertion cutting tool 30 in the tube cutting step s6 for cutting the heat-shrinkable tube 20a while the electric wire 10 is inserted into the heat-shrinkable tube 20a, and FIG. 9B is cut. The schematic plan view of the insertion cutting instrument 30 in the state of moving the heat shrink tube 20a and the electric wire 10 is shown.

In FIGS. 8 and 9, the lower crimping portion 532 and the upper crimping portion 533 are not shown.

As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal structure forming instrument 3 for manufacturing the electric wire terminal structure 1 includes an insertion / cutting instrument 30 for inserting the electric wire 10 into the heat-shrinkable tube 20a and a heat-shrinkable tube into which the electric wire 10 is inserted. It is composed of a heating heater 40 that heats and contracts 20a.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the insertion / cutting instrument 30 includes a tube holding instrument 50 that holds the heat-shrinkable tube 20a and an electric wire holding instrument 60 that holds the electric wire 10.
The heat-shrinkable tube 20a held by the tube holding device 50 is a hollow tube made of a transparent and insulating resin that shrinks when heated, and its inner diameter includes the width of the tip side of the electric wire 10 and the inner diameter thereof. It has a sufficient length as compared with the outer diameter formed by the three coated electric wires 100.

The tube holding device 50 includes a tube holding portion 51 for holding the heat-shrinkable tube 20a, a roller 52 for feeding the heat-shrinking tube 20a along the longitudinal direction X, a tube cutter 53 for cutting the heat-shrinking tube 20a, and an electric wire 10. It is composed of a positioning sensor 54 for positioning.

As shown in FIG. 4, the tube holding portion 51 is a pair of rotatable cylindrical bodies arranged along the width direction Y at intervals of substantially the same length as the outer diameter of the heat-shrinkable tube 20a. The tip portion of the heat shrinkable tube 20a is sandwiched.

The height of the tube holding portion 51, which is a cylindrical body, is configured to be sufficiently higher than the outer diameter of the heat-shrinkable tube 20a, and heat is provided so that the central axis of the heat-shrinkable tube 20a comes to the central portion of the tube holding portion 51. The contraction tube 20a is sandwiched.

Similar to the tube holding portion 51, the rollers 52 are a pair of cylindrical bodies arranged along the width direction Y at intervals of substantially the same length as the outer diameter of the heat shrinkable tube 20a, and the tube holding portion 51. It is provided on the + X direction side of. Each roller 52 is configured to rotate at the same speed by a motor (not shown), and the heat-shrinkable tube 20a sandwiched between the rollers 52 can be sent out in the −X direction. The rollers 52 rotate in opposite directions.

The tube cutter 53 is a cutting tool provided on the −X direction side of the tube holding portion 51 for cutting the heat-shrinkable tube 20a and sealing the cut surface of the heat-shrinkable tube 20a, and the tubes are arranged so as to face each other. It is composed of a cutter 53L and a tube cutter 53R.

As shown in FIG. 4, the tube cutter 53L is a substantially trapezoidal prismatic body in a plan view provided on the + Y direction side with respect to the central axis along the longitudinal direction X of the heat shrinkable tube 20a, and is on the −Y direction side. A cutting blade 531 provided along the vertical direction is provided at the end of the. Further, a square-shaped lower crimping portion 532 is fixed to the surface on the −X direction side.

The lower crimping portion 532 has substantially the same height as the lower end side of the heat shrinkable tube 20a gripped by the tube holding portion 51, and is sufficiently in the −Y direction from the −X direction side surface of the tube cutter 53L. It is a prismatic body having a long length, and a tapered surface that tapers toward the −Y direction is formed on the upper surface on the tip side on the −Y direction side.

As shown in FIG. 4, the tube cutter 53R is arranged to face the tube cutter 53L provided on the −Y direction side with respect to the central axis along the longitudinal direction X of the heat shrinkable tube 20a along the width direction Y. It is a prismatic prism with a substantially trapezoidal shape in a plan view, and a cutting blade 531 provided along the vertical direction is provided at the end on the + Y direction side, and a square upward crimping portion is provided on the surface on the −X direction side. 533 is provided.

