JPH04301315A - Wire harness and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To manufacture a wire harness having very good appearance and the facility of its mounting work or the like by wrapping many harnesses in a pipelike covering body and leading branch harnesses out from a part of the pipelike covering body. CONSTITUTION:A cylindrical body having harnesses 2 wrapped by a sheet is formed, and at this time both end-edge portions of the sheet butt each other in the direction of its width, the mutually butted portions are then bent respectively outward in the shape of a flange to overlap each other so as to be led out from a coupling portion outward and the led out part of the coupling portion of branch harnesses 5A led is swelled out vertically in a conical shape. Branch harnesses 4A are led out from a part of the periphery of the cylindrical body which has the harnesses 2 wrapped in its sheet in such a manner like this, the cylindrical body is then set on the placement portion of a joining device, and then a clampler is pressed on and fixed to the cylindrical body via a stiffening plate. Hereat, an upper bed is moved down, and consequently the coupling portion is pressurized, sandwiched and heated between the upper and under beds so as to be heat-bonded. And a linear joining portion 14 oriented in the axial direction of a covering body 11 is provided on a part of the periphery of the covering body 11 so as to form each of lead out portions 15.

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 bundle that binds together is a cylindrical member, and the wire harness has a structure in which a branch harness is led out from a gap formed on the outer periphery of the cylindrical member, and parts other than the branch harness are joined.

[0007] In order to obtain the above-mentioned wire harness, a large number of harness groups having connectors at both ends are arranged on a flexible sheet such as a resin sheet, and both ends of the harness group including the connectors are placed on the sheet. At the same time as leading out from both ends, the branch harness is arranged so that its connector extends from the edge where the sheets are joined, the sheet is wound so as to hold the harness group, and the sheet is wound to face each other. This is a manufacturing method in which the edges of the parts are joined and integrated.

Furthermore, in order to obtain the above wire harness,
A large number of harness groups having connectors at both ends are fitted into a cylindrical member having a C-shaped cross section so that their length directions coincide, and a branch harness of the harness group is led out from a gap between the cylindrical members, This is a manufacturing method in which opposing edges forming a gap of a cylindrical member are joined and integrated except for a branch harness portion.

[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 separated from the joint when winding the sheet. The harness group is guided out or guided out from the gap where the missing circular portion joins, and the harness group is held by a sheet or a missing circular pipe,
Since the branch harness can only be led out from the joint, a wire harness can be obtained without spirally winding the tape.

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 10 show a second example,
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the pipe, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the pipe with cuts made, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the harness fitted, FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the resulting wire harness, and FIG.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory perspective view showing a joining process.

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.

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

The branch harnesses 4 of the harnesses 2 are arranged on the sheet 1 so as to extend in the direction of one end edge 1 to 3 in the width direction, and the connector 5 at the end is connected from the edge. Derived outward. A plurality of adjacent branch harnesses 4 are arranged in groups 4A, and accordingly, adjacent connectors 5 are arranged in groups 5A. 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 2 to form a cylindrical body 6. In forming the cylindrical body 6, 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 7. The branch harness 4A described above is led out from the joint part 7, and the lead-out part 7- of the joint part 7 of the branch harness 5A is
1... will bulge up and down in a mountain shape.

[0015] In this way, the cylindrical body 6 that wraps the harness 2 with the sheet 1 is connected to the branch harness 4A from a part of the outer circumference.
... is set on the mounting part 21 of the bonding device 20 in a state where it has been led out, and the backing plate 22 is placed on top and pressed and fixed with the clamper 23. The bonding device 20 is of a thermal bonding type, and the lower surface of the bonding portion 7 is exposed on the lower teeth 24, and the above-mentioned lead-out portion 7 is provided on the upper teeth 25.
A recess 26 is formed to avoid interference with the upper and lower teeth 25, and the joint 7 is thermally bonded by lowering the upper teeth 25 and pressing, clamping and heating the joint 7 between the upper and lower teeth 25 and 24. It will be done.

The resulting wire harness 10 is shown in FIG. 3, in which the harness 2... is tightly wrapped in a cylindrical jacket 11, and the ends 12, 13 of the harness 2... 3... has been derived. A linear joint 14 in the axial direction is formed in a part of the outer periphery of the outer cover 11, and a lead-out part 15 of the branch harness 4A is formed in a part of the joint 14.
...is being formed. Thus, wire harness 10
is formed.

