MXPA06015019A

MXPA06015019A - Electric cable coloring method and electric cable coloring device.

Info

Publication number: MXPA06015019A
Application number: MXPA06015019A
Authority: MX
Inventors: Takeshi Kamata; Keigo Sugimura; Kiyoshi Yagi; Sei Saito
Original assignee: Yazaki Corp
Priority date: 2004-06-25
Filing date: 2005-06-24
Publication date: 2007-03-01
Also published as: CN1989576B; WO2006001371A1; JP2006012609A; CN1989576A; EP1780735A1; EP1780735A4; JP4477948B2

Abstract

There are provided an electric cable coloring method and an electric cable coloringdevice capable of performing a predetermined marking on an electric cable evenif the moving speed of the electric cable is changed. The electric cable coloringdevice applies a predetermined amount of liquid coloring material in dropletstoward the external surface of the electric cable so as to color the electric cable.The coloring material has viscosity not smaller than 0.3 mPa ??s and not greaterthan 4.5 mPa ??s.

Description

METHOD OF COLORING ELECTRIC WIRE AND ELECTRICAL WIRE COLORING DEVICE TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for coloring an electrical wire which includes a wire core and an insulating sheath covering the wire core.

RELATED TECHNIQUE Various types of electrical units are mounted on a motor vehicle as a mobile body. The engine of a vehicle includes wired harnesses to provide electrical power from a power source and control signals from a computer to the electronic units. The wiring harness includes a plurality of electrical wires and a connector attached to the ends of the electrical wires. The electric wire has a conductive core and a sheath made of an insulating synthetic resin to cover the wire core. The electric wire is also called lined wire. The connector has terminals and a connector housing to receive the terminals. The terminals made of a conductive metal sheet are fixed to the ends of the electrical wires that are to be connected to the wire cores of the electric wires. The connector housing is made of a synthetic resin and has the shape of a box. The electronic units are connected to the terminals in the connector housing through electrical wires in order to provide electrical power and signals. When the wiring harness is assembled, the electrical wires are cut to a predetermined length and the end sheaths of the electrical wires are removed and their ends are fixed to the terminals. The electric wires can be connected together if necessary. Then, the terminals are inserted into the connector housing. The wiring harness is assembled in this manner. It is necessary to identify the electrical wires of the wiring harness with respect to the size of the wire core, the material of the sheath (the material may vary based on the presence of the heat resistance property, etc.) and the object for use. The object for use means, for example, a vehicle engine system having electric wires to provide control signals for an airbag, an ABS (anti-lock brake system) and vehicle speed information as well as electrical power. The coloration of the electric wire sheath is produced by extruding the synthetic resin, which consists of a desired coloring material around the core wire (for example, patent document 1 to 3). Whenever the color of an outer surface of the electric wire is changed, it is necessary to stop the operation of a sheath apparatus for extruding. It increases the cost and time to produce electrical wires and reduces productivity. The coloring material contained in the synthetic resin changes during the extrusion of the sheath in the apparatus. Therefore, just after changing a color, the electric wire sheath has a mixed color of the previous coloring materials and the one that has changed. This reduces the performance of electrical wire material. In order to avoid low productivity and low performance of electrical wire material, the applicant of the present invention proposes to produce a single color electric wire and color a desired color on the outer surface of the electric wire if necessary and assemble a wiring harness (patent document 4). The applicant of the present invention proposes an electric wire coloring apparatus which injects a certain quantity of a desired liquid coloring material and causes a drop to adhere to the outer surface of the single colored electric wire (patent document 5). The related patent documents are: patent document 1: JP, H05-111947, A; Patent Document 2: JP, H06-119833, A; Patent Document 3: JP, 09-92056, A; Patent document 4: WO03019580, I and patent document 5: patent application number 2003-193904. A coloring material to be injected to the outer surface of an electric wire with predetermined drops is a liquid material consisting of dyestuff (organic substance for industrial use) which is dissolved or dispersed in water or other solvent. As the organic substance, the coloring material includes dyes and pigments which are generally composite materials of organic substances. The dyes can be used as the pigments, or the pigments can be used as the dyes, according to the cases. The coloring apparatus of described electric wire in the above can be attached to a forming apparatus electrical wire as a cutting apparatus electrical wire which cuts a length of electric wire in a predetermined length and connects terminals to the ends thereof . The electric wire forming apparatus provides various procedures for electrical wires along the longitudinal direction by intermittently moving the wire. Therefore, the coloring apparatus is required to form a predetermined mark always, even when changing the speed of electric wire movement (faster or slower). It is necessary to form the predetermined mark on the outer surface of the electric wire regardless of the interval of the injection of the drop of coloring material.