JPS6051214B2 - Wire harness manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a wire harness.

Wire harnesses are generally constructed by combining a large number of electric wires, providing branch lines to the main line, and connecting connectors to each of these lines. Because it requires a great deal of labor and time to manufacture, it has traditionally been difficult to use various automatic wiring methods. A method is proposed.

However, since these methods basically cut the wires to a predetermined length and route them between each connector, they have the advantage of being able to automate the entire process up to the installation of the connectors. The problem was that it took a long time to produce, and productivity was low. The present invention has been made in order to improve the above-mentioned drawbacks, and it enables wiring and cutting of electric wires to be performed at the same time, and also allows the terminal portions of the electric wires to be spaced appropriately by a bridge when cutting the electric wires. After arranging and maintaining the wires, the wire ends are welded and fixed to the bridge, and thereafter connecting terminal fittings and connectors can be extremely easily connected, thereby reducing the time required to manufacture the wire harness as a whole. The purpose is to reduce labor and provide an inexpensive wire harness. That is, in the present invention, a plurality of wiring tables are arranged in advance on a workbench with product intervals, and bridges for holding the electric wires at appropriate intervals are placed on each wiring table, and the electric wires are laid. After the head locks the wire to one wiring table, the wire is routed to another wiring table, the wire is locked to the other wiring table and cut, and the wires are then sequentially routed as desired. The purpose of the present invention is to route an electric wire between two wiring stands, and to weld and fix the end portion of the electric wire to the bridge.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1A, 1 is a workbench, on which a plurality of wiring locking pins 2 and a wiring table 3 are arranged in advance at predetermined positions. 4 is a bridge placed on the wiring table 3;
As shown in the figure, a large number of pairs of welded pieces 6, 6'' having sloped parts 7 at the outer upper ends are arranged horizontally at regular intervals on a narrow strip-shaped substrate 5, and the electric wires Cut and use as appropriate depending on the number of wires.

This bridge 4 is preferably made of the same type of thermoplastic resin as the insulating coating of the electric wire. Reference numeral 8 denotes a wire that has been routed, and is sequentially welded onto the bridge 4 on the wiring table 3 by a programmed automatic machine, that is, a wiring head equipped with a wire clamp jig and a mechanism that cooperates with the wiring table 3. piece 6,6
The terminal portion of each electric wire 8 is cut from the bridge 4 leaving a predetermined length 1, and is routed to connect each wiring table 3, and the wire harness A is can get.

When the wiring is finished, the workbench 1 is moved to the next station, and the welding devices installed corresponding to each wiring table 3 simultaneously weld the welded pieces 6, 6'' of each bridge 4 to the insulation coating of the wire 8. is welded to.

Next, a tape 9 is wound around the branch portion of each electric wire 8 and temporarily fixed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, each electric wire 8 is routed with a predetermined wiring spacing and number of wires according to the product spacing, and is connected to the bridge 4 by leaving a predetermined length l from each end. As a result, wire harnesses B are obtained which are arranged and fixed in an orderly manner with constant intervals. This wire harness B is
Although it is a semi-finished product, all wires are automatically routed with the desired wiring spacing and number of wires, and the terminals of each wire are neatly arranged and fixed by bridges with a predetermined length left, so the terminals are This is extremely advantageous for storing, transporting, etc., before proceeding to the next process, such as connecting a connecting terminal fitting or connector to a part.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the end portion of each electric wire 8 fixed by the bridge 4 is coated, the insulation coating is removed using a terminal fitting attachment device, and the connecting terminal fitting 10 is crimped to connect the wire harness C. That's 3.

The terminal portion of each electric wire 8 constituting this wire harness C is as follows:
Since they are arranged and fixed in an orderly manner by the bridge 4, a plurality of connecting terminal fittings 10 can be crimped and connected at the same time, and as shown in FIG. There is no hassle of inserting each one at a time, and they can be inserted and attached easily at the same time.

