JPS6046493B2 - Method and device for welding wire ends of wire harness - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for welding end portions of electric wires in the manufacture of wire harnesses.

Wire harnesses are generally constructed by combining a large number of electric wires, providing branch lines to the main line, and connecting connectors to each of these lines. Because it requires a great deal of labor and time to manufacture, it has traditionally been difficult to use various automatic wiring methods. A method is proposed.

However, since these methods basically cut the wires to a predetermined length and route them between each connector, they have the advantage of being able to automate the entire process up to the installation of the connectors. The problem was that it took a long time to produce, and productivity was low.

The present invention has been made with attention to the above points, and is a method for arranging and holding electric wires at appropriate intervals in advance at positions corresponding to terminal parts of main lines, branch lines, etc. constituting a predetermined wire harness. bridges are arranged, and the electric wire is routed between each bridge, and an appropriate length of terminal portion is left from the bridge, thereby making the wiring and cutting operations of the electric wire continuous, and By welding and fixing to terminals and bridges, it is easy to remove the insulation coating, tighten and crimp the connecting terminal fittings, and attach connectors, making it possible to significantly reduce the time and labor required for manufacturing. The object of the present invention is to provide a method for welding an electric wire end portion and an apparatus therefor. Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1A, reference numeral 1 denotes a workbench, on which a plurality of wiring locking pins 2 and a wiring table 3 are arranged in advance at predetermined positions. Reference numeral 4 denotes a bridge placed on the wiring table 3, and as shown in the opening of FIG. It is formed by connecting a large number of wires in a row in the horizontal direction at regular intervals, and is cut as appropriate depending on the number of wires to be wired.

This bridge 4 is preferably made of the same type of thermoplastic resin as the insulating coating of the electric wire. Reference numeral 8 denotes a wire that has been routed, and a programmed automatic machine, that is, a cooperation mechanism between a wiring head equipped with a wire clamping jig and the wiring table 3, sequentially places the wire on the wiring table 3 on the bridge 4. Welding piece 6,
At the same time, the terminal portion of each electric wire 8 is cut off from the bridge 4 leaving a predetermined length e, and is routed to connect each wiring stand 3, and is connected to the wire harness A. is obtained.

When the wiring is finished, the workbench 1 is moved to the next station, and the welding devices installed corresponding to each wiring table 3 simultaneously weld the welded pieces 6, 6'' of each bridge 4 to the insulation coating of the wire 8. is welded to.

Next, a tape 9 is wound around the branch portion of each electric wire 8 and temporarily fixed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, each electric wire 8 is routed with a predetermined wiring spacing and number of wires according to the product spacing, and is connected to the bridge 4 by leaving a predetermined length l from each end. As a result, wire harnesses B are obtained which are arranged and fixed in an orderly manner with constant intervals. This wire harness B is
Although it is a semi-finished product, all wires are automatically routed with the desired wiring spacing and number of wires, and the terminals of each wire are arranged and fixed in an orderly manner with a bridge, leaving a predetermined length.
This is extremely advantageous for storage, transportation, etc., before proceeding to the next process, such as connecting a connecting terminal fitting or a connector to the terminal part.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the end portion of each electric wire 8 fixed by the bridge 4 is stripped of its insulation, the insulation coating is removed by a terminal fitting attachment device, and the connecting terminal fitting 10 is crimped to form the wire harness C. This is what I did.

The terminal portion of each electric wire 8 constituting this wire harness C is as follows:
Since they are arranged and fixed in an orderly manner by the bridge 4, a plurality of connecting terminal fittings 10 can be crimped and connected at the same time, and as shown in FIG. There is no hassle of inserting each book, and it can be easily inserted at the same time.

The completed wire harness D shown in FIG.
The terminal portion of the bridge 4 is welded and fixed by a bridge 4.

