Electricity: conductors and insulators – Conduits – cables or conductors – Combined
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-05
2001-07-10
Reichard, Dean A. (Department: 2831)
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Conduits, cables or conductors
Combined
C174S101000, C174S068300, C361S826000, C361S827000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06259027
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wire harness for connecting electrical equipment, and more particularly to a technique for making a wire harness compact and reducing the number of times connectors are fitted.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a conventional wire harness, a system is adopted in which the wire harness is divided into a plurality of blocks, and the blocks are respectively designed and fabricated as a unit. Namely, a one-block wire harness
30
shown in
FIG. 4
is provided with main junction boxes
32
a
and
32
b
at opposite ends of a trunk line
31
. The one-block harness
30
is connectable to wire harnesses, or the like, of other blocks.
Further, a multiplicity of branch lines
33
a
to
33
h
branch off from the trunk line
31
by being spliced to required wires of the trunk line
31
(by connecting the wires). These branch lines are each provided with a connector
34
or a sub-junction box
35
, and secondary branch lines
36
a
to
36
c
are spliced to the branch line
33
e
, as necessary.
This wire harness
30
is arranged to be connected to electrical equipment or wire harnesses of other blocks by means of the main junction boxes
32
a
and
32
b
, the sub-junction boxes
35
, the connectors
34
, and the like.
However, with such a conventional wire harness, it has been necessary to provide a plurality of connector-accommodating portions inside the junction boxes in order to fit a plurality of connectors by means of the junction boxes. In a case where the number of connections of the connectors is numerous, the junction boxes become large in size, which has been a factor substantially reducing the degree of freedom in the installation of the wire harness.
In addition, since the branching of the route is effected mainly by the junction boxes, the number of connections of the connectors naturally increases. For this reason, not only does the assembling operation using the wire harness become complicated, but there are cases where measures for waterproofing, dust prevention, abnormal noise, and so forth are required in connector-connecting portions, which constitute an important factor for increasing costs.
Meanwhile, although it is possible to make the wire harness compact by forming the branches by splicing, since the splicing itself is a difficult process, the number of processes for fabricating the wire harness increases, and there arise problems which make the automatic assembly of the wire harness difficult.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been devised in view of the above-described conventional problems, and its object is to provide a wire harness which can be fabricated in a simple assembling process, has a compact shape, and is capable of reducing the number of times the wire harness is fitted to connectors.
To attain the above object, there is provided a wire harness for distributing a power source and a signal in a unit of electrical equipment or a unit of an electrical equipment system, characterized in that a small-size substrate having at least one electronic component and configuring an internal circuit is interposed midway in a route of a trunk line of the wire harness.
In this wire harness, the wire harness is able to demonstrate not only the function of electric wires but also the functions of electronic components. For this reason, it is possible to substantially reduce block connections, and the like, for providing various functions, so that the wire harness can be made compact, the number of times connectors and the like are fitted can be reduced, and the assembling operation can be further simplified.
The small-size substrate of the wire harness has a terminal for causing an electric wire of the trunk line to be electrically connected to the internal circuit, an electric wire being made to branch off from the trunk line by means of the terminal.
With this wire harness, since it is possible to disuse branching by means of connector fitting and branching by means of splicing, the arrangement of the wire harness can be simplified, thereby making it possible to reduce the number of connections of the connectors without impairing the degree of freedom of installation. In addition, it is possible to reduce the number of steps for the fabrication of the wire harness, and the automatic assembly can be facilitated.
The small-size substrate may have cutout portions on side surfaces of the substrate. In this wire harness, since the tape bites into the cutout portions and the substrate is thereby fixed when the outer periphery of the substrate is wrapped around and coated by the tape, the substrate can be coated more reliably without causing the tape to slip off.
The small-size substrate may have wall portions provided uprightly in such a manner as to project in a projecting direction of the terminal on both end sides of the small-size substrate where the terminal is arranged.
In this wire harness, the wall portions provided uprightly on both end sides of the terminal of the small-size substrate make it possible to prevent the tape from being torn off by the projection of the terminal, and the coating of the small-size substrate can be held more stably.
The terminal can be formed separately from the small-size substrate, and electrically connected by being retained at the small-size substrate after the electric wire is connected to the terminal.
In this wire harness, since the terminal is formed separately from the small-size substrate, the connection of the wire to the terminal can be facilitated, and the operating efficiency can be improved.
A plurality of the terminals may be disposed on a plate. In this wire harness, since a plurality of terminals are provided on the plate, the step of wiring with respect to the small-size substrate is remarkably facilitated by merely attaching the plate, so that the operating efficiency can be improved substantially, and the small-size substrate can be replaced simply.
A wall portion projecting from the small-size substrate may be formed on each end portion of the plate. In this wire harness, since a wall portion is formed on each end portion of the plate, it becomes unnecessary to provide wall portions on the small-size substrate, so that the arrangement of the small-size substrate can be simplified.
The plate may be fixed to the small-size substrate as a retainer formed on the plate is inserted in a retaining hole formed in the small-size substrate. In this wire harness, the terminal on the plate can be accurately positioned with respect to the small-size substrate by inserting the retainer on the plate into the retaining hole in the small-size substrate, so that the wire can be electrically connected to the small-size substrate simply and reliably.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4958260 (1990-09-01), Kobayashi et al.
patent: 5089794 (1992-02-01), Norimatsu
patent: 5106040 (1992-04-01), Cafmeyer et al.
patent: 5805402 (1998-09-01), Maue et al.
patent: 5936818 (1999-08-01), Maue et al.
patent: 6027679 (2000-02-01), O'Brien et al.
Reichard Dean A.
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
Walkenhorst W. David
Yazaki -Corporation
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