The completed wire harness D shown in FIG.
The terminal portion of the bridge 4 is welded and fixed by a bridge 4.

Therefore, even if a local tensile force is applied to a particular electric wire 8'' during transportation, storage, or when actually installed and used in a car, for example, the tensile force is dispersed by the 7 bridges 4, and the connection terminal It is possible to prevent the metal fitting 10 from being removed from the connectors 11.The apparatus according to the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG.

5 is a general perspective view of the wiring device, in which an x-axis 12 is provided on both sides of the workbench 1 in the longitudinal direction, a Y-axis 14 is provided on a support 13 that moves on the X-axis 12, and the Y-axis A wiring head 15 is movably provided at 14.

The X-axis 12 and the Y-axis 14 are each rotated 7 by a motor,
By appropriately setting the amount of rotation, the wiring head 15
The electric wire 8 held by the head 15 can be carried to any position between the wiring tables 3 arranged on the workbench 1. 16 is an A5l control device, and the entire wiring process is programmed (NC-controlled) using tape.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a reel station for electric wires, and each electric wire 8 having a color-coded insulation coating is connected to a capstan 18 for reducing the tensile force which is rotated by a motor (not shown) in the direction in which the electric wire is fed out.
It is connected to the wiring head 15 via.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the wiring head 15, with a wiring jig 24 at the top of the wiring head main body 19 and a clamping jig 45 at the bottom.
are provided so as to be able to move up and down, respectively, and to be rotatable relative to a predetermined position.

An annular wiring jig mounting base 21 is rotatably provided in the wiring head main body 19 by a plurality of guide rollers 20, and the mounting base 21 is connected to a regulating rotation motor 22 such as a servo motor.
is linked to. Wiring jig elevating guide pipes 23 are provided at predetermined intervals on the wiring jig mounting base 21, a plurality of wiring jigs 24 are inserted, and the wiring jig 24 is held in a predetermined position using the knob pins 25. Holds at height.

Different color wires 8 are connected to each wiring jig 24 from the reel station 17, but the rotation of the wiring jig mounting base 21 interlocked with the regulating rotation motor 22 allows any wiring jig to be connected to the wiring jig 24. 24 can be selectively positioned at a predetermined position P (FIG. 7).

Reference numeral 26 is a lifting unit that raises and lowers the wiring jig 24 at a predetermined position P, and 27 is a motor that drives a capstan 33 of the wiring jig 24, which will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 8, the wiring jig 24 is provided with a connecting bar 30 that engages with the lifting unit 26 on the outside of a cylinder 29 with a wire insertion hole 28 inside, and a connection bar 30 that engages with the lifting unit 26.
At the top of the capstan head 31 and wire check device 3 are installed.
5, a nozzle 38 for wiring the electric wire L is provided at the lower part. The capstan head 31 has the motor 2 on the outside.
A wheel 32 driven by
A capstan 33 is provided which is pivotally attached to the capstan 2, and an electric wire loosening prevention piece 34 is provided facing the lower part of the capstan 33.

Further, the electric wire non-return device 35 is provided with non-return claws 36, 36 urged by a spring 36a inside thereof, and a flexible electric wire guide 37 is provided at the upper end. The electric wire wiring nozzle 38 is formed of a coil spring, and when a certain tension is applied to the wiring jig 24 while running, it bends in the opposite direction to the running direction, and returns to its original state when the tension is released when the running is stopped. It is preferable to use a material that has a certain degree of elasticity and can straighten the bending of the wire being wired. 38a is a support tube for the wiring nozzle 38, and the tube 38a is a wire support tube 38c inserted into the cylindrical body 29.
A screw 38b is secured to the lower part of the holder.

The electric wire 8 is inserted from the electric wire guide 37 at the upper end of the wiring jig 24, passes between the non-return claws 36, and is attached to the capstan 3.
3, and then pulled out from the lower end of the wiring nozzle 38 through the wire support tube 38c and the nozzle support tube 38a.

