JP7701247B2 - Coloring instruction device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a color indicator device used to color the tip of an electric wire for identification purposes.

In some cases, such as when assembling a terminal attached to the end of an electric wire into a connector housing, a worker must identify the electric wire and terminal to be assembled. Before such a process, a process of coloring the end of the electric wire (coloring process) is inserted so that the worker can easily identify the terminal and electric wire in the subsequent process.

For example, in a conventional coloring process, a long, flat color indicator with a coloring pattern printed on it is placed parallel to a wire gripping rod that holds many electric wires in parallel, and a worker colors the terminals while checking the color pattern on the color indicator. This flat color indicator only displays one color pattern, so the worker needs to replace the color indicator for each wire gripping rod. This hassle of replacement reduces production efficiency. There is also the problem of storing the wire gripping rods that are not in use. For example, if there are eight color patterns, the seven color indicators that are not in use need to be kept near the workbench. Moreover, the color indicators are long. This requires extra space for storage.

On the other hand, the automated machines described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are known as techniques for coloring specific locations on the coating of electric wires.

JP 2015-72859 A JP 2015-72861 A

However, when coloring terminals or their vicinity, the terminals must be handled carefully to avoid damaging them, and when coloring terminals with a selection of multiple colors, a coloring head or other mechanism must be provided for each color to be used. This creates the problem that the cost is too high when using automated machines. There was therefore a demand for technology that would allow multiple colors to be applied efficiently by hand to terminals and wires.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a coloring indicator device that allows coloring work to be performed efficiently, eliminates the need to store unused coloring indicators, and streamlines coloring work.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the coloring instruction device according to the present invention has the following features (1) to (3).
(1) A coloring instruction device for instructing a color to be used when coloring the ends of a plurality of electric wires included in each group, the coloring instruction device comprising:
a plurality of long electric wire gripping rods for gripping the vicinity of the tips of the plurality of electric wires included in each group in parallel with the longitudinal direction of each electric wire in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the rods;
a rod guide that supports one of the plurality of electric wire gripping rods selected as a target for coloring work so as to be slidable in its longitudinal direction and to be positionable in the sliding direction;
a long rod-shaped color indicator having a polygonal cross section, which is supported parallel to the rod guide and rotatably about its own axis, and one of the side surfaces of which the number of sides is the same as the number of corners of the polygonal prism is held facing the front for work;
A coloring pattern for coloring the tips of the electric wires held by the electric wire gripping rod is determined in advance for each electric wire gripping rod;
the coloring patterns different from one another and determined for each electric wire gripping rod are displayed on a plurality of side surfaces of the color indicator having a polygonal cross section, one by one, so as to correspond to the position of the tip of each electric wire held by the electric wire gripping rod;
The coloring indicator is held in a rotated and positioned state so that the side on which the coloring pattern corresponding to the electric wire gripping rod set in the rod guide is displayed faces the front of the work during the coloring operation.
A coloring instruction device.

(2) The electric wire gripping rod further includes a display device that displays a color pattern or information corresponding thereto, the color pattern corresponding to the electric wire gripping rod based on the identification information of the electric wire gripping rod.
4. The coloring instruction device according to claim 1,

(3) Further comprising a lifting mechanism for lifting the color indicator.
3. The coloring instruction device according to claim 1, wherein the coloring instruction device is a coloring instruction device for indicating a color of a subject.

