Metal working – Means to assemble or disassemble – Means to assemble electrical device
Reexamination Certificate
1997-09-22
2001-01-09
Abres, Carl J. (Department: 3729)
Metal working
Means to assemble or disassemble
Means to assemble electrical device
C029S03300H, C029S749000, C029S865000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06170152
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the manufacture of a wire harness in which a plurality of electric wires for the wire harness are arranged and connected with pressure to a connector having a plurality of pressure-terminals. Mainly, the present invention aims at a wire harness in which the electric wires provided between two connectors, which are arranged opposed to each other, are composed of cross-wiring. The present invention relates to an electric wire pressure-connecting machine for a wire harness. Also, the present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing the wire harness and also relates to a method of manufacturing the wire harness.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrical units incorporated into an automobile are electrically connected with each other by a wire harness. For example, as shown in
FIGS. 25A
to
26
B, this wire harness is composed in such a manner that a plurality of connectors C
1
, C
2
. . . (general reference character: C) are connected with each other by a plurality of electrical wires F, . . . Concerning the arrangement of the electrical wires F, as shown in
FIGS. 25A and 26A
, reference characters W
1
and W
3
represent an arrangement in which all electrical wires are arranged in parallel with each other between the connectors C. As shown in
FIGS. 25B and 26B
, reference characters W
2
and W
4
represent an arrangement in which a portion of the electrical wires or all electrical wires cross each other. Further, reference character W
4
represents an arrangement of a crossover wiring F″ between the connectors.
In general, in the wire harness, the electrical wire F is connected to the connector C in such a manner that a terminal is crimped to an end of the electrical wire and then inserted into a cavity formed in the connector C. However, when the above crimped-connection is conducted, it is necessary to provide a large number of processes. Therefore, when the wire harness is manufactured recently, the method of pressure-connection, the number of working processes of which is small, is adopted to connect the electrical wire F to the connector C.
This connection with pressure (referred to as pressure-connection hereinafter) is conducted as follows. The electrical wire F, the outer diameter of which is a little larger than the groove width of the pressure-terminal of the connector C, is pushed into the groove (U-slot) of the pressure-terminal of the connector C using a jig or a press machine, and the electrical wire is fixed in the groove by the action of spring-back of the pressure-terminal. At this time, not only the electrical wire F is fixed, but also the cover of the electrical wire is torn by the inner wall of the groove when the electrical wire F is pushed into the groove, so that the conductor of the electrical wire is contacted with the inner wall of the terminal for electrical communication (shown in FIGS.
5
and
6
). The wire harness W
1
, W
2
, . . . (general reference character: W) is generally manufactured as follows.
In this connection, in order to simplify the explanations, as shown in
FIGS. 27A and 27B
, the wire harness W to be manufactured is composed of a pair of connectors C
1
and C
2
, and electrical wires F (F
1
, F
2
, F
3
and F
4
) which are arranged between both connectors C
1
and C
2
. Also, as shown in
FIGS. 27A and 27B
, four pressure-terminals T
11
, T
12
, T
13
and T
14
are respectively attached to the connector C
1
, and four pressure-terminals T
21
, T
22
, T
23
and T
24
are respectively attached to the connector C
2
. In this case, these pressure-terminals are represented by the general reference character T. In
FIG. 27A
represents a parallel wiring, and
FIG. 27B
represents a cross wiring. Concerning the apparatus in which the above pressure-connecting process is conducted, the specific structure is explained in detail in the embodiment. Therefore, the apparatus is not shown here, and only a model is illustrated in
FIGS. 28A
to
28
D.
In general, in this pressure-connecting apparatus, the electrical wires are connected to the connector C with pressure one by one. As shown in
FIGS. 28A
to
28
D, this pressure-connecting apparatus includes: a pressure-blade
61
for connecting the electrical wires F to the pressure-terminal of the connectors C
1
and C
2
with pressure; an electrical wire feed section
62
for feeding the electrical wires F to a portion close to the end of the pressure-blade
61
on the pressure-connection side; and a cutting blade
63
for cutting the electrical wires. All parts are moved in the three dimensional directions by a moving mechanism not shown in the drawing. In this way, there is formed a pressure-connecting and wiring head (pressure-connecting and wiring machine) by which the electrical wires F are connected to the connectors C
1
and C
2
with pressure and the electrical wires F are drawn out so as to lay electrical wires between the connectors C
1
and C
2
. In
FIGS. 28A
to
28
D, reference numeral
64
is a lower blade for cutting the electrical wires F in cooperation with the cutting blade
63
.
First, as shown in
FIG. 28A
, two connectors C
1
and C
2
are set at predetermined positions on the working table
65
. The pressure-blade
61
of the pressure-connecting and wiring head is moved immediately above the groove of the pressure-terminal T
11
of one C
1
of the connectors. During this movement or immediately after the completion of movement, the electrical wires F are fed from the electrical wire feed section
62
to a space between the pressure-blade
61
and the pressure-terminal.
Successively, as shown in
FIG. 28B
, the pressure-blade
61
is lowered and connects the electrical wire F to the groove of the pressure-terminal T
11
with pressure. Although not shown in the drawing, after the completion of pressure-connection, the pressure-blade
61
is moved upward and set at a high position where the pressure-blade
61
is completely separate from the connector C
1
. Then, the pressure-connecting and wiring head is moved horizontally, and the pressure-blade
61
comes to a position immediately above the groove of the pressure-terminal T
21
of the other C
2
of the connectors. During this movement, the electrical wire F is drawn out from the electrical wire feed section
62
, and the electrical wire F is laid between the pressure-terminals T
11
and T
21
of the connectors C
1
and C
2
.
After the horizontal movement of the pressure-connecting and wiring head has been completed, as shown in
FIG. 28C
, the pressure-blade
61
is lowered again and connects the electrical wire to the groove of the pressure-terminal T
21
with pressure. At this time, simultaneously with the pressure-connection, or immediately after the pressure-connection as shown in
FIG. 28D
, after the pressure-blade
61
has been moved upward, the cutting blade
63
is lowered and cuts the electrical wire which extends from the pressure-terminal T
21
of the connector C
2
to the right in the drawing. In this way, the connection between the pressure-terminals T
11
and T
21
is completed, and the electrical wire F
1
is arranged.
After that, the pressure-connecting and wiring head is moved upward and set at a high position where both pressure-blades
61
and the cutting blade
63
are completely separate from the connector C
2
. Then, the pressure-connecting and wiring head is moved to the left in FIG.
28
A and set at a position where the pressure-blade
61
is located immediately above the groove of the second pressure-terminal T
12
of the connector C
1
. At this time, when the pressure-connecting and wiring head is moved, the electrical wires are not drawn out, but only the head is moved.
In the above state, the electrical wire F is connected again to the groove of the pressure-terminal T
12
of the connector C
1
. In the same manner as described above, the pressure-connecting head (pressure-blade
61
) is lowered (pressure-connected) and moved upward. Then the pressure-connecting head (pressure-blade
61
Ohta Yoshinobu
Shioda Ryousuke
Suzuki Toshiaki
Abres Carl J.
Harness System Technologies Research Ltd.
Oliff & Berridg,e PLC
LandOfFree
Apparatus for making a wire harness does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Apparatus for making a wire harness, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Apparatus for making a wire harness will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2556585