The end portion of the wire 8 is locked to a wire clamp claw 52 of the wiring table 3, which will be described later, and the motor 27 is automatically driven to rotate the capstan 33, and the wiring jig 24 runs to apply tension. As the capstan 33 rotates, its tensile force is reduced, and the electric wire 8 is smoothly fed out.

In addition, the electric wire 8 is connected to a cutting blade 48 of a clamp jig 45, which will be described later.
When the tension is suddenly released,
The elastic pushing force of the wire loosening prevention piece 34 facing the capstan 33 prevents the wire from returning.

As a result, the end portion of the electric wire 8 is always exposed from the tip of the wiring nozzle 38. The above is a case of a wiring jig that actually runs for wiring wires, and wire stoppers 36, 36 are provided on the upper part of each wiring table 24.

Therefore, the electric wire 8 is prevented from being pulled out by the actuation of the electric wire non-return claw 36 urged by the spring 36a, and each wiring jig 24 always runs with the electric wire inserted and held. FIG. 9 is a side view of the elevating and rotating device for the clamp jig 45, in which numeral 39 indicates the clamp jig body, and the actuator 40
It is provided so as to be movable up and down with respect to the wiring head main body 19. Reference numeral 41 denotes an annular clamp jig mounting plate which also serves as a pulley, and is rotatable with respect to the clamp jig main body 39, and is provided at a position where its center coincides with the axis of the wiring jig 24 at the predetermined position P. .

Reference numeral 42 denotes a regulating rotation motor for controlling the direction of the clamp jig 45, 43 a timing pulley thereof, and 44 a belt connecting the clamp jig mounting board 41 and the timing pulley 43.

Therefore, the clamp jig 45 can be rotated to a desired position about the wiring jig 24 by driving the regulating rotation motor 42, and can be moved up and down by the actuator 40. FIG. 10 is an enlarged side view of the clamp jig 45. The clamp jig 45 includes, in order from the front, a front end clamp plate 46, a wire end insertion guide plate 47 with a built-in coil spring 47a, a cutting blade 48, and a rear end end clamp plate 46. A clamp plate 49 is provided, and the guide plate 47 and cutting blade 48 slightly protrude from the lower surfaces of the front and rear end clamp plates 46 and 49 and are provided to be perpendicular to each other.

This front terminal clamp plate 46 and rear terminal clamp plate 49
and are provided at symmetrical positions with respect to the cutting blade 48. FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the wiring table 3, in which a plurality of nozzle guide pins 50 are provided at the front end of the upper part, a nozzle guide groove 54 is provided at the rear end, and a bridge placement groove for sequentially placing the bridges 4 in the middle. 51, a wire clamp claw 52 and a cutting blade contact surface 53 are provided, and a fitting hole 55 for a welding jig 60, which will be described later, is provided on one side of the bridge mounting groove 51.

5. Reference numeral 56 is a release screw for the wire clamp claw 52.
The nozzle guide pin 50, the nozzle guide groove 54, etc. are increased or decreased according to the number of wires to be wired, and are used to guide the wiring nozzle 38 of the wiring jig 24 during wiring, and The wire clamp claw 52 is used to hold the wire during wiring and to hold the wire until the welding process, and can hold only the inserted wire.

Figure 12 shows the wiring table 3, the wiring jig 2, and the clamp jig 4.
5, at the starting point of the wiring (FIG. 12A), the bridge 4 is placed in the bridge mounting groove 51 of the wiring table 3-1 in advance, and the bridge 4 and the nozzle The wiring nozzle 3 of the wiring jig 24 is placed between the guide pins 50.
8 is bent and makes contact, and the end portion (length 1) of the wire 8 exposed from the tip is slightly bent and attached to the wire clamp claw 5.
It is located 2 meters above.