Therefore, even if a local tensile force is applied to a particular electric wire 8'' during transportation, storage, or when actually installed and used in a car, for example, the tensile force is dispersed by the bridge 4, and the connection terminal fitting 10 can be prevented from being removed from the connectors 11.The apparatus according to the present invention will be explained from FIG. 5 onwards.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of the wiring device. Wiring head 1
5 is provided movably.

The X-axis 12 and the Y-axis 14 are rotated separately by motors, and by appropriately setting the amount of rotation, the wiring head 15 and the electric wire 8 held by the head 15 are placed on the workbench 1. Each wiring stand 3 can be moved to any desired position. Reference numeral 16 denotes a control device, in which the entire wiring process is programmed (NC-controlled) using tape.

Reference numeral 17 denotes an electric wire reel station, and each electric wire 8 whose insulation coating is color-coded is attached to a tensile force reducing capstan 18 which is rotated in the direction in which the electric wire is fed out by a motor (not shown).
It is connected to the wiring head 15 via.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the wiring head 15, in which a clamp jig 45 is mounted on the upper part of the wiring head main body 19 and the lower part of the wiring jig 2. It is set up.

An annular wiring jig mounting base 21 is rotatably provided in the wiring head main body 19 by a plurality of guide rollers 20, and the mounting base 21 is connected to a regulating rotation motor 22 such as a servo motor.
It is linked to.

Wiring jig elevating guide pipes 23 are provided at predetermined intervals on the wiring jig mounting base 21, a plurality of wiring jigs 24 are inserted, and the wiring jig 24 is held in a predetermined position using the knob pins 25. Holds at height.

Different color wires 8 are connected to each wiring jig 24 from the reel station 17, but the rotation of the wiring jig mounting base 21 interlocked with the regulating rotation motor 22 allows any wiring jig to be connected to the wiring jig 24. 24 can be selectively positioned at a predetermined position P (FIG. 7).

Reference numeral 26 is a lifting unit that raises and lowers the wiring jig 24 at a predetermined position P, and 27 is a motor that drives a capstan 33 of the wiring jig 24, which will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 8, the wiring jig 24 is provided with a connecting bar 30 that engages with the lifting unit 26 on the outside of a cylinder 29 with a wire insertion hole 28 inside, and a connection bar 30 that engages with the lifting unit 26.
At the top of the capstan head 31 and wire check device 3 are installed.
5, a nozzle 38 for wiring the electric wire is provided at the lower part. The capstan head 31 has the motor 27 on the outside.
The wheel 32 driven by
A capstan 33 is provided which is pivoted to the capstan 33, and a wire loosening prevention piece 34 is provided facing the lower part of the capstan 33.

Further, the electric wire non-return device 35 is provided with non-return claws 36, 36 urged by a spring 36a inside thereof, and a flexible electric wire guide 37 is provided at the upper end. The electric wire wiring nozzle 38 is formed of a coil spring, and when a certain tension is applied to the wiring jig 24 while running, it bends in the opposite direction to the running direction, and returns to its original state when the tension is released when the running is stopped. It is preferable to use a material that has a certain degree of elasticity and can straighten the bending of the wire being wired. 3a is a support tube for the wire nozzle 38, and the tube 38a is connected to a wire support tube 38c inserted into the cylindrical body 29.
A screw 38b is secured to the lower part of the holder.

The electric wire 8 is inserted from the electric wire guide 37 at the upper end of the wiring jig 24, passes between the non-return claws 36, and is attached to the capstan 3.
After the wire is wound once in 3, it is pulled out from the lower end of the wiring nozzle 38 through the wire support tube 38c1 and the nozzle support tube 38a.

The end portion of the wire 8 is locked to a wire clamp claw 52 of the wiring table 3, which will be described later, and the motor 27 is automatically driven to rotate the capstan 33, and the wiring jig 24 runs to apply tension. As the capstan 33 rotates, its tensile force is reduced, and the electric wire 8 is smoothly fed out.

