JPH06187852A - Manufacture of wire harness and device for executing it - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily insert terminals when manufacturing wire harness using a machine by selectively reversing predetermined ones of plural terminal metal fittings which are crimped to wire ends during reversing process. CONSTITUTION:Wires 2 are laid on a wiring board 1 and cut and the end portion of each wire 2 is held by a wire clamp 3. The cover of the end portion of each wire 2 is peeled and a core 2c is exposed from each wire end and terminal fittings 4 are crimped to the cores 2c. Under these conditions the fittings 4 are pointed upward and normally crimped to all of wire ends, so all of the fittings 4 are pointed upward. Next, the fittings 4 are reversed; the fittings 4 90 degrees reversed are pointed sideward, while the end of each wire 2 is kept held by the clamp 3. Only predetermined fittings 4 are reversed. When a terminal insertion device inserts the fittings 4 into a connector housing 5, the fittings can be inserted with their normal or reverse directions maintained, so insertion of the terminals is facilitated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wire harness manufacturing method and an apparatus for carrying out the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A process for manufacturing a wire harness constructed by bundling a plurality of kinds of covered electric wires includes measuring and cutting the electric wire length, peeling the end of the electric wire, and peeling the end of the electric wire. Terminal crimping step of crimping the terminal metal fitting to the part, terminal inserting step of inserting the terminal metal fitting into the connector housing,
In addition, a binding step for binding the electric wires is included.

Conventionally, these manufacturing processes have been manually performed, but recently, a mechanical device for automating each process has been proposed. Such a mechanical device is configured, for example, as an independent mechanical device for each process, and a plurality of mechanical devices are connected to form a wire harness manufacturing line, or one mechanical device is integrally formed. Some include a wire harness production line.

Wiring boards are usually used in a wire harness production line using such a mechanical device. The wiring plate is for wiring an electric wire whose form specificity is difficult according to the wiring form of the wire harness. When a wire harness is manufactured in a wire harness production line, first, an electric wire is laid on a wiring board, the laid electric wire is taped as required, and the electric wire is laid on the wiring board. The coating on the end of the is removed to expose the core wire,
The terminal fitting is crimped onto the core wire of the end portion of the electric wire, and the terminal fitting crimped onto the end portion of the electric wire is inserted into the connector housing.

FIG. 6 shows an example of an automated production line for a wire harness that utilizes such a wiring board. This Figure 6
Is Japanese Patent Application No. 4-16566, which is a prior application of the applicant of the present application.
No. 6 is described. In FIG. 6, the manufacturing line has a configuration in which a predetermined number of devices that are modularized in process steps are arranged and connected in each process.

More specifically, the manufacturing line is
3 automatic wiring modules 51, 1 automatic tape fastening module 52, 2 peeling modules 53, 1 peeling inspection module 54, 4 terminal crimping modules 5
5, one crimp inspection module 56, three terminal insertion modules 57 and one continuity inspection module 58
It is configured to be connected in series in this order. Also,
Since the manufacturing line is folded back on the downstream side of the second terminal crimping module 55, the transfer / buffer module 59 is inserted between the second terminal crimping module 55 and the third terminal crimping module 55. Has been done. A buffer module 60 is connected to the downstream side of the continuity inspection module 58. When the wire harness is manufactured in this wire harness manufacturing line, the wiring board 1 is sequentially transferred from the module to the module toward the continuity inspection module 58 from the automatic wiring module 51, and then on the wiring board 1. The wire harness is laid and assembled.

In this manufacturing line, the devices related to the present invention are the terminal crimping module 55 and the terminal inserting module 57. In the terminal crimping module 55, a process of crimping the terminal fitting to the end of the wire, which is stripped and the core wire is exposed, is performed. There are various types of electric wires that compose a wire harness, depending on the circuit required for the wire harness, and the thickness of the electric wires is various, from thin to thick. Therefore, if the wire thickness is different, the terminal fitting to be crimped to the end of the wire also needs to be changed, and the width and gap of the mold for crimping the terminal fitting also need to be changed according to the wire thickness. . So, in this production line,
For example, four terminal crimping modules 55 each having two crimping heads are arranged so that different terminals can be crimped to eight kinds of electric wires having different thicknesses.

