JP7460270B2 - How to wire the protector and wire harness - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a protector for protecting electric wires of a wire harness and a method of wiring the wire harness.

Wire harnesses are installed in automobiles to supply power and transmit signals to electrical equipment. In places where it is necessary to protect the wires of the wire harness from interference with other components, the wires are inserted into a plastic protector.

An assembly drawing board (wiring board) is used to assemble the wire harness. A protector fixing jig and a plurality of wire holding jigs are arranged on the assembly drawing board. The protector fixing jig is a jig for fixing the protector to the assembly drawing board, and is specially designed according to the shape of the protector. The protector includes a base in which an opening is formed to receive the electric wire, and a cover that opens and closes the opening in the base. The wire holding jig is installed upright on the assembly drawing board, and has a vertical part that extends perpendicularly to the assembly drawing board and a U-shaped part formed in a substantially U-shape at the tip of the vertical part. have.

A plurality of electric wires are sequentially passed through the U-shaped portion of each electric wire holding jig. The protector is disposed between two wire holding jigs, and a plurality of wires are housed in the base of the protector through openings between the two wire holding jigs. After the plurality of electric wires are collectively fixed to the base of the protector using a cable tie or the like, the cover of the protector is closed.

JP 2013-207924 A

However, because protector fixing jigs are designed specifically for protectors, they must be redesigned each time the shape of the protector is changed. As a result, protector fixing jigs are more expensive than wire holding jigs that are commonly used for many types of wire harnesses.

In addition, some of the wires may rise up from the base of the protector and become caught between the base and the cover when the cover is closed. To prevent the wires from becoming caught, the wires may be bundled together with tape, but this increases the cost of assembling the wire harness due to the additional tape and increased labor required.

The object of the present invention is to provide a protector that can reduce the cost required for assembling a wire harness, and a method for wiring a wire harness in which the protector is attached to an electric wire.

In order to achieve the above object, a protector according to one aspect of the present invention is a protector for protecting electric wires of a wire harness, and includes a base on the bottom surface that is provided with an electric wire storage space and an opening that opens the electric wire storage space to the side opposite the bottom surface, through which the electric wire is stored in the electric wire storage space, and a cover that opens and closes the opening, and a through hole is formed in the bottom surface through which a rod-shaped portion of an electric wire holding jig used to hold the electric wire during assembly of the wire harness can be inserted, and the cover is divided by a slit that faces the center line of the through hole when the opening is closed.

According to this configuration, the electric wires constituting the wire harness are accommodated in the electric wire accommodation space of the base through the opening. An assembly drawing board on which a wire holding jig is erected is usually used to assemble a wire harness. The electric wire holding jig is commonly used for holding electric wires of various wire harnesses, and has a rod-shaped portion. An insertion hole through which the rod-shaped portion of the wire holding jig can be inserted is formed in the bottom surface of the base. The base can be positioned with respect to the assembly drawing board by inserting the rod-shaped part of the electric wire holding jig erected on the assembly drawing board into the insertion hole. Therefore, a dedicated jig for fixing (positioning) the protector to the assembly drawing board is not required, and the cost required for assembling the wire harness can be reduced.

Further, the cover that opens and closes the opening of the base has a cut that faces the insertion hole in the direction of the center line of the insertion hole when the opening is closed, and is divided by the cut. Therefore, even if the length of the rod-shaped part of the wire holding jig exceeds the height of the base of the protector, the cover can be closed. Further, since the length of the rod-shaped portion is long and the electric wire is prevented from going over the rod-shaped portion, it is possible to suppress the electric wire from being caught between the base and the cover when the cover is closed. Therefore, there is no need to bundle the wires with tape to prevent some of the wires from floating up from the base, and it is possible to avoid an increase in cost due to the addition of tape and the increase in man-hours. As a result, the cost required for assembling the wire harness can be further reduced.

An extension portion may be formed on the bottom surface, extending from an edge on one side in the direction in which the divided portions of the cover are lined up to the one side.

In this configuration, the protector can be fixed to the electric wire by bundling the electric wire and the extension together with a bundling tool such as a tie band (cable tie).

