Wire harness manufacturing device and wire harness manufacturing method

Abstract

A series of operations related to wire harness manufacturing are automatically performed. The wire harness manufacturing device (1) is characterized by being provided with: a plurality of sliding parts (12); a front-end connector connection part of a connector connection part (17) that connects an electric wire (W18) to a front-end connector mounted in the sliding part (12); a small-scale gathering part and a large-scale gathering part (electric wire gathering part) of a moving tape winding mechanism (22) configured to selectively gather the pulled-out electric wire (W18) to form a branch shape; a moving tape winding mechanism (22) (tape winding part) configured to perform tape winding on the gathered electric wire (W18) to determine the branch shape; a plurality of rear-end connector moving parts of a rear-end connector supply part (16) provided so as to respectively have rear-end connectors mounted therein, each of the rear-end connector moving parts being configured to distribute the electric wires (W18) to each of the rear-end connectors by movement of each of the rear-end connector moving parts in an orthogonal direction; and a rear-end connector connection portion of the connector connection portion (17) configured to cut the electric wire (W18) while connecting the electric wire to a rear-end connector.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a wire harness manufacturing device and a wire harness manufacturing method for manufacturing a wire harness having a branched shape. Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, as a manufacturing device for manufacturing a wire harness having a branch shape, a device is used in which a plurality of holding members for holding the wire harness are arranged on a wiring board having a flat shape according to the branch shape (for example, see Patent Document 1). According to this manufacturing device, the wire harness is manufactured through a series of operations such as laying a plurality of electric wires on a wiring board to form a branch shape, and then performing tape winding at various positions to determine the branch shape.

[0003] [Citation List]

[0004] [Patent Document]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2018-60643A Summary of the invention

[0006] [Technical issues]

[0007] Here, most of the operations using the above-mentioned manufacturing apparatus are manually performed by an operator. In particular, operations from forming a branch shape to determining a shape by bundling are generally performed by a skilled operator based on experience. On the other hand, regarding the manufacture of wire harnesses, an apparatus that automatically performs manufacturing operations without any human intervention is being developed. However, it is difficult to automate the operations from forming a branch shape to determining a shape performed by a skilled operator, and a device that can automatically perform these operations is required.

[0008] Thus, the present invention is proposed in view of the above-mentioned technical problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a wire harness manufacturing device and a wire harness manufacturing method which can automatically perform a series of operations related to wire harness manufacturing.

[0009] [Solution to the problem]

[0010] In order to solve the above technical problems, a wire harness manufacturing device is provided, characterized in that it includes: a plurality of sliding parts, which are arranged between a first end side and a second end side to move linearly in parallel with each other, and the sliding parts can be equipped with front-end connectors respectively; a front-end connector connecting part, which is arranged at the first end side and is configured to connect the wires distributed and supplied to each of the sliding parts and can be pulled out from the first end side to the second end side to the front-end connector equipped in the sliding part as the distribution destination; a wire gathering part, which is configured to selectively gather the wires pulled out by the movement of different sliding parts to form A branch shape; a belt winding portion, which is configured to perform belt winding on the gathered wires to determine the branch shape; a plurality of rear-end connector moving portions, which are arranged to respectively have rear-end connectors installed therein, each rear-end connector moving portion being configured to distribute the wires pulled out by the movement of the sliding portion to each of the rear-end connectors by movement of each rear-end connector moving portion at the first end side in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the sliding portion; and a rear-end connector connecting portion, which is configured to cut off the wires distributed to each of the rear-end connectors and connect the wires to the rear-end connector at the same time.

[0011] In addition, in order to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, a wire harness manufacturing method is provided, characterized in that it includes: a preliminary connection step, in which the wires that can be pulled out are respectively distributed and connected to a plurality of front-end connectors; a wire pulling step, in which the front-end connectors are moved in a straight line parallel to each other to pull out the wires; a tape winding step, in which the pulled out wires are selectively gathered to form a branch shape and the branch shape is determined by performing tape winding; and a subsequent connection step, in which the pulled out wires are respectively distributed to a plurality of rear-end connectors, and then the wires distributed to each rear-end connector are cut off and the wires are connected to the rear-end connector at the same time.

[0012] [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] According to the wire harness manufacturing apparatus and the wire harness manufacturing method described above, a series of operations related to wire harness manufacturing can be automatically performed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 : is a perspective view showing the appearance of the wire harness manufacturing device according to the embodiment.

[0015] Figure 2 It is shown by a schematic box Figure 1 Block diagram of the wire harness manufacturing device in FIG.

[0016] Figure 3 It is shown by Figure 1 and Figure 2 The schematic diagram of an example of a wire harness manufactured by the wire harness manufacturing apparatus shown.

[0017] Figure 4 yes Figure 1 and Figure 2 A perspective view of the slide and track is shown.

[0018] Figure 5 It is shown in an enlarged manner Figure 4 A perspective view of one of the slides is shown.

[0019] Figure 6 It is shown as Figure 1 and Figure 2 The front end connector supply parts and the front end connectors are supplied to the front end connector mounting parts through these front end connector supply parts.

[0020] Figure 7 It is shown as Figure 1 and Figure 2 The front end connector mounting portion shown is a perspective view of a state where the front end connector is mounted on the sliding portion via the front end connector mounting portion.

[0021] Figure 8 It is shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 The diagram shows the portion of the connector connection portion where the wires are connected to the front connector and the process of connecting the wires.

[0022] Fig. 9 It is shown Figure 1 and Figure 2 A view of the back-end connector supply section and the process of connector supply is shown.

[0023] Fig.10 It is shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 A view showing a portion of a connector connection section that connects wires to a rear-end connector and an initial operation in the process of wire connection.

[0024] Fig.11 is shown in the connector connection portion Fig.10 A view showing the connection operation of the electric wires which is performed successively after the initial operation is shown.

[0025] Fig.12 It is shown Figure 1 and Figure 2 A three-dimensional view of the fixed belt winding mechanism shown.

[0026] Fig.13 It is shown in Fig.12 When looking in the direction of the middle arrow V11, Fig.12 A plan view of a pull-out belt winding portion provided in the fixed belt winding mechanism shown.

[0027] Fig.14 It is shown as Figure 1 and Figure 2 A perspective view of the wire holding / excess length providing portion shown.

[0028] Fig.15 is shown by Fig.14 The illustrated diagram is a perspective view of a state in which the excess length imparting corresponding electric wire holding mechanism pulls out the excess length of the electric wire.

[0029] Fig.16 It is shown by Fig.15 The illustrated schematic plan view shows a state where the wire holding mechanism pulls out the excess length of the wire.

[0030] Fig.17 is with Fig.16 A similar schematic plan view shows Fig.16 A modified example of the wire holding mechanism shown.

[0031] Fig.18 It is shown Figure 1 and Figure 2 A perspective view of the large-scale gathering section is shown.

[0032] Fig.19 It is shown Fig.18 The illustrated is a perspective view of a large-scale gathering section gathering electric wires.

[0033] Fig. 20 It is shown as Figure 1 and Figure 2 A perspective view of the moving belt winding mechanism and the robotic arm is shown.

[0034] Fig.21 It shows that Fig. 20 The moving belt winding mechanism shown is a perspective view shown as a single item.

[0035] Fig. 22 It is shown Figure 1 and Figure 2 A perspective view of the fixture attachment and the robot arm is shown.

[0036] Fig.23 It is shown as Figure 1 and Figure 2 A perspective view of the exterior material attachment portion and the robot arm is shown.

[0037] Fig.24 It is shown as Figure 1 and Figure 2 A perspective view of a conventional wiring arrangement and a robot arm is shown.

[0038] Fig.25 Yes Fig.24 The illustrated perspective view shows a conventional wire arrangement portion as a single item.

[0039] Fig.26 It is shown Figure 1 and Figure 2 A perspective view of the delivery section and the robot arm is shown.

[0040] Fig. 27 Yes Fig.26 The delivery unit shown is a perspective view shown as a single item.

[0041] Fig.28 It is shown by Figure 1 and Figure 2 The wire harness manufacturing device shown manufactures Figure 3 The schematic diagram of steps S11 to S14 of the wire harness manufacturing method shown in FIG.

[0042] Fig.29 It is shown by Figure 1 and Figure 2 The wire harness manufacturing device shown manufactures Figure 3 Schematic diagram of steps S15 to S18 of the wire harness manufacturing method shown in FIG.

[0043] Fig.30 It is shown by Figure 1 and Figure 2 The wire harness manufacturing device shown manufactures Figure 3 Schematic diagram of steps S19 to S22 of the wire harness manufacturing method shown in FIG.

[0044] Fig.31 It is shown by Figure 1 and Figure 2 The wire harness manufacturing device shown manufactures Figure 3 The schematic diagram of steps S23 to S25 of the wire harness manufacturing method shown in FIG.

[0045] Fig.32 It is shown by Figure 1 and Figure 2 The wire harness manufacturing device shown manufactures Figure 3 Schematic diagram of steps S26 to S29 of the wire harness manufacturing method shown in FIG.

[0046] Fig.33 It is shown by Figure 1 and Figure 2 The wire harness manufacturing device shown manufactures Figure 3 The schematic diagram of steps S30 to S33 of the wire harness manufacturing method shown in FIG.

[0047] Fig.34It is shown by Figure 1 and Figure 2 The wire harness manufacturing device shown manufactures Figure 3 Schematic diagram of steps S34 to S37 of the wire harness manufacturing method shown in FIG.

[0048] Fig.35 It is shown by Figure 1 and Figure 2 The wire harness manufacturing device shown manufactures Figure 3 The schematic diagram of steps S38 to S40 of the wire harness manufacturing method shown in FIG.

[0049] Fig.36 It is shown that when executing Figure 28 to Figure 35 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of steps S51 and S52 of the wire tension control method performed under the control of the control unit during the wire harness manufacturing method shown.

[0050] Fig.37 It is shown that when executing Figure 28 to Figure 35 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of steps S53 to S55 of the wire tension control method performed under the control of the control unit during the wire harness manufacturing method shown.

[0051] Fig.38 It is shown that when executing Figure 28 to Figure 35 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of steps S56 and S57 of the wire tension control method performed under the control of the control unit during the wire harness manufacturing method shown.