When the terminal fitting is crimped by the terminal crimping module 55, the crimping inspection module 56 checks whether the terminal fitting is properly crimped to the end of the wire.
As a result of the inspection, if the crimping failure does not occur, the wiring board 1 is sent to the terminal insertion module 57, and the terminal insertion module 57 inserts the terminal fitting into the preset connector housing.

The process of inserting the terminal fitting into the connector housing will be described more specifically with reference to FIG. The electric wire 2 laid on the wiring board 1 is clamped at its tip by an electric wire clamp 3 attached to the wiring board 1. A terminal fitting 4 is crimped onto the tip of the electric wire 2. When the terminal fitting 4 is inserted into the connector housing, the connector housing 5 is arranged, for example, at a predetermined position above the wiring board 1. Then, the terminal metal fitting 4 is sandwiched by an insertion chuck (not shown) and removed from the electric wire clamp 3,
Is turned upside down 180 ° and inserted into the connector housing 5 in the opposite direction.

[0010]

The connector provided in the wire harness is usually a female terminal fitting and a connector housing (usually a male connector housing for accommodating the female terminal fitting, which is a male connector housing). Is called a male connector)).
In such a connector, there are various types of arrangement of the accommodated terminal fittings. For example, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, there is a terminal metal fitting inversion type connector in which a plurality of terminal metal fittings 4a are aligned in the same direction within a connector housing 5a.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8 (b), among the plurality of terminal fittings housed in the connector housing 5b,
For example, the terminal metal fittings 4a in the upper row are accommodated in a state in which the terminal metal fittings 4a in the upper row face upward and are not inverted, but the terminal metal fittings 4b in the lower row are arranged one above the other.
Some are housed in a 180 ° inverted state with an 80 ° inversion. Further, as shown in FIG. 8C, among the plurality of terminal fittings housed in the connector housing 5c, the upper row terminal fittings 4a are housed without being inverted, and the lower row terminal fittings 4b are 180 ° The terminal fitting 4c is housed in an inverted state, and is also housed at the right end, for example.
Is a slightly larger terminal fitting, and there is a so-called combination type connector that is accommodated in a state of being inverted by 90 °.

As described above, there are various types of connectors, and the shape of the terminal fitting accommodating chamber formed in the connector housing 5 is different for each type. Normally, different types of connectors are provided in the wire harness, so when inserting the terminal fittings crimped onto the wire end into the connector housing, the terminal fittings should be turned upside down according to the type of connector housing. I had to insert it later.

When the terminal inserting process is performed by using a mechanical device, conventionally, the terminal inserting device itself is generally provided with a reversing function or the connector housing fixing device is provided with a reversing function. It was target. However, if the structure for adding the reversing function to the terminal insertion device itself or the connector housing holding device is adopted, the structure becomes extremely complicated in any case, and the mechanical device is easily broken, and maintenance is not performed. There were drawbacks such as difficulty.

The present invention has been made on the basis of the background art described above, and an improved method for facilitating terminal insertion and a method therefor when a wire harness is manufactured using a mechanical device. It is intended to provide an apparatus for carrying out.

[0015]

The invention according to claim 1 is
Wire laying process of standard length electric wire, peeling process to peel the covering of the laid wire end to expose the core wire of the wire end, terminal crimping process to crimp the terminal metal fitting to the exposed core wire of the wire end, and crimped In manufacturing a wire harness including a connector inserting step of inserting a terminal fitting into a predetermined connector housing, a reversing step of inverting the crimped terminal fitting into a predetermined state is provided between the terminal crimping step and the connector inserting step. It is characterized by that.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing a wire harness, in the reversing step, a predetermined terminal fitting among a plurality of terminal fittings crimped to an end of an electric wire is selectively reversed. To do. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the wire harness manufacturing method, the terminal fitting is turned leftward or rightward by 90 ° or 180 ° in the inversion step.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in order to perform the reversing step, an electric wire forming a wire harness is laid on a wiring board, and a clamp device is provided along one side of the wiring board. A device for reversing the terminal fittings crimped to the ends of the wires held in parallel, which comprises a holding means for holding the wire barrel portion of the terminal fitting, a means for reversing the holding means, and the holding means being a terminal. Means for releasing the clamping force of the clamp device for clamping the clamped terminal metal fitting while the metal fitting is clamped.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a wire laying device for a standard length electric wire, a peeling device for stripping the coating of the end of the laid wire, a terminal crimping device for crimping a terminal fitting to the wire end, and crimping. In a wire harness manufacturing system in which an inserting device for inserting the formed terminal fitting into a predetermined connector housing is arranged in this order, the crimped terminal fitting is fixed to a predetermined position between the terminal crimping device and the inserting device. It is characterized in that an inverting device for inverting the state is arranged.