A wiring harness wiring method according to another aspect of the present invention includes a base provided with a wire accommodation space on a bottom surface and an opening that opens the wire accommodation space to a side opposite to the bottom surface, and a cover that opens and closes the opening. An insertion hole is formed on the bottom of the cover through which a rod-shaped part of a wire holding jig used for holding electric wires during wire harness assembly can be inserted. A protector is prepared that is divided by a cut that faces the hole in the direction of the center line of the insertion hole, and when the wire of the wire harness is accommodated in the wire receiving space through the opening and the cover is closed, the protector is opened. This is a method of routing a wire harness attached to an electric wire, in which a boss protruding from a panel provided in a vehicle is inserted into an insertion hole, and then a protector is fastened to the panel with a fastener.

This method allows the wire harness with the protector attached to the wiring to be easily attached to a panel installed in the vehicle.

According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the cost required for assembling a wire harness.

1 is a perspective view of a wire harness in which a protector according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached to electric wires. FIG. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the protector. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a state in the middle of assembly of the wire harness with the cover open; It is a perspective view showing a state in the middle of assembly of a wire harness, and shows a state where a cover is closed. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the protector, showing a state in which the protector is attached to a panel of a vehicle. 11 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a modified example of the structure for attaching the protector to a panel of a vehicle. FIG.

The following describes in detail an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings.

<Wire harness>
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wire harness 1 in which a protector 3 according to an embodiment of the present invention is attached to an electric wire 2.

A wire harness 1 is arranged in a vehicle such as an automobile to supply power and transmit signals to electrical equipment. The wire harness 1 is made by bundling multiple electric wires 2, and connectors and the like are provided at the ends of the electric wires 2. In addition, protectors 3 are attached to the electric wires 2 in places where it is necessary to protect the electric wires 2 from interference with other components.

<Protector>
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the protector 3. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the protector 3.

The protector 3 is a resin molded product integrally molded from synthetic resin, and includes a base 11 and a cover 12.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the base 11 has a substantially U-shaped cross section and extends long in the direction in which the electric wire 2 extends. Specifically, the base 11 includes a substantially rectangular bottom plate (bottom surface) 21, a first side wall 22 rising from one end edge along the longitudinal direction (hereinafter simply referred to as "longitudinal direction") of the bottom plate 21, and a bottom plate 21. It has a second side wall 23 that stands up from the other end edge along the longitudinal direction of 21 and faces the first side wall 22 in parallel. The space sandwiched between the first side wall 22 and the second side wall 23 on the bottom plate 21 is a wire accommodation space 24 in which the electric wire 2 is accommodated. An opening 25 is formed in between, and the opening 25 is open to the side opposite to the bottom plate 21 side. Moreover, the electric wire accommodation space 24 is open to both sides in the longitudinal direction.

As shown in FIG. 3, the bottom plate 21 has two insertion holes 26 at approximately the center in the longitudinal direction in the width direction (hereinafter simply referred to as "width"), which is the opposing direction between the first side wall 22 and the second side wall 23. (referred to as "direction"). The two insertion holes 26 penetrate through the bottom plate 21 and have a size that allows a rod-shaped portion 44 (see FIG. 4) of a wire holding jig 41 (described later) to be inserted therethrough. A space is provided between the two insertion holes 26 in accordance with the distance between the two rod-shaped parts 44 in the wire holding jig 41.

The bottom plate 21 is also integrally formed with an extension 27 that extends to one side from one edge in the longitudinal direction. The extension 27 is a rectangular plate that is the same thickness as the bottom plate 21 but smaller in width than the bottom plate 21, and is provided offset toward the first side wall 22.

Two locking frames 28 are formed on the outer surface of the upper end of the first side wall 22. Each locking frame 28 protrudes from the outer surface of the first side wall 22 and has a rectangular frame shape that is open on both sides in the height direction (hereinafter simply referred to as the "height direction") that is perpendicular to both the longitudinal direction and the height direction.

Further, a bolt insertion frame 29 is formed on the outer surface of the first side wall 22 . The bolt insertion frame 29 projects from the outer surface of the first side wall 22 and has a square frame shape that is open on both sides in the height direction.

