JP6052097B2 - Manufacturing method of wire harness with protector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a wire harness with a protector, comprising a wire bundle in which a plurality of wires are bundled, and a cylindrical protector that surrounds the wire bundle and protects the wire bundle. Is.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a protector used for protecting a wire bundle in a wire harness, a so-called bellows-like one that surrounds the wire bundle and is easy to bend and deform is well known (for example, a patent). Reference 1). The bellows-like protector can be effectively protected even in a bent portion by being flexibly deformed corresponding to the bending of the wire bundle.

JP 2000-134762 A

  The ease of bending deformation of the bellows-shaped protector is advantageous in the process of manufacturing a wire harness, but the shape of the wire harness after wiring cannot be maintained, so that deformation due to vibration of the wire bundle is almost impossible. There is a possibility that inconveniences such as noise and contact with other parts may occur due to the deformation without allowing for restraint.

  In view of such circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a method capable of manufacturing a wire harness having a stable shape while using a bellows-like protector that can be easily bent and deformed.

  The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a wire harness including an electric wire bundle and a cylindrical protector surrounding the electric wire bundle. In this method, the protector is formed of a thermoplastic resin and has a bellows shape in which peaks and troughs are alternately arranged in the axial direction, and at least some of the peaks are thick at the top. A protector having a surplus portion larger than the thickness of the portion and corresponding to the difference in thickness, a step of inserting the wire bundle inside the protector, and the protector and the inside of the protector A step of melting the molten resin by heating the surplus portion while holding the wire bundle in a desired shape, and pouring the molten resin into the radially outer space of the valley portion adjacent thereto, Fixing the shape of the protector by cooling and solidifying the resin.

  According to this method, using the ease of bending deformation of the bellows-shaped protector, after freely setting the shape of the protector and the wire bundle inserted through the protector, the peak portion of the protector is retained while maintaining the shape. The shape of the protector and the bundle of wires inserted through the protector can be fixed without using a tape or other special fixing jig can do.

  Specifically, in the step of preparing the protector, a plurality of ridges as the protector has the surplus part, and the surplus part is arranged in the axial direction of the protector, and the surplus part is prepared. In the step of heating, the heating member is sequentially heated and melted by moving the heating member relative to the protector in the axial direction of the protector while bringing the heating member into contact with the surplus portion of the protector. It is preferable that the resin is poured into a space on the radially outer side of the adjacent valley portion. In this method, it is possible to efficiently heat each surplus portion in a short time. Moreover, as the heating member, a heating roller capable of rolling on the outer peripheral surface of the protector is suitable.

  More preferably, the relative movement of the heating member in the axial direction with respect to the protector is performed at each of a plurality of positions aligned in the circumferential direction of the protector. This makes it possible to fix the shape of the protector at a plurality of positions aligned in the circumferential direction, and to make the shape of the protector more stable.

  The said surplus part may be formed over the whole circumferential direction of the peak part including this surplus part, and may be formed only in a part of circumferential direction. Even in the latter case, it is preferable that the surplus portions formed in a part of the circumferential direction are aligned in the axial direction. Thus, by heating the heating member relative to the protector along the arrangement of the surplus portions aligned in the axial direction, the surplus portions can be efficiently heated. On the other hand, high flexibility (ease of bending deformation) can be ensured in the region where the surplus portion is not formed. Further, it is possible to save the material cost of the protector compared to the case where the surplus portion is formed over the entire circumference of the mountain portion.

  Further, the present invention is a cylindrical protector surrounding the wire bundle, is formed of a thermoplastic resin, has a bellows shape in which peaks and valleys are alternately arranged in the axial direction, and at least a part of The peak portion is provided with a portion having a surplus portion corresponding to the difference between the thicknesses of the apex portion being larger than the thickness of the valley portion.

  In this protector, it is preferable that a plurality of peak portions have the surplus portion, and the surplus portions are arranged in the axial direction of the protector. Further, in the circumferential direction, the surplus portions may be formed only in a part thereof, and these surplus portions may be arranged in the axial direction.

  As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a method that makes it possible to manufacture a wire harness having a stable shape while using a bellows-like protector that can be easily bent and deformed.

