JPH04301314A - Wire harness and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To manufacture a wire harness of very good appearance and of easy mounting work by wrapping many harnesses in a pipelike casing body, and then leading branch harnesses out of slits in the pipelike casing body. CONSTITUTION:A barrel-shaped body having harnesses wrapped by a sheet is set on the placement part of a splicing device in such a condition that each of branch harnesses 5 has been drawn out of each slit 2 in a part of the periphery of the barrel-shaped body, then a stiffening plate is placed thereon from above it so as to be pressed and fixed with a clamper. The splicing device 20 formed in a heat bonding type is then employed to heat-bond a joint section by facing the under surface of a splicing section to an under bed and then moving down an upper bed so as to pressurize, sandwich and heat the joint section between the upper and lower beds. A wire harness 10 obtained in this way has harnesses 3 wrapped in its barrel-shaped casing body so as to draw the end section and connector 6 of each of the harnesses out of each of the two end-sections 12, 13 thereof. Also slits 2 are formed respectively in parts of the periphery of the casing body, and branch harnesses 5 are drawn out of the slits 2 respectively so as to form the wire harness.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wire harness used for electrical wiring in vehicles, etc., and a method for manufacturing the same.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Wire harnesses, which are made by bundling together multiple harnesses, are used for electrical wiring in vehicles such as automobiles and motorcycles.

Conventionally, in manufacturing a wire harness, the harness is first cut to a predetermined length, and connectors are connected to both ends of the harness. Next, a large number of harnesses are gathered together and set on a jig, and at this time, if there is a branched harness, it is branched in advance, and the harness group is wrapped with insulating adhesive tape on the jig to obtain a wire harness. The work of winding such a harness involves wrapping a large number of harness groups with tape while avoiding branch harnesses, and when there are multiple branch harnesses, it is also necessary to wrap tape around short branch harnesses, and furthermore, the harness Depending on the length, the length may increase.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The above-mentioned conventional techniques have the following disadvantages. In other words, in the conventional manufacturing of wire harnesses, many long harnesses are bundled and wrapped with insulating tape, and the winding process requires winding a narrow tape in a spiral shape, and the tape is not sticky. The work is extremely troublesome and complicated, and requires skill and caution.
It is time consuming and has extremely poor workability. Therefore, manufacturing thereof requires a great deal of labor and time, which inevitably increases costs. In addition, since the tape is sticky as mentioned above, the tapes tend to get entangled and bond with each other, making it difficult to work with.The resulting wire harness has poor appearance because it is a spirally wound body of tape. Too bad.

The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and its purpose is to significantly simplify the manufacturing of wire harnesses, improve mass productivity, reduce costs, and improve the appearance. An object of the present invention is to provide a wire harness and a method for manufacturing the same, which can improve the performance of the wire harness.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A means for solving the above problems is a harness used for vehicle wiring, etc., which is made by bundling and integrating a large number of harnesses each having a connector at both ends. The jacket bundle that bundles the jacket bundle has a cylindrical shape, and the branch harness is led out from the cut formed on the outer periphery of the cylindrical jacket bundle, and the parts of the harness other than the branch harness are led out from both ends of the jacket bundle. This is a wire harness with a structure like this.

Furthermore, in order to obtain the above-mentioned wire harness, a group of multiple harnesses each having connectors at both ends are arranged on a flexible sheet such as a resin sheet with a cut in a portion, and a harness including the connectors is arranged. Both ends of the group are led out from both ends of the sheet, and a branch harness having a connector at the end is placed so as to be led out through a cut in the sheet, and the sheet is wound so as to hold the harness group. , a method of manufacturing a wire harness in which the sheet is wound and opposing edges are joined and integrated.

Furthermore, in order to obtain the above wire harness,
A cut is made in a part of a cylindrical member with a C-shaped cross section, and a group of multiple harnesses each having a connector at both ends are fitted into the cylindrical member with a C-shaped cross section so that their lengths coincide. , a method for manufacturing a wire harness, in which a branch harness including a connector of a harness group is led out from a cut in a cylindrical member, and opposing edges forming a gap in the cylindrical member are joined and integrated. be.

[0009]

[Operation] According to the above means, a bundle of harnesses is wrapped in a sheet and integrated, or is fitted into a circular pipe, and the branch harness is connected to the outside through a cut in the sheet. The wire harness is guided out or guided out from a cut provided in the cut-out circular member, and the harness group is held by a sheet or cut-out pipe, and the branch harness is led out from the cut, so the spiral winding work of the tape is done. You can get a wire harness without any extra.

0010

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 to 5 show a first example of the method for manufacturing a wire harness according to the present invention and the obtained wire harness, and FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the sheet in an unfolded state;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the harness set, FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the obtained wire harness, FIG. 4 is an explanatory front view showing an example of the sheet joining device, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory perspective view of the sheet joining state. 6 to 11 show a second example,
Figure 6 is a perspective view of a pipe with a cut for leading out the branch harness, Figure 7 is a perspective view of the pipe cut in the axial direction to form a C-shaped material, and Figure 8 is a perspective view of the harness being set. 9 is a perspective view of the material with the harness fitted and the branch harness led out from the cut, FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the obtained wire harness, and FIG. 11 is an explanatory perspective view showing the joining process, FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the pipe material, FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the pipe material with cuts for leading out the branch harness, and FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the obtained wire harness.