The upper crimping portion 533 is a prism that is erected upward on the surface of the tube cutter 53R on the −X direction side, is rotatably provided with the longitudinal direction X as the rotation axis, and is an upper crimping portion in the upright state. A heater (not shown) is attached to the side surface of the 533 on the + Y direction side (upper crimping surface 535).

Since the tube cutter 53R and the tube cutter 53L configured in this way are configured to be movable along the width direction Y, they can be moved so as to approach or separate from each other, and they face each other when they approach each other. The heat-shrinkable tube 20a can be cut by bringing the cutting blades 531 into contact with each other. Further, by rotating the upper crimping portion 533 toward the lower crimping portion 532 in a state of being close to each other, the lower crimping surface 534, which is the upper surface of the lower crimping portion 532, and the upper crimping surface 535 can come into contact with each other.

The positioning sensor 54 is a position detection sensor arranged on the −X direction side of the tube cutter 53 for determining the position of the tip portion of the electric wire 10, and the central axis of the heat shrinkable tube 20a is the central portion of the positioning sensor 54. It is provided so as to be movable in the −Y direction from the initial position.

The electric wire holding device 60 arranged on the −X direction side of the tube holding device 50 includes an electric wire gripping portion 61 for sandwiching the electric wire 10 and a guiding jig 62 for guiding the electric wire 10 to a position where it can be sandwiched by the electric wire gripping portion 61. It is composed of.

The electric wire grip portion 61 is composed of an electric wire grip portion 61L and an electric wire grip portion 61R formed so as to be movable along the width direction Y, and has a width such that the electric wire grip portion 61L and the electric wire grip portion 61R face each other. It is arranged along the direction Y.

The wire grip portion 61L and the wire holding device 60R have an upper surface that opens on the opposite surface side, that is, on the −Y direction side of the wire grip portion 61L and on the + Y direction side of the wire grip portion 61R, and constitutes the wire 10. A semicircular through hole having an inner diameter substantially the same as the outer diameter formed by the three covered electric wires 100 is provided along the longitudinal direction X.

In a state where the surfaces facing each other of the electric wire grip portion 61L and the electric wire grip portion 61R configured in this way are in contact with each other, a through hole is formed in the central portion so that the electric wire 10 can be sandwiched from the left and right.
The electric wire grip portion 61 is configured to move in the + Y direction while holding the electric wire 10 so that it can move to the heating heater 40.

The invitation jig 62 is a prism body erected on the −X direction side of the electric wire grip portion 61, and has an inner diameter substantially the same as the outer diameter formed by the three covered electric wires 100 in the center in the longitudinal direction X. A guide hole 621 penetrating along the line is formed along the longitudinal direction X, and the electric wire 10 can be inserted therethrough. The −X direction side of the guide hole 621 is composed of a tapered surface whose diameter increases toward the −X direction.

The invitation jig 62 configured in this way can be divided into two parts, an upper side invitation portion 62u constituting the upper side and a lower side invitation portion 62d forming the lower side. The lower side invitation portion 62d can be lowered until the upper surface is flush with the base upper surface 60a forming the base of the electric wire holding device 60, and the upper side invitation portion 62u can move upward.

The heating heater 40 is configured so that the heater is provided on the main surface at a predetermined interval in the vertical direction, and the lower main surface is flush with the base upper surface 60a. The heat-shrinkable tube 20a can be heated from above and below through the electric wire 10 covered with the heat-shrinkable tube 20a between the heating heaters 40 configured in this way.
By adjusting the moving speed of the electric wire 10 along the width direction Y, the heating time can be adjusted according to the diameter and material of the heat shrinkable tube 20a.