According to the coloring indicator having the above configuration (1), even if the coloring pattern for the electric wire differs for each electric wire gripping pole, the worker can easily recognize the color to be applied to each electric wire by rotating the coloring indicator so that the side of the coloring indicator showing the coloring pattern corresponding to the electric wire gripping pole to be used faces the front of the work. Therefore, the coloring work can be performed efficiently without the troublesome work and time required to replace a long, flat coloring indicator showing only one coloring pattern according to the electric wire gripping pole as in the conventional case. In addition, it is also unnecessary to secure a storage space for unused coloring indicators.
According to the coloring instruction device having the configuration of (2) above, a coloring pattern or information equivalent thereto corresponding to the set electric wire gripping pole is displayed on the display device, so that a worker can easily recognize the color to be applied to each electric wire by looking at the display and rotating the coloring indicator. In this case, the display device may display the coloring pattern itself, or may display the product number (corresponding to the coloring pattern) corresponding to the set electric wire gripping pole, and the worker may recognize the coloring pattern by checking a correspondence table of product numbers and coloring patterns.
According to the coloring indicator device having the configuration of (3) above, the coloring indicator can be lowered until the electric wire gripping rod is positioned at the work position, and then the coloring indicator can be raised to an appropriate position after the electric wire gripping rod is positioned at the work position. In other words, in the preparation stage for the tip of the electric wire to move to the work position, the coloring indicator can be retracted downward relative to the tip of the electric wire held by the electric wire gripping rod. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the coloring indicator from coming into unnecessary contact with the terminal at the tip of the electric wire during the movement to the work position. The raising operation of the coloring indicator may be controlled manually by the operator using a lift switch, or may be controlled automatically when the electric wire gripping rod is set to the work position.

According to the present invention, while using one color indicator, coloring based on multiple coloring patterns can be applied to the tip of the electric wire held by each electric wire gripping rod. Therefore, coloring work can be performed efficiently without the troublesome work of replacing the color indicator. In addition, since one color indicator is sufficient, there is no need to store color indicators that are not being used, and the coloring work can be streamlined.

The present invention has been briefly described above. The details of the present invention will become clearer by reading the following description of the embodiment of the invention (hereinafter referred to as "embodiment") with reference to the attached drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of the overall configuration of a coloring instruction device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the relationship between a coloring indicator in the coloring indicator device and the tip of the electric wire held by the electric wire holding rod. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a coloring pattern displayed on each side of a coloring indicator in a coloring indicator device. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship between the coloring pattern of the coloring indicator in the coloring indicator device and the tip of the electric wire.

Specific embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the drawings.

The coloring instruction device of this embodiment is a device for instructing the color to be used when coloring the ends of multiple electric wires included in each group (for example, a group of electric wires for a sub-harness held by one electric wire gripping rod).

Figure 1 is a diagram showing an outline of the overall configuration of a coloring instruction device according to an embodiment. Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the relationship between a coloring indicator in the coloring instruction device and the tip of an electric wire held by an electric wire gripping rod.

As shown in FIG. 1, the coloring indicator device 1 includes a workbench 2, multiple long electric wire gripping poles 10, a pole guide 15, a coloring indicator 20, an identification information reading device 51, a personal computer 52, a display (display device) 53, and multiple colored coloring pens 80 used by a worker. Here, at least the pole guide 15 and the coloring indicator 20 are supported by the workbench 2. The identification information reading device 51 is composed of, for example, a barcode reader.

The electric wire gripping rod 10 is a long rod-like rod that holds the multiple electric wires W contained in each group (for example, a group of electric wires that make up a sub-harness with one product number), and is transported sequentially from the previous process. Each electric wire gripping rod 10 is provided with identification information 13 that corresponds to the product number. Examples of the identification information 13 include a bar code or an identification mark.

Each electric wire gripping rod 10 has gripping parts 11 that grip the vicinity of the tip of the multiple electric wires W included in each group in parallel with the longitudinal direction of each electric wire W (X direction in the figure) in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the rod (Y direction in the figure). The gripping interval of the gripping parts 11 is adjusted according to the thickness of the electric wire W by elastic deformation or the like, and the electric wires W can be gripped detachably.

The rod guide 15 is a long guide member that supports one of the multiple electric wire gripping rods 10 selected as the target for coloring work, allowing it to slide in its longitudinal direction and position in the sliding direction. The arrow S in Figure 1 indicates the sliding direction. As shown in Figure 2, for example, the rod guide 15 is composed of a groove that allows one electric wire gripping rod 10 to slide from one longitudinal end of the rod guide 15 to the other end without falling off.

As shown in FIG. 2, the color indicator 20 is a long rod-like object with a polygonal cross section that is supported parallel to the rod guide 15 and rotatably around its own axis. The direction of rotation is indicated by the arrow R in the figure. The color indicator 20 is held in a state where one of the side surfaces 21, the number of which is the same as the number of corners of the polygonal prism, is positioned in the rotational direction toward the front of the work (the position closest to the coloring area when working). Here, the base end of the terminal T is colored, so the color indicator 20 is positioned and fixed in the rotational direction at a lower position close to the coloring area so that the side surface 21 displaying the corresponding coloring pattern faces the coloring area. The color indicator 20 is rotatably supported by brackets 30 and stays (not shown) arranged at necessary locations.