[0052] Reference Mark List

[0053] 1 Wire harness manufacturing device

[0054] 2 Tension control device

[0055] 11 Wire rack

[0056] 12 Sliding part

[0057] 13 Track

[0058] 14 Front-end connector supply department

[0059] 14a Front-end supply organization

[0060] 15 Front connector mounting section

[0061] 16 Back-end connector supply department

[0062] 16a Back-end supply organization

[0063] 16b Connector Track

[0064] 17 Connector connection part

[0065] 18 Fixed belt winding mechanism

[0066] 19 Wire holding / excess length giving unit

[0067] 20 Large-scale gatherings

[0068] 21 Robotic Arm

[0069] 22 Mobile belt winding mechanism

[0070] 23. Clamp attachment part

[0071] 24 External material attachment part

[0072] 25 Existing wiring layout

[0073] 26 Delivery Department

[0074] 26a Delivery Destination

[0075] 27 Control Department

[0076] 28 Metal frame

[0077] 29 Institutional Standby

[0078] 30 Wire guide

[0079] 31 Wire cutting die

[0080] 32 Servo motor

[0081] 111 Wire Reel

[0082] 121 Maintaining Department

[0083] 122 Sliding body

[0084] 122a Sliding connection

[0085] 122b Arm

[0086] 123 Connection

[0087] 124 Continuity Inspection Department

[0088] 124a Check pin

[0089] 141 Front-end storage

[0090] 142 Connector interface

[0091] 142a Connector mounting surface

[0092] 143 Rotating mechanism

[0093] 151 Connector Delivery Department

[0094] 151a Connector Hand

[0095] 151b hand up and down mechanism

[0096] 152, 162a, 201 supporting bridge

[0097] 161 Backend Storage

[0098] 162 Rear connector installation part

[0099] 163 Rear connector moving part

[0100] 171 Front connector connection part

[0101] 171a, 172a crimping part

[0102] 172 rear connector connection part

[0103] 172a Wire cutting blade

[0104] 173, 226 drive source

[0105] 174 Transmission Mechanism

[0106] 181 Pull out the middle belt winding part

[0107] 181a, 223 with scroll

[0108] 181b Holding Arm

[0109] 182, 192 support rails

[0110] 191Handling Unit

[0111] 191a, 591a Wire holding mechanism

[0112] 202 Gathering Arm

[0113] 221 Institutional Framework

[0114] 222, 231, 241, 251, 261 robot arm connection

[0115] 224 Reel Rotation Mechanism

[0116] 225 Small-scale gathering department

[0117] 225a Roller

[0118] 225b Gathering Blades

[0119] 225b-1 Accommodating recess

[0120] 232 Keep Hook

[0121] 233 fixture delivery mechanism

[0122] 242 Mounting mechanism

[0123] 252 Main body

[0124] 253 Connector holding part

[0125] 262 Main frame

[0126] 262a Front-end framework

[0127] 262b Backend Framework

[0128] 262c Intermediate frame

[0129] 263 Front connector holding part

[0130] 263a Support axis

[0131] 264 Rear connector holding portion

[0132] 301 Wire guide

[0133] 591a-1 Fixed end

[0134] 591a-2 Mobile end

[0135] 591a-3 Support rod

[0136] D11 Pull-out direction

[0137] D12 Moving direction

[0138] D13 Orthogonal direction

[0139] D14 Rotation direction

[0140] D15 Twist direction

[0141] D16 Check moving direction

[0142] D17 Handover rotation direction

[0143] D18 Receiving direction

[0144] D19 Installation direction

[0145] D20 Feeding direction

[0146] D21 Position Alignment Direction

[0147] D22, D27 crimping direction

[0148] D23, D26 descending direction

[0149] D24 Rising direction

[0150] D25 Slide direction

[0151] D28, D34 scroll rotation direction

[0152] D29 Clamping direction

[0153] D31 excess length rotation direction

[0154] D32 tension relaxation direction

[0155] D33 Support rod rotation direction

[0156] D35 Wire clamping direction

[0157] D36 belt winding direction

[0158] D131 Positioning direction

[0159] D301 Opening direction

[0160] D302 Closing direction

[0161] F11 driving force

[0162] F12 Balance

[0163] F13 Increased driving force

[0164] L11 Easing distance

[0165] P11 Capture posture

[0166] P12 Handover posture

[0167] P13 Front connector installation location

[0168] P14 front connection position

[0169] P15 rear connector installation location

[0170] P16 Backend connection location

[0171] P17 Retreat position

[0172] P18 Balance position

[0173] W1 Wiring Harness

[0174] W11 front connector

[0175] W12 rear connector

[0176] W13 branch line winding unit

[0177] W14 branch line exterior

[0178] W15 branch belt winding section

[0179] W16 Branch Exterior Department

[0180] W17 Fixing fixture

[0181] W18 Wire

[0182] W19 belt

[0183] W20 exterior materials

[0184] W21 Existing wires

[0185] X11, X13 rotation axis

[0186] X12 torsion axis DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0187] Hereinafter, a wire harness manufacturing device, a wire harness manufacturing method, a wire harness, a tension control device, and a tension control method will be described.

[0188] Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a wire harness manufacturing device according to an embodiment, Figure 2 It is shown by a schematic box Figure 1 A block diagram of a wire harness manufacturing apparatus in Figure 3 It is shown by Figure 1 and Figure 2 The schematic diagram of an example of a wire harness manufactured by the wire harness manufacturing apparatus shown.

[0189] The wire harness manufacturing device 1 according to the present embodiment is for automatically manufacturing a wire harness as Figure 3 The device of the wiring harness W1 having a branched shape is shown as an example in FIG.

[0190] The wire harness W1 as a manufacturing object is a component installed and arranged in a motor vehicle to connect multiple devices in the vehicle. The wire harness W1 includes a plurality of front-end connectors W11, a plurality of rear-end connectors W12, a branch line belt winding portion W13, a branch line exterior portion W14, a branch belt winding portion W15, a branch exterior portion W16, and a plurality of fixing clamps W17.

[0191] The front-end connector W11 is a connector located on the front-end side of the pull-out direction D11 of the electric wire W18 in the wire harness manufacturing device 1. The above-mentioned front-end side corresponds to the front-end side of the branch in the wire harness W1. The rear-end connector W12 is a connector located on the rear-end side of the pull-out direction D11, and the rear-end side corresponds to the source side of the branch in the wire harness W1. According to the present embodiment, the rear-end connector W12 is less than the front-end connector W11, and the parts of the electric wire W18 connected to the multiple front-end connectors W11 are bundled in several front-end connectors W11 to be connected to one rear-end connector W12. According to the present embodiment, either the front-end connector W11 or the rear-end connector W12 is an insulation displacement connector.

[0192] The branch line tape winding portion W13 is a portion where, among a plurality of prepared electric wires W18, the electric wires W18 connected to the same front end connector W11 are directly wound with a tape W19 to form a branch line in a branched shape. The branch line exterior portion W14 is a portion where an exterior material W20 such as a corrugated tube is directly attached to the electric wires W18 connected to the same front end connector W11 to form a branch line similar to the branch line tape winding portion W13. In addition, regarding the branch line portion where the tape W19 is wound around the electric wires W18 and the exterior material W20 is attached to the tape 19, it is referred to as the branch line tape winding portion W13 for description.

[0193] The branch tape winding portion W15 is a portion where the branch tape winding portion W13 in the electric wire W18 connected to the different front-end connectors W11 is further wound with a tape to form a branch. According to the present embodiment, as the branch tape winding portion W15, a portion where two branch tape winding portions W13 are wound with a tape and a portion where other branch tape winding portions W13 are attached to be wound with a tape are shown as examples. The branch exterior portion W16 is a portion where the branch exterior portions W14 in the electric wires W18 connected to the different front-end connectors W11 are bundled together and the exterior material W20 is further attached thereto to form a branch. The portion where the branch exterior portion W14 and the branch exterior portion W16 are added to the branch tape winding portion W13 to bundle them together and the tape is wound thereon is described as a branch tape winding portion W15. In addition, according to the present embodiment, there is also a portion where the exterior material W20 is attached to the branch tape winding portion W15. Then, the branch tape winding portion W15 becomes a portion formed by overlapping and winding the tape W19 on the tape W19 in the branch line tape winding portion W13.

[0194] The fixing jig W17 is a fixing member for fixing the wire harness W1 to a predetermined fixing destination, and the fixing jig W17 is attached to a plurality of positions of the wire harness W1.

[0195] like Figure 1 and Figure 2The wire harness manufacturing device 1 shown is a device that automatically manufactures the above-mentioned wire harness W1 having a branch shape. That is, the wire harness manufacturing device is a device that automatically performs a series of processes including: pulling out the wires W18, connecting the front connector W11 and the rear connector W12, forming the branch shape and determining the shape by winding a tape thereon, and attaching the outer material W20 and the fixing jig W17.

[0196] The wire harness manufacturing device 1 includes a wire rack 11, a slide portion 12, a rail 13, a front connector supply portion 14, a front connector mounting portion 15, a rear connector supply portion 16, a connector connection portion 17, a fixed tape winding mechanism 18, and a wire holding / excess length imparting portion 19. In addition, the wire harness manufacturing device 1 also includes a large-scale gathering portion 20, a robot arm 21, a moving tape winding mechanism 22, a clamp attachment portion 23, an exterior material attachment portion 24, an existing wire arrangement portion 25, a delivery portion 26, and a control portion 27.

[0197] The wire rack 11 is a structure that accommodates a plurality of wire reels 111 , and a plurality of wires W18 for manufacturing the wire harness W1 are pulled out from the wire rack 11 in a pulling-out direction D11 .

[0198] The slide portion 12 is a portion capable of being equipped with the front end connector W11 to move linearly between the first end side as the wire rack 11 side and the second end side as the front end side in the pull-out direction D11. The rail 13 is a rail member that holds the slide portion 12 in a manner capable of moving in the moving direction D12 as the front-rear direction of the pull-out direction D11. This movement of the slide portion 12 along the rail 13 is performed by a servo motor. According to the present embodiment, the slide portion 12 in a state of being assembled in the rail 13 is provided and arranged in 9 rows in the orthogonal direction D13 relative to the moving direction D12.

[0199] The front-end connector supply portion 14 stores a plurality of front-end connectors W11 as a portion for supplying the front-end connectors W11 to the front-end connector mounting portion 15. Then, the front-end connector mounting portion 15 is a portion for mounting the supplied front-end connectors W11 to the sliding portion 12. The supply of the front-end connectors W11 and the mounting to the sliding portion 12 are performed on the above-mentioned second end side in the moving route of the sliding portion 12. The sliding portion 12 carries the mounted front-end connectors W11 to the connector connecting portion 17 by moving to the first end side as the wire rack 11 side. When the wire W18 is connected to the front-end connector W11 at the connector connecting portion 17, at this time, the wire W18 is pulled out by the sliding portion 12 moving toward the second end side in the pulling-out direction D11.

[0200] The rear end connector supply portion 16 is a portion provided at a position offset from the connector connection portion 17 in the orthogonal direction D13 at the first end side as the wire rack 11 side, that is, at the pull-out source side of the wire W18. The rear end connector supply portion 16 stores a plurality of rear end connectors W12 at the offset position, and takes out the rear end connectors W12 to supply toward the connector connection portion 17.

[0201] The connector connection portion 17 is provided on the side of the pulling-out source of the electric wire W18, and when the front-end connector W11 is brought by the sliding portion 12, the electric wire W18 is connected to the front-end connector W11 by crimping the electric wire W18. Furthermore, after the electric wire W18 is pulled out, when the rear-end connector W12 is supplied by the rear-end connector supply portion 16, at an appropriate time point thereafter, the connector connection portion 17 cuts off the electric wire W18 in the pulled-out state, and connects the electric wire W18 to the rear-end connector W12.