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for coloring an electric wire with a predetermined marking when the speed of movement of the electric wire is varied. According to a first aspect of the present invention, a method of coloring the electric wire includes the steps of injecting predetermined droplets of a coloring material on the outer surface of an electric wire and adhering the drop of the coloring material to the outer surface of the electric wire for coloring, so that the viscosity of the coloring material is 0.3 mPa «s to 4.5 mPa» s.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the viscosity of the coloring material is from 0.3 mPa «s to 3.25 mPa« s. According to a third aspect of the present invention, the viscosity of the coloring material is from 0.3 mPa »s to 1.75 mPa» s. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for coloring an electric wire has a coloring nozzle for injecting predetermined droplets of a coloring material to be injected onto an outer surface of the electric wire and to be to adhere to the outer surface of the electric wire for coloration, whereby the coloring material has a viscosity ranging from 0.3 mPa * s to 4.5 mPa »s. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the coloring material has the viscosity ranging from 0.3 mPa »s to 3.25 mPa« s. According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the coloring material has the viscosity ranging from 0.3 mPa »s to 1.75 mPa» s. According to claim 1, the viscosity coloring material from 0.3 mPa «s to 4.5 mPa * s can control a variation of a droplet mass of the coloring material even when. change the injection interval time (shorter or longer). The coloring material is liquid material consisting of colored material (organic substance for industrial purpose) which dissolves or disperses in water or other solvent. As the organic substance, the coloring material includes dyes and pigments which are generally composite materials of organic substances. The dyes can be used as the pigments, or the pigments can be used as the dyes, according to the cases. As more specific examples, the coloring material in the claims means both coloring liquid and paint. The coloring liquid means the dye which is dissolved or dispersed in the solvent, while the paint means the pigment which is dispersed in the dispersion liquid. Therefore, when the coloring liquid has adhered to the outer surface of the sheath, the dye will infiltrate the sheath. On the other hand, when the paint has adhered to the outer surface of the sheath, the pigment will not infiltrate the sheath, but will simply adhere to the outer surface. Therefore, the coloration method of the outer surface of the electric wire includes both the dyeing of a part of the outer surface of the electric wire with the colorant and the application of pigment to the other part of the outer surface of the electric wire. Preferably, the solvent and the dispersion liquid are compatible with the synthetic resin which forms the sheath. In this case, the dye can be reliably infiltrated into the sheath, and the pigment can reliably adhere to the outer surface of the sheath. An injection means, in this specification, wherein the coloring material is energized from a coloring nozzle and injected onto the outer surface of the electric wire with a drop. According to claim 2, the coloring material with a viscosity between 0.3 mPa «s and 3.25 mPa» s can additionally control the variation of the mass of a drop of the coloring material even when the injection interval time changes (shorter or longer). According to claim 3, the coloring material with a viscosity between 0.3 mPa «s and 1. 75 mPa * s can additionally control the variation of the mass of a drop of the coloring material even when the injection time interval changes (shorter or longer). According to claim 4, a coloring material with a viscosity between 0.3 mPa «s and 4.5 mPa» s can control a variation of a mass of a drop of the coloring material even when the injection time interval (shorter or longer) changes. longer) . According to claim 5, the coloring material with a viscosity between 0.3 mPa »s and 3.25 mPa * s can additionally control the variation of the mass of a drop of the coloring material even when the injection time interval changes (shorter) or longer). According to claim 6, the coloring material with a viscosity of 0.3 mPa »s at 1.75 mPa» s can additionally control the variation of the mass of a drop of the coloring material even when the injection time interval changes (shorter) or longer).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a side view of an electric wire coloring apparatus of one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a sectional view of a coloring unit of the coloring apparatus taken along the line II-II in Figure 1; Figure 3 is an illustration showing a distribution of each coloring nozzle and an electrical wire in the coloring unit of Figure 2; Figure 4A is a perspective view of the electric wire colored by the coloring apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 4B is a plan view of the electric wire of Figure 4A; Figure 5 is an illustration showing a variation of the mass of a drop of a coloring material injected by the coloring apparatus shown in Figure 1 with different viscosity; Figure 6 is an illustration showing? the variation of the mass of a drop of coloring material A, B and C injected by the coloring apparatus shown in Figure 1.