It is a perspective view which shows the protector which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention, and the electric wire bundle penetrated by this. It is a cross-sectional front view which shows the said protector and an electric wire bundle. It is the figure which expanded and showed the cross-sectional shape of the said protector. It is a cross-sectional front view which shows the process of rolling a heating roller on the surplus part of the said protector. It is an expanded sectional view which shows the state which fuse | melted the said surplus part and poured the molten resin into the adjacent trough part. It is a perspective view which shows the protector which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, and the electric wire bundle penetrated by this. It is a perspective view which shows the state which melted the surplus part of the protector which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, and poured the molten resin into the adjacent trough part.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIGS. 1-5 has shown the protector 10 and the wire bundle 20 which are used for the manufacturing method of the wire harness which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The method according to the first embodiment includes the following steps.

1) Preparation of Protector 10 In the first embodiment, a protector 10 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is prepared. The protector 10 is entirely formed of a thermoplastic resin into a cylindrical shape, and has a so-called bellows shape. Specifically, the protector 10 has a shape in which peak portions 12 having relatively large diameters and valley portions 14 having small diameters are alternately arranged in the axial direction. The inner diameter is larger than the outer diameter. The thermoplastic resin constituting the protector 10 is not particularly limited as long as it melts by heating described later and solidifies by subsequent cooling. For example, polyamide resin, polypropylene resin, polyethylene resin, and polyethylene terephthalate resin are suitable.

  Further, as a feature of the protector 10 prepared in this embodiment, each mountain portion 12 has a surplus portion 16 over the entire circumference. Specifically, the top portion of the peak portion 12 has a thickness larger than the thickness of the valley portion 14, and a portion corresponding to the difference in thickness constitutes the surplus portion 16. . The surplus portion 16 is a space in which the surplus portion 16 is adjacent in the axial direction and is formed on the radially outer side of the valley portion 14 (in other words, between the mountain portions 12 adjacent to each other in the axial direction). It is preferable to have a volume sufficient to fill the space formed therebetween.

2) Insertion of the electric wire bundle 20 The electric wire bundle 20 constituting the wire harness together with the protector 10 is inserted inside the protector 10. The wire bundle 20 can be bent and deformed in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction thereof, but the bellows-like protector 10 can be deformed following the deformation of the wire bundle 20 due to its shape. Is possible.

3) Heating / melting of surplus portion 16 The protector 10 and the wire bundle 20 inserted through the protector 10 are set to a predetermined shape (including a linear shape without bending deformation) by using the ease of bending deformation. Then, while maintaining the shape, the heating roller 30 shown in FIG. 4 is rolled on the outer peripheral surface of the protector 10, thereby heating and melting the surplus portions 16 of the peaks 12 sequentially. Using the rolling of the heating roller 30, the molten resin 17 is poured into the radially outer space of the valley 14 adjacent to the peak 12 as shown in FIG. That is, an operation is performed in which the surplus portion 16 formed on the outer peripheral portion of the ridge portion 12 is brought into a fluid state and is smoothed to the valley portion 14 side.

  The rolling of the heating roller 30 is preferably performed at a plurality of locations aligned in the circumferential direction. Alternatively, the heating may be performed over the entire circumference. For example, the protector 10 as a whole may be heated not by using the heating roller 30 but by radiant heating with a heater.

  Moreover, when using the heating member made to contact with the protector 10 in this invention, the said heating member is not limited to the said heating roller 30. FIG. For example, the block heater may be moved relative to the protector 10 so as to slide on the outer peripheral surface of the protector 10.

4) Cooling of the melted resin As shown in FIG. 5, the resin 17 melted by the heating of the surplus portion 16 is poured into the space outside the trough portion 14 in the radial direction, and then cooled as it is. Solidify the resin. Thereby, the relative position of the mountain parts 12 is fixed, and the overall shape of the protector 10 is generally fixed. The cooling may be natural cooling at normal temperature or forced cooling by air blowing or the like. Such heating and cooling of the surplus portion 16 makes it possible to fix the shape of the protector 10 to a desired shape without increasing the number of parts.

  The surplus portion 16 may not be formed on all the ridges 12 and may be formed only on at least some of the ridges. However, the fact that all the mountain portions 12 include the surplus portions 16 and the surplus portions 16 are heated and melted and cooled enables the shape of the protector 10 to be more reliably stabilized.

