JPH08298024A - Flat harness - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent a foreign sound generated by a protruding piece from being deflected and brought into contact with a car body panel in running of a vehicle by providing a branch circuit holding protruding piece having a break in the boundary with a body circuit part, and cutting and removing it when an equipment option is connected. CONSTITUTION: A flat harness 10 is carried or arranged on a car body panel in the state where the connector 17 of a branch circuit part 14 is held by the holding part 19 of a protruding piece 15 in the carriage to a factory or when it has no electrical equipment option. Thus, the connector 17 can be prevented from being damaged by the contact with another part. When an electrical equipment option is connected, the connector 17 is detached from the holding part 19, connected to a partner connector, and fixed in a prescribed position. The protruding piece 15 is teared in a boundary 15b by a worker, whereby a break 18 is cut to remove it. Thus, the useless protruding piece 15 can be prevented from striking the car body panel by vibration in running of a vehicle to generate an unusual sound.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flexible flat harness composed of a flexible printed circuit (FPC) and a flexible wiring circuit (FWC), which is an electrical equipment for optional equipment to be mounted on a vehicle. For details on the flat harness with the optional branch circuit part for electrical connection with the product,
With the branch circuit unit connected to an electrical component, a flexible member for holding the branch circuit unit bends to prevent abnormal noise due to contact with the vehicle body panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, the above-mentioned FPC in which a conductor is formed by punching out a foil-shaped conductor such as copper foil and coated on both sides with an insulating sheet such as polyethylene terephthalate or polyimide, or a conductor composed of a large number of small-diameter conductors. There are provided flat harnesses such as the FWC whose both surfaces are covered with the insulating sheet, and these flat harnesses have advantages such as space saving and easy wiring.

The flat harness has a main body circuit section that constitutes a shared circuit section and an optional branch circuit section that branches from the main body circuit section and projects. For vehicles,
Even with the same vehicle model, the optional electrical components to be equipped differ depending on the grade or destination.However, if a flat harness is formed in response to the difference in the optional electrical components, the number of types of flat harness will be large, so A flat harness is formed to accommodate vehicles equipped with many optional electrical components. Therefore, the connector attached to the terminal of the main body circuit section is always connected to the counterpart connector, but the connector attached to the tip of the branch circuit section for the option is the counterpart connector when equipped with optional equipment. When it is connected to the connector and is not equipped with optional equipment, it is left unconnected to the connector.

In this case, there is a problem that the connector attached to the tip of the unused branch circuit portion comes into contact with the vehicle body panel due to the vibration of the vehicle while the vehicle is running, the connector is damaged, and abnormal noise is generated. Therefore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-349343 provides a flat cable 1 with a branch circuit unit shown in FIG. 8 having a structure in which the branch circuit unit can be detachably held.

The flat cable 1 has a main body circuit section 2
From the vicinity of the branch circuit portion 3 protruding from the side portion 2a of the ridge, a flexible strip 5 made of an insulating sheet for covering the conductive portion 4 is provided so as to project, and a fitting hole 5a of the strip 5 is formed. By inserting the connector 6 attached to the tip of the branch circuit unit 3, the branch circuit unit 3 can be detachably held.

[0006]