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An apparatus for coloring an electrical wire (referred to simply as "coloring apparatus" in the following) according to a first embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6 The coloring apparatus 1 is used to form a marking 6 on a part of an outer surface 3a of an electric wire 3 after cutting the electric wire 3 to a predetermined length. Briefly, the coloring apparatus 1 colors (marks) the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3. The electric wire 3 is a component of a wiring harness that is to be distributed in a motor vehicle like the mobile body. The electric wire 3 includes, as shown in FIG. 4A, a conductive wire core 4 and an insulating sheath 5. The insulating core 4 is formed of a plurality of wires twisted together. The wires constituting the wire core 4 are made of electrically conductive metal. The wire core 4 can be a single wire. The sheath 5 is formed, for example, of a synthetic resin such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Since the sheath 5 covers the wire core 4, the outer surface 3a of the sheath 5 becomes the outer surface of the electric wire 3. The sheath 5 has a unique color P. In order to provide a unique color P to the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3, a coloring material having the desired color can be mixed with the synthetic resin which forms the sheath 5. , or the synthetic resin may not be mixed with the coloring material so that the color of the synthetic resin itself may constitute the single color P. In the case where the color of the synthetic resin itself is the only color P without coloring material mixed with the synthetic resin that forms the sheath 5, the outer surface 3a of the sheath 5, that is to say, the outer surface of the electric wire 3 is denominated as having no color. Thus, the term "colorless" means that the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3 has the same color of the synthetic resin without mixing of coloring material in the synthetic resin. The outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3 may not exhibit coloration or a single color such as white. The mark 6 with a plurality of points 7 is formed on the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3. The points 7 have a color of B (shown by parallel diagonal lines in Figure 4). Color B is different from color P only. The flat shape of the points 7 is round, as shown in Figure 4B. The plurality of the points 7 are distributed in a longitudinal direction of the electric wire 3 with a predetermined pattern. The points 7 are equally spaced along the longitudinal direction of the electric wire 3. The distance between the centers of the adjacent points 7 is predetermined. A plurality of electrical wire 3 are grouped and the ends of the electrical wires are connected to connectors to form the wiring harness. The connectors are coupled to the connectors of the electronic units of various types in a motor vehicle and the wiring harness, i.e., the group of electric wires 3 provides various signals or electrical power to the electronic units. Each color B of the points 7 in the mark 6 is changed to identify the electric wires 3 with each other. Figures 4A and 4B show all the points 7 that have the same color B, but each point 7 can have a different color, if necessary. The color B of each point 7 of the mark 6 is used to identify classes and systems of the electrical wires 3 of the wiring harness. The color application apparatus 1 is attached to the cutter 18, as shown in Figure 1. The cutter 18 is placed on the rear side of the rotors 47 of the encoder 17 in the direction of movement K. The cutter 18 has a pair of cutting blades 48 and 49. The pair of cutting blades 48 and 49 are distributed vertically, and approach or move away from each other in the vertical direction. The pair of cutting blades 48 and 49 approach each other and interpose to cut the electric wire 3 which is moved by a pair of pick-up rollers 12. After cutting, the cutting blades 48 and 49 are separated from each other. The coloring apparatus 1 includes, as shown in FIG. 1, a frame 10 (a main body), a guide roller 1, pick-up rollers 12 for picking up the electric wire, a straightening unit 13 for straightening the electric wire , a unit 14 that absorbs the clearances to absorb an electric wire gap, a coloring unit 15, a duct 16, an encoder 17 for measuring means and a controller 19. The frame 10 is installed on the floor of a factory and It extends in a horizontal direction. The guide roller 11 is rotatably connected to one end of the frame 10. The guide roller 11 winds the electric-long wire 3 without markings 6 and sends the electric wire 3 to the straightening unit 13, the unit 14 which absorbs the play , the coloring unit 15, the duct 16, the encoder 17 and the cutter 18, in order. The pick-up rollers 12 are placed on the other end of the frame 10. The pair of pick-up rollers 12 are rotatably supported by the frame 10 and distributed vertically to each other. The pick-up rollers 12 are driven by a motor (not shown) and rotate in the opposite direction to each other with the same rotation number. The pair of pick-up rollers 12 place the electrical wire 3 between them in the intermediate part and pull the electric wire 3 from the guide roll 11 along the longitudinal direction of the electric wire 3. The pick-up rollers 12 stretch and move the electric wire 3 along the longitudinal direction thereof. In this way, the pick up rollers 12 move the electric wire 3 relative to the coloring nozzles of the coloration unit 15 along the longitudinal direction