JP7832072B2 - Wire assembly structure - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to an assembly structure for wires connected to electrical components housed within a housing.

When assembling a wire harness into an electrical junction box such as a relay box, it is common practice to secure the wire harness, which is pulled out from the electrical junction box, to the wire exit guide of the electrical junction box using cable ties.

In the conventional example shown in Figure 7, a wire pull-out guide 120 is provided on the housing wall 110 of the electrical junction box 100, projecting outward. The wire pull-out guide 120 is provided with an insertion hole 60 through which the band portion 52 of a cable tie 50 passes. When fixing a wire harness W to the wire pull-out guide 120 of this electrical junction box 100, the wire harness W is set in the wire pull-out guide 120 while adjusting the pull-out length. In this state, the band portion 52 of the cable tie 50 is wrapped around both the wire harness W and the outer circumference of the wire pull-out guide 120. Then, the tip of the wrapped band portion 52 is passed through the insertion hole 60 of the wire pull-out guide 120, and then inserted into the head portion 51 and locked, thereby tightening and fixing the wire harness W to the wire pull-out guide 120.

Similar examples of this type of conventional case are described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a structure in which, with multiple wires inserted into a wire insertion section (corresponding to a wire pull-out guide), the tip of a cable tie is inserted into the hole through the guide groove. Patent Document 2 also discloses a structure in which two insertion holes are provided on the tip side of a pull-out guide (corresponding to a wire pull-out guide) that protrudes from the peripheral wall of an electrical junction box, and the wire harness is fixed to the pull-out guide by wrapping the cable tie around the outer circumference of the wire harness, passing it through the two insertion holes, and then tightening it.

Incidentally, as shown in Figure 8, when assembling a wire harness W to an electrical junction box 100, the distance L1 from the tip 120a of the wire pull-out guide 120 of the electrical junction box 100 to a specific point on the wire harness W (for example, the branching point C of the branch line Wb branching off from the main line Wa) may be specified in the specifications. In such cases, conventionally, the wire harness W is pulled out by adjusting its length by inserting and removing it from the wire pull-out guide 120 until it reaches the appropriate specified value L1, and then the wire harness W is secured to the wire pull-out guide 120 with a cable tie 50.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2012-228079 Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-253536

However, the process of securing the wire harness W to the wire pull-out guide 120 with cable ties 50 while adjusting the insertion and removal dimensions of the wire harness W from the guide 120 presented a problem: it was time-consuming to adjust the position of the wire harness, resulting in poor work efficiency.

This invention has been made in view of the circumstances described above, and its purpose is to provide a wire assembly structure that can improve work efficiency when assembling wires into a housing that contains electrical components.

To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the assembly structure for lead wires to an electrical junction box according to the present invention is characterized by the following:

Power lines and,
A binding band having a band portion that is wrapped around the electric wire and used to secure the electric wire, and a head portion provided at the base end of the band portion and having an insertion hole formed therein into which the tip of the band portion is inserted and locked,
It comprises a guide wall that protrudes outward from the side wall of the housing that houses the electrical components,
The guide wall has a continuous formation of a wide groove and a narrow groove that penetrate along the wire guidance direction, the width of the wide groove is set to allow the head portion to pass through, and the width of the narrow groove is set to a size that prevents the head portion from passing through.
A wire assembly structure in which the head portion of the cable tie, which is wound around the electric wire, is inserted through the wide groove portion from the inside to the outside of the guide wall and then moved to the narrow groove portion, thereby positioning the head portion in the narrow groove portion.

According to this invention, by fixing the cable ties at predetermined positions along the length of the wires before assembling them into the electrical junction box, the length of the lead wires can be set to the specified length simply by assembling the wires with the cable ties into the electrical junction box. Therefore, the time required for adjusting the position of the wires is eliminated, improving the efficiency of the assembly work.

The present invention has been briefly described above. Furthermore, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by referring to the accompanying drawings and reading through the embodiments for carrying out the invention described below (hereinafter referred to as "embodiments").

Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of an assembly structure according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a perspective view of the completed assembly structure of one embodiment. Figure 3 is a perspective view illustrating the assembly procedure of one embodiment of the assembly structure. Figure 4 is a perspective view of the assembly structure of one embodiment, with the lower cover and wire harness omitted, viewed from below. Figure 5 is a perspective cross-sectional view taken with a plane perpendicular to the axial direction at the location of the narrow groove in the assembly structure of one embodiment. Figure 6 is a perspective cross-sectional view showing the state after removing the cable ties shown in Figure 5. Figure 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional example. Figure 8 is an explanatory diagram of how the length of a wire harness is set in a conventional example.

Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the figures.
Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of an assembly structure according to one embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 2 is a perspective view of the completed structure of one embodiment.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the wire assembly structure according to this embodiment comprises an electrical connection box 1, such as a relay box, for housing electrical components, a wire harness (electric wire) W, and a cable tie 50 made of an integrally molded resin product.

The electrical junction box 1 comprises a box body 10 and a lower cover 20 attached to the bottom surface of the box body 10. The housing wall 11 of the box body 10 is provided with a wire pull-out guide 12 that protrudes outward. Furthermore, the housing wall 21 of the lower cover 20 is provided with a wire pull-out guide 22 that, when combined with the wire pull-out guide 12 on the box body 10 side, constitutes a cylindrical wire pull-out guide 2.

The wire exit guide 12 on the box body 10 side is formed in a semi-cylindrical shape, with its lower surface 13 open to allow the wire harness W to be accommodated inside the wire exit guide 12 from below. Furthermore, the wire exit guide 22 on the lower cover 20 side is shaped to cover the open lower surface 13 of the wire exit guide 12 on the box body 10 side, for example, in a semi-cylindrical or arc-shaped form.

The wire pull-out guide 12, which protrudes from the housing wall 11 of the box body 10, has a semi-cylindrical guide wall 12b as its main element. A wide groove 15 and a narrow groove 16 are continuously formed at the top of the guide wall 12b, penetrating the guide wall 12b along the wire guiding direction (the protruding direction of the wire pull-out guide 12). Here, the wide groove 15 is located on the base end side in the protruding direction of the wire pull-out guide 12, and the narrow groove 16 is located on the tip side in the protruding direction of the wire pull-out guide 12.

On the other hand, the cable tie 50 comprises a flexible, strip-shaped band portion 52 that is wound around the outer circumference of the wire harness W, which is the object to be tied, and a head portion 51 provided at the base end of the band portion 52, which has an insertion hole 53 through which the free end of the band portion 52, which has been rolled into a loop for winding around the wire harness W, is inserted. The inner surface of the insertion hole 53 of the head portion 51 is provided with an engaging claw (not shown) that prevents the band portion 52 from moving in the return direction by engaging with any of the teeth of the engagement tooth row formed on the band portion 52.

The groove width b1 (the circumferential groove width of the semi-cylindrical guide wall 12b) of the wide groove 15 provided in the wire pull-out guide 12 of the electrical junction box 1 is set to a dimension that allows the head portion 51 of the cable tie 50 to pass through. Conversely, the groove width b2 (<b1) of the narrow groove 16 is set to a dimension that prevents the head portion 51 of the cable tie 50 from passing through. The leading edge of the narrow groove 16 in the wire guiding direction is positioned at a distance L2 from the tip 12a of the wire pull-out guide 12 so that it functions as a position regulating portion 16a that restricts the position of the head portion 51.

The assembly structure of this embodiment involves attaching the wire harness WX, which already has the cable ties 50 secured to its outer circumference, to the wire pull-out guide 12 of the electrical junction box 1 while it is still in that state.

In other words, the wire harness WX with cable ties is constructed by wrapping the band portion 52 of the cable tie 50 around the outer circumference of the wire harness W, and inserting and locking the tip of the band portion 52 into the insertion hole 53 of the head portion 51 provided at the base end of the band portion 52, thereby securing the wire harness W with the cable tie 50. Note that this cable tie 50 does not necessarily need to be used to secure multiple wires constituting the wire harness W; it may simply be provided for positioning the wire harness W.

Figure 3 is a perspective view illustrating the assembly procedure of the assembly structure of this embodiment.
To obtain the structure of this embodiment, first, as shown in the leftmost view of Figure 3, the wire harness WX with the cable tie attached, which has the cable tie 50 already fixed to the wire harness W, is placed in a horizontal position from below into the inner space of the wire pull-out guide 12 of the box body 10 of the electrical connection box 1 (the space below the guide wall 12b) (the operation shown by arrow A in the figure). At the same time, as shown in the center view of Figure 3, the head portion 51 of the cable tie 50 is inserted through the wide groove 15 from the inner side (lower side in the figure) to the outer side (upper side in the figure) of the guide wall 12b of the wire pull-out guide 12.

Next, as shown in the rightmost diagram of Figure 3, the head portion 51 is moved from the wide groove portion 15 to the narrow groove portion 16 on the upper side of the guide wall 12b (the operation indicated by arrow B in the figure). This prevents the head portion 51 from coming loose and holds it in place from the outer side to the inner side of the guide wall 12b. In this state, by abutting the head portion 51 against the position regulating portion 16a of the narrow groove portion 16, the cable tie-attached wire WX is fixed in a predetermined position in the wire guidance direction of the wire pull-out guide 12. Figure 2 shows this state.