FIGS. 6 to 10 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. A cut is made in the axial direction on a part of the outer periphery of the pipe material 30 to obtain an outer covering member 32 having a truncated circular shape and a C-shaped cross section and having an axial gap 31 as shown in FIG.

A harness 2 having connectors 3 at both ends similar to those described above is inserted into the jacket member 32. At the time of insertion, since there is a gap 31, the jacket member 32 is unfolded and the harness 2 can be easily inserted. The branch harnesses 4 are grouped 4A and led out from the gap 31 including the connectors 5. This is shown in FIG.

As described above, the jacket member 32 with the harnesses 2 inserted and the branch harnesses 4 led out from a part of the outer periphery is set on the mounting part 51 of the joining device 50, and the backing plate 5 is inserted from above.
2 through the clamper 53, the gap 31 is brought into contact 33 with the top and bottom, and the branch harness 4 lead-out portion 3
The portions other than 4 are closed, and the heating teeth 54 are brought into contact with and thermally bonded to these portions. The heating teeth 54 are L-shaped in the embodiment,
The tooth portion 55 at the tip comes into contact with the contact portion and is thermally bonded to the tooth portion 5.
Recesses 56 are formed in the recesses 56 so as not to interfere with the lead-out portions 34 of the branch harnesses 4.

The contact portions 33 of the branch harnesses 4 excluding the lead-out portions 34 are thermally bonded using the above-described bonding device 50 to obtain the wire 6/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 2 are wrapped inside a pipe-shaped jacket 42 with an integrated peripheral surface, and both ends are Both ends of the harnesses 2... are led out from 43, 44, and connectors 3... are led out. Branch harnesses 4 are led out from lead-out portions 45 that are not thermally bonded or bonded to a part of the outer circumferential joint portion 41, and connectors 5 are connected to the distal ends of the branch harnesses 4.

[0021]

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above, according to the present invention,
For the wire harness, a large number of harnesses are wrapped in a pipe-shaped jacket, and a branch harness is led out from a part of the pipe-shaped jacket, so conventional tape is wound spirally. Compared to other products, it has an extremely good appearance, and has the advantages of being easy to handle in terms of installation and maintenance work, as there is no dust adhesion, adhesion, or fixation, unlike with products whose outer cover is made of adhesive tape. Yes.

In particular, the present invention allows the sheet to be unfolded and a harness set, a branched harness to be led out from the edge, the sheet to be joined in a cylindrical shape, the joined part to be integrated, or to have an axial cut in the pipe material. A wire harness is obtained by inserting a large number of harnesses into the outer shell, leading out a branch harness from the cut part, joining the cut part except for this part, and integrating the wire harness and the branch harness. Therefore, it is possible to manufacture wire harnesses without the need for spirally winding long, narrow adhesive tapes, which dramatically simplifies the manufacture of wire harnesses and saves labor. It can shorten time, facilitate mass production, reduce costs, etc., and has revolutionary effects in manufacturing 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] This shows a second manufacturing method for wire harnesses, and is a perspective view of pipe material.

[Fig. 7] A perspective view of the pipe material with cuts formed therein.

[Fig. 8] A perspective view of the harness fitted to the above pipe material.

[Fig. 9] Perspective view of the obtained wire harness

[Figure 10]
Explanatory perspective view showing the process of joining pipe materials

[Explanation of symbols]

1... Sheet, 2... Harness, 3... Connector,
4... Branch harness, 5... Connector, 10... Wire harness, 20... Joining device, 30... Pipe material, 31... Cut, 40... Wire harness,
50...Joining device.

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 binding body for bundling the harnesses is a cylindrical member; A wire harness with a structure in which a branch harness is derived from a gap formed on the outer periphery, and parts other than the branch harness are joined. 2. A plurality of harness groups having connectors at both ends are arranged on a flexible sheet such as a resin sheet, and both ends of the harness group including the connectors are led out from both ends of the sheet, arranging the branch harness so that its connector extends from the joining edge of the sheet, and wrapping the sheet so as to hold the harness group;
A method for manufacturing a wire harness, characterized in that the sheet is wound and opposing edges are joined and integrated. 3. A plurality of harness groups each having a connector at both ends are fitted into a cylindrical member having a C-shaped cross section so that their length directions coincide, and the branch harnesses of the harness group are inserted into the cylindrical member. A method for manufacturing a wire harness, characterized in that opposing edges of a cylindrical member, which are led out from a gap and constitute a gap, are joined and integrated except for a branch harness portion.