EP0566969A2 - Process for manufacturing a cable harness - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a cable harness, the leads (10) on the one hand being provided in preparatory method steps with contact elements (12) (= initial contact making) and on the other hand being arranged in their final required position with respect to one another (= initial cable harness preparation), an integral sheath (2), which sheaths both the contact elements (12) and the leads (10), being integrally formed in a single final method step and, in particular, a cable harness which is manufactured using this method and has leads (10) which on the one hand are provided with contact elements (6,12) and on the other hand are arranged in a defined relative position with respect to one another, having one or more mouldings, which enclose the leads (10), for permanent fixing of the leads (10) in their relative position with respect to one another, and having coupling parts (1,7,26) in the region of the contact elements (6,12), an integral sheath being provided which acts both as the moulding and as the coupling part (1,7,26).

Description

The invention relates to a method for producing a wire harness with the method steps according to the preamble of claim 1. The subject of a further invention is an inventive wire harness according to the preamble of independent claim 6.

The cable harnesses mentioned at the outset are preferably installed as cable sets in automobiles. However, there are also many other possible uses for cable harnesses, for example installation in water and aircraft and use in plant construction. A particularly advantageous embodiment of a wire harness is in the
EP-B-0 288 752
described. This known cable harness has several cables bundled in the cable harness and enclosed by a molded body. The peculiarity of the cable harness described there is that the molded body enclosing the lines consists of several sub-areas with different materials with regard to their elasticity. The great advantage of this selection of materials is that the molded body has both areas with high elasticity and areas with low elasticity. The areas with high elasticity are desired at so-called predetermined bending points of the molded body, while the areas with low elasticity are preferably used in the so-called prefabricated assembly area. It is favorable in terms of production technology that the lines can be extrusion-coated or foamed with the various molded body materials. It is also advantageous that this known wiring harness can be packaged in a very space-saving manner and, because of its ease of installation, can be assembled very inexpensively.

The cable harnesses known from EP-B-0 288 752, like other known cable harnesses, essentially consist of the cables mentioned, bundled in the cable harness, of contact elements at the cable ends and of coupling parts for connection to further cable harnesses and / or for connection to a supplier and / or consumer. The production of known cable harnesses essentially includes the following manufacturing steps:
First, cable sections are cut from practically endlessly wound cable reels with preferably single-core cables. These cable sections form the cables in the cable harness and have the desired cable length after being cut to length. Each cable is usually assigned its own insulation sleeve. This insulation cover corresponds to the known cable insulation on the cable reel. The insulation sleeve serves both for insulation against undesired mechanical influences and for insulation against undesired electrical influences.

The lines cut to the desired length are pre-contacted in a next process step. For this purpose, the cables are stripped at their ends. The stripped ends are then connected in contacting manner with contact elements. This striking of the contact elements on the lines can for example by soldering, crimping, clamping, welding or the like. respectively.

Then the ends provided with contact elements are connected with coupling parts. These coupling parts are usually designed either as a plug or as a socket. Different manufacturing methods are known for manufacturing such coupling parts designed as plugs or sockets. In addition, various embodiments with different technical structures of coupling parts and in particular plugs and sockets are also known.

Common to all known manufacturing methods for cable harnesses is that the coupling parts are always manufactured in a separate manufacturing step. Only when the pre-contacted lines are connected to the coupling parts are the various cable bundles pre-assembled, i.e. they are brought into their desired final relative position to each other. If the individual line strands are arranged in their nominal position relative to one another, the molded body enclosing the individual line strands is sprayed or foamed in the known production processes.

The object of the first-mentioned invention is to simplify the manufacturing method described in order to make wire harnesses simpler and less expensive to be able to manufacture. This object is achieved by saving one method step in accordance with the overall combination of the method steps according to claim 1.

In the case of the cable harnesses produced using the known production method, particular attention is paid to the moisture tightness of the transition areas between the molded body surrounding the lines and the coupling areas. In this case, it is particularly the longitudinal tightness that is important because defective sealing points in the longitudinal direction of the line generate capillary forces that immediately draw any moisture attack into the interior of the molded body and pass it on there. The second invention mentioned is therefore based on the object of further improving the longitudinal tightness in the cable sets mentioned at the outset. This object is achieved by the combination of features of claim 6.

In a first part of the description, the inventive manufacturing process according to claims 1 to 5 will be described with its advantages. In a subsequent part, the wire harness according to the invention is to be described according to claims 6 to 17.

The inventive simplification of the manufacturing process consists in the fact that the lines are still pre-contacted with contact elements and the lines are pre-assembled. It is possible to first provide the lines with the contact elements and then prefabricate them, or first to prefabricate the lines in their final relative position to one another and then to provide them with the contact elements.

