JPH11154421A - Wire harness and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To bend a wire harness at a desired bending angle without slackening a heat contraction tube, which is armored with the heat contraction tube and has a bent portion bent with the heat contraction tube. SOLUTION: A designate portion of a wire bundle (w) composed by bundling plural covered wires is bent, and the bent portion is armored by a heat contraction tube 20 equipped with a hot melt layer 22 in its inner surface and having a wedge type notch 21 formed on a part of the tube. The bent portion of the wire bundle is clamped and fixed by holding the heat contraction tube 20 and applying heat contraction with the tube bent from the notch part 21, and at the same time, the wires in the wire bundle are adhered each other by making the fused hot melt layer 22 penetrate in gaps between the wire bundles of the covered wires.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wire harness and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to a wire harness having a heat-shrinkable tube provided with a bent portion bent together with the heat-shrinkable tube. The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the dullness of the shrinkable tube and to save space in the bent portion.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 shows a method for manufacturing a wire harness for an automobile having a bent portion described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-161546. In this method, a heat-shrinkable tube 6 provided with a hot melt layer 6a on the inner surface is provided on the bent portion X of the wire bundle 5, and the heat-shrinkable tube 6 is set on a jig 7 for holding the bent portion X. By blowing hot air H on the other hand, the heat-shrinkable tube 6 shrinks to tighten and bend the wire bundle 5 and to form the hot-melt layer 6a.
Melts into the gap of the wire bundle 5 to fix the wires of the wire bundle 5 to each other.

According to the above-mentioned publication, the heat shrinkable tube 6 is shrunk by using the above method to tighten the bent portion of the wire harness, to maintain the bent shape of the bent portion, and to provide the heat shrinkable tube 6 on the inner surface of the heat shrinkable tube 6. Hot melt layer 6
It is said that the wire harness can be reliably fixed in a predetermined bent state because the molten metal a enters the gap of the wire bundle 5 and fixes the wire bundles to each other.

[0004]

However, for example, when an attempt is made to form a wire harness (W / H) having a part bent at 90 ° (right angle) by using the above method,
As shown in FIG. 5, the extra length of the tube wall is dubbed (wrinkled) inside or on the side of the bent portion of the heat-shrinkable tube 6, so that a bent portion bent at 90 ° cannot be formed. Unnecessary bulges (convex portions) 6b are formed in the portions.
For this reason, this bent wire harness (W / H)
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the glass panel (or body panel) 10 is disposed on the upper surface of the glass panel (or body panel) 10, and one side 6 </ b> A of the heat-shrinkable tube 6 at the bent portion is attached to the glass panel (or body panel) 10. In the case of arranging through the formed through-hole 10A, the workability of inserting the wire harness (W / H) into the through-hole 10A is deteriorated, and in order to avoid interference with other parts, a glass panel is required. (Or a vehicle body panel) 10 needs to have a large space around the through hole 10A.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in a wire harness having a heat-shrinkable tube provided with a bent portion bent together with the heat-shrinkable tube, the heat-shrinkable tube is dubbed. It is an object to bend a wire harness to a desired bending angle without causing the wire harness to be bent.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention, a predetermined portion of a wire bundle in which a plurality of covered wires are bundled is bent, and a hot portion is formed on the inner surface of the bent portion. A heat-shrinkable tube provided with a melt layer is sheathed, and the heat-shrinkable tube is held in a bent state and thermally contracted, thereby tightening the bent portion of the wire bundle and holding the bent state, while the hot melted by heat is used. In a wire harness having a structure in which a melt layer enters a gap between the wire bundles of the coated wire and the wire bundles are fixed to each other, a cutout portion is formed in a part of the heat-shrinkable tube, A wire harness is provided in which the notch portion is bent so as to be folded inward and thermally contracted.

According to the wire harness having the above structure, the tube wall inside the bent portion of the heat-shrinkable tube is easily cut off, so that the heat-shrinkable tube tube has an unnecessary bulge (convex portion) due to the double dough. Without bending, it is possible to form a bent portion accurately bent at a desired angle. For example, when it is desired to bend the wire harness at 90 ° (right angle), a bent portion accurately bent at 90 ° (right angle) can be formed (claim 2).