Subsequently, the manufacturing method of the electric wire terminal structure 1 will be briefly described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
The electric wire terminal structure 1 includes an electric wire manufacturing process s1 for manufacturing the electric wire 10, an electric wire arranging step s2 for arranging the manufactured electric wire 10 at a predetermined position of the insertion / cutting device 30, and a tip position for adjusting the tip position of the electric wire 10. The adjustment step s3, the electric wire insertion step s4 for inserting the electric wire 10 into the heat-shrinkable tube 20a, the tip position detection step s5 for detecting the position of the electric wire 10 inserted into the heat-shrinkable tube 20a, and the heat-shrinkable tube 20a are cut. The tube cutting step s6 and the heat shrinking step s7 in which the heat-shrinkable tube 20a into which the electric wire 10 is inserted in the heating heater 40 is heated and shrunk are performed in this order.

As shown in FIG. 6, the electric wire manufacturing step s1 for manufacturing the electric wire 10 to be inserted into the heat-shrinkable tube 20a includes a welding portion forming step t1 for forming a welded portion 12a at the tip portion of the electric wire 10 and molding the tip of the electric wire 10. The forming step t2 and the electric wire welding step t3 for welding the formed welded portion 12a are performed in this order.

More specifically, a plurality of (three in this embodiment) coated electric wires 100 are prepared, and an insulating coating 120 covering the outer periphery of the stranded conductor 110 on one end side (tip side) of the coated electric wires 100 is provided with a predetermined length. The conductor exposed portion 130 is formed by stripping off the stranded wire conductor 110 by the same amount. Then, as shown in FIG. 7A, the wire of the conductor exposed portion 130 formed by twisting the wire is loosened to form a welded portion 12a to be welded to the proximal end side, and the welded portion 12a is formed. The tip side is widened (welded portion forming step t1).

Next, as shown in FIGS. 7 (b) and 7 (c), the tip wide portion 13 is molded so that the tip of each covered electric wire 100 is wider than the width of the welded portion 12a (molding step t2). , The welded portion 12a is welded to provide the conductor welded portion 12, and the three covered electric wires 100 are integrally formed (electric wire welding step t3). At this time, when the welded portion 12a is welded, the width of the welded portion 12a becomes narrower along the width direction Y, and the narrowed portion 14 is formed in the conductor welded portion 12.

In the present embodiment, the welded portion forming step t1 to the electric wire welding step t3 are performed in this order, but the order is not necessarily the same. For example, after welding the welded portion 12a first (electric wire welding). In step t3), the wide tip portion 13 may be formed. That is, in the method for manufacturing the electric wire 10, the molding step t2 to the electric wire welding step t3 can be performed in any order.

Next, a method of heat-shrinking the heat-shrinkable tube 20a by inserting the electric wire 10 thus manufactured by using the terminal structure forming instrument 3 into the heat-shrinkable tube 20a will be described.
First, the electric wire 10 manufactured by the above method is placed in a transfer device (not shown), sent out along the longitudinal direction X, and inserted into the guide hole 621 provided in the invitation jig 62 to bring the electric wire 10 into a predetermined position. Arrange (wire arrangement step s2). At this time, since the guide hole 621 has a tapered shape on the −X direction side, it is easily guided to the guide hole 621 by moving the electric wire 10 in the + X direction (see FIG. 8A).

Then, by moving the electric wire 10 in the + X direction and bringing the tip of the electric wire 10 into contact with the positioning sensor 54, the positioning sensor 54 detects that the tip of the electric wire 10 is arranged at a desired position, and the electric wire 10 The electric wire grips 61 arranged on both sides along the width direction Y are moved toward the electric wire 10, and the transfer device for moving the electric wire 10 along the longitudinal direction X is stopped (see FIG. 8B). .. As a result, the electric wire gripping portion 61 can sandwich the electric wire 10 and position the tip portion of the electric wire 10 (tip position adjusting step s3).

In the state where the tip of the electric wire 10 is arranged at a predetermined position in this way, as shown in FIG. 8C, the positioning sensor 54 moves in the + Y direction, and the roller 52 rotates by a motor (not shown) to generate heat. The heat-shrinkable tube 20a can be sent out in the −X direction to a position where one end (the end on the −X direction side) of the shrinkage tube 20a comes into contact with the wire grip portion 61, and the wire 10 can be inserted into the heat-shrinkable tube 20a (wire insertion step s4).