thereof. The electric wire 3 moves from the guide roller 11 to the pick-up rollers 12 along an arrow K in Figure 1, which is the direction of movement of the electric wire 3. The straightening unit 13 is placed between the guide roller 11 and the pick-up rollers 12. The straightening unit 13 is positioned in a place behind the guide roller 11 and in an anterior position of rollers 12 for picking up the movement direction K. The straightening unit 13 includes a main body unit 20 with a plate shape, a plurality of first rollers 21 and a plurality of second rollers 22. The main body unit 20 is fixed to the frame 10. The first and second rollers 21 and 22 are rotatably supported on the main body unit 20. The plurality of the first rollers 21 are distributed horizontally (along the direction of movement K) and are placed above the electric wire 3. The plurality of the second rollers 22 are distributed horizontally (along the direction of movement K) and are placed below the electric wire 3. The first rollers 21 and the second rollers 22 are each distributed in a zigzag pattern, as shown in figure 1. The straightening unit 13 places the electric wire 3 in the middle, which is moved from the guide roller 11 by the pickup rollers 12, between the first rollers 12 and the second rollers 22. Therefore, the straightening unit 13 straightens the electric wire 3 and provides a friction to the electric wire 3 by placing the wire between the first and second rollers 21 and 22. Accordingly, the straightening unit 13 provides a deflection force Hl in a direction opposite to the straightening direction (the direction of movement K) towards which the pick up rollers pull the electric wire 3. The first deflection force Hl is weaker than the pulling tension by the pick-up rollers 12. In this way, the straightening unit 13 provides the tension to the electric wire 3 in the longitudinal direction. The gap-absorbing unit 14 is placed on the pick-up rollers 12 on the side of the straightening unit 13. The gap-absorbing unit 14 is positioned in a location behind the straightening unit 13 and before the pick-up rollers 12 in the direction of movement K of the electric wire 3. The clearance absorption unit 14 is positioned between the straightening unit 13 and the coloring nozzles 31 described in the following. The gap-absorbing unit 14 includes, as shown in FIG. 1, a pair of guide roller support frames 23, a pair of guide rollers 24, a transfer roller support frame 25, a roller 26 transfer and an air cylinder 27 for diverting means. The guide roller support frames 23 are fixed to the frame 10 and extend upwards from the frame 10. Each guide roller support frame 23 is separated from one another along the direction of movement of the electric wire 3 . The pair of guide rollers 24 are rotatably supported by the guide roller support frames 23 and are placed below the electric wire 3 to constitute an outer circumferential surface in contact with the electric wire 3. It turns out that the guide rollers 24 guide the electric wire 3 so as not to escape from the direction of movement K. The transfer roller supporting frame 25 is fixed to the frame 10 and extends upwards from the frame 10 and is placed between the pair of guide roll support frames 23. The transfer roller 26 is rotatably supported by the transfer roll support frame 25 and can be moved vertically. The transfer roller 26 is placed above the electric wire 3 and can be moved in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement K of the electric wire 3. The transfer roller 26 is placed in an intermediate position between the guide rollers 24. The air cylinder 27 has a cylinder 28 and a rod 29 extendable in the cylinder 28. The cylinder 28 is fixed to the transfer roll support frame 25 and placed above the electric wire 3. The extendable rod 29 extends downwardly from the cylinder 28 and approaches the electrical axis 3. The transfer roller 26 is attached to the extending rod 29. When pressurized gas is supplied inside the cylinder 28, the air cylinder 27 moves the rod 29 extending downwards, that is, the transfer roller 26 with a second force H2 of deflection (shown in Fig. 1) in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement K. The air cylinder 27 deflects the transfer roller 26 to the electric wire 3 with a second deflection force H2 which is weaker than the first Hl force of deviation. When the pair of cutting blades 48 and 49 of the cutter 18 cut the electric wire 3, the electric wire 3 stops once. A gap of the electric wire 3 between the pair of guide rollers 24 is generated due to the inertia of movement of the electric wire 3 in the direction of movement K. On this occasion, since the air cylinder 27 deflects the transfer roller 26 with the second force of deflection H2 in the clearance absorption unit 14, the rod 29 extending in the air cylinder 27 extends and displaces the transfer roller 26 to the position shown by a dashed line with double dots in figure 1 The coloring unit 15 is placed between the gap-absorbing unit 14 and the pick-up rollers 12. The coloring unit 15 is placed on a side posterior to the gap-absorbing unit 14 and on a side anterior to the pick-up roller 12 of the direction of movement K of the electric wire 3, the positioning unit 15, i.e. Colorizing nozzles 31 are placed between the pick-up rollers 12 and the straightening unit 13. The coloration unit 15 includes, as shown in FIG. 2, a main body 30, the plurality of coloration nozzles 31, a plurality of coloration material supply sources 32 (in FIG. others are omitted), and sources 33 of pressurized air supply. The main body 30 is fixed to the frame 