In addition, the electric wire 8 is connected to a cutting blade 48 of a clamp jig 45, which will be described later.
When the tension is suddenly released,
The elastic pressing force of the wire loosening prevention piece 34 facing the capstan 33 prevents the wire from returning.

As a result, the end portion of the electric wire 8 is always exposed from the tip of the wiring nozzle 38. The above is a case of a wiring jig that actually runs for wiring wires, and wire check claws 36, 36 are provided on the upper part of each wiring jig 24.

Therefore, the electric wire 8 is prevented from being pulled out by the action of the electric wire non-return claw 36 urged by the spring 36a, and each wiring jig 24 always runs with the electric wire inserted and held.
FIG. 9 is a side view of the elevating and rotating device for the clamp jig 45, in which numeral 39 indicates the clamp jig body, and the actuator 4
0 so that it can be raised and lowered with respect to the wiring head main body 19.

Reference numeral 41 denotes an annular clamp jig mounting plate which also serves as a pulley, and is rotatable with respect to the clamp jig main body 39, and is provided at a position where its center coincides with the axis of the clamp jig 24 at the predetermined position P.

Reference numeral 42 denotes a regulating rotation motor for controlling the direction of the clamp jig 45, 43 a timing pulley thereof, and 44 a belt connecting the clamp jig mounting board 41 and the timing pulley 43.

Therefore, the clamp jig 45 can be rotated to a desired position about the wiring jig 24 by driving the regulating rotation motor 42, and can be moved up and down by the actuator 40. FIG. 10 is an enlarged side view of the clamp jig 45. The clamp jig 45 includes, in order from the front, a front end clamp plate 46, a wire end insertion guide plate 47 with a built-in coil spring 47a, a cutting blade 48, and a rear end end clamp plate 46. A clamp plate 49 is provided, and the guide plate 47 and cutting blade 48 slightly protrude from the lower surfaces of the front and rear end clamp plates 46 and 49 and are provided to be perpendicular to each other.

This front terminal clamp plate 46 and rear terminal clamp plate 49
and are provided at symmetrical positions with respect to the cutting blade 48. FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the wiring table 3, in which a plurality of nozzle guide pins 50 are provided at the front end of the upper part, a nozzle guide groove 54 is provided at the rear end, and a bridge placement groove for sequentially placing the bridges 4 in the middle. 51, a wire clamp claw 52 and a cutting blade contact surface 53 are provided, and a fitting hole 55 for a welding jig 60, which will be described later, is provided on one side of the bridge mounting groove 51.

Note that 56 is a release screw for the wire clamp claw 52.
The nozzle guide pin 50, the nozzle guide groove 54, etc. are increased or decreased depending on the number of wires to be wired, and are used to guide the wiring nozzle 38 of the wiring jig 24 during wiring.
Further, the wire clamp claw 52 is used to hold the wire during wiring and to hold the wire until the welding process, and can only hold down the inserted wire.

Figure 12 shows the wiring table 3, the wiring jig 2, and the clamp jig 4.
5, at the starting point of the wiring (Fig. 12A), the bridge 4 is placed in advance in the bridge mounting groove 51 of the wiring table 3-1, and the bridge 4 and the nozzle The wiring nozzle 3 of the wiring jig 24 is placed between the guide pins 50.
8 is bent and makes contact, and the end portion (length f) of the wire 8 exposed from the tip is slightly bent and attached to the wire clamp claw 5.
It is located 2 meters above.

In this state, when the clamp jig 45 is pushed down, the wire end insertion guide plate 47, which protrudes from the lower surface of the front end clamp plate 46, comes into contact with the end of the wire 8, as shown in the opening of FIG.