Next, the tip position detecting step s5 for detecting the position of the wide tip portion 13 of the electric wire 10 inserted into the heat shrinkable tube 20a is performed. Specifically, the position of the tip of the electric wire 10 inside the heat-shrinkable tube 20a is detected by irradiating the inside of the heat-shrinkable tube 20a with a laser beam and detecting the reflected light reflected from the tip of the electric wire 10.
This makes it possible to prevent the electric wire 10 from being cut in the tube cutting step s6 described later.

Then, the tube cutter 53L and the tube cutter 53R move along the width direction Y so as to approach each other, and the heat-shrinkable tube 20a is cut by the cutting blade 531 (tube cutting step s6). Further, in a state where the cutting blades 531 provided on the tube cutter 53L and the tube cutter 53R are in contact with each other, the upper crimping portion 533 rotates toward the lower crimping portion 532, and the upper crimping portion 533a and the lower crimping portion 532a are brought into contact with each other. The heat-shrinkable tube 20a is sandwiched and brought into contact with the heat-shrinkable tube 20a, and the heater provided on the upper crimping portion 533a heats the heat-shrinkable tube 20a to form a sealing portion 21a before shrinkage at the end on the + X direction side.

Next, the electric wire grip portion 61 that sandwiches the electric wire 10 inserted into the heat-shrinkable tube 20a is moved to the heating heater 40 arranged in the + Y direction, and the heat-shrinkable tube 20a is heat-treated to heat-treat the heat-shrinkable tube 20a. Can be heat-shrinked so that the insulating cover 20 is covered along the electric wire 10 (heat-shrinking step s7).

By using the terminal structure forming instrument 3 in this way, the operator can automatically manufacture the electric wire terminal structure 1 simply by setting the electric wire 10 on the terminal structure forming instrument 3, and does not need to spend a lot of manpower. It is possible to reduce the burden on the operator, suppress the variation of the product, and provide the electric wire terminal structure 1 of stable quality.

The electric wire terminal structure 1 configured in this way has a plurality of coated electric wires 100 in which the stranded conductor 110 is coated with an insulating coating 120, and a conductor exposed portion 130 exposed from the tip of the insulating coating 120 in the stranded conductor 110. It is composed of an insulating cover 20 that covers the wire tip portion 11, and a plurality of conductor exposed portions 130 have a conductor welded portion 12 that is welded and integrated, and the tip is widened, whereby a coated electric wire is provided. The insulating cover 20 that covers the tip of 100 can be prevented from falling off.

More specifically, since the insulating cover 20 is formed in close contact with the stranded conductor 110 provided with the wide tip portion 13 extending on the tip side of the conductor welded portion 12, the insulating cover 20 is formed in the direction in which the insulating cover 20 comes off. Even if an external force acts, it is possible to prevent the insulating cover 20 from coming off from the coated electric wire 100 by interfering with the wide tip portion 13 in which the insulating cover 20 surrounding the conductor welded portion 12 is spread.

Further, the stranded conductor 110 has a structure in which strands are twisted together, and the wide tip portion 13 at the tip of the exposed conductor 130 loosens the stranded conductor 110 because the stranded wire spreads in a loosened state. Since the tip of the exposed conductor 130 can be made widened only by welding, the tip can be easily widened, and the insulating cover 20 can be easily and surely prevented from coming off.

Furthermore, the conductor welded portion 12 is composed of a narrow portion 14 that intersects in the length direction and has a narrow width in the crossing direction in a part of the conductor exposed portion 130 in the length direction. Since the insulating cover 20 that is covered with and shrunk is in close contact with the shape of the narrow portion 14, even if an external force acts on the insulating cover 20 toward the tip side, it is in close contact with the periphery of the narrow portion 14. The insulating cover 20 interferes with the wide tip portion 13 which is widened, so that the insulating cover 20 can be more reliably prevented from falling off.

Further, since the insulating cover 20 is transparent, it is possible to recognize to what position the conductor exposed portion 130 is inserted in the insulating cover 20. Therefore, the insertion position can be surely confirmed at the time of manufacturing, and the quality of the manufactured electric wire terminal structure 1 can be easily and surely confirmed.