[0202] The fixed tape winding mechanism 18 is a portion that is fixedly provided at the pull-out source side of the electric wire W18 to perform tape winding on the electric wire W18 pulled out by the slide portion 12 .

[0203] The wire holding / excess length providing portion 19 is a portion that releasably holds the plurality of wires W18 pulled out by the slide portion 12 and further pulls out the excess length of a portion of the wires W18 as necessary.

[0204] The large-scale gathering section 20 is a part of a mechanism configured to selectively gather the electric wires W18 pulled out by the movement of the different slide sections 12 to form a branch shape. The large-scale gathering section 20 is a part that, when the electric wire amount of the target electric wires W18 exceeds a predetermined amount, gathers these electric wires W18 having the electric wire amount.

[0205] According to the wire harness manufacturing device 1 of the present embodiment, the parts described so far are assembled in the metal frame 28 to construct an integral structure. That is, the sliding part 12, the rail 13, the front connector supply part 14, the front connector mounting part 15, the rear connector supply part 16, the connector connecting part 17, the fixed belt winding mechanism 18 and the wire holding / excess length imparting part 19 are assembled in the metal frame 28. Then, the wire rack 11 is arranged at the first end side of the integral structure, and around the integral structure, the robot arm 21, the moving belt winding mechanism 22, the clamp attachment part 23, the exterior material attachment part 24, the existing wire arrangement part 25, the delivery part 26 and the control part 27 are arranged.

[0206] The robot arm 21 selects and grasps a mechanical device from among a plurality of types of mechanical devices including a moving belt winding mechanism 22, a clamp attachment portion 23, an exterior material attachment portion 24, and a delivery portion 26, and then carries the mechanical device to the operating position of the mechanical device. The robot arm 21 becomes a part that moves the carried mechanical device in response to the operating action. According to the present embodiment, a total of four robot arms 21 are arranged, two on each side in the orthogonal direction D13 of the metal frame 28 on which the rail 13 and the like are assembled.

[0207] The moving tape winding mechanism 22 is a mechanism configured to wind the tape W19 to a winding target. In addition, the clamp attaching portion 23 is a mechanism configured to attach the fixed clamp W17 to the wire W18 wound by the tape and the wire W18 attached with the outer material W20 on the tape W19 and the outer material W20. The outer material attaching portion 24 is a mechanism configured to attach an outer material W20 such as a corrugated tube directly to the wire W18 or to the wire W18 wound by the tape on the tape W19.

[0208] The moving belt winding mechanism 22, the clamp attachment portion 23, and the outer material attachment portion 24 are placed on a mechanism standby table 29 arranged adjacent to two robot arms 21 provided on each side of a metal frame 28. The robot arm 21 selects and holds a mechanical device corresponding to the operation content on each mechanism standby table 29, and then carries the mechanical device to the operation position.

[0209] The existing wire arrangement section 25 is a mechanism configured to arrange existing wires having the front end connector W11 and the rear end connector W12 connected at both ends in parallel with the wire W18 pulled out by the movement of the slide section 12 at an operation position different from the wire harness manufacturing device 1. The existing wire arrangement section 25 is arranged at a side of a mechanism standby table 29. When arranging the existing wires, the robot arm 21 selects and holds the existing wire arrangement section 25 at the side of the mechanism standby table 29, and carries the existing wire arrangement section 25 to the operation position.

[0210] The delivery section 26 is a mechanism that is configured to hold the completed wire harness W1 while removing the front-end connector W11 and the rear-end connector W12 from the respective holding sections at one time, and to move the wire harness W1 to a table that is a predetermined delivery destination 26a. The table that is the delivery destination 26a is arranged adjacent to another mechanism standby table 29 on the opposite side of the mechanism standby table 29 where the existing wire arrangement section 25 is arranged. In addition, the delivery section 26 is arranged at the side of the delivery destination 26a. When the wire harness W1 is completed, the robot arm 21 selects and holds the delivery section 26 at the side of the delivery destination 26a, and then carries the delivery section 26 to the operating position.

[0211] The control section 27 is a computer device configured to control the operation of each construction element in the above-mentioned wire harness manufacturing device 1, and is arranged adjacent to the mechanism standby table 29 arranged with the existing wire arrangement section 25. According to the present embodiment, the control section 27 is equipped with a tablet terminal as an interface section with an operator, and receives an instruction to start the operation from the operator through the tablet terminal.

[0212] The respective configuration elements in the wire harness manufacturing device 1 briefly described above will be further described with reference to other drawings.

[0213] Figure 4 It is shown Figure 1 and Figure 2 A perspective view of the slide and track is shown, and Figure 5 It is shown in an enlarged manner Figure 4 A perspective view of one of the sliding parts shown. Figure 4 and Figure 5 In order to facilitate viewing of the structure of the sliding portion, the sliding portion 12 and the track 13 are aligned with the pull-out direction D11 of the wire W18. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The posture in which the pulling direction is opposite is shown.

[0214] According to the present embodiment, nine rails 13 are arranged parallel to each other in the orthogonal direction D13 relative to the pulling direction D11, and for each rail 13, one slide portion 12 is held to be movable in the moving direction D12 which is the front-rear direction of the pulling direction D11.

[0215] The sliding part 12 is a part configured to pull out the electric wire W18 connected to the front end connector W11 by moving in a straight line along the rail 13 while carrying the front end connector W11. The sliding part 12 includes a holding part 121 for holding the front end connector W11, a sliding body part 122 carrying the holding part 121, and a connecting part 123, which mediates the holding part 121 relative to the sliding body part 112. In addition, the sliding part 12 is provided with a continuity inspection part 124, which performs a continuity inspection on the front end connector W11 when manufacturing the wire harness W1.

[0216] First, the sliding body 122 is connected to the rail 13 so as to be movable in the moving direction D12. The sliding body 122 includes a sliding connection portion 122a relative to the rail 13, and an arm portion 122b extending from the sliding connection portion 122b in a strip-like shape in a direction opposite to the wire pulling direction D11, wherein the connection portion 123 is connected to the distal end of the arm portion 122b.

[0217] The connecting portion 123 is a columnar portion attached to the tip end portion of the arm portion 122b in a manner that allows rotation in a rotation direction D14 having a rotation axis X11 that is orthogonal to both the moving direction D12 of the slide portion 12 and the orthogonal direction D13 in the wire harness manufacturing device 1. When the connecting portion 123 rotates in the rotation direction D14, the holding portion 121 rotates in the rotation direction D14 so that the electric wire W18 of the front end connector W11 held by the holding portion 121 is oriented in a desired direction around the rotation axis X11.

[0218] The holding portion 121 is a columnar portion extending from the middle portion of the connecting portion 123 in the direction opposite to the pulling direction D11, and its distal end portion holds the front end connector W11. In addition, the holding portion 121 is attached so as to be rotatable in a torsional direction D15 with the torsional axis X12 along the moving direction D12 of the sliding portion 12 as the rotation center. By rotating the holding portion 121 in the torsional direction D15 while holding the front end connector W11 to which the electric wires are connected, the electric wires W18 from the front end connector W11 can be twisted.

[0219] The conduction inspection portion 124 is a rectangular plate-shaped portion that is attached to the connection portion 123 to advance in the direction opposite to the pull-out direction D11 above the holding portion 121, so that it can move in the inspection movement direction D16 that descends to the installation position of the front-end connector W11 in the holding portion 121. At its lower end edge, a plurality of inspection pins 124a are provided. As the conduction inspection portion 124 moves in the inspection movement direction D16, the inspection pins 124a come into contact with the conductive portion in the front-end connector W11, thereby performing a conduction inspection. The conduction inspection at this time is performed under the control of the control portion 27.

[0220] Figure 6 It is shown as Figure 1 and Figure 2 The front-end connector supply parts and the front-end connectors are supplied to the front-end connector mounting parts through these front-end connector supply parts. Figure 6 In the above Figure 4 and Figure 5 Similarly, the front connector supply portion 14 and the front connector mounting portion 15 are also connected to the front connector supply portion 14 in the pull-out direction D11 of the wire W18. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The posture in which the pulling direction is opposite is shown.

[0221] The front connector supply part 14 is a part in which nine rows of front supply mechanisms 14a are arranged in the orthogonal direction D13 to correspond to nine rows of slide parts 12. Each front supply mechanism 14a includes a front storage part 141, a connector interface part 142 and a rotation mechanism 143.

[0222] In the front end storage part 141, a plurality of front end connectors W11 as insulation displacement connectors in a rectangular plate shape are stacked in the thickness direction along the moving direction D12 of the slide part 12 to be stored. According to the present embodiment, in each front end supply mechanism 14a, the front end storage part 141 is arranged to be arranged in two rows in the orthogonal direction D13.

[0223] The connector interface 142 is a rectangular plate-shaped portion having a connector mounting surface 142a for mounting two front-end connectors W11. The connector interface 142 captures the front-end connector W11 stored in the front-end storage portion 141 in a capturing posture P11 with the connector mounting surface 142a facing the front-end storage portion 141. In addition, the connector interface 142 delivers the front-end connector W11 to the front-end connector mounting portion 15 in a delivery posture P12 with the connector mounting surface 142a facing upward in the connector mounting state.

[0224] The rotating mechanism 143 is a mechanical portion that is configured to rotatably support the connector interface portion 142 in the delivery rotation direction D17 between the capture posture P11 and the delivery posture P12 about a rotation axis X13 along the orthogonal direction D13.

[0225] Figure 7 It is shown as Figure 1 and Figure 2 The front connector mounting parts shown in FIG. 1 and the front connector mounting parts used to mount the front connector to the sliding part are shown in FIG. Figure 7 In the above Figure 4 and Figure 5 Similarly, the front connector supply portion 14 and the front connector mounting portion 15 are also connected to the front connector supply portion 14 in the pull-out direction D11 of the wire W18. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The posture in which the pulling direction is opposite is shown.

[0226] The front connector mounting part 15 first includes nine rows of connector transport parts 151 corresponding to the nine rows of front supply mechanisms 14a and the slide parts 12. In addition, the front connector mounting part 15 includes a support bridge 152 configured to support the nine rows of connector transport parts 151 in a state of being arranged in the orthogonal direction D13 and to move them in the moving direction D12.

[0227] Each connector transporting portion 151 includes a connector hand 151a and a hand up-and-down mechanism 151b. The connector hand 151a is a portion configured to pick up the front-end connector W11 from the connector mounting surface 142a of the connector interface portion 142 in the delivery posture P12, and then install the front-end connector W11 to the retaining portion 121 of the sliding portion 12. In addition, the hand up-and-down mechanism 151b is a mechanical portion configured to move the connector hand 151a in a receiving direction D18 for raising and lowering the connector hand 151a relative to the connector mounting surface 142a and in an installation direction D19 for raising and lowering the connector hand 151a relative to the retaining portion 121 of the sliding portion 12.