The invention consists in the summary of the process step connector production with the process step application of the molded body. For this purpose, the pre-contacted and pre-assembled cables are provided with an integral jacket. This integral casing is also effective as a coupling part in the area of the contact elements. Both the coupling parts and the molded bodies are therefore formed by the casing and this casing is produced in a single process step. The cost savings due to the elimination of a procedural step is evident.

According to claim 2, it is advantageous to first insert the pre-connected and pre-assembled lines in a mold and to cast the integral casing in the last process step. The entire wiring harness is cast around the ends of the contact elements. For this purpose, the molding tool has the necessary mounting elements for secure positioning of the individual lines and in particular their ends provided with the contact elements. Alternatively, claim 3 relates to a manufacturing process for the sheathing by foaming the lines. Here, in turn, foam material is shot into the molding tool with a single shot to foam around the lines and the contact elements.

In the area of the coupling parts, there is inherently the problem that the coupling parts designed as plugs, sockets, plug sleeves or plug sockets must be positioned and aligned in a stationary manner in such a way that quick and contact-safe assembly, and increasingly also robot assembly, is ensured. A certain stiffness of the coupling parts is required for this. The coupling parts of the supplier or consumer and of the cable harness are preferably designed to be complementary to one another according to the lock and key principle at the connection points. This means that there is, for example, a plug on the wiring harness and a socket on the consumer or vice versa. Here, both coupling parts must be designed so stiff that they each have complementary designed and interacting guide surfaces. It must be prevented in any case that a plug jams when inserted into the socket, receptacle or socket and the electrical contact is not made in this way. Plugs with a large number of axially projecting contact pins are known, in particular in the case of electronic components. Here, the function of the cable harness can already be disturbed if a contact pin does not snap into the socket assigned to it. This requirement of minimum stability has repeatedly led to the separate production of the coupling parts in the previously known manufacturing processes. According to claim 4, this problem is solved in that additional fixing elements are arranged in the area of the contact elements during the pre-assembly. After the covering has been applied, these fixing elements grind the covering in the coupling areas in such a way that the required minimum stability is ensured. For example, it is possible to insert so-called fixing plates into the casing. However it is it is also possible to introduce three-dimensional, housing-shaped fixing elements into the casing. The geometry of these fixing elements can in turn correspond to that of a conventional connector housing. The manufacturing method according to the invention can also be modified in such a way that the fixing elements are only subsequently attached to the finished integral casing of the wiring harness.

According to claim 5, the manufacturing method is expediently expandable in that the pre-assembled lines are provided with reinforcement-like stiffening bodies. These reinforcement-like stiffening bodies are then effective as reinforcement in the finished cable harness provided with the sheathing. It is essential and important in the inventive manufacturing process that the entire sheathing of the wire harness up to the contacting points of the lines is integrally cast or foamed in a single manufacturing process.

The inventive wiring harness according to claim 6, which is preferably produced using the method described at the beginning, is described below:
This wiring harness essentially has the lines provided with contact elements and coupling parts, which are arranged in a defined relative position to one another, the integral sheathing being effective both as a molded body for the wiring harness and as a coupling part. With this casing produced in a single production step, the formation of the leaks to be avoided is avoided from the outset. By avoiding the leaks, the undesirable effects of the capillary forces in the area of the leaks are eliminated. The wire harness produced in this way is therefore moisture-tight.

The guidance of the sheathing material in the immediate vicinity of the contact elements has the further advantage that the coupling parts have a smaller construction volume and thus on the one hand the material consumption is effectively reduced and on the other hand space-saving constructions are made possible. In particular, it also saves installation space on the vehicle, ie on the assembly object. In addition, the smaller construction volume makes it easier to assemble the wiring harness and ultimately also saves weight, which in turn has an effect on the overall weight balance of the assembly object, for example the motor vehicle.

In addition, costly and leak-prone adhesive points are completely eliminated because the sheath encloses the lines like a corset up to the contact elements or the coupling parts.

The subject of claim 7 is a casing made of molded PU material. Alternatively, according to claim 8, a casing consisting of a foam material is provided. The advantage of this sheathing made of a foam material is the higher internal elasticity of the wiring harness. This is advantageous from an assembly point of view if, for example, contact pins protruding from a plug are to be axially pivotable for easier assembly.

The advantages of a sheathing with partial areas of different flexibility are described in detail in the aforementioned EP-B-0 288 752. As an alternative to this, conventional reinforcement-like stiffening bodies can also be provided in the casing.