Therefore, the wire 8 is guided to the center of the wire clamp claw 52, and is then held between the clamp claws 52 that are steadily pressed by the front terminal clamp plate 46, and at the same time is held between the welded pieces 6, 6'' of the bridge 4. That is, at the starting point of the wiring, even if the wire exposed from the tip of the wiring nozzle 38 is slightly bent, the wire end insertion guide plate 4
7 and the front terminal clamp plate 46, it is securely locked onto the wiring table 3-1.

FIG. 12C shows the end point of the wiring, and the wiring table 3-2 is placed opposite the wiring table 3-1.

Further, the wiring nozzle 38 of the wiring jig 24 bends into contact with the nozzle guide groove 54, and the electric wire 8 exposed from its tip is passed through the wiring locking pin 2 and the nozzle guide pin 50. It is stretched linearly between the wiring table 3-1. Therefore, the wire 8 is connected to the wire clamp claw 52 and the bridge 4.
When the clamp jig 45 is pressed down in this state, the electric wire 8 is steadily pressed against the rear end clamp plate 49 and the clamp claw 52, and is simultaneously cut by the cutting blade 48 leaving an end portion (length e) on the cutting blade contact surface 53. Next, the clamp jig 45 is attached to the regulating rotation motor 4.
2 (see Figure 9) to rotate the wiring jig 24.
If you place it directly behind, as in the case of Figure 12 A,
Return to the starting point state of the wiring.

FIG. 13 schematically shows the wiring process using the wiring jig 24, the clamp jig 45, and the wiring table 3.

A specific wiring jig 24 is positioned at a predetermined position P by the regulating rotation motor 22 (hereinafter referred to as 1 wiring jig selection), and the wiring jig 24 is moved to the rear of the wiring table 3-1 by an elevating unit. 2
6 (hereinafter referred to as 1 wiring jig lowering).

(Fig. 13A) 2 Wiring jig 24 on X axis 12 and Y axis 14
(hereinafter referred to as RXY axis travel), the wiring jig 24 is positioned at the starting position of the wiring (see Fig. 12A), and the clamp jig 45 is lowered and raised by driving the actuator 40 ( (hereinafter referred to as lowering and raising of the clamp jig 1), connect the end portion (length') of the electric wire 8 to the wiring table 3-
After the capstans 18 and 33 for reducing the tensile force of the electric wire are locked (hereinafter referred to as 0 capstan drive) (see Fig. 12A and 1).

(Figure 13) 3rxY-axis travel to stretch the electric wire 8) and move the wiring jig 24 toward the wiring table 3-2.

(FIG. 13 C) Position the wiring jig 24 at the end point of the wiring with respect to the wiring table 3-2 (see FIG. 12 C). to lock and cut.

Then, the first capstan drive is stopped. (FIG. 13 D) At this step, the wiring between the wiring tables 3-1 and 3-2 is completed.

)1r By moving the XY axis, the wiring jig 24 is moved to the wiring table 3-
2, and the clamp jig 45 is positioned directly behind the wiring jig 24 by driving the regulating rotation motor 42.

That is, clamp jig direction control is performed. (Figure 13 E)
] Due to the RXY axis travel, the wiring jig 24 moves to another preset wiring table), and the original wiring jig 24 is raised by the drive of the lifting unit 26 to a predetermined height. is maintained.

7 Next, similarly to 1, the other wiring jig 24 is selected as 1 wiring jig, 1 wiring jig is lowered, and 2, 3, etc. are sequentially selected.
. . . By repeating step 7, a desired wire harness A as shown in FIG. 1A is obtained.

14A shows the correspondence between the wiring table 3 and the welding device, 57 is the welding jig main body, and the mounting frame 58 is provided so as to be movable up and down via an actuator 59. The welding jig 60 houses a slide guide plate 61 having a plurality of slide grooves 62 in a welding jig main body 57.
is provided with a comb-shaped crimp rod 63 having an arcuate recess 64 at its tip, which can be raised and lowered by an actuator 65;
A hot air device 66 is pivotably supported on a welding jig main body 57 so as to be tiltable.