The coloring pattern to be applied to the tip of each of the multiple electric wires W (one group of electric wires) held by the electric wire gripping pole 10 is determined in advance for each electric wire gripping pole 10, i.e., for each sub-harness held by the electric wire gripping pole 10. Here, an example is shown in which there are eight types of coloring patterns, A to H. To correspond to these eight types of coloring patterns, the coloring indicator 20 has an octagonal cross section with eight sides 21. Note that the number of types of coloring patterns and the number of sides 21 of the coloring indicator 20 do not necessarily have to match, but in order to display all types of coloring patterns, the number of sides 21 of the coloring indicator 20 must be equal to or greater than the number of types of coloring patterns.

On the multiple side surfaces 21 of the color indicator 20 having a polygonal cross section, different color patterns A to H, each determined for each electric wire gripping pole 10, are displayed so as to correspond to the position of the tip of each electric wire W held by the electric wire gripping pole 10. FIG. 3 shows an example of the color patterns displayed on each side surface 21 of the color indicator 20 in an expanded form. FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the color patterns of the color indicator 20 and the tip of the electric wire W. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, an identification label 22 is displayed on the end of the multiple side surfaces 21 of the color indicator 20 having a polygonal cross section so that the worker can recognize the type of the displayed color pattern. Therefore, the worker can rotate the color indicator 20 while looking at this label so that the side surface 21 on which the required color pattern is displayed faces the front of the work.

When the electric wire gripping rod 10 is set in the rod guide 15, the personal computer 52 reads the identification information 13 of the electric wire gripping rod 10 via the identification information reading device 51, and displays the coloring pattern (or information equivalent thereto) corresponding to the electric wire gripping rod 10 on the display 53 based on the read identification information.

Next, the action will be described.
When using this coloring instruction device 1, the electric wire gripping rods 10 to be colored are set one by one in the rod guide 15 and positioned in the appropriate position. When the identification information 13 of the set electric wire gripping rod 10 is read, the corresponding coloring pattern information is displayed on the display 53, and the coloring instruction device 20 is rotated based on that information.

By doing so, the side 21 of the color indicator 20, which displays the coloring pattern corresponding to the electric wire gripping pole 10 to be used, can be faced toward the front of the work area, and the worker can easily identify the color to be used to color the tip of each electric wire W by looking at the coloring pattern displayed on that side, and then use the coloring pen 80 to color it.

Therefore, coloring work can be performed efficiently without the troublesome work and time required to replace a long, flat coloring indicator with only one coloring pattern inscribed on it according to the electric wire gripping pole, as in the past. In other words, using one coloring indicator 20, coloring based on multiple coloring patterns A to H can be applied to the tip of the electric wire W held by each electric wire gripping pole 10 for each electric wire gripping pole 10. Therefore, coloring work can be performed efficiently without the troublesome work of replacing the coloring indicator 20. In addition, since all coloring patterns can be indicated with one coloring indicator 20, there is no need to store unused coloring indicators, and there is no need to secure a storage space. As a result, coloring work can be streamlined.

In addition, the display 53 shows a coloring pattern (or information equivalent thereto) corresponding to the electric wire gripping pole 10 set in the pole guide 15, so the worker can easily recognize the color to be used for each electric wire W by simply looking at the display and rotating the color indicator 20. Note that while the display 53 may display the coloring pattern itself, it is more preferable to display the product number (corresponding to the coloring pattern) corresponding to the set electric wire gripping pole 10, and have the worker recognize the coloring pattern by checking a correspondence table between product numbers and coloring patterns.