Claims 11 to 16 relate partly to inventive and partly advantageously expedient training and further developments of fixing elements in the area of the coupling parts. Also in EP-B 0 288 752, installation situations are described in which a high degree of flexibility or bendability of the coupling part jacket or of the cladding jacket region of the wiring harness directly adjacent to the coupling part jacket is desired in the area of the coupling parts. This requirement can go so far that the positioning stability of the complementary coupling parts designed according to the lock and key principle is not sufficiently guaranteed. To solve this problem, it is proposed in claim 12 to place a fixing plate in front of the connector body integrated in the casing of the cable harness. This fixing plate is provided with bores which form through openings for the contact pins of a plug. Likewise, the bores can serve as through openings for receptacles or receptacles of sockets. According to claim 13, the passage openings can be dimensioned so that the contact pins penetrate the passage openings at a radial distance from the passage opening edges, so that the resulting gap between the contact pins and the passage opening edges can be filled by the interposition of parts of the integral casing. The sheathing material can be unstable, i.e. elastic be to allow a certain deflection of the contact pins in the radial direction.

According to claim 14, the fixing elements can either be part of the integral component enclosed by the integral casing or, alternatively, can be adapted subsequently to the wiring harness according to claim 15. In the case of very soft and flexible materials in the plug or socket area, in particular, it is possible to loosely push a fixing element or even a small fixing housing onto the contacting parts in the manner of an intermediate washer or washer, or to place or insert between.

A fixing plate can advantageously be attached to the wiring harness by gluing or clipping.

Finally, claim 17 relates to a further measure to increase moisture tightness. Through the use of materials for the sheathing on the one hand and for the insulation sheaths of the individual lines on the other hand, which react chemically with one another in such a way that they form a material connection in the final assembly state, the inventive idea of the integral construction of the wiring harness can be further perfected. This integral connection of the integral sheathing with the insulating sleeves of the lines leads to a monolithic overall structure of the overall sheathing.

Fig. 1

das Leitungsende eines erfindungsmäßigen Kabelbaums mit einem als Steckdose ausgebildeten Kupplungsteil in geschnittener Darstellung,

Fig. 2

ein in Anpassung an das in Fig. 1 dargestellte Kupplungsteil als Stecker ausgebildetes Kupplungsteil in geschnittener Darstellung,

Fig. 3

eine schematische Gesamtansicht eines gesamten Kabelbaums mit mehreren Kabelästen unterschiedlicher Querschnittsform und

Fig. 4

die Darstellung eines als Rundstecker ausgebildeten Kupplungsteils mit vorgesetzter Fixierplatte.

Exemplary embodiments with expedient refinements and developments of the invention are explained on the basis of the drawing figures. Show it:

Fig. 1

the line end of an inventive wire harness with a coupling part designed as a socket in a sectional view,

Fig. 2

a coupling part designed as a connector in adaptation to the coupling part shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3

a schematic overall view of an entire wiring harness with several cable branches of different cross-sectional shape and

Fig. 4

the representation of a coupling part designed as a circular connector with an attached fixing plate.

Fig. 1 shows a coupling part designed as a socket 1. The socket 1 consists essentially of foam or solid or compact material existing integral casing 2. At the insertion end 3 of the socket 1, the through openings 5 extending in the axial direction 4 are formed. The passage openings 5 serve as receptacles for the contact pins 6 of the plug 7 shown in FIG. 2. The central longitudinal axes 8 of the passage openings 5 likewise run in the axial direction 4.

The radial direction 9 runs at right angles to the axial direction 4. In the radial direction 9, a line bundle consisting of five lines 10 runs into the socket 1. The lines 10 are each provided with a schematically indicated insulator covering 11. At their ends facing the through openings 5, the lines 10 are connected to the contact elements 12 which act as plug-in sockets.

The contact elements 12 and the lines 10 are firmly embedded in the integral casing 2. Fig. 1 shows a special embodiment of a wire harness for the following special application. After assembly, this wiring harness is located in areas where no moisture can enter, even in the worst case. In such cases, it would be a waste of material to provide the entire wiring harness with the moisture-resistant sheathing. In such cases, the casing is led from the areas at risk of moisture into the areas which are completely at risk of moisture, so that the area at risk of moisture and the casing overlap over a certain distance. This is the hatched area to the right of the auxiliary line 13 in FIGS. 1 and 2. The casing 2 is provided with a flange-like closure 14 in these areas which are not at risk of moisture. The lines 10 are either only covered by their insulating sheath 11 in the moisture-endangered area or are provided with an auxiliary sheath 15. In such cases, it is therefore possible to have the sheathing end before the line ends on the dry side, so that the individual lines can then either be guided individually in the moisture-free dry areas or without any sheath 2 or can be guided in bundles by means of the auxiliary sheath 5.