1 to 5 illustrate the method according to the invention and the wire harness obtained thereby. Figure 1 shows a flexible sheet 1 made of a material to be welded, specifically synthetic resin.The sheet 1 forms the exterior of the wire harness, and is thick because it bundles a large number of harnesses. A sheet is used. The length of the sheet 1 is determined by the length of the harnesses to be bundled, and the width is determined by the number of harnesses to be bundled, and the sheet 1 forms a rectangular band shape whose width is smaller than its length.

Cuts 2 of a predetermined length are provided at appropriate locations on the sheet 1. The cut 2... penetrates the front and back surfaces of the sheet 1, and its length is set by the thickness of the bundled branch harness derived from this, that is, the number of branches, etc. In the example, the cut 2... is the length of the sheet 1. Although they are provided at substantially the same position in the width direction and spaced apart from each other, they may be formed at any position depending on the derivation of the branch harness.

The sheet 1 is set in an unfolded state on a workbench or the like, and a large number of harnesses 3 are placed and set thereon. Connectors 4, 4 are connected to both ends of the harness 3, and the connectors 4, 4 are connected to both ends 1 of the sheet 1 in the length direction.
-1, 1-2 and lead outward in the front-rear direction. Harness 2
Among them, a predetermined one is equipped with a branch harness 5..., and a connector 6 is connected to the tip of the branch harness 4.... In the figure, for convenience of explanation, a small number of harnesses 3 are shown for easy understanding.

The branch harnesses 5 of the harnesses 3 are fitted into the cuts 2 formed in the sheet 1, and are led out from the cuts 2 with connectors 6 on their outer surfaces. A plurality of adjacent branch harnesses 5 are arranged in groups, and accordingly, adjacent connectors 6 are arranged in groups. This is shown in Figure 2.

Next, the sheet 1 described above is rolled into a cylindrical shape so as to wrap around the harness 3 to form a cylindrical body 7. In forming the cylindrical body 7, both edges 1-3 of the sheet 1 in the width direction are ,1
-4 are abutted together as shown in FIG. 5, and the abutted portions are each bent outward to form a flange and overlapped to form a joint portion 8. The above-described branch harnesses 5 are led out from the cuts 2 in the cylindrical body 7 without interfering with the joint 8.

In this way, the cylindrical body 7 with the harnesses 3 wrapped in the sheet 1 is placed on the mounting section 2 of the joining device 20 with the branch harnesses 5 led out from the cuts 2 in a part of the outer periphery.
1, place a backing plate 22 on top, and press and fix with a clamper 23. The joining device 20 is of a thermal bonding type, and the lower surface of the joining part 8 is exposed onto the lower teeth 24, and the upper teeth 25 are lowered to pressurize, clamp, and heat the joint part 7 between the upper and lower teeth 25, 24. As a result, the joint portion 8 is thermally bonded.

The obtained wire harness 10 is shown in FIG. 3, and the wire harness 10 tightly wraps the harness 3 in a cylindrical jacket 11, and connects the harness 3 to the end and the connector 3 from both ends 12 and 13. ... has been derived. As described above, cuts 2 are formed in a part of the outer circumference of the outer cover 11, and the cuts 2...
Branch harness 5 is derived from .... Wire harness 10 is thus formed.

FIGS. 6 to 11 show how a wire harness is manufactured using pipe material. FIG. 6 shows a pipe material 30, which is made of heat-bondable resin or the like, and is obtained by cutting this into a predetermined length. Cuts 32 similar to those described above are formed in a part of the outer periphery of the pipe material 30. These cuts 32 penetrate the inside and outside of the pipe material 30. This pipe material 30 is cut linearly in the axial direction to obtain an outer cover member 33 having a C-shaped cross section and a truncated circle having a gap 31 in the axial direction as shown in FIG.

A harness 3 having connectors 4 at both ends similar to those described above is inserted into the jacket member 33. At the time of insertion, since there is a gap 31, the jacket member 33 is unfolded and the harness 3 can be easily inserted. The branch harnesses 5, including the connectors 6, are led out from the above-mentioned cuts 32. This is shown in FIG. Thereafter, the C-shaped outer covering material 32 is released from the restraint in the unfolded state and becomes rounded, resulting in a state as shown in FIG. As is clear from the figure, the branch harness 5 is led out from the cuts 32 to the outside of the outer sheathing material 33 that includes the connector 6 and is rolled up.

As described above, the harness 3 is inserted, and the jacket member 32 with the branch harness 4 led out from the cut 32 on the outer periphery is set on the mounting part 51 of the joining device 50, and the cover member 32 is inserted from above by the backing plate 52. Pressing is performed via the clamper 53, whereby the gap 31 is closed by bringing the top and bottom into contact 34, and the heating teeth 54 are brought into contact with this portion and thermally bonded. The heating teeth 54 are L-shaped in the embodiment, and the tooth portion 55 at the tip abuts the contact portion 34 and is thermally bonded, and the tooth portion 55 does not interfere with the branch harness 5 . . . or the cut 32 for leading out the same.