In this case, as shown in Figure 2, the reference position 51a (the end face on the tip side of the wire pull-out guide 12) of the head portion 51 of the cable tie 50 fixed to the wire harness W is set in advance to a distance L from a specific point C such as the branching point mentioned above. However, if L1 is the distance from the tip 12a (120a) of the wire pull-out guide 12 (120) mentioned above to the specific point C,
L = L1 + L2
It is set up to be that way.

With this configuration, by aligning the reference position 51a of the head portion 51 of the cable tie 50 with the position regulating portion 16a of the wire pull-out guide 12 (by abutting the head portion 51 against the end of the narrow groove portion 16), the distance from the tip 12a of the wire pull-out guide 12 to a specific point C of the wire harness W can be set to the specified L1 when the wire harness WX with the cable tie is assembled to the wire pull-out guide 12.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the assembly structure of this embodiment, with the lower cover and wire harness omitted, viewed from below. Figure 5 is a perspective cross-sectional view of the assembly structure of this embodiment, cut by a plane perpendicular to the axial direction at the location of the narrow groove. Figure 6 is a perspective cross-sectional view showing the state with the cable ties in Figure 5 removed.

Furthermore, the semi-cylindrical wire pull-out guide 12 has the following additional configuration, which will be explained with reference to Figures 4 to 6.
One of the added features is a stopper projection 17 provided on the inner surface of the guide wall 12b at the entrance of the narrow groove 16 when the head portion 51 moves from the wide groove 15, as shown in Figure 4. This stopper projection 17 prevents the head portion 51 from moving back from the narrow groove 16 to the wide groove 15 by having the band portion 52 elastically deform and overcome it when the head portion 51 of the cable tie 50 moves from the wide groove 15 to the narrow groove 16. It is provided as a V-shaped projection that straddles the narrow groove 16.

Another added feature, as shown in Figures 5 and 6, is the presence of angled contact surfaces 18 and 19 on both inner surfaces of the narrow groove 16 that face each other in the width direction. These contact surfaces 18 and 19 are the parts of the cable tie 50 that come into contact with the head portion 51 and its vicinity, and are provided in a shape corresponding to the shape of the cable tie 50. For example, as shown in Figure 6, one contact surface 18 is the part that the side surface of the head portion 51 directly contacts, and is therefore composed of a simple angle. The other contact surface 19 is the part that contacts a portion of the head portion 51 and the portion 52a of the band portion 52 inserted into the head portion 51, and is therefore provided as a combination of two angled surfaces 19a and 19b.

As described above, once the wire harness WX with cable ties is assembled to the box body 10, the lower cover 20 can be attached to the underside of the box body 10, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. This allows the wire harness W to be housed in the wire exit cylindrical guide 2 and secured to the electrical junction box 1.

As described above, according to the assembly structure of this embodiment, by fixing the cable ties 50 to predetermined positions along the length of the wire harness before assembling the wire harness W to the electrical junction box 1, the length of the wire harness W can be set to the specified length simply by assembling the wire harness WX with the cable ties to the electrical junction box 1, thereby simplifying the assembly work. Furthermore, since the cable ties 50 can be fixed to the wire harness W in its free state before assembling it to the electrical junction box 1, the fixing of the cable ties 50 can be automated.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, since a stopper projection 17 is provided on the semi-cylindrical guide wall 12b, there is no risk of the cable tie 50 positioned in the narrow groove 16 spontaneously returning to the wide groove 15 side, and the fixed state of the wire harness W to the electrical connection box 1 can be stably maintained.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the head portion 51 positioned in the narrow groove portion 16 and its two nearby outer surfaces contact the slanted contact surfaces 18 and 19 of the narrow groove portion 16, thereby stably supporting the head portion 51 of the cable tie 50 without any wobbling.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, even when assembling the wire harness W into an electrical connection box 1 such as a relay box, which is larger than the wire harness W, the wire harness WX, which already has the cable ties 50 attached, can be secured to the electrical connection box 1 while maintaining the desired pull-out length, thus simplifying the work.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and modifications, improvements, etc., are possible as appropriate. In addition, the material, shape, dimensions, number, placement, etc., of each component in the embodiments described above are arbitrary and not limited, as long as they achieve the present invention.

For example, in this embodiment, the case where a wire harness (electric wires) W is assembled to an electrical connection box 1 mounted on a vehicle is described as an example. However, this method is applicable to any case where electric wires are assembled to a housing that contains electrical components, regardless of whether or not it is mounted on a vehicle.