[0228] According to the present embodiment, the front end connector W11 handed over by the connector handover portion 142 in each front end supply mechanism 14a of the front end connector supply portion 14 is delivered to the holding portion 121 of the slide portion 12 by each connector delivery portion 151 of the front end connector mounting portion 15. Due to the operation of each portion, the front end connector W11 stored in the front end storage portion 141 is installed in the holding portion 121 of the slide portion 12. In the wire harness manufacturing device 1, a series of operations regarding installation are performed at the second end side opposite to the first end side as the wire rack 11 side. In addition, in the front end connector W11 installed in the slide portion 12 at this second end side, the wire W18 is in an unconnected state.

[0229] In this way, according to the present embodiment, with respect to the slide portion 12, the front end connector W11 to which the electric wire W18 is not connected is mounted at the front end connector mounting position P13 at the second end side opposite to the pull-out source side (the first end side as the wire rack 11 side) in the pull-out direction D11 of the electric wire W18. Then, after mounting, the slide portion 12 moves toward the connector connecting portion 17 at the pull-out source side.

[0230] The connector connection portion 17 includes a portion that connects the electric wire W18 to the front-end connector W11 held by the slide portion 12, and a portion that connects the electric wire W18 pulled out by the slide portion 12 moving in the pulling direction D12 with the rear-end connector W12 after the connection. Hereinafter, first, the portion of the connector connection portion 17 that connects the electric wire W18 to the front-end connector W11 will be described.

[0231] Figure 8 It is shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 The figure shows a portion of the connector connection section where the wires are connected to the front connector and a view of the process of connecting the wires. Figure 8 In the figure, the right side refers to the wire rack 11 side, and the left side in the figure refers to the side facing the above-mentioned front connector mounting position P13.

[0232] like Figure 8 As shown, the connector connecting portion 17 includes a front-end connector connecting portion 171, which connects the wire W18 to the front-end connector W11 at the front-end connecting position P14 as the pull-out source side. When the front-end connector W11 is connected, the sliding portion 12 moves in a straight line toward the pull-out source side to position the front-end connector W11 of the retaining portion 121 toward the front-end connecting position P14. In addition, the connector connecting portion 17 includes a rear-end connector connecting portion 172, which is adjacent to the pull-out source side of the front-end connector connecting portion 171. The rear-end connector connecting portion 172 is a portion that connects the wire W18 to the rear-end connector W12. The rear-end connector connecting portion 172 will be described with reference to the other drawings below, and thereafter, the front-end connector connecting portion 171 will be described with reference to Figure 8 Give a description.

[0233] On the pull-out source side of the front connector connection part 171, the wire guide part 30 is arranged to pass under the rear connector connection part 172, and the wire guide part 30 is configured to guide and deliver the front end of the wire W18 pulled out from the wire rack 11 to the front connector connection part 171. The wire guide part 30 includes a comb-shaped wire guide 301 located at the wire rack 11 side, and due to the wire guide 301, the front end of the wire W18 is guided to the front connector connection part 171 in a state where the wires W18 are arranged. Before crimping, the wire guide part 30 conveys the front end of the wire W18 toward the crimping part 171a in the front connector connection part 171 by about 25 mm in the feeding direction D20. In addition, the wire guide part 30 is slightly lowered in the position alignment direction D21 to align the front end of the wire W18 to the front connector W11 at the front connection position P14. After this position alignment, the crimping portion 171 a of the front end connector connecting portion 171 descends in the crimping direction D22 to connect the front end of the electric wire W18 to the front end connector W11 by crimping.

[0234] According to the present embodiment, in the connector connection portion 17, the front connector connection portion 171 and the rear connector connection portion 172 are provided in plural so as to be arranged in the orthogonal direction D13 of the wire harness manufacturing device 1. The connection of the electric wire W18 with the front connector W11 is sequentially performed in the orthogonal direction D13 with respect to the front connector W11 of the 9 columns of the sliding portion 12 by the plural front connector connection portions 171. Thus, the pressure applied to the metal frame 28 by the wire harness manufacturing device 1 during crimping is dispersed.

[0235] In this way, when the electric wire W18 is connected to the front-end connector W11, the sliding portion 12 moves in the pull-out direction D11 of the electric wire W18. Due to this movement of the sliding portion 12, the electric wire W18 is pulled out from the wire rack 11 at a length required for forming the wire harness W1, and then transferred to post-processing such as branch formation, tape winding, etc. At an appropriate time point in the post-processing, connection of the electric wire W18 to the rear-end connector W12 is performed by the rear-end connector connecting portion 172. Here, according to the present embodiment, before the connection is performed by the rear-end connector connecting portion 172, the supply of the rear-end connector W12 is performed by the rear-end connector supply portion 16.

[0236] Fig. 9 It is shown Figure 1 and Figure 2 A view of the back-end connector supply section and the process of connector supply is shown.

[0237] The rear-end connector supply unit 16 includes a plurality of rear-end supply mechanisms 16a and a connector rail 16b, wherein the connector rail 16b is configured to support a rear-end connector moving portion 163 of each rear-end supply mechanism 16a described below so that it can move in the orthogonal direction D13. In addition, each rear-end supply mechanism 16a includes a rear-end storage portion 161, a rear-end connector mounting portion 162, and a rear-end connector moving portion 163 that correspond to each other one by one.

[0238] In the rear end storage portion 161, a plurality of rear end connectors W12, which are insulation displacement connectors having a rectangular plate shape, are stacked and stored in the thickness direction along the moving direction D12 of the slide portion 12. According to the present embodiment, among the plurality of rear end storage portions 161, several rear end storage portions 161 are configured to accommodate wide connectors having a width twice that of a connector of a standard size as the rear end connector W12, and several other rear end storage portions 161 are configured to accommodate connectors of a standard size as the rear end connector W12.

[0239] The rear-end connector mounting portion 162 is configured to take out the rear-end connectors W12 one by one from the rear-end storage portion 161 and install them in the rear-end connector moving portion 163. During installation, the support bridge 162a supporting the plurality of rear-end connector mounting portions 162 moves to position each rear-end connector mounting portion 162 at a take-out position of the rear-end connector W12 in each rear-end storage portion 161. At the take-out position, each rear-end connector mounting portion 162 descends in the descending direction D23 toward the rear-end connector W12 of each rear-end storage portion 161 to capture the rear-end connector W12.

[0240] Subsequently, each rear-end connector mounting portion 162 rises in the ascending direction D24 in a state where the rear-end connector W12 is captured, and the supporting bridge 162a moves in the sliding direction D25 along the moving direction D12 to be positioned above the rear-end connector mounting position P15. The rear-end connector mounting position P15 is a position offset from the rear-end connection position P16 in the orthogonal direction D13 relative to the pulling direction D11 of the wire W18 at the pulling source side of the wire W18, wherein the rear-end connection position P16 is a position where the wire W18 is connected by the connector connecting portion 17. When reaching a position above each rear-end connector mounting position P15, each rear-end connector mounting portion 162 descends in the descending direction D26 to mount the rear-end connector W12 to the rear-end connector moving portion 163 waiting at the rear-end connector mounting position P15.

[0241] When the rear end connector W12 is installed in this manner, after installation, the plurality of rear end connector moving parts 163 move in the positioning direction D131 along the orthogonal direction D13 to position the rear end connector W12 to the rear end connection position P16. After this positioning, the connection of the wire W18 relative to the rear end connector W12 is performed through the rear end connector connecting part 172 in the connector connecting part 17.

[0242] Fig.10 It is shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 The connector connection portion shown is a view of the portion where the wire is connected to the rear end connector and the initial operation in the process of wire connection. Fig.11 The connector connection portion is shown in FIG. Fig.10 A view of the wire connection operation after the initial operation is shown. Fig.10 and Fig.11 , the right side in the figure is the wire rack 11 side, and the left side in the figure is the side toward the above-mentioned rear end connection position P16.

[0243] According to this embodiment, Figure 8 As shown, in the connector connection portion 17, the front end connector connection portion 171 and the rear end connector connection portion 172 are arranged adjacent to each other. In the moving direction D12 of the sliding portion 12, the front end connector connection portion 171 is arranged at the pull-out destination side (the second end side) of the wire W18, and the rear end connector connection portion 172 is arranged at the pull-out source side (the first end side) which is the wire rack 11 side. At this time, the connector connection portion 17 includes a drive source 173 for crimping operation and a transmission mechanism 174, which is configured to transmit the output of the drive source 173 to the front end connector connection portion 171 and the rear end connector connection portion 172 in a switchable manner. Reference Figure 8The connection operation of the front connector connection part 171 is performed under the condition that the driving source 173 and the front connector connection part 171 are connected through the transmission mechanism 174. In addition, in the previous stage of the connection operation of the rear connector connection part 172, the connector connection part 17 is maintained in the state when the connection operation of the front connector connection part 171 was previously performed. Fig.10 As shown in the upper section of FIG. 1 , the transmission mechanism 174 is in a state of connecting the drive source 173 to the front connector connection portion 171. In the initial operation during the wire connection process, as shown in FIG. Fig.10 As shown in the lower section of FIG. 1 , the transmission mechanism 174 switches the transmission destination of the driving source 173 to the rear connector connecting portion 172. At the same time, the connector connecting portion 17 moves along the moving direction D12, so that the rear connector connecting portion 172 is positioned above the rear connection position P16. The rear connector W12 is positioned at the rear connection position P16 by the rear connector moving portion 163.

[0244] In this way, when Fig.10 When the initial operation shown is completed, Fig.11 As shown, the connection operation of the electric wire W18 through the rear-end connector connection part 172 is performed. The rear-end connector connection part 172 includes a wire cutting blade 172a and a crimping part 172b at the front end part in the up-down direction. In addition, in the portion where the electric wire W18 before crimping is held between the front end part of the rear-end connector connection part 172 and the rear-end connector W12 at the rear-end connection position P16, a wire cutting lower die 31 is arranged to rub the wire cutting blade 172a during crimping. Then, after the initial operation, the rear-end connector connection part 172 moves toward the rear-end connector W12 in the crimping direction D27. Due to this movement, first, the wire cutting blade 172a sandwiches the electric wire W18 between it and the wire cutting lower die 31 to cut off the electric wire W18 from the side of the wire rack 11, and then the crimping part 172b connects the cut electric wire W18 at the pull-out side to the rear-end connector W12 by crimping.

[0245] As described above, regarding the connector connection portion 17, the front connector connection portion 171 and the rear connector connection portion 172 are provided in plurality to be arranged in the orthogonal direction D13 of the wire harness manufacturing device 1. The connection of the electric wire W18 to the rear connector W12 is performed sequentially in the orthogonal direction D13 relative to the plurality of rear connectors W12 through the plurality of rear connector connection portions 172. Thus, for the rear end side, the pressure applied to the metal frame 28 of the wire harness manufacturing device 1 during crimping is dispersed.

[0246] Starting from the process of pulling out the electric wires W18 from the slide portion 12 after connection through the front end connector W11 , branching of the wire harness W1 including the winding tape is performed at various times before and after the electric wires W18 are connected to the rear end connector W12 .