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a wire harness comprising a wire bundle in which a plurality of covered wires are bundled, and a predetermined portion thereof is bent. At a predetermined portion of the shrink tube, the shape as viewed from the side of the tube is wedge-shaped, and a notch portion cut out to a substantially middle position in the tube height direction is formed, and the heat shrink tube having the notch portion is formed into a wire harness. After covering the part to be bent, these heat-shrinkable tube and wire harness are bent on a jig so that the opening of the cutout portion of the tube is almost closed, and the tube is thermally contracted, and the wire bundle is tightened in a bent state. At the same time, the molten material of the hot melt layer enters the gap between the wire bundles to fix the wire bundles together and integrate the wire bundle and the heat-shrinkable tube. Provides a method of manufacturing a wire harness, characterized.

By using such a manufacturing method, it is possible to easily manufacture a wire harness in which the outer portion of the heat-shrinkable tube of the present invention is bent without causing dullness in the heat-shrinkable tube.

It is preferable that the heat-shrinkable tube has a tube body made of a polyolefin-based or polyvinyl chloride-based material and a hot-melt layer provided on the inner surface made of a polyamide-based material. In this case, since the covering material of the covered electric wire constituting the general wire harness is polyvinyl chloride, the molten hot melt layer adheres and solidifies to the covered electric wire, and the bent portion has a desired bent state. Is held firmly.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a wire harness of the embodiment. The wire harness (W / H) includes a wire bundle w of a plurality of covered wires. A heat-shrinkable tube 20 having a tube main body made of a polyolefin-based or polyvinyl chloride-based material and an inner surface provided with a hot melt layer 22 made of a polyamide-based material is provided at the bent portion of the wire harness (W / H). The heat-shrinkable tube 20 is a wire harness (W /
H) and bent at approximately 90 ° (right angle) to form a wire harness (W / H) by bending and tightening a plurality of wire bundles. X inside the bent portion of the heat-shrinkable tube 20
A notch portion 21 is formed in the tube wall of the notch, and the notch portion 21 is in a state where the notch end surfaces on both sides bordering on the tip end (apex R) of the notch are substantially fitted with a slight gap therebetween, The melt 22a of the hot melt layer enters the gap from the tube 20 and is solidified. Although not shown, the melt of the hot melt layer enters the gap between the wire bundles w in the tube 20 and solidifies, so that the heat-shrinkable tube 20 and the wire bundle w are integrated. Also, 2 in the figure
Reference numeral 3 denotes a connector connected to the tip of the wire harness (W / H).

The above-mentioned wire harness is manufactured, for example, by the following method. First, a heat-shrinkable tube 20 provided with a hot melt layer 22 of a polyamide-based material on its inner surface is prepared. A predetermined portion of the heat-shrinkable tube has a wedge-like shape when viewed from the side of the tube, and has a height of approximately h. Intermediate depth h /
2 to form notches 21 (FIG. 2).
(A)). Here, the wedge-shaped notch 21 has a fan shape with a central angle of 30 ° when viewed from the side of the tube.

Next, as shown in FIG.
The heat-shrinkable tube 20 is externally provided at a predetermined portion, and these are set on the jig 7.
Of the heat-shrinkable tube 20
The hot air H is blown around the bent portion of. Here, the heat-shrinkable tube 20 is bent so that the opening of the notch 21 is substantially closed with the notch tip (vertex R) of the wedge-shaped notch 21 as a bending center, and hot air H is blown in this state. I have. Due to the blowing of the hot air H, the bent portion of the heat-shrinkable tube 20 contracts, and the inner wire bundle is tightened to form and hold the wire bundle w in a bent state. Further, the hot melt layer 22 on the inner surface of the heat-shrinkable tube 20 melts and enters the gap between the wire bundles w, adheres to the covering material (polyvinyl chloride) of the wire, and slightly remains in the cutout portion 21 of the tube. It flows out of the tube and solidifies to fill the gap (see FIG. 1). Therefore, the heat-shrinkable tube 20 and the wire bundle w
Are integrated in a bent state.