In this state, when the clamp jig 45 is pushed down, the wire end insertion guide plate 47, which protrudes from the lower surface of the front end clamp plate 46, comes into contact with the end of the wire 8, as shown in FIG.

Therefore, the wire 8 is guided to the center of the wire clamp claw 52, then steadily pressed by the front end clamp plate 46 and held between the clamp claws 52, and at the same time is positioned between the welded pieces 6, 6'' of the bridge 4. That is, at the starting point of the wiring, even if the wire exposed from the tip of the wiring nozzle 38 is slightly bent, the wire end insertion guide plate 4
7 and the front end clamp plate 46 are securely locked to the wiring table 32-1 by the cooperation mechanism.

FIG. 12C shows the end point of the wiring, and the wiring table 3-2 is placed opposite the wiring table 3-1.

Further, the wiring nozzle 38 of the wiring jig 24 bends into contact with the nozzle guide groove 54, and the electric wire 8 exposed from its tip is connected to the wiring locking pin 2 and the nozzle guide pin 54.
It is stretched linearly between the wiring table 3-1 and the wiring table 3-1. Therefore, the wire 8 is aligned with the center of the wire clamp claw 52 and the welded pieces 6, 6'' of the bridge 4. In this state, when the clamp jig 45 is pressed down,
The electric wire 8 is steadily pressed by the rear end clamp plate 49 and held between the clamp claws 52, and is simultaneously cut by the cutting blade 48 leaving an end portion (length 1) on the cutting blade contact surface 53. 3. Next, if the clamp jig 45 is rotated by the operation of the regulating rotation motor 42 (see FIG. 9) and positioned directly behind the wiring jig 24, the twelfth
As in the case of Figure A, return to the starting point state of the wiring. FIG. 13 schematically shows the wiring process using the two wiring jigs, the clamp jigs 45 and 4, and the wiring table 3.

(1) Position the specific wiring jig 24 at a predetermined position P by the regulating rotation motor 22 (hereinafter referred to as "wiring jig selection"), and place the wiring jig 24 against the rear of the wiring table 3-1. is lowered by driving the lifting unit 26 (hereinafter referred to as "wiring jig lowering").

(Fig. 13A) (2) Run the wiring jig 24 along the x-axis 12 and the Y-axis 14 (hereinafter referred to as "XY-axis travel"), and move the wiring jig 24 to start the wiring (Fig. 12). The clamp jig 45 is lowered and raised by driving the actuator 40 (hereinafter referred to as "lowering and raising the clamp jig"), and the end portion (length l) of the electric wire 8 is placed on the wiring table. 3-1 (see FIG. 12A), the capstans 18 and 33 for reducing the tensile force of the electric wire are simultaneously driven (hereinafter referred to as "capstan drive").

(Exit in Figure 13) (3) By "XY-axis traveling", the electric wire 8
2) Move the wiring jig 24 toward the wiring table 3-2.

(Fig. 13 C) (4) Position the wiring jig 24 at the end point of the wiring (see Fig. 12 C) with respect to the wiring table 3-2, and "lower and raise the clamp jig" This locks and cuts the electric wire 8.

Then, "capstan drive" is stopped. (FIG. 13 D) At this step, the wiring between the wiring tables 3-1 and 3-2 is completed.

(5) The wiring jig 24 is positioned behind the wiring table 3-2 by "XY-axis travel", and the clamp jig 45 is positioned directly behind the wiring jig 24 by driving the regulating rotation motor 42. urge

That is, clamp jig direction control is performed. (Figure 13 E)
:6) By "XY-axis travel", the wiring jig 24 moves to another preset wiring table, and the original wiring jig 24 is raised by the drive of the lifting unit 26, and moves to the predetermined position. held at a height.

7) Next, similarly to (1), another specific wiring jig 24 is
``Select wiring jig'', perform ``lower wiring jig'', and then
By repeating steps (2), (3), . . . (7), a desired wire harness A as shown in FIG. 1A is obtained.