[0247] Fig.12 It is shown Figure 1 and Figure 2 A three-dimensional diagram of the fixed belt winding mechanism shown, Fig.13 It is shown in Fig.12 When looking in the direction of the middle arrow V11, Fig.12 A plan view of a pull-out belt winding portion included in the fixed belt winding mechanism shown.

[0248] The fixed tape winding mechanism 18 is fixedly arranged at the pull-out source side of the electric wire W18 and is configured to perform tape winding relative to the electric wire W18 in the process of being pulled out by the sliding part 12, and the fixed tape winding mechanism 18 includes six pull-out tape winding parts 181 and a support rail 182.

[0249] In the wire harness manufacturing device 1, six tape winding sections 181 are arranged in a row in the orthogonal direction D13. According to the present embodiment, the tape winding sections 181 are arranged in a one-to-one correspondence with six columns of the nine columns of the sliding sections 12 except for the predetermined three columns, so that the tape can be wound around the wires W18 pulled out by the sliding sections 12 in each column. Each of the tape winding sections 181 winds and bundles the tape W19 pulled out from the tape reel 181a onto the wires W18 of the corresponding column while rotating the tape reel 181a in the reel rotation direction D28 with the wires W18 of each column as the center.

[0250] In addition, each of the pull-out tape winding sections 181 includes a pair of retaining arms 181b to retain the electric wire W18 as the tape winding target. The pair of retaining arms 181b is a mechanical portion arranged to clamp the electric wire W18 as the tape winding target during tape winding and clamp the electric wire W18 in the clamping direction D29. The electric wire W18 pulled out by the sliding section 12 is retained by the pair of retaining arms 181b so that they can be tape wound by the tape W19 from the tape reel 181a in a stable state. In addition, according to the present embodiment, the six pull-out tape winding sections 181 are configured to rotate the tape reel 181a in the same reel rotation direction D28.

[0251] The tape winding during the pulling out described in this manner is performed for the electric wires W18 pulled out by a predetermined part of the sliding parts 12 in the nine columns of sliding parts 12. Then, the tape winding is performed thereon, and the electric wires W18 are pulled out only in the length required to form the wiring harness 1. The pulling out amount of the electric wires W18 is controlled by the control part 27 as the movement amount of each sliding part 12, and the control part 27 sequentially stops the movement of the sliding parts 12 when the pulling out amount corresponding to the required length has been pulled out. When the movement is stopped, under the control of the control part 27, the electric wire holding / excess length giving part 19 holds the plurality of electric wires W18 pulled out by the sliding parts 12 in a releasable manner at the pulling out source side. In addition, after being pulled out by the sliding parts 12, the electric wire holding / excess length giving part 19 further pulls out the excess length for a part of the electric wires W18.

[0252] Fig.14 It is shown as Figure 1 and Figure 2 A perspective view of the wire holding / excess length providing portion shown.

[0253] The wire holding / excess length imparting section 19 includes eight columns of holding units 191 corresponding to the arrangement of eight columns of the sliding section 12 except for one column that is predetermined in advance, wherein each column of holding units is configured to hold the wire W18 using a comb-shaped wire holding mechanism 191a (wire holding section). These eight columns of holding units 191 are supported by a support rail 192 in a state of being arranged in an orthogonal direction D13. The wire holding mechanism 191a in each holding unit 191 is a mechanism that switches the holding state and non-holding state of the wire W18 by opening and closing the interval of the comb teeth in the opening direction D301 and the closing direction D302. In addition, among the eight columns of holding units 191, the wire holding mechanism 191a in the predetermined three columns of holding units 191 has a shape corresponding to the excess length of the pulled-out wire W18.

[0254] Fig.15 is shown by Fig.14 A three-dimensional diagram of the situation in which the wire holding mechanism pulls out the excess length of the wire corresponding to the excess length pulled out, and Fig.16 It is shown by Fig.15 The illustrated schematic plan view shows a state where the wire holding mechanism pulls out the excess length of the wire.

[0255] According to the present embodiment, the wire holding mechanism 191a of the holding unit 191 corresponding to the pulling out of the excess length has a shape in which the lengths of the plurality of comb teeth gradually increase toward the right side in the figure. When pulling out the excess length, the wire holding mechanism 191a switches to a non-holding state of the wire W18 and rotates 90 degrees toward the right side in the figure, that is, rotates 90 degrees toward the longest comb tooth side in the excess length rotation direction D31. As a result, the wire W18 is pulled out in the pulling out direction D11 by clamping the comb teeth of each wire W18. Fig.16 As shown, the amount of pull-out at this time increases as the comb teeth of the pulled-out wire W18 become longer. In the wire harness W1, the portion where the excess length is pulled out becomes a portion corresponding to the bending arrangement in which the side with the shorter excess length is arranged on the inside and the side with the longer excess length is arranged on the outside. By providing the stepped excess lengths for the respective wires W18 as described above, the wire harness portion can be naturally bent when performing the above-mentioned bending arrangement, and the load caused by the bending of the wires W18 in this portion can be suppressed.

[0256] Fig.17 is with Fig.16 A similar schematic plan view shows Fig.16 A modified example of the wire holding mechanism shown.

[0257] according to Fig.17 The wire holding mechanism 591a of the modified example shown includes a fixed end 591a-1, a movable moving end 591a-2 and a support rod 591a-3, wherein the position of the fixed end in the length direction of the wire W18 is fixed, and the support rod 591a-3 supports the moving end 591a-2 in a movable manner. First, similar to the above-mentioned embodiment, the plurality of fixed ends 591a-1 are mechanisms configured to switch the holding state and the non-holding state of the wire W18 by opening and closing the comb teeth. On the other hand, the plurality of moving ends 591a-2 are formed to have the same length, which is different from the above-mentioned embodiment. In addition, the plurality of moving ends 591a-2 are supported by a support rod 591a-3 arranged to intersect with the moving end 591a-2, so that the intersection angle relative to the support rod 591a-3 is variable. Thus, when the support rod 591a-3 rotates in the support rod rotation direction D33 with one end side as the center, each movable end 591a-2 moves in a direction away from the fixed end 591a-1 in response to the rotation angle. The amount of movement at this time gradually increases as it moves away from the rotation center of the support rod 591a-3. That is, according to this modified example, due to the rotation of the support rod 591a-3, it is possible to achieve the same Fig.16 The wire holding mechanism 191a of the embodiment shown in the figure has the same shape. In addition, by appropriately setting the rotation amount of the support rod 591a-3, the pull-out amount of the excess length can be adjusted via the movement amount of the moving end portion 591a-2.

[0258] The wire holding mechanism 591a according to this modification can be used as follows. First, the connector position information indicating how the connector of the wire harness W1 is arranged in the actual vehicle state is obtained. Subsequently, the rotation angle of the support rod 591a-3 is calculated based on the connector position information when the wire harness is laid. In addition, the moving distance of the end of the support rod 591a-3 at the opposite side opposite to the rotation center is calculated based on the calculation result. Then, a driving source such as a motor is driven based on the calculated moving distance so that the support rod 591a-3 is rotated by the required amount by moving the end of the support rod 591a-3. Due to this rotation, a plurality of moving ends 591a-2 move to determine the overall shape of the wire holding mechanism 591a. When the wire holding mechanism 591a having a determined shape is rotated 90 degrees in the excess length rotation direction D31 similarly to the above-mentioned embodiment, the wire W18 is pulled out in the pull-out direction D11 with the excess length corresponding only to the shape determined by the rotation of the support rod 591a-3. In this way, according to the configuration of this modification, it is possible to pull out the excess length corresponding to the connector arrangement in the actual vehicle state.

[0259] The pulling out of the electric wire including the excess length and the tape winding at the pulling out source side by the fixed tape winding mechanism 18 are basically performed for the electric wire W18 connected to the same front-end connector W11 held by each column of the 9-column sliding portion 12. Here, according to the present embodiment, the front-end connector W11 and the rear-end connector W12 are not one-to-one corresponding, and the number of the rear-end connectors W12 is small. Thus, according to the wire harness manufacturing device 1 of the present embodiment, in addition to the tape winding with respect to the electric wire W18 connected to the same front-end connector W11, a process of selectively gathering the electric wires W18 connected to different front-end connectors W11 to form a branch shape is performed. The gathered electric wires W18 are bundled together by tape winding to be connected to one rear-end connector W12, so that the electric wires W18 of the wire harness W1 are gathered to the rear-end connector W12 in a smaller number than the front-end connector W11. According to the present embodiment, the gathering of the above-mentioned electric wires W18 is performed by a large-scale gathering section 20 and a small-scale gathering section provided in the moving tape winding mechanism 22 to be described below.

[0260] Fig.18 It is shown Figure 1 and Figure 2 A perspective view of the large-scale gathering section shown, and Fig.19 It is shown Fig.18 The illustrated is a perspective view of a large-scale gathering section gathering electric wires.

[0261] The large-scale gathering section 20 according to the present embodiment is a mechanism that can gather all the wires W18 pulled out by 9 columns of sliding sections 12 in the orthogonal direction D13 in the wiring harness manufacturing device 1. The large-scale gathering section 20 is arranged across the metal frame 28 at both sides of the wiring harness manufacturing device 1 while being supported by the metal frame 28 so as to be able to move in the moving direction D12 of the sliding section 12. The large-scale gathering section 20 includes a support bridge 201 supported across the metal frame 28 and a pair of gathering arms 202 supported by the support bridge 201 so as to be able to move in the orthogonal direction D13. The support bridge 201 moves to a predetermined gathering position, and thus closes the pair of gathering arms 202, so that a plurality of wires W18 are gathered and bundled. In addition, at this time, the holding portion 121 in each sliding section 12 rotates so that the front end connector W11 held by the holding portion 121 is oriented so that the wires W18 are tilted toward the portion that is bundled by the wire gathering.

[0262] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the support bridge 152 of the front connector mounting portion 15 is also provided with the same arm mechanism as the large-scale gathering portion 20 , so that large-scale gathering of electric wires can be performed in the front connector mounting portion 15 .

[0263] On the other hand, a small-scale gathering section configured to gather electric wires in a predetermined amount equal to or smaller than the amount of electric wires that the large-scale gathering section 20 can gather is provided in the moving belt winding mechanism 22 carried by the robot arm 21 .

[0264] Fig. 20 It is shown as Figure 1 and Figure 2 A perspective view of the mobile belt winding mechanism and the robot arm shown, and Fig.21 It shows that Fig. 20 The moving belt winding mechanism shown is a perspective view shown as a single item.

[0265] The robot arm 21 is an arm mechanism having multiple joints provided in two on each side of the metal frame 28, and is configured to select and hold a mechanical device from a plurality of types of mechanical devices including the moving belt winding mechanism 22 to transport it to an operating position of the mechanical device.