The cover 12 is divided into two parts in the longitudinal direction. Each divided part 31, 32 of the cover 12 is a rectangular plate, connected to the tip edge (hinge part) of the second side wall 23 of the base 11, and is provided so as to be rotatable around the tip edge. Each divided part 31, 32 opens and closes the opening 25 of the base 11 by rotating. The tip of each divided part 31, 32 is separated from the tip edge of the first side wall 22 of the base 11 when the opening 25 is open, and is aligned with the tip edge of the first side wall 22 when the opening 25 is closed. A slit 33 is formed between the divided parts 31, 32, and the slit 33 faces the two insertion holes 26 of the bottom plate 21 of the base 11 in the height direction when the divided parts 31, 32 close the opening 25.

A locking pawl 34 is integrally formed in each divided portion 31, 32. The locking pawl 34 is provided at a position corresponding to the locking frame 28 of the base 11, extends from the tip edge of each divided portion 31, 32 in a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of each divided portion 31, 32, and It is bent toward the inner surface of each of the divided portions 31 and 32 in the horizontal direction. The distal end portion of the locking pawl 34 protrudes toward the side opposite to the distal end edge side of each of the divided portions 31 and 32, and has a tapered wedge shape (triangular cross section).

<Wire harness assembly>
4 and 5 are perspective views showing a state in the middle of the assembly of the wire harness 1 (a state in which the cover 12 is opened and a state in which the cover 12 is closed, respectively).

An assembly drawing board (not shown) is used to assemble the wire harness 1. A large number of wire holding jigs 41 are erected on the assembly drawing board. The wire holding jig 41 is a general-purpose jig that is commonly used for various wire harness assemblies including the wire harness 1. The wire holding jig 41 includes a vertical portion 42 that is inserted perpendicularly into the assembly drawing board, a connecting portion 43 that is connected to the tip of the vertical portion 42 and extends in a direction perpendicular to the vertical portion 42, and both ends of the connecting portion 43. It has a vertical part 42 and a rod-shaped part 44 extending parallel to each other on the opposite side from the part.

The electric wires 2 constituting the wire harness 1 are routed through the electric wire holding jigs 41 on the assembly drawing board in a predetermined order. The electric wires 2 passing through the electric wire holding jigs 41 are passed between the two rod-shaped parts 44 and supported by the connection parts 43. When the protector 3 is attached to a part of the electric wire 2, the protector 3 is placed between the two electric wire holding jigs 41A and 41B across which the part of the electric wire 2 (hereinafter referred to as the "protector attachment part") is spanned. Another electric wire holding jig 41C is erected between the two electric wire holding jigs 41A and 41B. The protector 3 is positioned with respect to the assembly drawing board by inserting the two rod-shaped parts 44 of the electric wire holding jig 41C into the two insertion holes 26 of the base 11, and displacement from that position in the direction along the surface of the assembly drawing board is restricted.

In this state, the electric wire 2 is passed between the two rod-shaped parts 44 of the electric wire holding jig 41. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, the divided parts 31 and 32 of the cover 12 of the protector 3 are opened, and the protector-attached part of the electric wire 2 is passed through the opening 25 of the base 11 of the protector 3. It is accommodated in the electric wire accommodation space 24 of the base 11. When the protector-attached portions of all the electric wires 2 to which the protectors 3 are attached are accommodated in the electric wire accommodation space 24, the electric wires 2 drawn out from the electric wire accommodation space 24 to one side in the longitudinal direction are bundled with a tie band or the like. The extension portion 27 is tied together with a tool 45 (see FIG. 1). Thereby, the protector 3 is fixed to the electric wire 2. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5, each divided portion 31, 32 of the cover 12 of the protector 3 is closed, thereby completing attachment of the protector 3 to the electric wire 2.

After the wire harness 1 is completed, the electric wire 2 is pulled out from between the two rod-shaped parts 44 of the electric wire holding jig 41, and the protector 3 is pulled out from the two rod-shaped parts 44 of the electric wire holding jig 41C inserted into the insertion hole 26. By doing so, the wire harness 1 is removed from the assembly drawing board.