The contact portion 34 is thermally bonded using the above bonding device 50 to obtain a wire harness 40 as shown in FIG. In the obtained wire harness 40, the contact portions are thermally bonded to form a joint portion 41, a large number of harnesses 3 are wrapped inside a pipe-shaped jacket 43 with an integrated peripheral surface, and both ends are 44
, 45, both ends of the harness 3... are led out, and the connectors 4... are led out. And the cut 32 on the outer periphery...
A branch harness 5 is led out from the branch harness 5, and a connector 6 is connected to the tip end of the branch harness 5.

FIGS. 12 to 14 show still other examples,
FIG. 12 shows a pipe material 60 cut to a predetermined length. A cut 62 is formed at a suitable place in the pipe 60 so as to pass through the inside and outside, as shown in FIG. A branch harness 5 having 6 is derived. In this way, a wire harness is obtained in which a branch harness is derived without cutting the pipe material in the axial direction.

[0023]

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above, according to the present invention,
The wire harness is made by wrapping multiple harnesses in a pipe-shaped jacket, and branch harnesses are led out from cuts in the pipe-shaped jacket, so it is not possible to use conventional tape wound spirally. Compared to conventional products, it has an extremely good appearance, and unlike products whose outer cover is made of adhesive tape, there is no dust adhesion, adhesion, or fixation, and it is easy to handle in terms of installation and maintenance work. .

In particular, the present invention deploys the sheet, sets the harness, leads out the branch harness from the cut formed in the sheet, joins the sheet into a cylindrical shape, integrates the joined part,
Alternatively, a cut is formed in the pipe material and cut in the axial direction to form a C-shaped cross section, and a number of harnesses are inserted inside.
The branch harness is led out from the cut part, and the axial cut part is joined and integrated to obtain a wire harness in which the harness and branch harness are wrapped in the outer jacket. It can be manufactured without spiral winding work, dramatically simplifying the manufacturing of wire harnesses compared to conventional methods, saving labor, shortening manufacturing time, facilitating mass production, and reducing costs. This has a revolutionary effect on the production of wire harnesses.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

[Fig. 1] A perspective view of the sheet unfolded state, showing the first manufacturing method of the wire harness.

[Figure 2] Perspective view of the harness set on the above seat

[Figure 3] Perspective view of the obtained wire harness

[Fig. 4] An explanatory front view showing an example of a device for joining the above-mentioned harness-wrapping sheet into a pipe shape.

[Fig. 5] Explanatory perspective view showing joining of sheets

FIG. 6 shows a second manufacturing method for a wire harness, and is a perspective view of a pipe material and a state in which cuts are made in the pipe material.

[Figure 7] A perspective view of the pipe material cut in the axial direction to form a C shape.

[Fig. 8] A perspective view of the C-shaped pipe material expanded, a harness fitted, and a branch harness fitted and led out from the cut.

[Figure 9] A perspective view of the pipe material in a state where the restraint on the pipe material is released and the pipe material is curled up.

[Figure 10] Perspective view of the wire harness obtained above

[
Figure 11: Explanatory perspective view showing the process of joining pipe materials

[Figure 1
2] Perspective view of pipe material used in an example different from the above

[Fig. 13] A perspective view of the pipe material with cuts formed therein.

[Fig. 14] Perspective view of the obtained wire harness

[Explanation of symbols]

1... Sheet, 2... Cut, 3... Harness,
4... Connector, 5... Branch harness, 6... Connector, 10... Wire harness, 20... Joining device, 30... Pipe material, 32... Cut, 40...
Wire harness, 50... Joining device, 60... Pipe material, 62... Cut.

Claims (3)

[Claims] [Claim 1] A harness used for vehicle wiring, etc., which is made by bundling and integrating a large number of harness groups each having a connector at both ends, wherein the outer sheath binding body for bundling the harnesses has a cylindrical shape; A wire harness having a structure in which a branch harness is led out from a cut formed on the outer periphery of the jacket bundle, and parts of the harness other than the branch harness are led out from both ends of the jacket bundle. 2. A large number of harness groups having connectors at both ends are arranged on a flexible sheet such as a resin sheet with a cut in a part, and both ends of the harness group including the connectors are attached to the sheet. At the same time as leading out from both ends of the sheet, a branch harness having a connector at the end is arranged so as to lead out to the outside through a cut in the sheet, the sheet is wound so as to hold the harness group, and the sheet is wound. A method of manufacturing a wire harness, characterized in that opposing edges are joined and integrated. 3. A cut is provided in a part of a cylindrical member having a C-shaped cross section, and a group of multiple harnesses each having a connector at both ends are aligned in the longitudinal direction within the cylindrical member having a C-shaped cross section. The branch harness including the connector of the harness group is led out from the cut in the cylindrical member, and the opposing edges forming the gap of the cylindrical member are joined and integrated. Features: A manufacturing method for wire harnesses.