FIG. 14A, CJC, shows the correspondence between the wiring table 3 and the welding device, and 57 is the welding jig main body, which is installed on the mounting frame 8 via an actuator 59 so as to be able to rise and fall freely.

The welding jig 60 houses a slide plate 61 having a plurality of slight grooves 62 in a welding jig main body 57, and
2, a comb-shaped crimp rod 63 with an arcuate recess 64 formed at the tip;
is provided to be movable up and down by an actuator 65, and a hot air device 66 is rotatably supported on the welding jig main body 57.

5. The hot air device 66 has a built-in heater (not shown) and heats the air sent by the air vibrator 67 to heat the welded pieces 6, 6'' of the bridge 4 placed on the wiring table 3 and the insulation coating of the electric wire 8. melts into parts.

Note that 68 is the fitting pin 1 for the fitting hole 55 of the wiring table 3.
It is. FIG. 15 shows the welding process of the bridge 4 and the electric wire 8 using the welding jig 60. In FIG. Insert 1 into hole 55 and press crimping rod 6
3 is positioned on the bridge 4 and hot air supplied by the heating device 66 is blown toward the bridge 4.

After the heating and melting process using the hot air, the actuator 65 is driven to lower the crimp rod 63 into the bridge mounting groove 51 of the wiring table 3, and the opening in FIG. The upper part of the welding pieces 6, 6'' is shown welded to the insulation coating of the electric wire 8. At this time, the welding pieces 6, 6''
, 6'' is provided with an inclined portion 7 (see the opening in Figure 1), so that it smoothly engages with the arcuate recess 64 of the crimp rod 63, and the welding piece 6
, 6'' are pressed and crimped inward. By providing this welding jig 60 for each of the plurality of wiring tables 3 in FIG.
By winding the branched portion with tape 9, a wire harness B as shown in FIG. 2 is obtained. FIG. 16 shows the entire device for removing the coating and attaching terminal fittings to the wire end portion (length 1) in the wire harness B, and 69 is a wire holder having a wire guide pin 70, and an auxiliary clamp is attached to the wire guide pin 70. 71 is provided so as to be openable and closable, and configured to hold the electric wire.

72 is a wire sheath removal/cutting device provided opposite to the wire holder 69, which includes a pair of sheath removal/cutting blades 73, 7;
4, and the blades 73 and 74 are provided so as to be movable toward and away from each other in the direction in which they face each other and in the direction of the wire holder 69.

75 is a clamp for the auxiliary clamp 71.

A terminal crimping device 76 includes a lower crimping die 77 and an upper crimping die 78 driven by a hydraulic arrester ram 79. The crimping device 76 is configured to be slidably movable behind the wire holder 69. 80 is a terminal feeding guide incorporating upper and lower terminal feeding claws 81 and 82 (see FIG. 17); 83 is a terminal transfer cylinder that moves together with the terminal crimping device 76; 84 is a chain terminal connecting a large number of terminals; 85 is a terminal feed adjustment piece.

FIG. 17 schematically shows the steps of removing the coating from the end of the wire, cutting it, and attaching the terminal fitting.

(1) The electric wire 8 fixed to the bridge 4 with the end portion (length 1) left is placed on the electric wire holder 69 and clamped and fixed by the electric wire guide pin 70 and the auxiliary clamp 71. (Figure 17a) (Ii) Pair of coating removal, cutting blades 73, 7
4 and approach the wire holder 69 side in the open state.

(Figure 17) (111) Removing the opposing coatings, bringing the cutting blades 73 and 74 closer together and lightly pinching the wire 8 from above and below (
0 point) and retreat to the coating removal position (01 point).

(Figure 17c) In (Ii) and (Iiii) above,
The wire 8 is neatly divided by the wire guide pin 70 and is held down by the sheath removal and cutting blades 73 and 74 that approach from above and below, so that the wire 8 can be cut steadily even if the end portion is bent vertically or horizontally. be held in place.