[0266] The moving belt winding mechanism 22 carried by the robot arm 21 is a mechanism configured to wind the belt W19 around the wire W18 at the transport destination. The moving belt winding mechanism 22 includes a mechanical frame 221, a robot arm connection part 222, a belt reel 223, a reel rotation mechanism 224, a small-scale gathering part 225, and a drive source 226.

[0267] The mechanical frame 221 is a plate-shaped frame for supporting each mechanical part in the moving tape winding mechanism 22. The robot arm connecting part 222 is a part provided in one end edge of the mechanical frame 221 and configured to be mechanically and electrically connected to the robot arm 21 and held by the robot arm 21. The tape reel 223 is a reel of the tape W19 to be wound, and the reel rotating mechanism 224 is a mechanical part for holding the tape reel 223 so as to rotate in the reel rotating direction D34 centered on the electric wire W18 as the winding target.

[0268] The small-scale gathering section 225 is a mechanical section configured to gather the wires W18, which is a target of the tape winding of the tape W19 and whose amount is equal to or less than a predetermined amount, which is less than the amount of wires at the large-scale gathering section 20. The small-scale gathering section 225 includes a roller 225a and a gathering blade 225b. Either the roller 225a or the gathering blade 225b is arranged to extend in a direction intersecting the wires W18 during tape winding. On the edge of the gathering blade 225b at the roller 225a side, a receiving recess 225b-1 for receiving the wires W18 is formed, and the roller 225a is arranged so that its peripheral surface faces the receiving recess 225b-1. During tape winding, the gathering blade 225b moves in the wire clamping direction D35 toward the peripheral surface of the roller 225a to clamp the wires W18 while accommodating the wires W18 in the receiving recess 225b-1. The tape W19 is wound around the wire W18 gathered and clamped by the movement. In addition, during the tape winding, the robot arm 21 moves the tape winding mechanism 22 in a straight line in the tape winding direction D36 along the wire W18 while winding the tape W19. Therefore, the tape winding is performed within a predetermined tape winding range.

[0269] According to the present embodiment, as described above, the mechanical device as the gripping target of the robot arm 21 is provided with the jig attaching portion 23, the exterior material attaching portion 24, the existing wire arranging portion 25 and the delivering portion 26 in addition to the above-mentioned moving belt winding mechanism 22.

[0270] Fig. 22 It is shown Figure 1 and Figure 2 A perspective view of the fixture attachment and the robot arm is shown.

[0271] The clamp attachment portion 23 is a mechanical portion configured to attach a fixing clamp W17 to the electric wire W18, wherein the fixing clamp W17 is configured to fix the wire harness W1 carried by the robot arm 21 to a predetermined fixing destination. The clamp attachment portion 23 includes a robot arm connection portion 231, a holding hook 232 for holding the electric wire W18, and a clamp delivery mechanism 233, which is configured to deliver the fixing clamp W17 along the inner periphery of the holding hook 232 and wind the fixing clamp W17 around the electric wire W18. Fig. 22 In the figure, as an example, a clamp attachment portion 23 is shown, in which two retaining hooks 232 and two clamp delivery mechanisms 233 are arranged to be aligned in the length direction of the electric wire W18. According to this clamp attachment portion 23, two fixed clamps W17 can be attached at the same time. However, according to the present embodiment, as the clamp attachment portion 23, a configuration including more than three retaining hooks 232 and clamp delivery mechanisms 233 capable of simultaneously attaching more than three fixed clamps W17 can also be prepared. When manufacturing the wire harness W1, the robot arm 21 selects and carries the clamp attachment portion 23 in response to the number of attachments of the fixed clamps W17 to the attachment position.

[0272] Fig.23 It is shown as Figure 1 and Figure 2 A perspective view of the exterior material attachment portion and the robot arm is shown.

[0273] The outer material attaching portion 24 is a mechanical portion configured to attach an outer material W20 such as a corrugated tube relative to the electric wire W18 carried by the robot arm 21. The outer material attaching portion 24 includes a robot arm connecting portion 241 and an attaching mechanism 242, which is configured to convey and attach the outer material W20 along the electric wire W18. In the cylindrical outer material W20 according to the present embodiment, a slit in the length direction is formed in the peripheral wall. The attaching mechanism 242 presses the electric wire W18 so that the electric wire W18 is pressed into the inside of the outer material W20 through the slit while feeding out the outer material W20 of a required length and then cutting the outer material W20. According to the wire harness W1 of the present embodiment, on the outer material W20 attached in this way, there is also a position for performing tape winding by the above-mentioned tape winding mechanism 22 and attaching the fixing clamp W17 by the clamp attaching portion 23.

[0274] Fig.24 It is shown as Figure 1 and Figure 2 A perspective view of a conventional wiring arrangement and a robot arm is shown, and Fig.25 Yes Fig.24 The illustrated perspective view shows a conventional wire arrangement portion as a single item.

[0275] The existing wire arrangement section 25 is a mechanism configured to hold the existing wire W21 having the front-end connector W11 and the rear-end connector W12 connected at both ends, and arrange the existing wire W21 in parallel with the wire W18 pulled out due to the movement of the sliding section 12 at the destination of the robot arm 21 transportation. The existing wire arrangement section 25 includes a robot arm connection section 251, a main body section 252, and a connector holding section 253. The main body section 252 is a strip-shaped portion extending along the existing wire W21, and has the robot arm connection section 251 at its center. In addition, the connector holding section 253 is provided at each end of the main body section 252, and is a portion that removably holds the front-end connector W11 and the rear-end connector W12. In addition, the existing wire arrangement section holds the existing wire W21 by holding the front-end connector W11 and the rear-end connector W12 by a pair of connector holding sections 253. The robot arm 21 carries the existing wire arranging section 25 holding the existing wire W21 in this manner to one of the slide sections 12 and the rear-end connector moving section 163 that are on standby at the arrangement location of the existing wire W21. Then, at the carrying destination, the existing wire arranging section 25 sets the front-end connector W11 of the existing wire W21 to the holding section 121 of the slide section 12, and sets the rear-end connector W12 to the rear-end connector moving section 163. In this way, the existing wire W21 is arranged in parallel with the wire W18 pulled out by the movement of the other slide section 12.

[0276] Fig.26 It is shown Figure 1 and Figure 2 A perspective view of the delivery unit and the robot arm is shown, and Fig. 27 It shows that Fig.26 The delivery unit shown is a perspective view shown as a single item.

[0277] The delivery unit 26 holds the completed wire harness W1 and is carried by the robot arm 21 to deliver the wire harness W1 to a stage as a delivery destination 26a. The delivery unit 26 includes a robot arm connection unit 261, a main body frame 262, a front connector holding unit 263, and a rear connector holding unit 264.

[0278] The main frame 262 includes a front frame 262a, a rear frame 262b, and an intermediate frame 262c. The front frame 262a is a frame portion having a strip-like shape, which is arranged along the orthogonal direction D13 in which the 9 rows of sliding portions 12 are arranged during delivery, so that the 9 front connector holding portions 263 are mounted on the front frame 262a to be arranged in a straight line. The rear frame 262b is a frame portion having a strip-like shape, which is arranged along the orthogonal direction D13 in which the 6 rear connector moving portions 163 are arranged, so that the 6 rear connector holding portions 264 are mounted on the rear frame 262b to be arranged in a straight line. The intermediate frame 262c is a frame portion having a frame-like shape that connects the front frame 262a and the rear frame 262b, and the robot arm connecting portion 261 is provided in the middle portion thereof.

[0279] There are 9 front-end connector holding portions 263 mounted on the front-end frame 262a so as to be arranged in a straight line, and each of the front-end connector holding portions 263 releasably holds the front-end connector W11 of the completed wiring harness W1. In addition, the front-end connector holding portions 263 are mounted so as to be rotatable about their support shafts 263a, respectively, so as to hold the front-end connector W11 in a posture corresponding to the orientation of the front-end connector W11 in the completed wiring harness W1.

[0280] The rear end connector holding portions 264 are mounted on the rear end frame 262b so as to be arranged in a straight line, and each rear end connector holding portion 264 respectively holds the rear end connector W12 of the completed wire harness W1 in a releasable manner. The rear end connector holding portions 264 respectively hold the rear end connector W12 held in a determined orientation by the rear end connector moving portion 163, thereby being mounted on the rear end frame 262b in a fixed posture.

[0281] During delivery by the delivery section 26, first, the slide section 12 is arranged in a straight line in the orthogonal direction D13 so that the front end connector W11 in the completed wire harness W1 is aligned. Then, the robot arm 21 carries the delivery section 26 so that the front end connector holding section 263 and the rear end connector holding section 264 are positioned at the respective tops of the aligned front end connector W11 and the aligned rear end connector W12, respectively. After this positioning, the delivery section 26 is lowered so that the front end connector holding section 263 and the rear end connector holding section 264 hold the front end connector W11 and the rear end connector W12. Thereafter, the robot arm 21 raises the delivery section 26 to remove the front end connector W11 and the rear end connector W12 from the slide section 12 and the rear end connector moving section 163. Then, the robot arm 21 transports the delivery section 26 holding the wire harness W1 onto the stage by holding the connector onto the stage as the delivery destination 26a. When the wire harness W1 reaches the delivery destination 26a, the front connector holding portion 263 and the rear connector holding portion 264 release the front connector W11 and the rear connector W12 to load the wire harness W1 at the delivery destination 26b. The delivery by the delivery portion 26 completes the manufacturing of the wire harness W1 by the wire harness manufacturing device 1.

[0282] The flow of the wire harness manufacturing method for manufacturing the wire harness W1 by the wire harness manufacturing apparatus 1 including the details of the respective parts which have been described will be described with reference to the schematic diagram showing the respective processes. Figures 28 to 34 Give a description.

[0283] Fig.28 It is shown by Figure 1 and Figure 2 The wire harness manufacturing device shown manufactures Figure 3 The schematic diagram of steps S11 to S14 of the wire harness manufacturing method shown in FIG.

[0284] Fig.28 Step S11 in the embodiment is a step of connecting the wires W18 to the nine front connectors W11, which are carried to the front connection position P14 at the pull-out source side by the nine rows of slides 12. At the stage of step S11, the rear connector W12 is not yet set, and Fig.28 In FIG. 1 , nine holding units 191 facing nine front end connectors W11 are shown. In addition, the front end connection position P14 and the holding unit 191 of “No. 4” are shown by dotted lines, corresponding to the position where the above-mentioned existing electric wire W21 is set in post-processing.

[0285] In step S12, the 9-column sliding portion 12 moves in the pull-out direction D11. This movement is performed under the control of the pull-out amount of the wire by the control unit 27. Therefore, the wire W18 connected to the 8 front-end connectors W11 other than "No. 4" is pulled out in the required amount. In addition, for "No. 4", the sliding portion 12 in the idle state moves to the set position of the front-end connector W11 in the existing wire W21. During the pull-out in step S12, the wire holding mechanism 191a in the 9 holding units 191 is in a non-holding state, and then switches to a holding state when the pull-out is completed. In addition, when the pull-out is completed, each sliding portion 12 pulls the wire W18 in the pull-out direction D11 with a force balanced with the holding force of each wire holding mechanism 191a in the holding state to apply tension and stop. Due to the application of this tension, the plurality of wires W18 are restricted to a state parallel to each other. This parallel state will basically be maintained in the subsequent steps in the wiring harness manufacturing method.