In the flat cable 1 described above, the branch circuit portion 3 for the unused optional equipment is routed to the vehicle while being held in the fitting hole 5a of the projecting strip 5 so that the vehicle is installed. It is possible to prevent the connector 6 attached to the branch circuit unit 3 from coming into contact with the vehicle body panel due to the vibration during traveling of the vehicle and damaging the connector 6 and suppressing the generation of abnormal noise. However, when the flat harness 1 is installed in a vehicle equipped with an electrical component that is connected to the optional branch circuit unit 3, the connector of the branch circuit unit 3 is connected to the counterpart connector of the electrical component. There is a problem that abnormal noise is generated when the protruding strip 5 made of a flexible member that is dislocated from the portion 3 bends and comes into contact with the vehicle body panel. Further, when the flat cable 1 is routed to the vehicle and other devices are assembled to the vehicle, inconveniences such as the protruding strips 5 being caught in between tend to occur, resulting in poor workability. is there.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in a flat harness having a branch circuit portion for electrically connecting to an electrical component such as an optional device mounted on a vehicle, a branch circuit component connected to the electrical component. (EN) A flat harness having a branch circuit portion capable of reliably preventing abnormal noise from being generated when a flexible member for holding a member bends and comes into contact with a vehicle body panel.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a flat harness in which a conductor formed of a foil conductor or a thin conductor is sandwiched between insulating sheets in a shared circuit according to claim 1. A flat harness having an optional branch circuit portion that branches and protrudes from the main body circuit portion that constitutes the part, and a connector is attached to the tip of the branch circuit portion, and a holding portion that holds the connector is provided. The protruding piece for holding the provided branch circuit is formed by extending the insulating sheet of the main body circuit section, and a cut for cutting is provided at the boundary between the protruding piece and the main body circuit section, and the connector of the branch circuit section is provided. When connecting to the mating connector, the flat piece is characterized in that it is cut at the above-mentioned cut and the protruding piece is removed.
It provides a harness. It is preferable that, for example, the holding portion has a configuration in which an “A” -shaped slit is provided in the insulating sheet, the insulating sheet is opened with a so-called wide gannon by the slit, and the connector is sandwiched from both sides.

Further, according to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flat harness in which a conductor made of a foil-shaped conductor or a conductor having a small diameter is sandwiched between insulating sheets, and the flat harness is branched from a main circuit portion constituting a shared circuit portion. A flat harness having a projecting optional branch circuit part and having a connector attached to the end of the branch circuit part, the branch harness connecting the branch circuit part near the connector and the main body circuit part. A protruding piece for holding the circuit portion is provided by extending the insulating sheet, and a cut for cutting is provided at each boundary between the protruding piece and the main body circuit portion and the branch circuit portion, and the connector of the branch circuit portion is provided. The present invention provides a flat harness, characterized in that it is cut at the above-mentioned cuts to remove a protruding piece when connecting to a mating connector.

It is preferable that the cut line for cutting is formed in a perforated shape by forming a plurality of through holes at the required intervals. (Claim 3) The cut may be provided in a plurality of rows to widen the width of the cut portion. Further, notches may be provided at both ends of the cut to facilitate cutting.

The optional branch circuit section is not used because there is no optional electrical equipment, and when the connector at the tip of the optional branch circuit section is not connected and held to the mating connector,
Since the connector and the branch circuit section are bent,
Using a fastener cloth having male and female thread-shaped locking portions on the surface facing the member to be fixed such as a vehicle body panel or double-sided tape, fix the branch circuit section and the protruding piece that holds the branch circuit section to the member to be fixed Preferably.

[0012]

According to the flat harness of the first aspect of the present invention, the optional branch circuit portion that branches off from the main body circuit portion and projects from the main body circuit portion is provided at the end of the connector until the optional branch circuit portion is installed. Is held by the holding portion of the projecting piece, the branch circuit portion and the connector are positioned and held.
Also, when the flat harness is routed to a vehicle,
If an electrical component to be connected to the optional branch circuit is installed, the connector attached to the end of the branch circuit is removed from the holding part of the protruding piece, and fitted and connected to the mating connector on the electrical component side. As a result, the connector and the branch circuit portion are positioned and held at the predetermined positions. Therefore,
After connecting the connector to the mating connector, the operator tears the cut formed at the boundary with the main body circuit section to remove the protruding piece. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem such that an unnecessary protruding piece bends and comes into contact with the vehicle body panel, an abnormal noise is generated, or the protruding piece is caught when assembling another device.