10 and supports the plurality of coloring nozzles 31. Each colorant nozzle 31 has a nozzle member 50, as shown in FIG. 3. The nozzle member 50 is formed into a cylindrical shape and is made of polyetheretherketone (PEEK) or polyether-ida (PEI). The coloring material is supplied to the coloring nozzle 31 from the source 32 for supplying coloring material. The coloring nozzle 31 injects the coloring material from the nozzle member 50. The coloring nozzle 31 injects a predetermined amount of coloring material to the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3, according to an instruction of the controller 19. The coloring nozzles 31 inject each, a predetermined amount of the liquid coloring material from the source 32 for supplying coloration material to the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3. The injected droplets of the coloring material from the coloring nozzles 31 adhere to the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3 and color (mark) a portion of the outer surface 3a. The coloring nozzles 31 are attached to the main body 30. The plurality of coloring nozzles 31 are distributed in the direction of movement K and around the electric wire 3. In the example of Figure 1, the main body 30 has 5 coloring nozzles 31 along the direction of movement K and 3 coloring nozzles 31 around the center of the electric wire 3. As shown in Figure 3, each coloring nozzle 31 is supported by the main body 30 such that an axis R of the nozzle member 50, which is shown with a line with diagonals and dots in Figure 3 extends to a 3b most superior position of electric wire 3. Each coloring nozzle 31 injects the predetermined amount of the coloring material into the uppermost position 3b of the electric wire 3 along the axis R. Each color material supply source 32 receives the coloring material and supplies the coloring material to an inlet tube 36 of the corresponding colored nozzle 31. The Colors B supplied to the coloring nozzles 31 by the sources 32 for supplying coloring material may be different from each other or the same. Each pressurized air supply source 33 supplies the pressurized air to the supply source 32 of colored material so that a valve 44 described in the following is separated from a base end 37a of the nozzle member 50 and the material of coloration in a flow path 39 is injected from the nozzle material 50. The coloring unit 15 is injected to the electric wire 3 with the predetermined amount of the coloring material from any coloring nozzle 31 responding to an instruction from the controller 19. The viscosity of the coloring material used in this specification varies from 0.3 mPa »s (milipascales second) to 4.5 mPa »s. The coloring material supply source 32 and the coloring nozzle 31 use this coloring material. The coloring material is a liquid material consisting of colored material (organic substance for industrial purpose) dissolved or dispersed in water or other solvent. Regarding the organic substance, the coloring material includes dyes and pigments which are generally composed of organic substances. The dyes can be used as the pigments, or the pigments can be used as the dyes according to the cases. More specifically, the coloring material is in a form of coloring or painting liquid. The coloring liquid means that the coloration dissolved or dispersed in the solvent, while the paint means pigment dispersed in a liquid dispersion. Therefore, when the coloring liquid adheres to the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3, the dye infiltrates inside the sheath 5. On the other hand, when the paint adheres to the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3, the pigment does not infiltrate inside the sheath 5, but simply adheres to the outer surface 3a. In other words, the coloring unit 15 serves to dye the part of the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3 with the colorant, or alternatively, to apply the pigment to the part of the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3. Therefore, a method for marking the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3 includes dyeing the part of the outer surface 3a of the electric wire with the dye and applying the pigment to the part of the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3. Preferably, the solvent and the dispersion liquid are compatible with the synthetic resin which forms the sheath 5. In this case, the dye can be reliably infiltrated into the sheath 5 and the pigment can be reliably adhered to the surface 3rd outside of the sheath 5. The described injection means that the liquid coloring material is energized to be injected into the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3 with the drop of liquid, i.e., the drop from each coloring nozzle 31. The duct 16 is placed on the side of the pick-up rollers of the coloring unit 15 and between the coloring unit 15 and the pick-up rollers 12. The duct 16 is placed on the rear side of the coloring unit 15 in the direction of movement K of the electric wire 3 and the upstream side of the pick up rollers 12. The duct 16 is formed into a tubular shape and the electric wire 3 passes therethrough. An evacuation means (not shown) is connected to the duct 16. The evacuation means evacuates the gas in the duct 16 to prevent the solvent and the dispersion liquid in the coloring material from being filled out of the coloring unit 1. The encoder 17 is placed on the downstream side of the pick-up rollers 12 in the direction of movement K of the electric wire 3. The encoder 17 has a pair of rotors 47, as shown in Figure 1. Each rotor 47 can rotate about an axis of rotation.