[0019]

According to the wire harness manufacturing method of the present invention, after the terminal fitting is crimped to the wire end in the terminal crimping step, the crimped terminal fitting is inverted by a required angle before proceeding to the terminal inserting step. . This reversing step can be configured by a mechanical device that is different from the mechanical device that performs the terminal inserting step, and can be performed as a pretreatment for the terminal inserting.

Further, according to the device of the present invention, it is possible to easily reverse the desired angle of the terminal fitting crimped to the wire end by an independent mechanical device. Therefore, the subsequent terminal insertion processing can be easily performed by the insertion-dedicated machine.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an illustrative view for explaining a wire harness manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The wire harness manufacturing method according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Note that FIG.
Shows a view of the electric wire 2 laid on the wiring board 1 from the lateral direction.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the electric wire 2 is laid on the wiring board 1 and cut. The ends of the electric wires 2 laid on the wiring board 1 are clamped by the electric wire clamps 3. Next, as shown in FIG. 1B, the coating of the end portion of the electric wire 2 sandwiched by the electric wire clamps 3 is peeled off and the core wire 2 at the electric wire end is removed.
c is exposed. Next, as shown in FIG. 1C, the terminal fitting 4 is crimped onto the exposed core wire 2c at the end of the electric wire. When the terminal fitting 4 is crimped, the terminal fitting 4 is, for example, facing upward. Since the terminal fittings 4 are normally crimped to all the wire ends, the terminal fittings crimped to all the wire ends are in an upward state as shown in FIG. 1 (c).

Next, the terminal metal fitting 4 inversion processing, which is a feature of this embodiment, is performed. For example, the terminal fitting 4 turned 90 ° is in the state shown in FIG. In this state,
The end portion of the electric wire 2 is an electric wire 2 in which the terminal fitting 4 is not inverted.
It is clamped by the electric wire clamp 3 similarly to the end portion of. The terminal fitting 4 to be reversed is predetermined, and only the terminal fitting 4 is reversed.

The terminal fitting 4 may be turned 180 ° instead of being turned 90 ° as shown. Also, 9
The 0 ° inversion may be a 90 ° inversion in the opposite direction. The reversal angle and direction are predetermined depending on what type of connector housing the terminal fitting 4 will be inserted later. Next, the terminal fitting 4 is inserted into the connector housing 5 by the terminal insertion device. FIG. 1E shows the terminal fitting inserted in the connector housing 5. Figure 1
As shown in (e), the terminal fittings 4 can be inserted into the connector housing 5 in the inverted / non-inverted orientations when they are sandwiched by the wire clamps 3. Therefore, in the terminal insertion device, when the insertion chuck grips the terminal fitting, the terminal fitting can be inserted into the connector housing as it is, and thus the terminal can be easily inserted.

Next, a device for reversing the terminal fitting 4 from the state of FIG. 1C to the state of FIG. 1D will be described. 2 is a front view showing an embodiment of the terminal reversing device, FIG. 3 is a left side view thereof, and FIG. 4 is a right side view thereof. Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the terminal reversing device has a thick plate-shaped support member 11 attached to a base 10 and vertically erected. A stay 12 fixed to the support member 11 and horizontally extending forward is provided on the upper portion of the support member 11. An air cylinder 13 vertically arranged at the tip of the stay 12.
Is attached. A wedge pin 16 is attached to an actuator 14 protruding from the lower end of the air cylinder 13 via a mounting member 15. Wedge pin 1
6 is moved up and down by the air cylinder 13.