On the other hand, when the optional equipment connected to the branch circuit portion is not mounted on the vehicle, the branch circuit portion is arranged on the vehicle body panel while being held by the projecting piece. In this state, since the branch circuit portion and the connector at the tip thereof are held by the protruding piece, it is possible to prevent the connector from coming into contact with the vehicle body panel and being damaged due to vibration or the like generated when the vehicle is running. In this state, the branch circuit section and the vehicle body panel are fixed to each other by using a fastener cloth or a double-sided tape having male and female thread-shaped locking sections, so that the branch circuit section can be more reliably fixed.

According to the flat harness having the branch circuit section of the second aspect, since the vicinity of the tip of the branch circuit section having the connector is connected to the main circuit section side by the projecting piece, it is arranged on the vehicle body panel or the like. Until it is sought, it is positioned and held by the protruding piece. Further, when an optional electrical component that is routed to a vehicle body panel or the like and is connected to the branch circuit section is mounted, the tip end connector of the branch circuit section is fitted to the counterpart connector to position and hold the branch circuit section. After fitting the connector with the mating connector as described above, or before fitting, the worker cuts the cuts at both ends of the protruding piece. As a result, unnecessary protruding pieces are removed. On the other hand, when the optional electrical component is not mounted and the optional branch circuit unit is not used, the branch circuit unit and the tip connector thereof are held by the protruding piece as they are.

When the cuts are perforated as described in claim 3, even when there is no cutting tool such as scissors, it is possible to easily and surely cut at a required position to remove an unnecessary protruding piece. You can

[0016]

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a flat harness 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes a conductor 12 made of copper foil or a thin conductor wire between upper and lower insulating films 11 made of polyethylene terephthalate, polyimide or the like. An optional electrical component to be mounted on the vehicle, which is formed of a flexible FPC or FWC that sandwiches and holds the main circuit portion 13 that constitutes the common circuit portion, and which branches out from the main circuit portion 13 and projects. A branch circuit portion 14 for electrical connection is provided, and a projecting piece 15 for fixing and holding the branch circuit portion 14 is formed to extend from the main body circuit portion 13 so as to face the branch circuit portion 14. There is.

The main body circuit portion 13 constitutes a common circuit used in any vehicle, and is a long strip-shaped body in which the conductors 12 are arranged in parallel at regular intervals, and connectors ( (Not shown) is attached, and when the cable is routed inside the door of a car or the like, it is held at a required position by being connected to a mating connector connected to the electrical component side.

The optional branch circuit portion 14 provided in the flat harness 10 is formed so as to correspond to the case in which the largest number of optional electrical components are installed in a vehicle employing the flat harness. . As shown in FIG. 1, these branch circuit portions 14 are, for example, projecting from the main body circuit portion 13 in an L-shape, and a connector 17 is attached to the tip of the branch circuit portion 14, and the connector 17 is connected to the counterpart connector 20 of the electrical component. They are fitted together for electrical connection.

The protruding piece 15 is formed corresponding to each branch circuit portion 14, and the insulating film 11 covering both surfaces of the conductor 12 is extended to be integrally formed with the main body circuit portion 13. The projecting piece 15 is formed in an L-shape with the tip portion 15a thereof facing the connector 17 from the side portion of the main body circuit portion 13 provided with the branch circuit portion 14 projecting therefrom.
Further, a perforation cut 18 for cutting is provided in a continuous portion 15b of the projecting piece 15 with the main body circuit portion 13, and a holding portion 19 of the connector 17 is provided in the tip portion 15a.

The cut 18 has a plurality of circular through holes 18a formed along the width direction at a boundary 15b where the projecting piece 15 and the main body circuit portion 13 are continuous, and cut portions and residual portions are alternately formed. It is formed in a repeated perforation shape, and an operator tears and cuts the boundary 15b of the protruding piece 15 to remove the protruding piece 15 from the main body circuit portion 13. The cuts 18 are formed by covering both sides of the conductor 12 with the insulating sheets 11 and then punching out the excess portions of the insulating film 11 at the same time when cutting the excess portions with a die blade (not shown).