[0286] Furthermore, in step S12, the "No. 5" electric wire W18 is pulled out while being wound by the tape W19 of the tape winding section 181 of the fixed tape winding mechanism 18 during the period from the start of pulling. As a result, when the pulling out is completed, the tape W19 is in a wound state at a predetermined length starting from the front end connector W11 side. Furthermore, for the "No. 5" electric wire W18, when the tape winding is completed, after pulling out only a predetermined length, the tape W19 is wound again for a short distance. The tape wound in this short distance will serve as a temporary fixation that prevents the electric wire W18 from unravelling during the post-processing operation. After this temporary fixation, the "No. 5" electric wire W18 is pulled out until the desired length is reached.

[0287] Furthermore, in step S12, after pulling out the required length, the "No. 6" and "No. 8" wires W18 are twisted by rotating the holding portion 121 of the sliding portion 12. Furthermore, in order to avoid interference between the columns, in step S12, the pulling out of the wires W18 accompanied by tape winding and twisting is appropriately divided into multiple times.

[0288] In step S13, for the twisted "No. 6" electric wire W18, the tape W19 is wound at a predetermined length by the moving tape winding mechanism 22. At this time, the tape winding is performed while the moving tape winding mechanism 22 is moved from the front end connector W11 side to the pull-out source side by the robot arm 21. In addition, the tape winding in the moving tape winding mechanism 22 is performed together with the wire gathering for the electric wire W18 as the tape winding target. Here, since the control unit 27 determines that the amount of gathered electric wires is equal to or less than the predetermined amount, the wire gathering is performed by the small-scale gathering section 225 of the moving tape winding mechanism 22. Hereinafter, the tape winding of the electric wire W18 connected to the same front end connector W11 by the moving tape winding mechanism 22 is roughly determined to be equal to or less than the predetermined amount in any case, and is thus performed together with the wire gathering of the small-scale gathering section 225 of the moving tape winding mechanism 22.

[0289] In step S14, the tape W19 is wound with a predetermined length with respect to the "No. 1" electric wire W18 at the front end connector W11 side by moving the tape winding mechanism 22, and the outer covering material W20 is attached to the "No. 9" electric wire by the outer covering material attaching portion 24. Here, the attachment of the outer covering material W20 is performed twice at a certain interval from the front end connector W11 side. Therefore, in the "No. 9" electric wire W18, the outer covering material W20 is attached at two positions including the position at the front end connector W11 side and the position at a certain distance therefrom.

[0290] Fig.29 It is shown by Figure 1 and Figure 2 The wire harness manufacturing device shown manufactures Figure 3 Schematic diagram of steps S15 to S18 of the wire harness manufacturing method shown in FIG.

[0291] In step S15, the tape W19 is wound with a predetermined length with respect to the "No. 3" electric wire W18 from the front end connector W11 side by the moving tape winding mechanism 22. In addition, the outer material W20 is attached to the twisted "No. 8" electric wire W18 by the outer material attachment portion 24. Here, the outer material W20 is attached once from the front end connector W11 side. In addition, in step S15, the "No. 9" outer material W20 is fixed by tape winding by the moving tape winding mechanism 22. The tape winding of the outer material W20 is continued until step S17.

[0292] In step S16, the tape W19 is wound with a predetermined length with respect to the "No. 2" electric wire W18 by the moving tape winding mechanism 22 at the front connector W11 side. In addition, in step S16, the "No. 8" outer material W20 is fixed by tape winding by the moving tape winding mechanism 22, and at the same time, the tape winding of the "No. 9" outer material W20 by the moving tape winding mechanism 22 continues. The tape winding of the "No. 8" outer material W20 and the tape winding of the "No. 9" outer material W20 are both continued until step S17.

[0293] In step S17, for the "No. 3" and "No. 5" electric wires W18, the fixing jig W17 is attached to the tape W19 through the jig attaching portion 23. Here, each electric wire W18 is attached with one fixing jig W17. In addition, in step S17, the tape winding of the "No. 8" and "No. 9" outer materials W20 is completed.

[0294] In step S18, for the "No. 6" electric wire W18, attachment of the fixing clamps W17 by the clamp attaching portion 23 is performed on the tape W19. Here, two fixing clamps W17 are attached to the "No. 6" electric wire W18.

[0295] Fig.30 It is shown by Figure 1 and Figure 2 The wire harness manufacturing device shown manufactures Figure 3 The schematic diagram of steps S19 to S22 of the wire harness manufacturing method shown in FIG.

[0296] In step S19, the two parts of the "No. 2" and "No. 3" electric wires W18 connected to the different front-end connectors W11 wound with the tape W19 are further bundled by being wound with the tape W19. Here, for the electric wires W18 of the different front-end connectors W11, the tape winding is performed together with the wire gathering, however, it is determined that the amount of the electric wires is equal to or less than the predetermined amount, and the tape winding is performed together with the wire gathering by the small-scale gathering section 225 of the moving tape winding mechanism 22. Thus, one branch is formed by this tape winding.

[0297] Furthermore, during the wire gathering, the slide portion 12 of at least one of "No. 2" and "No. 3" moves toward the pull-out source side, while the holding portion 121 thereof rotates to guide the front end connector W11 in the direction of the branch point. Due to this operation in the slide portion 12, the tension applied to each wire W18 due to the wire gathering is relieved.

[0298] Furthermore, in step S19, for the "No. 9" electric wire W18, attachment of the fixing jigs W17 is performed to the exterior material W20 at two positions by the jig attaching portion 23. Here, two fixing jigs W17 are attached to each exterior material W20.

[0299] In step S20 , six rear end connectors W12 are transported to the rear end connection position P16 by the rear end connector moving part 163 at the pull-out source side. At this time, for “No. 4”, the rear end connector moving part 163 in the idle state moves to a position facing the slide part 12 .

[0300] In step S21, the existing electric wire W21 is conveyed to the "No. 4" setting position by the existing electric wire arranging portion 25. Then, at the setting position, the front connector W11 of the existing electric wire W21 is set in the holding portion 121 of the sliding portion 12, and the rear connector W12 is set in the rear connector moving portion 163. In addition, in step S21, the "No. 6" and "No. 8" electric wires W18 twisted during the wire pulling out in step S12 are twisted again by the rotation of the holding portion 121.

[0301] In step S22, the exterior material W20 is attached to each of the "No. 4" existing electric wire W21 and the "No. 7" electric wire W18 by the exterior material attaching portion 24. Here, the exterior material W20 is attached once from each front end connector W11 side.

[0302] Fig.31 It is shown by Figure 1 and Figure 2 The wire harness manufacturing device shown manufactures Figure 3 The schematic diagram of steps S23 to S25 of the wire harness manufacturing method shown in FIG.

[0303] In step S23 , the “No. 4” and “No. 7” exterior materials W20 are fixed by tape winding using the moving tape winding mechanism 22 .

[0304] In step S24, the excess length of the No. 5 wire W18 is pulled out by rotating the wire holding mechanism 191a in the holding unit 191. During the rotation of the wire holding mechanism 191a when pulling out the excess length, the temporary fixation formed by the winding tape W19 in the above step S12 is maintained to prevent the wire W18 from unraveling.

[0305] In step S25, the connection and disconnection of the electric wire W18 are performed for each of the six rear-end connectors W12 transported to the rear-end connection position P16 in the above-mentioned step S20 by the rear-end connector connection part 172 in the connector connection part 17. Here, according to the present embodiment, the "No. 1" electric wire W18 and the "No. 2" electric wire W18 connected to different front-end connectors W11 are connected to one rear-end connector W12. Similarly, the "No. 5" electric wire W18 and the "No. 6" electric wire W18 are connected to one rear-end connector W12, and the "No. 7" electric wire W18 and the "No. 8" electric wire W18 are connected to one rear-end connector W12. The connection and disconnection of these electric wires W18 from different front-end connectors W11 to one rear-end connector W12 are performed in two times.

[0306] First, in the rear-end connector connection portion 172, after the connection and disconnection of the wire W18 of one front-end connector W11 with one rear-end connector W12 are completed, the rear-end connector moving portion 163 moves the rear-end connector W12. That is, the rear-end connector moving portion 163 moves the rear-end connector W12 connected to the wire W18 of one front-end connector W11 so that the width between the rear-end connector W12 and the adjacent rear-end connection position P16 becomes closer, and the adjacent wire W18 extending to the adjacent other front-end connector W11 can be connected at the adjacent rear-end connection position P16. After the width is reduced, the adjacent wire W18 is connected to the rear-end connector W12 and disconnected at the same time. Such connection and disconnection are performed twice for the "No. 1" and "No. 2" wires W18, the "No. 5" and "No. 6" wires W18, and the "No. 7" and "No. 8" wires W18, respectively.

[0307] Fig.32 It is shown by Figure 1 and Figure 2 The wire harness manufacturing device shown manufactures Figure 3 Schematic diagram of steps S26 to S29 of the wire harness manufacturing method shown in FIG.

[0308] In step S26, the "No. 5" and "No. 6" electric wires W18 connected to one rear-end connector W12 are bundled by wire aggregation, and the tape W19 is wound toward the pull-out source side by a predetermined length by the moving tape winding mechanism 22. With respect to the tape winding described herein, the moving tape winding mechanism 22 performs winding by overlapping the tape W19 on a portion of the end side of the tape W19 already wound on each of the electric wires W18 while moving toward the pull-out source side. In addition, with respect to the tape winding, it is determined that the amount of electric wires is equal to or less than a predetermined amount, so that the tape winding is performed together with the wire aggregation of the small-scale aggregation section 225 by the moving tape winding mechanism 22. Then, a branch is formed by the tape winding described herein. In addition, at the time of the wire aggregation described herein, the tension applied to each of the electric wires W18 is relieved due to the rotation of the retaining portion 121 and the movement of the sliding portion 12.

[0309] Furthermore, in step S26, for the "No. 7" and "No. 8" electric wires W18 connected to one rear-end connector W12, they are bundled by wire gathering, and the tape W19 is partially wound at the junction point near the end of each outer material 20. This locally performed tape winding is determined to be equal to or less than the predetermined amount of wires, so the tape winding is performed together with the wire gathering by the small-scale gathering section 225 by moving the tape winding mechanism 22. Similar to the case of "No. 5" and "No. 6", the wire gathering described here is also performed in a state where the tension applied to each electric wire W18 is relieved due to the rotation of the holding portion 121 and the movement of the sliding portion 12.

[0310] In step S27, the "No. 1" to "No. 6" electric wires W18 are wire-gathered, and the "No. 7" electric wire W18 and the "No. 8" electric wire W18 connected to one rear end connector W12 are attached with the outer covering material W20 at a position away from the branch point.