A drive source mounting member 17 is provided on the upper side of the support member 11 at a side portion thereof, and a rotary actuator 18 is mounted on the drive source mounting member 17. The rotary actuator 18 is a drive source that rotates a predetermined angle according to an electric signal that is supplied, and in this embodiment, a signal that rotates 90 ° or 180 ° is supplied. A stepping motor may be used instead of the rotary actuator 18. A belt pulley 20 is attached to a rotary shaft 19 of the rotary actuator 18.

A bearing 21 is attached to, for example, a substantially central portion of the support member 11, and a main shaft 22 penetrating the support member 11 in the front-rear direction is pivotally supported by the bearing 21. A belt pulley 23 is attached to the rear end of the main shaft 22, and a timing belt 24 is stretched between the belt pulley 23 and the belt pulley 20 attached to the rotary actuator 18. Therefore, the rotational force of the rotary actuator 18 is the belt pulley 20,
It is transmitted to the main shaft 22 via the timing belt 24 and the belt pulley 23, and the main shaft 22 is rotated by the rotary actuator 18.

An air chuck 25 is attached to the tip of the main shaft 22. Therefore, this air chuck 25
Can be rotated by the main shaft 22. Air chuck 25
Is provided with a pair of claws 26, and a mechanism (not shown) incorporated in the air chuck 25 keeps the pair of claws 26 in an open state as shown in FIG.
Can be driven into a closed state with a clamp.

The positional relationship between the claws 26 and the above-mentioned wedge pins 16 is as shown in FIG. 2. When the wiring board 1 is sent to this terminal reversing device, the wiring board 1 is provided with the wiring board 1. The wire clamp 3 and the wedge pin 1 from above
6 is engageable. On the other hand, the claw 26 is located at a position where the wire barrel portion of the terminal fitting 4 crimped to the tip of the electric wire 2 held by the electric wire clamp 3 can be held.

The positional relationship between the claw 26 and the wedge pin 16 is preferably adjustable, for example, by making the stay 72 an expandable member. Figure 5
3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the above-mentioned terminal reversing device. Next, according to the flow of FIG. 5, the operation of the terminal reversing device will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, regarding the arrangement position of this terminal reversing device in the wire harness production line, in the case where the wire harness production line is the production line shown in FIG. 6 described above, it is the first in the flowing direction of the wiring board 1. It is arranged immediately before the terminal insertion module 57. That is, it is arranged between the crimp inspection module 56 and the first terminal insertion module 57.

During operation, the wiring board 1 is sent to the terminal reversing device. The electric wire 2 has already been laid on the wiring board 1,
The terminal fitting 4 is crimped to the end portion. Therefore, first, of the terminal fittings 4, the terminal fitting 4 to be reversed is the claw 26.
Positioning is performed so as to stop in between (step S
1). This alignment may be performed by controlling the carry amount of the wiring board 1 by a carrying device (not shown). Alternatively, the terminal fitting 4 of the electric wire 2 laid on the wiring board 1 may be replaced by a photoelectric sensor (not shown) or the like. It may be made by detecting by.

When the terminal fitting 4 to be reversed is stopped between the claws 26, the wedge pin 16 is located above the electric wire clamp 3 that holds the end of the electric wire 2 to which the terminal fitting 4 is crimped. In this state, first, the claw 26 is closed by the air chuck 25 and the terminal fitting 4 is clamped by the claw 26 (step S2). Next, the wedge pin 16 is lowered by the air cylinder 13, and the tip of the wedge pin 16 is inserted between the electric wire clamps 3. As a result, the clamping force for clamping the electric wire 2 of the electric wire clamp 3 is released (step S
3).

The rotary actuator 18 is driven in a state where the clamping force of the wire clamp 3 is released, and the drive force of the rotary actuator 18 is transmitted to the main shaft 22 so that the air chuck 25 can advance to 90 °, 180 ° or the like. It is rotated by a predetermined angle (step S4). As a result, the terminal fitting 4 clamped by the claw 26 is inverted at that position.

Next, the air cylinder 13 is driven to raise the wedge pin 16 and the clamping force of the wire clamp 3 is returned to the original state. Therefore, the end portion of the electric wire 2 is clamped by the electric wire clamp 3 (step S5). After this, the air chuck 25
Is operated to open the claw 26, and the holding of the terminal fitting 4 by the claw 26 is released (step S6). Then, the rotary actuator 18 is operated and the air chuck 25 is rotated to the original position (step S7).