The holding portion 19 is the tip portion 1 of the protruding piece 15.
5a is provided with an "A" -shaped slit, and it is composed of a pair of holding pieces 19a and 19b that open and close in a double-door manner along the slit. By holding both sides of the connector 17 by these holding pieces 19a and 19b, the connector 17 can be opened. Positioned and held.

The flat harness 10 having the above-mentioned structure is used for holding the projecting piece 15 when the vehicle is transported to an assembly factory.
By holding the connector 17 of the branch circuit unit 14 at 9, the connector 17 and the branch circuit unit 14 are positioned and held, and damage to the other members by contact with other members is prevented.

When the flat harness 10 is routed inside a vehicle door or the like, if an electrical component for connecting to the optional branch circuit portion 14 is installed, as shown in FIG. After removing the connector 17 from the holding portion 19, the connector 17 is fitted and connected to the counterpart connector 20 connected to the electrical component side, and the connector 17 and the branch circuit portion 14 connected to the connector 17 by the connection.
Is held at a predetermined position.

In the above state, the operator tears the boundary 15b of the projecting piece 15 to cut the cut 18 and remove the projecting piece 15 from the main body circuit section 13. At this time, since the cut 18 is formed by the plurality of through holes 18a, it is possible to reliably cut along the cut 18 and remove the protruding piece 15 by tearing by the operator.
Incidentally, the protruding piece for holding the connector of the terminal of the main body circuit portion 13 is also removed at the time of assembly as in the above.

As described above, in the flat harness 10 of the present invention, when the branch circuit section 14 is connected to the electrical equipment of the optional equipment, the branch circuit section 14 and the connector 17 at the tip thereof are connected to the mating connector 20. Since it is held, the protruding piece 15 is unnecessary and can be removed. Therefore, unlike the conventional example, it is possible to prevent the unnecessary protruding piece 15 from bending and hitting the vehicle body panel to generate an abnormal noise while the vehicle is traveling. In addition, when assembling another device in the vehicle in this state, it is possible to prevent the protruding piece 15 from being caught between and interfering with the assembling work.

On the other hand, the electrical equipment connected to the optional branch circuit unit 14 is not mounted on the vehicle, and the branch circuit unit 1
When 4 is not used, as shown in FIG.
The connector 17 is held in the holding portion 19 of No. 5 and is routed to the vehicle body panel. In this state, since the connector 17 is held by the holding portion 19 of the protruding piece 15, the connector 17 and the branch circuit portion 14 are held by the protruding piece 15. If the branch circuit portion 14 or the protruding piece 15 is fixed to the opposing vehicle body panel by using a fastener cloth having male and female thread-like locking portions or a double-sided tape, the positioning and holding can be performed more reliably.

FIG. 3 shows a first modification of the first embodiment, in which the flat harness 10 has a boundary 15 between the projecting pieces 15.
Cutouts 22 are provided inwardly on both side edges of b, and the protruding piece 1
It makes the cutting work of 5 easy.

FIG. 4 shows a second modification of the first embodiment, in which a plurality of circular through holes 1 are formed in the projecting piece 15 in a wide range from the boundary of the main body circuit portion 13 to the projecting piece 15 side.
8a is drilled. As described above, when the cutting portion is provided in a wide range, the operator can remove the protruding piece 15 by tearing within the range. In this case, it is not necessary for the operator to check the cutting line when removing the projecting piece 15, and the workability can be further improved.

FIG. 5 shows the flat harness 1 of the second embodiment.
0, the flat harness 10 includes the branch circuit unit 1
A protruding piece 25 is formed to connect the inner edge near the tip of 4 and the side portion of the main body circuit portion 13 facing the inner edge.

The projecting piece 25 has cuts 18 and 18 for cutting at the boundary 25a with the branch circuit portion 14 side and the boundary 25b with the main body circuit portion 13 side, respectively. In the present embodiment, the boundaries 18a and 25b are provided with elongated through holes 18a extending in the width direction to form the cuts 18.