The hot air device 66 has a built-in heater (not shown) and heats the air sent by the air vibrator 67 to heat the welded pieces 6, 6'' of the bridge 4 placed on the wiring table 3 and the insulation coating of the electric wire 8. to melt.

Note that 68 is a fitting pin for the fitting hole 55 of the wiring table 3. FIG. 15 shows the welding process of the bridge 4 and the electric wire 8 using the welding jig 60. In FIG.
8 is fitted into the fitting hole 55 of the wiring table 3, the crimp rod 63 is positioned on the bridge 4, and hot air supplied by the heating device 66 is blown toward the bridge 4.

After the heating and melting process using the hot air, the actuator 65 is driven to lower the crimp rod 63 into the bridge mounting groove 51 of the wiring table 3, and the opening in FIG. The upper portions of the welding pieces 6, 6'' are shown welded to the insulation coating of the electric wire 8.

At this time, the welding pieces 6, 6'' have an inclined portion 7 (see the opening in Figure 1).
, the welding jig 60 smoothly engages with the arcuate recess 64 of the crimping rod 63, and the welding pieces 6, 6'' are pressed and crimped inward. The welding operation can be performed simultaneously by providing each wiring table 3 with a tape 9. Then, by winding the branch portion of each electric wire 8 with a tape 9, a wire harness B as shown in FIG. 2 is obtained.
FIG. 16 shows the entire device for removing the coating from the wire end portion (length') of the wire harness B and attaching the terminal fitting, 69
1 is an electric wire holder having an electric wire guide pin 70, and an auxiliary clamp 71 is provided on the pin 70 so as to be openable and closable, so as to clamp the electric wire.

72 is a wire sheath removal and cutting device provided opposite to the wire holder 69, and a pair of sheath removal and cutting blades 73, 7;
4, and the blades 73 and 74 are provided so as to be movable toward and away from each other in the direction in which they face each other and in the direction of the wire holder 69.

75 is a clamp for the auxiliary clamp 71.

A terminal crimping device 76 has a lower crimping die 77 and an upper crimping die 78 driven by a hydraulic press ram 79. The crimping device 76 is configured to be slidably movable behind the wire holder 69. 80 is a terminal feeding guide incorporating upper and lower terminal feeding claws 81 and 82 (see FIG. 17); 83 is a terminal transfer cylinder that moves together with the terminal crimping device 76; 84 is a chain terminal connecting a large number of terminals; 85 is a terminal feed adjustment piece.

FIG. 17 schematically shows the steps of removing the coating from the end of the wire, cutting it, and attaching the terminal fitting.

i The electric wire 8 fixed to the bridge 4 with the end portion (length e) left is placed on the electric wire holder 69 and clamped and fixed by the electric wire guide pin 70 and the auxiliary clamp 71. (1st
Figure 7 A) Remove the coating from the pair of 11 and approach the wire holder 69 side with the cutting blades 73 and 74 open.

(Figure 17) 1i facing coating removal, cutting blade 73,
74 is brought closer, the electric wire 8 is held from above and below (point O), and the electric wire 8 is retreated to the coating removal position (point 01).

(FIG. 17C) In 11 and III above, the wire 8 is neatly partitioned by the wire guide pin 70, and is pressed down by the sheath removal and cutting blades 73 and 74 approaching from above and below, so that the end portion thereof is It is held securely even when bent vertically or horizontally.

At the Iv coating removal position (point 01), only the coating is cut by the upper and lower coating removal and cutting blades 73 and 74, and the wire is retreated to the wire cutting position (point 02). i.e. 01-02
The conductor portion of the electric wire 8 is exposed between the points. (Fig. 17 D) At the v electric wire cutting position (point 02), the lower coating is removed and the electric wire 8 is cut by the cutting blades 73 and 74.
3,74 retreats.

Therefore, each electric wire 8 is cut from the bridge 4 at a fixed position, and the tips thereof are all aligned.