Here, the features of the wire assembly structure according to the embodiments of the present invention described above are briefly summarized and listed below in [1] to [4].
[1] Electric wire (W) and,
A binding band (50) having a band portion (52) that is wrapped around the electric wire (W) and used to secure the electric wire, and a head portion (51) provided at the base end of the band portion (52) and having an insertion hole (53) into which the tip of the band portion (52) is inserted and locked,
A guide wall (12b) protrudes outward from the side wall of the housing (10) that houses the electrical components,
Equipped with,
The guide wall (12b) has a continuous wide groove (15) and a narrow groove (16) that penetrate along the wire guidance direction, the width of the wide groove (15) is set to a size that allows the head portion (51) to pass through, and the width of the narrow groove (16) is set to a size that prevents the head portion (51) from passing through.
The head portion (51) of the cable tie, which is wound around the electric wire (W), is inserted through the wide groove portion (15) from the inside to the outside of the guide wall (12b) and then moved to the narrow groove portion (16), thereby positioning the head portion (51) in the narrow groove portion (16).
The assembly structure of electrical wires.

According to the wire assembly structure of configuration [1] above, by fixing the cable tie (50) to a predetermined position along the length of the wire (W) before assembling the wire (W) to the electrical junction box (1), the length of the lead wire (W) can be set to the specified length simply by assembling the wire (WX) with the cable tie attached to the electrical junction box (1). Therefore, the time required for adjusting the position of the wire (W) is eliminated, improving assembly work efficiency. Furthermore, since the cable tie (50) can be fixed to the wire (W) in its free state before assembling it to the electrical junction box (1), the fixing of the cable tie (50) can be automated.

[2] On the inner surface of the guide wall (12b) at the entrance position of the narrow groove (16) when the head portion (51) moves from the wide groove (15), a projection is provided to prevent the head portion (51) from moving in the reverse direction from the narrow groove (16) to the wide groove (15).
The wire assembly structure described in [1] above.

According to the wire assembly structure of configuration [2] above, since a stopper projection (17) is provided on the semi-cylindrical guide wall (12b), there is no risk of the cable tie (50) positioned in the narrow groove (16) spontaneously returning to the wide groove (15) side, and the fixed state of the wire (W) to the electrical junction box (1) can be stably maintained.

[3] On both inner surfaces of the narrow groove (16) that are opposite to each other in the width direction, contact surfaces (18, 19) are provided, in which the head portion (51) and the opposing outer surface in its vicinity make surface contact.
The wire assembly structure described in [1] or [2] above.

According to the wire assembly structure of configuration [3] described above, the head portion (51) positioned in the narrow groove (16) and its two nearby outer surfaces come into contact with the slanted contact surfaces (18, 19) of the narrow groove (16), thereby stably supporting the head portion (51) of the cable tie (50) without any wobbling.

[4] The housing (10) is an electrical junction box (1) mounted on a vehicle, and the electric wire is a wire harness (W) connected to the electrical junction box (1).
The wire assembly structure described in any of the above [1] to [3].

According to the wire assembly structure of configuration [4] above, even when assembling the wire harness (W) into a relay box (1) that is larger than the wire harness (W), the wire harness (W) can be fixed to the relay box (1) while maintaining the desired pull-out length simply by assembling the wire harness (W), which already has cable ties attached, into the relay box (1), thereby simplifying the work.

W Wire harness (electrical wire)
WX Wire Harness with Cable Ties (Electrical Wires with Cable Ties)
1. Electrical junction box 10. Box body (electrical junction box)
12 Wire pull-out guide 12a Tip 12b Guide wall 15 Wide groove section 16 Narrow groove section 16a Position regulating section 17 Stopper projection (projection)
18 Contact surface 19 Contact surface 50 Cable tie 51 Head part 52 Band part 53 Through hole

Claims (4)

Power lines and,
A binding band having a band portion that is wrapped around the electric wire and used to secure the electric wire, and a head portion provided at the base end of the band portion and having an insertion hole formed therein into which the tip of the band portion is inserted and locked,
A guide wall protruding outward from the side wall of the enclosure housing the electrical components,
Equipped with,
The guide wall has a continuous formation of a wide groove and a narrow groove that penetrate along the wire guidance direction, the width of the wide groove is set to allow the head portion to pass through, and the width of the narrow groove is set to a size that prevents the head portion from passing through.
The head portion of the cable tie, which is wrapped around the electric wire, is inserted through the wide groove portion from the inside to the outside of the guide wall and then moved to the narrow groove portion, thereby positioning the head portion in the narrow groove portion.
The assembly structure of electrical wires. A projection is provided on the inner surface of the guide wall at the entrance of the narrow groove when the head portion moves from the wide groove, preventing the head portion from moving in the reverse direction from the narrow groove to the wide groove.
The wire assembly structure according to claim 1. On both inner surfaces of the narrow groove that are opposite each other in the width direction, contact surfaces are provided that the head portion and the opposing outer surface in its vicinity make surface contact with.
The wire assembly structure according to claim 1. The housing is an electrical junction box mounted on a vehicle, and the wire is a wire harness connected to the electrical junction box.
The wire assembly structure according to claim 1.