Fig. 2 shows the recognizable complementary to the socket 1 plug 7. The plug 7 can be inserted in the axial direction 4 in the socket 1 such that the contact pins 6 engage according to the lock and key principle in the contact sockets in the through openings 5. While at the Socket 1 according to FIG. 1, the contact sockets form the contact elements 12, the contact pins 6 form the contact elements in the connector 7 according to FIG. 2.

In the case of the connector 7, the contact pins 6 protrude from the active surface 16 in the axial direction 4. The active surface 16 is delimited on the edge by the border 17, which also projects in the axial direction 4. The inner surfaces 18 of the border 17 are designed as guide surfaces. The socket 1 has a step 19 in the region of its insertion end 3. The area between the step 19 and the insertion end 3 is designed here as a sliding surface 20 such that the sliding surface 20 of the socket 1 and the inner surfaces 18 of the border 17 on the plug 7 slide together when plug connector 7 and socket 1 in the manner of a sliding guide. The sliding surface 20 of the socket 1 and the inner surfaces 18 of the border 17 of the plug 7 are thus effective as an assembly aid when joining the plug 7 and socket 1. Both the area of the socket 1 with the sliding surface 20 and the border 17 on the plug 7 can be stiffened by additional fixing elements in the integral casing 2.

3 shows an overview drawing of a wire harness according to the invention. The individual wiring harness branches 21, 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d have different cross-sectional shapes in accordance with the sections A-A, B-B and C-C. The wire harness branch 21 corresponds to the main strand of the wire harness. In this wiring harness branch 21, the integral sheathing 2 is divided into the three sub-areas 22, 22a and 22b. The partial areas 22, 22a and 22b each have materials with different elasticity. The left section 22 is made of a material of normal elasticity. The middle tel area 22a has a very high elasticity and is additionally provided with a bending perforation 23. The right section 22b is finally effective as a distribution switch 24. The distribution switch 24 consists of rigid material. In turn, the cable branch 21a with the socket 1 according to FIG. 1 goes from the distribution switch 24. The cable branch 21 a here has an oval cross-sectional shape according to section A-A.

Furthermore, the distribution switch 24 leads to the cable branch 21d, which carries the plug 7 according to FIG. 2 at its end. Finally, the cable branch 21 c with terminal cube socket 25 also goes off from the distribution switch 24. The cube socket 25 has four through openings 5 which act as plug-in sockets 5. The cube socket 25 is complementary to the coupling part 26 shown in FIG. 4. The integral sheathing 2 of the wiring harness branch 21d carrying the plug 7, like the integral sheathing 2 of the wiring harness branch 21c carrying the cube socket 25, corresponds to the design of the integral sheathing 2 in the region of the partial region 22 of the wiring harness branch 21 shown on the left in FIG. 3 according to the circular cross section BB. Furthermore, from the flexible sub-area 22a provided with the bending perforation 23, there is also provided as cable harness branch 21b the line 10 which has only an insulating sheath 11 and at its free end carries a cable eyelet 27 which acts as a contact element. This line 10 carrying the cable sleeve 27 is provided for the above-described laying in a dry area.

4 finally shows the coupling part 26 designed in the form of a circular plug. Four contact pins 6 protrude from the end face 28 of the coupling part 26 in the axial direction 4. The integral casing 2 consists of a soft and thus flexible foam or solid material over the entire area shown in FIG. 4. In contrast, on the end face 28 of the coupling part 26 formed from the material of the integral casing 2, a fixing plate 29 which is comparatively hard compared to the casing material is placed. For anchoring in the casing 2, the fixing plate 29 has at least one molded projection (not shown) on its side facing the end face 28 of the coupling part 26, which is encapsulated by the material of the casing. The fixing plate 29 also has four through openings 5 for the four contact pins 6. The diameter of the passage openings 5 of the fixing plate 29 running in the radial direction 9 is in this case significantly larger than the diameter in the radial direction 9 of the contact pins 6. The contact pins 6 thus penetrate the passage openings 5 in the fixing plate 29 with an insulating radial distance. This radial distance enables the sheath material of the integral casing 2 to penetrate into the ring region created by the radial distance between the passage opening edges on the one hand and the contact pins 6 on the other hand. In this way, the live contact pins 6 are simply electrically isolated from the fixing plate 29.