<Wire harness routing>
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the protector 3, showing the protector 3 attached to a panel 51 of a vehicle.

A wire harness 1 in which a protector 3 is attached to an electric wire 2 is installed in a vehicle. The vehicle is equipped with panels 51, such as an inner panel and an outer panel constituting a back door, and a front floor panel between a driver's seat and a passenger's seat. A boss 52 is provided protruding from a panel 51 on which the wire harness 1 is routed. The boss 52 has a flat cylindrical shape that is sized to be inserted into the insertion hole 26 of the base 11 of the protector 3.

When the wire harness 1 is installed, the boss 52 is inserted into the insertion hole 26 of the base 11 of the protector 3. Then, the bolt 53 is inserted from above into the bolt insertion frame 29 of the base 11, and the bolt 53 is screwed into a bolt hole (not shown) formed in the panel 51, thereby fixing the protector 3 to the panel 51.

<Action and effect>
As described above, the electric wires 2 constituting the wire harness 1 are accommodated in the electric wire accommodation space 24 of the base 11 through the opening 25. For the assembly of the wire harness 1, an assembly board on which the electric wire holding jig 41 is erected is usually used. The electric wire holding jig 41 is a general-purpose jig that is generally used for holding electric wires of various wire harnesses, and has two rod-shaped parts 44. The bottom plate 21 of the base 11 is formed with insertion holes 26 through which the two rod-shaped parts 44 of the electric wire holding jig 41 can be individually inserted. The base 11 can be positioned relative to the assembly board by inserting the two rod-shaped parts 44 of the electric wire holding jig 41 erected on the assembly board into the insertion holes 26. Therefore, a dedicated jig for fixing (positioning) the protector 3 relative to the assembly board is not required, and the cost required for the assembly of the wire harness 1 can be reduced.

The cover 12, which opens and closes the opening 25 of the base 11, has a slit 33 that faces the insertion hole 26 in the height direction, that is, in the direction of the center line of the insertion hole 26, when the opening 25 is closed, and is divided by the slit 33. Therefore, even if the length of the two rod-shaped parts 44 of the electric wire holding jig 41 exceeds the height of the base 11 of the protector 3, the cover 12 can be closed. And, since the length of the two rod-shaped parts 44 is long and the electric wire 2 passed between the two rod-shaped parts 44 is prevented from exceeding the rod-shaped parts 44, when the cover 12 is closed, the electric wire 2 can be prevented from being caught between the base 11 and the cover 12. Therefore, it is not necessary to bundle the electric wires 2 with tape to prevent some of the electric wires 2 from floating up from the base 11, and it is possible to avoid an increase in cost due to the addition of tape and an increase in labor. As a result, the cost required for assembly of the wire harness 1 can be further reduced.

The bottom plate 21 is formed with an extending portion 27 extending from one edge in the longitudinal direction toward the one side. Therefore, by binding the electric wire 2 and the extension portion 27 together using the binding tool 45, the protector 3 can be easily fixed to the electric wire 2.

Further, the wire harness 1 can be easily attached to the panel 51 by inserting the boss 52 protruding from the panel 51 provided on the vehicle into the insertion hole 26 and then fastening the protector 3 to the panel 51 with the bolt 53. Can be done. Furthermore, when inserting the boss 52 into the insertion hole 26 , the operator can insert the boss 52 into the insertion hole 26 while visually checking the insertion hole 26 through the cut 33 . Good workability. Moreover, the insertion hole 26 also functions to prevent the protector 3 from turning when a worker tightens the bolt using an impact driver or the like by inserting a stud (threaded portion) of a bolt (screw).

The through hole 26 through which the boss 52 is not inserted functions as a drain hole when water (liquid) enters the base 11 of the protector 3, thereby preventing water from accumulating in the base 11 and preventing the electric wire 2 from becoming submerged in water. Note that the through hole 26 through which the boss 52 is inserted also functions as a drain hole if a gap is provided between the boss 52 and the through hole 26.

<Modification>
Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention can be embodied in other forms.