An outer circumferential face of each rotor 47 is in contact with the outer face 3a of the electric wire 3 which is interposed by the pair of pickup rollers 12. When the wire core 4, that is, the electric wire 3 moves (moves) in the direction of the arrow K, the rotors 47 rotate. Briefly, the rotors 47 each rotate about the axis with the displacement (movement) of the wire core 4, that is, the electric wire 3 along the direction of the arrow K. It is evident that the number of the rotation of each rotor 43 is proportional to the distance of movement of the electric wire 3 along the direction of the arrow K. The encoder 17 is connected to the controller 19. When the rotors 43 rotate at a predetermined angle, the encoder 17 transmits signals of pulse to the controller 19. More specifically, the encoder 17 transmits information corresponding to the speed of movement of the electric wire 3 along the direction of the arrow K. In this way, the encoder 17 measures the information corresponding to the speed of movement of the electric wire 3 and transmits the information to the controller 19. Usually, the encoder 17 transmits the pulse signals according to the moving distance of the electric wire 3 by friction between the electric wire 3 and the rotors 47 of the encoder 17. However, in the case where the movement distance is not consistent with the number of pulse signals, depending on the condition of the face 3a outside of the electric wire 3, it would be possible to obtain the information of the speed of displacement in other places and feed back the information for a comparative calculation. Controller 19 is a computer that has the usual systems RAM, ROM, CPU, and so on. The controller 19 is connected to the pick-up rollers 12, the encoder 17, the cutter 18 and the coloring nozzles 31 to control their operations and thus control all the operations of the coloring unit 1. The controller 19 stores a predetermined pattern of the mark 6. When the information of the pulse signals, i.e., the amount of the movement distance of the electric wire 3 is input from the encoder 17 to the controller 19, the predetermined amount of the material of coloration is injected into the electric wire 3 from the nozzle 31 of predetermined coloration. The controller 19 may shorten or lengthen the injection time of the coloring material from the coloring nozzles 31, depending on the speed of displacement of the electric wire 3 when it is greater or lesser, respectively, according to the pattern of the stored mark 6. in the controller 19. Therefore, the controller 19 colors the electric wire 3 according to the stored pattern. The controller 19 controls the coloring nozzles 31 to inject the predetermined amount of the drop of coloring material, in accordance with the displacement distance of the electrical wire 3 measured by the encoder 17. When the controller 19 considers that a predetermined amount has elapsed With the displacement distance of the electric wire 3 from the information of the encoder 17, the controller 19 stops the operation of the pick-up rollers 12 and places the pair of cutting blades 48 and 49 closer to cut the electric wire 3. In order that the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3 with the marking 6 when using the coloring apparatus 1, the guide roller 11 is attached to the frame 10. The pair of cutting blades 48 and 49 are placed apart from each other. . The electric wire 3 wound on the guide roller 11 is passed through the straightening unit 13, the gap-absorbing unit 14, the coloring unit 15 and the duct 16, in order, and is interposed between the pair of 12 pickup rollers. Coloring nozzles 31 they are joined in a predetermined position of the main body 30 of the coloring unit 15 and each coloring nozzle 31 is connected to the supply source 32 of coloring material. Each source 33 of coloring material supply is connected to the corresponding pressurized air supply source 33 and the evacuation means is connected to the duct 16. The pick-up rollers 12 are driven to pull out the electric wire 3 from the roller 11 and move the electric wire 3 along the longitudinal direction. The friction with respect to the first deflection force Hl is provided to the electric wire 3 by the straightening unit 13 to pull the electric wire 3. The air cylinder 27 deflects the transfer roller 26, that is, the electric wire 3 with the second deflection force H2. When the predetermined pulse signals are input to the controller 19 from the encoder 17, the controller 19 injects the predetermined amount of coloring material to the outer surface 3a of the electrical wire 3 from the predetermined coloring nozzles 31. The solvent or dispersion liquid is evaporated from the coloring material adhered to the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3 and the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3 is dyed with the dye or painted with the pigment. The evaporated solvent or the dispersion liquid is evacuated by the evacuation means from the duct 16. In this way, the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3 is colored. When a predetermined length of the electric wire 3 is moved, the controller 19 takes a consideration from the information of the encoder 17 and stops the pickup rollers 12. This generates a clearance of the electric wire 3 especially between the pair of guide rollers 24 of the gap-absorbing unit 14 and the transfer roller 26 deviated with the second deflection force H2 which moves to a position shown by the line with double dashes and dots in figure 1. The extendable rod 29 of the air cylinder 27 of the gap-absorbing unit 14 extends and absorbs the play of the electric wire 3. The pair of cutting blades 48 and 49 approach each other and interpose the electric wire 3 between them to cut it. In this way, the electric wire 3 marked with the mark 6 on the outer face 3a thereof is obtained as shown in Figures 4A and 4B. According to the embodiment, the viscosity between 0.3 mPa »s and 4.5 mPa» s of the coloring