Further, since the tip of the insulating cover 20 is sealed, water can be prevented from entering from the tip of the insulating cover 20, so that the waterproof performance of the stranded conductor 110 can be improved.

Further, since the insulating cover 20 is integrally covered so as to straddle the exposed conductor 130 and the tip of the insulating coating 120, it is possible to prevent water from entering between the insulating coating 120 and the exposed stranded conductor 110. , The waterproof function can be improved.

In the correspondence between the configuration of the present invention and the above-described embodiment,
The conductor corresponds to the stranded conductor 110,
The exposed conductor corresponds to the exposed conductor 130,
The heat-shrinkable tube corresponds to the insulating cover 20 and the heat-shrinkable tube 20a.
The terminal structure corresponds to the electric wire terminal structure 1,
The welding process corresponds to the electric wire manufacturing process s1.
The placement process corresponds to the wire placement process s2,
The insertion process corresponds to the wire insertion process s4,
The narrow forming process corresponds to the wire welding process t3,
The cutting step corresponds to the tube cutting step s6,
The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, and many embodiments can be obtained.

For example, in the present embodiment, the electric wire terminal structure 1 is manufactured by a method of inserting the tip of the electric wire 10 into the heat-shrinkable tube 20a and then cutting the heat-shrinkable tube 20a to a desired length, but the order is not necessarily the same. It is not necessary to cut the heat-shrinkable tube 20a with, for example, the electric wire terminal structure 1 may be manufactured by a method of cutting the heat-shrinkable tube 20a to a desired length in advance.

Specifically, in the terminal structure forming instrument 3, fragments of the heat-shrinkable tube 20a cut in advance to a desired length are arranged at predetermined intervals along the width direction Y, and the tip portions of the electric wires 10 are sequentially or simultaneously arranged. It may be a device for manufacturing the electric wire terminal structure 1 by inserting it into the heat shrinkable tube 20a.

Further, in the present embodiment, the electric wire 10 is inserted into the heat-shrinkable tube 20a by moving the heat-shrinkable tube 20a to the electric wire 10 in the electric wire insertion step s4. For example, the electric wire 10 is moved to the insulating cover 20 side. It may be configured to be inserted.

In this case, the + X direction side of the heat shrinkable tube 20a may be sealed in advance. As a result, when the electric wire 10 is inserted into the heat-shrinkable tube 20a, the sealing portion can be the positioning portion of the electric wire 10, so that the tip position adjusting step s3 can be performed without providing the positioning sensor 54 or the like. That is, the order of the tip position adjusting step s3 and the electric wire inserting step s4 can be exchanged.

Further, in the manufacturing process of the electric wire terminal structure 1, the tip of the heat shrinkable tube 20a is sealed in advance, but the heat shrinkage step s7 may be performed in an open state without sealing. As a result, the heat-shrinkable tube 20a can be shaped along the tip portion 11 of the electric wire, and the insulating cover 20 can be more reliably prevented from falling off in the manufactured electric wire terminal structure 1.

More specifically, since the heat-shrinkable tube 20a having an open tip is put on the wire tip portion 11 and contracted, for example, unlike the case where the tip of the heat-shrinkable tube 20a is sealed, the heat-shrinkable tube 20a depends on the sealed portion. The heat shrinkable tube 20a can be uniformly shrunk without wrinkling. As a result, it is possible to prevent the shape of the insulating cover 20 from becoming non-uniform.
Further, since the step of sealing the tip of the heat shrinkable tube 20a can be omitted, the work step can be simplified.

Further, in the present embodiment, the tip portion of the tip wide portion 13 in the wide tip portion 13 has a shape extending outward along the width direction Y, but this shape is not always required, and as shown in FIG. 10A, for example, The tip side may be formed in a tapered shape in the + X direction. By making the taper shape in this way, it is possible to easily insert the heat-shrinkable tube 20a.