For example, in the above embodiment, two insertion holes 26 are formed in the bottom plate 21 of the base 11 of the protector 3, and the cover 12 of the protector 3 is divided into two divided parts 31, 32 accordingly. However, without being limited to this, two insertion holes 26 aligned in the width direction in the bottom plate 21 of the base 11 may be considered as one pair, and multiple pairs of the two insertion holes 26 may be formed with a gap in the longitudinal direction. In this case, slits 33 are formed in the cover 12 at positions facing each pair of the two insertion holes 26 in the height direction when the cover 12 is closed, and the slits 33 may divide the cover 12 into three or more parts.

The number of rod-shaped parts 44 protruding from the slit 33 is not limited to two, and may be one, such as an approximately J-shaped or approximately L-shaped one. In this case, the rod-shaped part 44 protruding from the slit 33 may protrude from the insertion hole 26 on the opposite side of the second side wall 23 of the base 11 to which the cover 12 is connected. In this way, the electric wire is not caught on the second side wall 23 side due to the closing and rotation of the cover 12, and the rod-shaped part 44 protruding from the slit 33 on the opposite side of the second side wall 23 (the first side wall 22 side) can prevent the electric wire from being caught between the base and the cover. The electric wire holding jig 41 may have three or more rod-shaped parts 44. In this case, in addition to the two insertable insertion holes 26 at both ends in the width direction, one or more insertion holes 26 may be provided inside them, and the number of insertion holes 26 may be equal to or more than the number of the rod-shaped parts 44 at positions corresponding to the rod-shaped parts 44.

Further, although the protector 3 is fixed to the panel 51 by providing screw holes (fasteners) in the panel 51 and inserting bolts into the bolt insertion frame 29, the present invention is not limited to this. ), the stud (threaded part) of the bolt 61 protrudes from the panel 51 side, and the bolt insertion frame 29 is fitted into the threaded part (screw foot). The protector 3 may be fixed to the panel 51 by clamping the threaded portion by a clamping portion 62 provided on the panel 51 .

In addition, the bottom plate 21 may have a guide shape (for example, a shape in which the bottom plate 21 is inclined toward the insertion hole 26, or a shape in which the bottom plate 21 has a groove toward the insertion hole 26) that guides water that has entered the base 11 of the protector 3 through the slit 33 to prevent the water from traveling along the electric wire 2 to the connector of the electric wire 2. In addition, the cover 12 is not limited to being connected to the tip edge (hinge portion) of the second side wall 23 of the base 11 and being integrated with the base 11, but may be separate from the base 11.

In addition, various design changes can be made to the above-described configuration within the scope of the claims.

1: Wire harness 2: Electric wire 3: Protector 11: Base 12: Cover 21: Bottom plate (bottom surface)
24: Electric wire receiving space 25: Opening 26: Insertion hole 27: Extension portion 31, 32: Divided portion 33: Slit 41: Electric wire holding jig 44: Rod-shaped portion 51: Panel 52: Boss 53: Bolt (fastener)

Claims (2)

A protector for protecting electric wires of a wiring harness,
a rectangular bottom plate, a first side wall rising from one end edge along the longitudinal direction of the bottom plate, and a second side wall rising from the other end edge along the longitudinal direction of the bottom plate; A space sandwiched between the second side wall and the second side wall is a wire accommodating space, and an opening between the leading edge of the first side wall and the leading edge of the second side wall opens the wire accommodating space to a side opposite to the bottom plate side. a base in which the electric wire is accommodated in the electric wire accommodation space through the opening;
a cover that opens and closes the opening;
Two insertion holes are formed through the bottom plate, through which rod-like parts of a wire holding jig used to hold the wires during assembly of the wire harness can be inserted, respectively;
The cover is divided by a cut that faces the insertion hole in the direction of a center line of the insertion hole when the opening is closed,
The two insertion holes are sandwiched between the first side wall and the second side wall on the bottom plate and are exposed from the cut in the direction of the center line. a protector provided at an end of the bottom plate in a direction opposite to the protector; The protector according to claim 1 , wherein the bottom plate has an extension portion extending from an edge on one side in a direction in which the divided portions of the cover are arranged to the one side.

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