Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor – With bending – folding – winding – or wrapping means
Patent
1998-09-14
2000-03-28
Sells, James
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor
With bending, folding, winding, or wrapping means
156577, 156579, H01B 1300
Patent
active
060418427
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention concerns a tool for sheathing a bundle of wires of the electrical cable or tubing type, particularly of the type used in the manufacture of automobiles.
In the automobile sector, the electrical cabling generally consists in preparing one or more bundles of wire on an assembly device, in gathering the wires by means of adhesive connections or split rings made of plastic material, and in covering the combination with a ringed sheath made of split plastic material or a ribbon cover consisting of an adhesive strip.
This sheathing or ribbon covering which is generally called sheathing, has the essential function of imparting to the bundle a certain cohesion so that it can be easily installed on a structural element of a vehicle. In addition, it forms a flexible coating which absorbs vibrations, and dampens shocks between the bundle and the structural element, to avoid noise generation.
The sheathing of wires with small and moderate diameter, such as those intended for automobiles, is usually achieved by a helicoidal ribbon covering, which is applied manually by means of a flexible adhesive strip made of PVC, for example. This operation is particularly time-consuming and the quality of the results are uncertain.
Another sheathing method consists in enveloping the bundle in a ribbon by rolling this ribbon transversely with respect to itself around the bundle and by joining the two lateral edges of this ribbon. The ribbons that are currently used consist of polyurethane foam or adhesive baize, and they are thicker than those used for the helicoidal winding of bundles with small diameters. However, the implementation of this method is particularly difficult when performed manually.
The objective of the invention is to design a tool for sheathing a bundle of wires by means of a ribbon which is wound transversely with respect to itself around the bundle.
For this purpose, according to the invention, a tool for sheathing a bundle of wires is provided by enveloping this bundle in a flexible adhesive ribbon which is wound transversely with respect to itself around the bundle and whose longitudinal edges are joined by gluing, comprising a frame equipped with an enveloping head comprising a device for the shaping of the ribbon, which is mounted in a fixed manner to the frame and which possesses a folding edge that is V-shaped arranged to start a longitudinal folding of the ribbon, and at least a first pair of clamping jaws mounted on the frame which are mobile between an open position and a closed position in which they are applied one against the other by return means to ensure the gluing of the longitudinal edges of the ribbon one against the other and they define between themselves a passage orifice for the sheathed bundle.
Thus, the shaping device starts the transverse winding of the ribbon around the bundle, which is placed in the bottom of the V-shaped profiled part formed by the ribbon on this device. The V shape of the edge of the shaping device makes it possible to cause the different longitudinal strands of the ribbon to move along a trajectory of the same length to avoid an elongation of the end lateral strands which would risk breaking, during the later retraction of these strands, folding operations and local detachments of the ribbon. Indeed, it is understandable that the bundle and the ribbon, before being combined, extend along different directions, so that it is necessary to modify the angle of incidence of at least one of them. As the bundle is generally mounted in an immobile manner on an assembly table, it is easier to modify the direction of incidence of the ribbon by imposing a change in direction (on the order of 90.degree.) at the place where it meets with the bundle. It is precisely this change in direction which is ensured without damage to the ribbon by the V-shaped edge of the shaping device. In addition, the bundle which advances in the bottom of the V formed by this device is thus appropriately applied and glued at the central part of the ribbon which corresponds to the
REFERENCES:
patent: 4750968 (1988-06-01), Sweeny
patent: 5425826 (1995-06-01), Sayyadi et al.
patent: 5628867 (1997-05-01), Renaud
patent: 5897721 (1999-04-01), Kriodske et al.
Coroplast Fritz Muller GmbH & Co. KG
Sells James
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