material can control a variation of the mass of a drop of the coloring material even when the injection interval time is varied from the nozzle 31 of coloration (shorter or longer). In this way the colored dots (dots 7) can be maintained in the desired area (size) and form a predetermined mark on the electric wire 3 even when the injection interval time or the movement speed of the electric wire 3 varies. Although the electric wire 3 moves relative to the coloring nozzles 31, the coloring nozzles 31 inject the predetermined amount of the coloring materials into the electric wire 3. Therefore, it is not necessary to stop the electric wire 3 to color the electric wire 3, and then it results in that the working efficiency is not reduced. Since the predetermined amount of coloring material is injected into the electrical wire 3 which is displaced relative to the coloring nozzles 31, the coloring can be performed on any position or continuously on the electric wire 3. The encoder 17 measures the moving distance of the electric wire 3 and the controller 19 controls the coloring nozzles 31 in response to the movement distance. The interval time of injection of coloring material becomes shorter or longer with the speed of displacement of the electric wire 3, faster or slower, respectively. Thus, the distance between adjacent points adhered to the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3 can be kept constant even when the speed of movement of the electric wire 3 varies. The predetermined pattern adheres, ie, is colored to the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3 with the coloring material even when the speed of displacement of the electrical wire 3 varies. The applicant measured the variation of the mass of a drop of the coloring material with different viscosity when injected from the coloring nozzle 31. Figure 5 shows the result. Coloring materials with a viscosity ranging from less than 0.3 mPa «s to more than 5.0 mPa» s are injected from the coloring nozzle 31 having the nozzle member 50 of an internal diameter of 100 μm. Each different viscosity coloring material is injected with a frequency of 500 Hz to 3, 000 Hz. The coloring materials are injected 500 to 3,000 times in one second. In figure 5, the axis of the abscissa is the viscosity of the measured coloring material. The axis of the ordinates is the maximum variation of the proportion of the mass of a drop injected with the different frequencies up to 500 Hz. In figure 5, the value 20% on the axis of the ordinates means that the injected droplet mass of a frequency varies from 80% to 120% of the droplet mass of 500 Hz. When the viscosity of the coloration material is lower of 0.3 mPa * s, the maximum variation of the mass of a drop frequencies is very large. The low viscosity of the coloring material causes a large variation in the droplet mass with the injection intervals or frequencies. A decreased time interval or an increased frequency results in an increased droplet mass of the coloring material. Figure 5 shows that the viscosity of 0.3 mPa * s at 1.75 mPa »s gives the variation of 20% or less, which is a very small variation. In this viscosity range, the mass of a droplet can be controlled to form the predetermined size of the mark 6 (points 7) even when the time interval or the frequency of the injection varies. Figure 5 shows that the variation of the mass of a drop increases gradually of 1.75 mPa »s. The variation of the mass of a drop is 75% or less at a viscosity of 4.5 mPa * s or less. It was found that the mass of a drop can be controlled to form the predetermined size of the mark 6 (points 7) even when the interval time or the frequency of the injection varies. It is assumed that the mass of the injected coloring material is proportional to the size of the mark 6 or the point 7. It was found that the diameter of the point 7 at 500 Hz can be controlled from half to approximately 1.3 times the size in the variation of masses of 75% or less. The viscosity of the coloring material of 4.5 mPa »s or less can control the mass of a drop and form a predetermined size of the mark 6 (drops 7) under injection interval times or variable frequencies. As shown in Figure 5, a viscosity greater than 4.5 mPa «s causes the variation of the droplet mass above 75%, which is a large value. The high viscosity of the coloring material causes a large variation of the mass of a drop with changing the interval time or injection frequency. A shorter interval time or a high frequency decreases the mass of a drop of the coloring material. As clearly seen from Figure 5, the viscosity from 0.3 mPa «s to 4.5 mPa« s of the coloring material can control the mass of a drop to form a predetermined size of the mark 6 (points 7) and the predetermined marking on the outer surface 3a of the electric wire 3 even when the injection time interval or the moving speed of the electric wire is changed. The viscosity can be further controlled from 0.3 raPa »s to 3.25 mPa * s of the mass of a drop within the 50% variation even if the injection time interval is changed (shorter or longer). Then, the colored dots (points 7) can be accurately maintained in the desired area (size) with the change of the injection interval time. A predetermined size of the mark can be formed (points 7) and the predetermined marking on the electric wire 3 even the injection time interval or the travel speed of the electric wire 3 changes. As clearly seen in Figure 5, the viscosity from 0.3 mPa «s to 1.75 mPa« s can additionally control the mass of a drop within a variation of 20% even if the injection time interval is changed (shorter or longer) . Then, the colored dots (points 7) can be accurately maintained in the desired area (size) with a change of the injection time interval. It can be additionally secured from the predetermined size of the mark (points 7) and the predetermined marking of the electric wire 3 even if the injection time interval or the speed of movement of the electric wire 3 is changed.