The wire harness (W / H) thus manufactured is placed on the upper surface of a glass panel (or body panel) 10 as shown in FIG. One side 20A bordering on the bent portion is routed through a through hole 10A formed in the glass panel (or body panel) 10. In this case, the bent portion of the heat-shrinkable tube 20 has no dullness and is bent at 90 ° (perpendicular), and can be easily inserted into the through hole 10A. Further, since there is no unnecessary bulge (convex portion) at the bent portion of the heat-shrinkable tube 20, it does not interfere with other components around the through hole.

In the above embodiment, the tube main body is made of a polyolefin or polyvinyl chloride material,
A heat-shrinkable tube provided with a hot-melt layer made of a polyamide-based material on the inner surface was used, but the heat-shrinkable tube is not limited to this, and a heat-shrinkable tube having a hot-melt layer having excellent adhesion to a wire covering material is used. As long as it is a tube, another material may be used.

Further, the shape of the notch provided in the tube is desirably substantially wedge-shaped, but is not limited thereto. In the case of a wedge shape, the center angle of the fan shape may be changed according to the bending angle of the bending portion. Even when bending to an angle larger than 90 °, the smart bending portion is formed without tabbing of the tube wall. Can be formed.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case has been described in which the wire harness according to the present invention is arranged such that the wire harness is inserted into the through hole of the glass panel (body panel) on one side of the bent portion of the wire harness. It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to a case where the cable is routed to another place in the vehicle.

[0018]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, in a wire harness provided with a heat-shrinkable tube and a bent portion bent together with the heat-shrinkable tube, the wire harness is bent at a desired bending angle. In addition, it is possible to form a smart bent portion of the heat-shrinkable tube without dullness. Therefore, the workability of the wiring work of the wire harness in the vehicle can be improved. Further, the wiring space for the wiring harness can be saved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a wire harness according to an embodiment.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective views showing a manufacturing process of the wire harness of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the wire harness of FIG. 1 is routed through a through hole of a glass panel.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a conventional method for manufacturing a wire harness.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a bent portion of a heat-shrinkable tube of the wire harness manufactured by the method of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a conventional wire harness is routed through a through hole of a glass panel.

[Explanation of symbols]

 W / H Wire harness w Wire bundle 7 Jig 20 Heat shrink tube 21 Notch 22 Hot melt layer 23 Connector

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A heat-shrinkable tube having a hot-melt layer on its inner surface is provided at the bent portion by bending a predetermined portion of a wire bundle in which a plurality of covered wires are bundled, and the heat-shrinkable tube is held in a bent state. By fixing the bent portion of the wire bundle by heat shrinking to fix it in a bent state, the hot melt layer melted by heat entered the gap of the wire bundle of the coated wire and fixed the wire bundle to each other. In the wire harness having a structure, a cutout portion is formed in a part of the heat-shrinkable tube, and the cutout portion is bent so as to be folded inward and thermally contracted. Wire harness. 2. The heat-shrinkable tube according to claim 1, wherein the bent portion is substantially 90.
The wire harness according to claim 1, wherein the wire harness is bent in a triangle. 3. A method for manufacturing a wire harness, comprising a wire bundle formed by bundling a plurality of covered wires, and bending a predetermined portion thereof, wherein a predetermined portion of a heat-shrinkable tube provided with a hot-melt layer on an inner surface is formed from a side of the tube. The sawed shape is a wedge shape, and forms a cutout portion cut out to a substantially intermediate position in the tube height direction, and after covering the heat shrink tube having the cutout portion to be bent of the wire harness, The heat absorbing tube and the wire harness are bent on the jig so that the opening of the cutout portion of the tube is substantially closed, and the tube is thermally contracted, and the wire bundle is tightened and fixed in a bent state, and at the same time, the hot melt layer is melted. A wire harness characterized in that an object is inserted into a gap of the wire bundle, the wire bundle is fixed to each other, and the wire bundle and the heat-shrinkable tube are integrated. Manufacturing method.