(FIG. 17E) ■ The terminal crimping device 76 moves behind the wire holder 69.

At the same time, the chain terminal 84 is also moved according to the number of electric wires 8 by the terminal feed claws 81 and 82. (Go to Fig. 17) ■ By driving the hydraulic breath ram 79, each connection terminal fitting 10 of the chain terminal 84 is swaged to the end of each electric wire 8 (see Fig. 3), and the terminal swage device 76 is returned to its original position. retreat to. On this occasion,
The moving distance of the caulking device 76 is (Σ), but the distance the terminal feeding claw 8
Is 2 due to the terminal feed adjustment piece 85? ? Therefore, the connection terminal fitting 10 corresponds to (Y1?? (in the figure, it is 4)
), then sent to the next crimping process. below,
By repeating steps I, ii, .

Next, by attaching connectors to each part of the connection terminal fitting 10, a completed wire harness D as shown in FIG. 4 is obtained. As explained above, the present invention arranges a plurality of wiring tables on a workbench according to product intervals, and when wiring electric wires from a wiring head running on the workbench, the wires are placed on the wiring table in advance. A thermoplastic resin bridge that holds the wires at appropriate intervals is placed on the wire, and after the wires are routed, the welded piece of the bridge and the insulation coating of the wire are heated and melted and crimped, and the end of the wire is connected to the bridge. Although the wire harness obtained by this method is a semi-finished product, it not only simplifies the subsequent steps such as removing the insulation coating, caulking and crimping the connecting terminal fittings, etc. This makes it possible to easily transport and store the wire harness, and to reduce the manufacturing cost of the wire harness.

In addition, when welding the bridge and the wire terminals, by providing a slide plate and crimp rod with slide grooves corresponding to the number of wires held on the bridge, weld and fix a large number of wire terminals at once. You can.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show embodiments of the present invention, and FIGS. 1 to 4 are explanatory diagrams of each embodiment when assembling a wire harness, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the wiring device, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the wiring head 15. , FIG. 7 is a plan view of the wiring head 15, FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view of the wiring jig 24, FIG. 9 is a side view of the elevating and rotating device for the clamp jig 45, and FIG. The figure is an enlarged side view of the clamp jig 45, FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the wiring table 3, and FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing the mutual relationship between the wiring table 3 and the wiring jig 2 and the clamp jig 45. Fig. 13 is an explanatory diagram of the wiring process, Fig. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing the mutual relationship between the wiring table 3 and the welding device, and Fig. 15 is an explanatory diagram of the wiring process.
16 is a perspective view showing the entire apparatus for removing the wire sheath and attaching the terminal fitting. FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of the process of removing the sheath, cutting, and attaching the terminal fitting. 3...Wiring table, 4...Bridge, 6,
6" welding piece, 60... welding jig, 57...
... Welding jig body, 61 ... Slide plate, 62.
...Slide groove, 63 ...Crimp rod, 64.
...Arc-shaped recess, 66...Hot air device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A bridge made of thermoplastic resin is provided with welded pieces protruding at appropriate intervals on a substrate, and an electric wire end portion of a wire harness is held between the welded pieces, and the welded A method for welding an electric wire end portion of a wire harness, which comprises heating and melting the insulation coating of the piece and the electric wire and then crimping the wire. 2. A wiring table on which the wire ends held at appropriate intervals via thermoplastic resin bridges are placed, and a welding jig for welding the welding piece holding the wire ends to the wire sheathing. The welding jig is provided with a welding jig main body that is movable toward and away from the wiring table, and a slide guide plate having a slide groove corresponding to a pair of welding pieces that clamp the electric wire, and a slide guide plate in the slide groove. Welding of electric wire ends of a wire harness, which houses a crimping rod that can be slid up and down along the welding jig and has an arcuate recess at its tip, and is tiltably provided with a hot air device that melts the welded piece in the welding jig main body. Device.