Figure 6 shows the variation of the mass of a drop of the injected coloring material from the coloring nozzle 31 described above for the viscosity of 0.3 mPa * s (present invention, A shown by a solid line) of 1.5 mPa * s (present invention, B, shown with a line of dashes and dots) and 4.5 mPa »s (present invention C, shown by a line with double dashes and dashes). The result of Figure 6 is obtained by using the nozzle member 50 with the inner diameter of 100 μm in the coloring nozzle 31. The coloring materials of A, B and C are injected with the frequencies from 500 Hz to 3000 Hz. The coloring material of each viscosity is injected from 500 times up to 3000 times in one second. Figure 6 shows that the axis of the abscissa is the frequency, or the time interval of the injection and the axis of the ordinates in the variation of the mass of an injected droplet of the present invention A, B and C. The axis of the ordinate is the proportion of the mass of a drop injected at each frequency with respect to the 500 Hz. The value of 20% of the axis of the ordinates means that the mass of a drop injected at a frequency of 80% to 120% of the mass of a drop injected at 500 Hz. As shown in Figure 6, the variations of the mass of a drop of the totality of the present inventions A, B and C are within -75% and 20% for the frequency range from 500 Hz to 3000 Hz. The present invention A, B and C can control the mass of a drop of the coloring material and form the predetermined size of the mark (points 7) and the predetermined marking on the electric wire 3 even if the injection time interval is changed or the speed of movement of the electric wire 3. The viscosity of the coloring material is selected from 0.3 mPa «s at 4.5 mPa« s and also from 0.3 mPa «s at 3.25 mPa * s. As shown in Figure 5, the variation of the mass of a drop is further controlled with the change of the injection time interval (shorter or longer). It is possible to keep the colored dots (dots 7) in the desired area (size) and form the predetermined marking on the electric wire 3 even if the injection time interval or the moving speed of the electric wire 3 is changed. The viscosity of the coloring material can be from 0.3 mPa »s to 1.75 mPa * s. As clearly seen in Figure 5, the variation of the mass of a drop is further controlled by a change in the injection time interval (shorter or longer). It is possible to keep the color points (points 7) in the desired area (size) and form the predetermined marking on the wire - - 3 electric even if the injection time interval or the travel speed of the electric wire 3 is changed. In the present invention, acrylic paint, ink (dye or pigment) or UV ink can be used as the coloring liquid and paint. The described embodiments of the electrical wire 3 of the wiring harness are distributed in the motor vehicles. The present invention can also be adapted to electronic devices such as laptops or electrical machines. The embodiments described in the foregoing show only the representative of the present invention and are not limited thereto. Modifications to the present invention are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention of claim 1 can control a variation of the mass of a drop of a coloring material and maintain a colored spot in a desired area (size) even when the injection time interval is changed. It can form a predetermined mark on an electric wire even when changing the injection time interval or the speed of displacement of the electric wire. The present invention of claim 2 can further control the variation of the mass of a drop of the coloring material and keep the colored spot in the desired area (size) even when the injection time interval is changed. The predetermined marking on the electric wire can be precisely formed even when the injection time interval or the speed of displacement of the electric wire is changed. The present invention of claim 3 can further control the variation of the mass of a drop of the coloring material and keep the colored spot in the desired area (size) even when the injection time interval is changed. It can more accurately form the predetermined marking on the electric wire even when changing the injection time interval or the speed of movement of the electric wire. The present invention of claim 4 can control a variation of the mass of a drop of a coloring material and maintain a colored spot in a desired area (size) even when the injection time interval is changed. It can form a predetermined marking on an electric wire even when changing the injection time interval or the speed of displacement of the electric wire. The present invention of claim 5 can further control the variation of the mass of a drop of the coloring material and maintain the colored spot in the desired area (size) even when the injection time interval is changed. The predetermined marking on the electric wire can be precisely formed even when changing the injection time interval or the speed of movement of the electric wire. The present invention of claim 6 can further control the variation of the mass of a drop of the coloring material and keeps the colored spot in the desired area (size) even when the injection time interval is changed. It can more accurately form the predetermined marking on the electric wire even when changing the injection time interval or the speed of displacement of the electric wire.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. Coloring method of an electric wire comprising the steps of: injecting predetermined drops of a coloring material onto the outer surface of the electric wire; and adhering the droplets of the coloring material to the outer surface of the electric wire so that the viscosity of the coloring material is 0.3 mPa «s at 4.5 mPa« s. 2. Method as described in the claim 1, where the viscosity of the coloring material is from 0.3 mPa »s to 3.25 mPa« s. 3. Method as described in claim 1, wherein the viscosity of the coloring material is from 0.3 mPa «s to 1.75 mPa« s. Apparatus for coloring an electric wire comprising coloring the nozzle to inject predetermined drops of a coloring material onto the outer surface of the electric wire and for adhesion thereof, the coloring material having a viscosity of 0.3 mPa «s to 4.5 mPa »S. Apparatus as described in claim 4, wherein the coloring material to be injected has the viscosity from 0.3 mPa «s to 3.25 mPa» s. 6. Apparatus as described in claim 4, wherein the coloring material to be injected has the viscosity from 0.3 mPa »s to 1.75 mPa» s.