It is also possible to further provide a lifting mechanism (not shown) for lifting and lowering the coloring indicator 20 .
In this case, the cylinders are installed on the workbench 2 so that the rods can move up and down, and the color indicator 20 is supported by the tips of these rods. The color indicator 20 is lowered until the electric wire gripping rod 10 is positioned at the work position, and the color indicator 20 can be operated to be raised to an appropriate position after the electric wire gripping rod 10 is positioned at the work position. In other words, in the preparation stage for the tip of the electric wire W to move to the work position, the color indicator 20 can be retracted downward relative to the tip of the electric wire W held by the electric wire gripping rod 10. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the color indicator 20 from coming into unnecessary contact with the terminal T at the tip of the electric wire W during the movement to the work position. The raising operation of the color indicator 20 may be controlled manually by the operator using a lift switch (not shown), or may be controlled automatically when the electric wire gripping rod 10 is set at the work position.

Here, the features of the coloring instruction device according to the embodiment of the present invention described above will be briefly summarized and listed in the following items [1] to [3].
[1] A coloring instruction device (1) for instructing a color to be used when coloring the ends of a plurality of electric wires included in each group, comprising:
a plurality of long electric wire gripping rods (10) for each group, which grip the vicinity of the tip of each of the electric wires included in each group in parallel with the longitudinal direction of each electric wire in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the rod;
a rod guide (15) for supporting one of the plurality of electric wire gripping rods (10) selected as a target for coloring work so as to be slidable in its longitudinal direction and to be positionable in the sliding direction;
and a long rod-shaped color indicator (20) having a polygonal cross section, which is supported parallel to the rod guide (15) and rotatably about its own axis, and one of the side surfaces, the number of which is the same as the number of corners of the polygonal prism, is held facing the front of the work,
A coloring pattern for coloring the tips of the electric wires held by the electric wire gripping rod (10) is determined in advance for each electric wire gripping rod (10);
The coloring patterns different from one another and determined for each electric wire gripping rod (10) are displayed on a plurality of side surfaces of the colored indicator (20) having a polygonal cross section, one by one, so as to correspond to the position of the tip of each electric wire held by the electric wire gripping rod (10);
During the coloring operation, the color indicator (20) is held in a rotated and positioned state so that the side on which the coloring pattern corresponding to the electric wire gripping rod (10) set in the rod guide (15) is displayed faces the front of the operation.
A coloring instruction device.

[2] The device further includes a display device (display 53) for displaying a color pattern or information corresponding to the electric wire gripping rod (10) based on the identification information of the electric wire gripping rod (10).
The coloring instruction device according to the above [1].

[3] Further comprising a lifting mechanism for lifting and lowering the color indicator (20).
3. The coloring instruction device according to claim 1 or 2.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Coloring indicator device 2 Workbench 10 Electric wire gripping rod 11 Grip portion 13 Identification information 15 Rod guide 20 Coloring indicator 21 Side surface 22 Identification label 30 Bracket 51 Reading device 52 Personal computer 53 Display (display device)
80 Coloring pens A to H Coloring patterns

Claims (3)

A coloring instruction device for instructing a color to be used when coloring the ends of a plurality of electric wires included in each group,
a plurality of long electric wire gripping rods for gripping the vicinity of the tips of the plurality of electric wires included in each group in parallel with the longitudinal direction of each electric wire in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the rods;
a rod guide that supports one of the plurality of electric wire gripping rods selected as a target for coloring work so as to be slidable in its longitudinal direction and to be positionable in the sliding direction;
a long rod-shaped color indicator having a polygonal cross section, which is supported parallel to the rod guide and rotatably about its own axis, and one of the side surfaces of which the number of sides is the same as the number of corners of the polygonal prism is held facing the front for work;
A coloring pattern for coloring the tips of the electric wires held by the electric wire gripping rod is determined in advance for each electric wire gripping rod;
the coloring patterns different from one another and determined for each electric wire gripping rod are displayed on a plurality of side surfaces of the color indicator having a polygonal cross section, one by one, so as to correspond to the position of the tip of each electric wire held by the electric wire gripping rod;
The color indicator is held in a rotated and positioned state so that the side on which the coloring pattern corresponding to the electric wire gripping rod set in the rod guide is displayed faces the front of the work during the coloring operation.
A coloring instruction device. The electric wire gripping rod further includes a display device that displays a color pattern or information corresponding thereto corresponding to the electric wire gripping rod based on the identification information of the electric wire gripping rod.
2. The coloring instruction device according to claim 1. Further comprising a lifting mechanism for lifting and lowering the color indicator.
3. The coloring instruction device according to claim 1 or 2.

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