(Iv) In the coating removal device (01 point), the upper and lower coatings are removed, and only the coating portion is cut by the initial cutting blades 73 and 74.
Move back to the wire cutting position (point 02). That is, 01-
The conductor portion of the electric wire 8 is exposed between the two points. (1st
Figure 7 D) (v) At the wire cutting position Q2, the wire 8 is cut by the upper and lower coating removal 7 cutting blades 73 and 74, and the blades 73 and 74 retreat.

Therefore, each electric wire 8 is cut from the bridge 4 at a fixed position, and the tips thereof are all aligned.

(Fig. 17 E) Behind the 0(Vi) wire holder 69,
The terminal crimping device 76 moves.

At the same time, the chain terminal 84 is also moved according to the number of electric wires 8 by the terminal feed claws 81 and 82. (See Fig. 17) By driving the hydraulic press ram 79, each contact terminal fitting 10 of the chain terminal 84 is crimped at the end of each electric wire 8 (see Fig. 3), and the terminal crimping device 76 is returned to its original state. retreat into position.

At this time, the moving distance of the crimping device 76 is 3]], but since the terminal feed claw 82 is bent by the terminal feed adjustment piece 85, the connecting terminal fitting 10 is In this case, 4 pieces) will be sent to the next crimping process.

Hereinafter, the steps (1), (Ii), etc. are repeated one after another to obtain a wire harness C in which the connecting terminal fittings 10 are crimped at each wire end, as shown in Fig. 3. .

Next, by attaching connectors to each part of the connection terminal fitting 10, a completed wire harness D as shown in FIG. 4 is obtained. As explained above, the present invention includes placing a plurality of wiring tables in advance on a workbench at product intervals, and placing a bridge on each wiring table for holding electric wires at appropriate intervals, After locking the electric wire to one wiring table with a wiring head, route it toward another wiring table, locking the electric wire to the other one wiring table and cutting it, Since the wires are successively routed between the desired wiring stands and the terminals of the wires are welded and fixed to the bridge, it is extremely easy to connect the connection terminal fittings and attach connectors in the future. We are able to provide a wire harness that is
It becomes possible to shorten the time required for manufacturing and increase productivity.

In addition, since the wire ends of the wire harness manufactured in this way are each welded and fixed by a bridge, they do not become entangled with each other, and can be stored and stored before moving on to the next process. This is extremely advantageous for transportation, etc.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show embodiments of the present invention, and FIGS. 1 to 4 are explanatory diagrams of each embodiment when assembling a wire harness, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the wiring device, and FIG. 6 is a wiring head. 15, FIG. 7 is a plan view of the wiring head 15, FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view of the wiring jig 24, FIG. 9 is a side view of the elevating and rotating device for the clamp jig 45, and FIG. Figure 10 shows clamp jig 45
11 is a perspective view of the wiring table 3, FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the mutual relationship between the wiring table 3 and the wiring jig 2, and the clamp jig 45, and FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the wiring table 3. An explanatory diagram of the process, FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing the mutual relationship between the wiring table 3 and the welding device,
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the wire welding process, FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing the entire apparatus for removing the wire sheath and attaching the terminal fitting, and FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of the process of removing the sheath, cutting, and attaching the terminal fitting. 1... Workbench, 3... Wiring table, 4...
...Bridge, 8...Electric wire, 15...
・Wiring head.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Place a plurality of wiring tables in advance on a workbench with product intervals, and place bridges that hold the electric wires at appropriate intervals on each wiring table, and wire the wires with the wiring head. After being locked to the wiring stand, the wire is routed to another wiring stand, the wire is locked to the other wiring stand and cut, and then the wire is connected to the desired wiring stand in sequence. A method for manufacturing a wire harness, characterized in that an electric wire is routed between the wires, and an end portion of the wire is molten-fixed to the bridge.