Further, the wide tip portion 13 does not have to have a shape that expands only in the width direction Y, and may expand in the vertical direction or three-dimensionally, as shown in FIG. 10B, for example. .. In this state, the + X direction side may be formed in a tapered shape.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 10C, the conductor welded portion 12 does not necessarily have to be composed of the narrow portion 14. For example, the electric wire tip portion 11 is the electric wire 10 on the tip side of the conductor welded portion 12. The narrow portion 14 may be formed so as to be recessed toward the inside of the diameter, and the wide tip portion 13 may be widened toward the tip end side of the narrow portion 14. The narrow portion 14 may or may not be welded.

1 Electric wire terminal structure 11 Electric wire tip 12 Conductor welded portion 14 Narrow portion 20 Insulation cover 20a Heat-shrinkable tube 100 Coated electric wire 110 Twisted wire conductor 120 Insulation coating 130 Conductor exposed part s1 Electric wire manufacturing process s2 Electric wire arrangement process s3 Tip position adjustment process s5 Tip position detection process s6 Tube cutting process s7 Heat shrinkage process t1 Welding site forming process t2 Molding process t3 Electric wire welding process

Claims (12)

A coated electric wire whose conductor is coated with an insulating coating, and
Is composed of a heat-shrinkable tube placed over the wire tip having an exposed conductor exposed Ri by said insulating the covering in said conductor,
The exposed conductor has a welded conductor welded portion that is integrated in the vertical direction, and the tip extends in the width direction perpendicular to the vertical direction.
The conductor welded portion
The width in the width direction perpendicular to the vertical direction is about the same as the width of one exposed conductor, and has a narrow portion narrower than the tip.
A terminal structure of a covered electric wire in which the heat-shrinkable tube is in close contact with the exposed conductor. The conductor is composed of a stranded conductor.
The terminal structure of a covered electric wire according to claim 1, wherein the tip of the exposed conductor is widened in a loosened state. The terminal structure of a covered electric wire according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the heat-shrinkable tube is transparent. The terminal structure of a coated electric wire according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the tip of the heat-shrinkable tube is sealed. The heat shrinkable tube
The terminal structure of a coated electric wire according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the exposed conductor and the tip of the insulating coating are integrally covered. Welding that constitutes a conductor welded portion in which the exposed conductors of a plurality of coated electric wires having an exposed conductor having an exposed conductor exposed from the tip of the insulating coating are welded and integrated to form a conductor welded portion. Process and
An arrangement step of arranging the tip of the electric wire having the conductor welded portion at a predetermined position, and
An insertion step in which one of the coated electric wire and the heat-shrinkable tube is relatively moved toward the other, and the tip of the wire having the conductor welded portion is inserted into the heat-shrinkable tube.
A cutting step of cutting the heat-shrinkable tube to a predetermined length and
A heat-shrinking step of heating to heat-shrink the heat-shrinkable tube and bringing it into close contact with the exposed conductor is performed.
In the welding process
A method for terminally treating a covered electric wire, which performs a narrow forming step of forming a narrow portion having a narrow width in the intersecting direction intersecting the length direction in a part of the exposed conductor in the length direction. The terminal processing method for a coated electric wire according to claim 6, wherein a molding step of molding the shape of the tip end side of the conductor welded portion is performed. In the cutting step
The terminal treatment method for a coated electric wire according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the end portion is sealed when the heat-shrinkable tube is cut. The terminal processing method for a covered electric wire according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the heat-shrinkable tube is moved with respect to the tip of the electric wire in the insertion step. The terminal processing method for a covered electric wire according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the tip of the electric wire is moved with respect to the heat-shrinkable tube in the insertion step. Tip position detection that irradiates the inside of the heat-shrinkable tube with laser light, detects the reflected light reflected from the tip of the electric wire, and detects the position of the tip of the electric wire inserted inside the heat-shrinkable tube. The terminal processing method for a covered electric wire according to any one of claims 6 to 10, wherein the step is performed. The method for terminalizing a coated electric wire according to any one of claims 6 to 11, wherein the heat-shrinkable tube is transparent.

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