  Further, the surplus portion 16 may be formed only in a partial region in the circumferential direction in each mountain portion 12. An example thereof is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 as a second embodiment. The protector 10 ′ shown in FIG. 6 has ridges 12 and valleys 14 alternately as in the case of the protector 10 according to the first embodiment, and each ridge 12 has a surplus portion 16. The meat portion 16 is formed only in a partial region in the circumferential direction of each mountain portion 12 (in the figure, four locations arranged at intervals of 90 °). That is, each surplus portion 16 has a protrusion shape protruding outward in the radial direction compared to other portions. These surplus portions 16 are respectively formed at the same position in the circumferential direction so as to be linearly arranged in the axial direction.

  In the present invention, “the surplus portions are arranged in the axial direction” is not limited to those arranged in a straight line parallel to the axial direction. For example, the surplus portions may be arranged so as to meander slightly in the circumferential direction, or may be arranged in a spiral shape. The point is that the heating member such as the heating roller 30 can move relative to the protector following the arrangement of the surplus portions.

  Also in this second embodiment, for example, by heating the heating roller 30 shown in FIG. 4 along the place where each surplus portion 16 is arranged, heating and melting of each surplus portion 16, The molten resin can be efficiently poured into the valley portion 14, and then the shape of the protector 10 'can be fixed by cooling the poured resin. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the melted and cooled resin functions as ribs 18 connecting the ridges 12 on both sides of each trough 14, thereby increasing the rigidity of the entire protector 10 '. .

  In the second embodiment, the portion of each mountain portion 12 where the surplus portion 16 is not formed, that is, the portion that does not contribute to fixing the shape of the protector 10 'is set to a thin shape as in the conventional case. By this, the ease (flexibility) of deformation of the protector 10 'before heating can be maintained high, and the material cost can be saved.

  The protector 10 as shown in FIGS. 1-6 was shape | molded with the polyamide resin. The outer diameter of the peak 12 is 17 to 25 mm, the outer diameter of the valley 14 is 13 to 20 mm, the thickness of the peak 12 is 0.8 mm, and the thickness of the valley 14 is 0.3 mm. Therefore, the thickness of the surplus portion 16 is 0.5 mm.

  The surplus portion 16 was heated by the rolling of the heating roller 30, melted and poured into a space radially outside the valley portion 14, and then cooled and solidified. The thickness of the peak 12 after cooling is 0.3 mm, and the thickness of the valley 14 is 0.5 mm including the thickness of the resin 17 cooled after melting as shown in FIG. In this way, the shape of the protector 10 could be stably fixed.

10, 10 'protector 12 Mountain part 14 Valley part 16 Surplus part 20 Wire bundle 30 Heating roller

Claims (6)

A method for manufacturing a wire harness comprising an electric wire bundle and a cylindrical protector surrounding the electric wire bundle,
The protector is formed of a thermoplastic resin and has a bellows shape in which crests and troughs are alternately arranged in the axial direction, and at least a part of the crests has a wall thickness at the apex thereof. A step of preparing a protector having a surplus portion larger than that corresponding to the difference in thickness,
Inserting the wire bundle inside the protector;
In the space outside in the radial direction of the valley portion adjacent to the protector and the wire bundle inserted through the protector and melted by heating the surplus portion while maintaining the desired shape. The process of pouring into
And fixing the shape of the protector by cooling and solidifying the resin poured into the space.   2. The method of manufacturing a wire harness according to claim 1, wherein, in the step of preparing the protector, a plurality of mountain portions have the surplus portion, and the surplus portions are arranged in the axial direction of the protector. In the step of heating the surplus part, the surplus part is moved relative to the protector in the axial direction of the protector while the heating member is in contact with the surplus part of the protector. The manufacturing method of a wire harness in which heating a part sequentially is performed.   The method for manufacturing a wire harness according to claim 2, wherein the heating roller is rolled on the outer peripheral surface of the protector as a relative movement of the heating member in the axial direction with respect to the protector. Method.   4. The method of manufacturing a wire harness according to claim 2, wherein the axial movement of the heating member with respect to the protector is performed at a plurality of positions aligned in a circumferential direction. 5.   5. The method of manufacturing a wire harness according to claim 4, wherein a surplus portion of the protector to be prepared is formed only in a part of the mountain portion in the circumferential direction, and is formed in a part of the circumferential direction. A method of manufacturing a wire harness, wherein the meat portions are arranged in an axial direction, and the heating member is moved relative to the protector along the surplus portions arranged in the axial direction in the step of heating the surplus portions.   It is a manufacturing method of the wire harness in any one of Claims 1-5, Comprising: In the process of preparing the said protector, what has all the mountain parts have the said surplus part as the said protector is prepared. Production method.

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