On the other hand, the high elasticity of the material of the integral casing in the ring areas does not endanger the positioning accuracy of the contact pins 6, because this ring thickness of the ring surrounding the contact pins 6 made of the material of the integral casing 2 is relatively small, so that the stabilizing Effect of the fixing plate 29 is almost completely retained. The inner circumference of the hole surrounds the casing material in the surrounding area in a corset-like manner, which causes the contact elements, in the exemplary embodiment of the contact pins 6, to be held concentrically. A certain residual radial mobility, in particular pivotability, of the contact pins 6 is indicated by the auxiliary arrows 30. This relatively low mobility serves to compensate for any manufacturing tolerances that may occur on the side of the circular plug-like coupling part 26 on the one hand and the cube socket 25 complementary thereto. The circular connector-like coupling part 26 shown in FIG. 4 and the cube socket 25 shown in FIG. 3 in turn work together according to the key-lock principle.

Reference symbol list

1

socket

2nd

integral sheathing

3rd

Insertable

4th

Axial direction

5

Passage opening

6

Contact pin

7

plug

8th

Central longitudinal axis

9

Radial direction

10th

management

11

Insulating wrapping

12

Contact element

13

Auxiliary line

14

Graduation

15

Auxiliary wrapping

16

Effective area

17th

Outline

18th

Inner surface

19th

step

20th

Sliding surface

21, 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d

Wiring harness

22, 22a, 22b

Subarea

23

Bending perforation

24th

Distribution switch

25th

Cube socket

26

Coupling part

27

Cable eyelet

28

Face

29

Fixing plate

30th

Auxiliary arrow

Claims (17)

Method for producing a wiring harness, the lines (10) being used in preparatory method steps - Provided with contact elements (12) (= pre-contact) and - Arranged to each other in their final target position (= pre-assembly), characterized,
that an integral casing (2) enveloping both the contact elements (12) and the lines (10) is formed in a single last process step. Method according to claim 1,
characterized, - That the pre-contacted and pre-assembled lines (10) are introduced into a mold and - In the last step of the process, a castable solid PU material consisting of two components is introduced into the mold to create a sheathing (2). Method according to claim 1,
characterized, - That the pre-contacted and pre-assembled lines (10) are introduced into a mold and - That in the last step in the mold foam material is introduced to create a casing (2) made of foam material. Method according to one of claims 1 to 3,
characterized,
that additional fixing elements (29) are arranged in the area of the contact elements (6, 12) during the prefabrication. Method according to one of claims 1 to 4,
characterized,
that the lines (10) are provided with reinforcement-like stiffening bodies during pre-assembly. In particular with the method according to one of claims 1 to 5 manufactured wire harness, - with lines (10), - Which are provided with contact elements (6, 12) and which are arranged in a defined relative position to one another, - With one or more, the lines (10) enclosing molded bodies for permanent fixation of the lines (10) in their relative position to each other and - with coupling parts (1,7,26) in the area of the contact elements (6,12) marked by
an integral casing (2) which is effective both as a molded body and as a coupling part (1, 7, 26). Wiring harness according to claim 6,
characterized,
that the casing (2) consists of a two-component PU solid material. Wiring harness according to claim 6,
characterized,
that the casing (2) consists of a foam material. Wiring harness according to one or more of the preceding claims,
characterized,
that the casing (2) has partial areas (22, 22a, 22b) with different flexibility. Wiring harness according to one or more of the preceding claims,
characterized,
that reinforcement-like stiffening bodies are introduced into the casing. Wiring harness according to one or more of the preceding claims,
marked by
additional fixing elements (29) in the area of the coupling parts (1,7,26). Wiring harness according to one or more of the preceding claims,
marked by - A coupling part (26) designed as a plug (7) with axially projecting contact pins (6) and - A disk-shaped fixing plate (29) which delimits the plug body on the end face and has passage openings (5) for the contact pins (6). A wire harness according to claim 12,
characterized,
that the contact pins (6) penetrate the passage openings (5) at a radial distance from the passage opening edges with the interposition of parts of the integral casing (2). Wiring harness according to one or more of the preceding claims,
characterized
that the fixing elements (29) are enclosed by the integral casing (2) to form an integral component. Wiring harness according to one or more of the preceding claims,
characterized
that the fixing elements can be retrofitted to the coupling parts (26), preferably in a form-fitting manner. Wiring harness according to one or more of the preceding claims,
characterized
that the fixing elements (29) are also effective as a three-dimensional connector housing. Wiring harness according to one or more of the preceding claims,
characterized - That the lines (10) each have separate insulating coverings (11) and - That the material of one or more insulating sheaths (11) chemically reacts with the material of the sheath (2) to form a material bond Connection between insulating sheathing material and sheathing material.

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