The flat harness 10 of the second embodiment described above.
Then, when connecting the branch circuit portion 14 to the corresponding electrical component, the notches 18, 18 on both sides of the projecting piece 25 are torn, and the projecting piece 2 is cut off from the main body circuit portion 13 and the branch circuit portion 14.
After 5 is cut and removed, the connector 17 of the branch circuit portion 14 and the counterpart connector of the electrical component are fitted and connected.

FIG. 6 shows a first modification of the second embodiment, in which the flat harness 10 is formed by providing cuts 18 and 18 which extend inward from both side edges of the boundaries 25a and 25b. are doing.

FIG. 7 shows a second modification of the second embodiment, in which the flat harness 10 has a plurality of circular penetrations between the cuts 18 and 18 at required intervals in the width direction of the boundaries 25a and 25b. The holes 18a are provided to form a perforation.

[0034]

As is apparent from the above description, in the flat harness of claims 1 and 2 of the present invention,
Since the projecting piece that holds the optional branch circuit section is provided, the connector is fitted with the mating connector without using the branch circuit until it is routed to the vehicle or when it is routed to the vehicle. If not held, the branch circuit portion and the connector at the tip thereof can be held by the protruding piece. On the other hand, in the case where an electrical component that is routed to a vehicle or the like and is connected to the branch circuit is installed, the protruding piece can be removed along the cut line. Therefore,
This unnecessary protruding piece comes into contact with a fixed member such as a vehicle body panel due to vibration caused by running of the vehicle or the like to generate an abnormal noise, or when the other protruding piece is assembled, the protruding piece is caught between them. It is possible to prevent the assembly work from being complicated and hindering the assembly work.

In the flat harness according to a third aspect of the present invention, since the cut is formed in a perforation shape by forming a plurality of through holes, the operator can easily tear the cut from the edge of the cut and It is possible to reliably cut and remove the protruding piece.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a flat harness according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the branch circuit portion of the flat harness of FIG. 1 is connected to a counterpart connector of a corresponding electrical component.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a flat harness of a first modified example of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a flat harness of a second modified example of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a flat harness of a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a flat harness of a first modified example of the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a flat harness of a second modification of the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a conventional flat cable configured to hold a branch circuit unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Flat Harness 11 Insulating Sheet 12 Conductor 13 Main Circuit Section 14 Branch Circuit Section 15 Projecting Piece 15a Tip 15b Boundary 17 Connector 19 Holding Section 20 Counterpart Connector of Electrical Equipment

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location H05K 1/02 H05K 1/02 B

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A flat harness in which a conductor made of a foil-shaped conductor or a conductor having a small diameter is sandwiched between insulating sheets, and an optional branch circuit portion which branches off from a main body circuit portion constituting a shared circuit portion and which projects. A flat harness having a connector attached to the end of the branch circuit section, wherein a projecting piece for holding the branch circuit provided with a holding section for holding the connector extends over the insulating sheet of the main circuit section. The cut piece is provided at the boundary between the projecting piece and the main body circuit section, and when the connector of the branch circuit section is connected to the mating connector, the projecting piece is removed by cutting at the cut section. A flat harness that is characterized by 2. A flat harness in which a conductor made of a foil conductor or a conductor having a small diameter is sandwiched between insulating sheets, and an optional branch circuit portion that branches off from a main body circuit portion forming a shared circuit portion and projects. A flat harness in which a connector is attached to the tip of the branch circuit section, the projecting piece for holding the branch circuit section connecting the branch circuit section near the connector and the main body circuit section, The insulating sheet is provided in an extended manner, and a cut for cutting is provided at each boundary between the projecting piece and the main body circuit section and the branch circuit section, and at the time of connecting the connector of the branch circuit section with the mating connector A flat harness characterized by being cut to remove protruding pieces. 3. The cut line for cutting according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a plurality of through holes are formed at the required intervals to form a perforation. Flat harness.