By repeating the above operation for each terminal fitting 4 to be inverted, the terminal fitting 4 to be inverted in the wiring board 1 is inverted by a predetermined angle. When carrying out the method of the present invention, a device having a configuration different from that of the terminal reversing device described above may be used. In short, the terminal reversing device
It is arranged at a step prior to the terminal inserting step in the wire harness manufacturing line, and it is sufficient that the apparatus performs only the terminal reversing process separately from the terminal inserting process. Such a device can be manufactured with a relatively simple structure, and can be configured very easily as compared with adding a terminal reversing mechanism to the terminal inserting device.

The present invention is not limited to the wire harness production line described above, but can be similarly applied to different wire harness production lines other than those described. Besides, the present invention can be variously modified within the scope of the claims without being caught by the description of the embodiments.

[0038]

According to the wire harness manufacturing method of the present invention, since the terminal reversing step is provided as a step prior to the terminal inserting step, it is not necessary to selectively reverse a predetermined terminal at the time of inserting the terminal. Easy and accurate insertion can be done in a short time. Therefore, despite the increase in the number of steps by one, it is possible to efficiently manufacture the wire harness as a whole in a short time.

Further, according to the apparatus for carrying out the method for manufacturing the wire harness according to the present invention, the apparatus can be constructed with a simple structure, and the terminal can be easily inserted thereafter. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an illustrative view for explaining a wire harness manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the terminal reversing device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a left side view of the terminal reversing device shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a right side view of the terminal reversing device shown in FIG.

5 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the terminal reversing device shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is an example of a wire harness manufacturing line according to the prior application of the applicant of the present application and is a perspective view showing a wire harness manufacturing line to which the manufacturing method and the manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 7 is an illustrative view for explaining a method of terminal insertion processing at the time of manufacturing a wire harness.

FIG. 8 is an illustrative view for explaining various types of connectors used for a wire harness.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Wire plate 2 Electric wire 3 Electric wire clamp 4 Terminal fitting 5 Connector housing 13 Air cylinder 16 Wedge pin 18 Rotary actuator 25 Air chuck 26 Claw

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A wire laying process for a standard length electric wire, a peeling process for exposing a core wire of the wire end by stripping a covering of the laid wire end, and a terminal crimping process for crimping a terminal fitting to the exposed core wire of the wire end. , And in the production of a wire harness including a connector insertion step of inserting the crimped terminal fitting into a predetermined connector housing, the crimped terminal fitting is inverted to a predetermined state between the terminal crimping step and the connector inserting step. A wire harness manufacturing method, characterized in that a reversing step is provided. 2. The method of manufacturing a wire harness according to claim 1, wherein in the reversing step, a predetermined terminal metal fitting among a plurality of terminal metal fittings crimped to the end of the electric wire is selectively reversed. Is. 3. The method of manufacturing a wire harness according to claim 1, wherein in the reversing step, the terminal fitting is moved to the left or right by 90 degrees.
It is characterized in that it is inverted by 180 ° or inverted by 180 °. 4. In order to perform the reversing step according to any one of claims 1 to 3, an electric wire constituting a wire harness is laid on the wiring board and is provided along one side of the wiring board. A device for reversing a terminal fitting crimped to an end of an electric wire held in parallel with a clamp device, which comprises a holding means for holding a wire barrel portion of the terminal fitting, a means for reversing the holding means, and A device for reversing a terminal fitting, comprising means for releasing a clamping force of a clamping device for clamping the clamped terminal fitting while the gripping means holds the terminal fitting. 5. A predetermined size of a wire laying device for a fixed length electric wire, a device for stripping off the coating on the end of the laid wire, a terminal crimping device for crimping a terminal fitting to the end of the wire, and a crimped terminal fitting. In the wire harness manufacturing system in which the inserting devices for inserting into the connector housing are arranged in this order, a reversing device for reversing the crimped terminal fittings to a predetermined state between the terminal crimping device and the inserting device. The wire harness manufacturing system is characterized in that.