[0311] For the wire gathering of the "No. 1" to "No. 6" wires W18, it is determined by the control unit 27 that the amount of gathered wires exceeds a predetermined amount, so that it is performed by the large-scale gathering unit 20 instead of the small-scale gathering unit 225 of the moving belt winding mechanism 22. The gathered part becomes a branch point. In addition, during the large-scale wire gathering, substantially all of the "No. 1" to "No. 6" sliding units 12 are moved toward the pull-out source side, and at the same time, the respective holding units 121 are rotated to make the respective front end connectors W11 face the branch point. Due to these operations in the sliding unit 12, the tension applied to the respective wires W18 due to the large-scale wire gathering is relieved.

[0312] Furthermore, the primary attachment of the exterior material W20 is performed to the “No. 7” and “No. 8” electric wires W18 through the exterior material attachment portion 24 .

[0313] In step S28, for the "No. 1" to "No. 6" electric wires W18 gathered in step S27, tape winding is performed from the branch point side toward the pull-out source side by the moving tape winding mechanism 22. The tape winding described here is performed by overlapping and winding the tape W19 on a part of the tape W19 already wound in each electric wire W18 at the branch point side while moving the moving tape winding mechanism 22 further toward the pull-out source side.

[0314] Furthermore, in step S28, the "No. 7" and "No. 8" electric wires W18 connected to one rear-end connector W12 are fixed by winding a tape W19 around the outer packaging material W20 attached in step S27 by moving the tape winding mechanism 22. The tape winding of the outer packaging material W20 is continued until the next step S29.

[0315] In step S29, for the "No. 1" to "No. 6" electric wires W18 that have been tape-wound in step S28, the outer material W20 is attached to the tape W19 by the outer material attaching portion 24. The outer material W20 is attached once near the branch point of the electric wire W18. In addition, in this step S29, the tape winding of the outer material W20 with respect to the "No. 7" and "No. 8" electric wires W18 that has been continued from step S28 is ended.

[0316] Fig.33 It is shown by Figure 1 and Figure 2 The wire harness manufacturing device shown manufactures Figure 3 The schematic diagram of steps S30 to S33 of the wire harness manufacturing method shown in FIG.

[0317] In step S30, the outer covering material W20 of the No. 1 to No. 6 electric wires W18 is fixed by the winding tape W19 by moving the tape winding mechanism 22. The tape winding of the outer covering material W20 is continued until step S32.

[0318] Furthermore, in step S30, the "No. 7" to "No. 9" electric wires W18 are gathered near the end of the tape winding relative to the "No. 7" and "No. 8" electric wires W18. The electric wire gathering described herein is performed by the control section 27 determining that the amount of gathered electric wires is equal to or less than a predetermined amount, so that it is moved by the small-scale gathering section 225 of the tape winding mechanism 22. Furthermore, during the electric wire gathering, the tension applied to each electric wire W18 is relieved due to the movement of the sliding section 12 and the rotation of the holding section 121.

[0319] In step S31, for the No. 7 to No. 9 wires W18, the tape W19 is overlapped and wound on a portion of the tape W19 wound on each wire W18 at the branch point side, and the tape is wound toward the pull-out source side. Here, the tape winding is also performed by moving the tape winding mechanism 22.

[0320] In step S32, for the "No. 7" to "No. 9" electric wires W18, the outer material W20 is attached to the tape W19 that has been wound during the tape winding in step S31 by the outer material attaching portion 24. The attachment of the outer material W20 is performed once from the vicinity of the branch point of the electric wire W18. In addition, in this step S32, the tape winding of the tape W19 of the outer material W20 for the "No. 1" to "No. 6" electric wires W18, which is continued from step S30, is completed.

[0321] In step S33 , the fixing of the outer covering material W20 of the “#7” to “#9” electric wires W18 attached in step S32 by tape winding of the tape W19 is performed by moving the tape winding mechanism 22 .

[0322] Fig.34 It is shown by Figure 1 and Figure 2 The wire harness manufacturing device shown manufactures Figure 3 Schematic diagram of steps S34 to S37 of the wire harness manufacturing method shown in FIG.

[0323] In step S34, the portions of the wires W18 "No. 1" to "No. 6" that are wound with the tape W19 and the portions of the wires W18 "No. 7" to "No. 9" that are wound with the tape W19 are gathered to form a branch. With regard to the wire gathering described herein, it is determined that the amount of wires exceeds a predetermined amount, so that the wire gathering is performed by the large-scale gathering portion 20. The gathered portion becomes a branch point. In addition, during the large-scale gathering of wires, substantially all of the sliding portions 12 of the sliding portions "No. 1" to "No. 9" are moved toward the pull-out source side, and the respective retaining portions 121 are rotated to direct the respective front end connectors W11 toward the branch point side. Due to this operation in the sliding portion 12, the tension applied to the individual wires W18 due to the large-scale gathering of wires is relieved.

[0324] In step S35, the tape W19 is overlapped and wound on the tape W19 already wound on each of the wires W18 from the branch point of the wires W18 of "No. 1" to "No. 9" toward the pulling source side. The tape winding described here is performed by moving the tape winding mechanism 22. Due to the tape winding in this step S35, it is determined as follows Figure 3 The branch shape in the wire harness W1 is shown.

[0325] In step S36, for the "No. 1" to "No. 9" electric wires W18, the outer covering material W20 is attached to the tape W19 wound in step S35 by the outer covering material attaching portion 24. The outer covering material W20 is attached once starting from the branch point of the electric wires W18.

[0326] Furthermore, in step S36, for the "No. 7" and "No. 8" electric wires W18, the outer covering material W20 is further attached to the portion between the branch point on the front connector W11 side and the outer covering material W20 on the branch point side of the "No. 9" electric wire W18. The outer covering material W20 is attached only once from the branch point on the front connector W11 side by the outer covering material attaching portion 24.

[0327] In step S37, the outer covering material W20 of the electric wires W18 of No. 1 to No. 9 already attached in step S36 is fixed by the winding tape W19 by the moving tape winding mechanism 22. The outer covering material W20 of the electric wires W18 of No. 7 and No. 8 already attached in step S36 is also fixed by the moving tape winding mechanism 22 by the winding tape W19.

[0328] Fig.35 It is shown by Figure 1 and Figure 2 The wire harness manufacturing device shown manufactures Figure 3 Schematic diagram of steps S38 to S40 of the wire harness manufacturing method shown in FIG.

[0329] In step S38 , one fixing jig W17 is attached to each of the exterior materials W20 at two locations for the “No. 7” and “No. 8” electric wires W18 . The two fixing jigs W17 are attached by the jig attaching portion 23 .

[0330] In step S39, two fixing jigs W17 are attached to the "No. 1" to "No. 6" electric wires W18 by the jig attaching portion 23. One fixing jig W17 is attached to the outer packaging material W20 near the branch point of the "No. 1" to "No. 6" electric wires W18. The other fixing jig W17 is attached to the tape W19 wound between the outer packaging material W20 and the branch point with the "No. 7" to "No. 9" electric wires W18.

[0331] In step S40, four fixing clamps W17 are attached to the "No. 7" to "No. 9" electric wires W18 through the clamp attachment portion 23. Three fixing clamps W17 are attached to the outer packaging material W20 near the branch point of the "No. 7" to "No. 9" electric wires W18. Another fixing clamp W17 is attached to the tape W19 wound between the outer packaging material W20 and the branch point with the "No. 1" to "No. 6" electric wires W18. By attaching the fixing clamps W17 in this step S40, the Figure 3 The completed wire harness W1 is held by the delivery section 26, and all nine front-end connectors W11 and six rear-end connectors W12 are removed from the holding section 121 of the slide section 12 and the rear-end connector moving section 163. Then, due to the movement of the delivery section 26 by the robot arm 21, the wire harness W1 is transported to the table as the delivery destination 26a to be delivered. As described above, the delivery section 26 has been completed. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The wire harness manufacturing device 1 shown manufactures Figure 3 A wire harness manufacturing method of the wire harness W1 is shown.

[0332] Here, according to the present embodiment, as described above, after the wire W18 is pulled out in step S12, each slide portion 12 pulls the wire W18 in the pulling direction D11 to apply tension thereto. In addition, for the tension applied in this manner, during the execution of the wire harness manufacturing method, the wire harness manufacturing device 1 is controlled by the control portion 27 as follows.

[0333] Fig.36 It is shown that when executing Figure 28 to Figure 35 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of steps S51 and S52 of a wire tension control method under the control of a control unit during the wire harness manufacturing method.

[0334] exist Fig.36 In the figure, in the wire harness manufacturing device 1, a component used as a tension control device 2 is shown, which is configured to control the tension applied to the wire W18 pulled out from the wire reel 111 during the execution of the wire harness manufacturing method. The tension control device 2 in the wire harness manufacturing device 1 includes: a sliding portion 12 that moves along a straight line by the drive of a servo motor 32; and a control portion 27. The sliding portion 12 is a portion configured to hold the wire end of the wire W18 and pull out the wire W18 by moving along a straight line, and the wire end of the wire W18 can be pulled out from the wire reel 111 via the front end connector W11. The control portion 27 is configured to control the amount of wire pulled out due to the movement of the sliding portion 12 while performing the following control on the tension in the wire W18. That is, the control section 27 obtains the driving force of the servo motor 32 as an index representing the tension in the wire W18, compares the driving force as an index with a predetermined reference value when the slide 12 stops, and controls the tension in the wire W18 by moving the slide in response to the comparison result.

[0335] Fig.36 The step S51 shown is equivalent to Fig.28The pulling out of the wire W18 in step S12 in step S51. According to this step S51, due to the drive of the servo motor 32, the wire W18 is pulled out by the sliding portion 12 moving in the pulling out direction D11. At this time, under the control of the control unit 27, the servo motor 32 drives the sliding portion 12 by the following driving force F11. The driving force F11 becomes the force required for the sliding portion 12 to pull out the wire W18 from the wire reel 111 via the wire holding mechanism 191a in the non-holding state. In addition, when pulling out the wire W18, the control unit 27 controls the pulling out amount of the wire by the movement of the sliding portion 12 in a straight line. The pulling out amount is obtained at the control unit 27 based on the rotation speed of the servo motor 32, etc. When each sliding portion 12 has moved an amount corresponding to the pulling out amount of the wire, the control unit 27 stops the plurality of sliding portions 12.

[0336] In step S52, the pulling out of the electric wire W18 is completed and the slide portion 12 is stopped. In this stopped state, the electric wire holding mechanism 191a is in a holding state and the slide portion 12 pulls the electric wire W18 in the pulling direction D11 with a balance force F12 that is balanced with the holding force of the electric wire holding mechanism 191a. Due to the pulling by the balance force F12 of the slide portion 12, a predetermined tension is applied to the electric wire W18. According to the present embodiment, a value corresponding to the holding force of the electric wire holding mechanism 191a is used as a reference value.

[0337] Fig.37 It is shown that when executing Figure 28 to Figure 35 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of steps S53 to S55 of the wire tension control method under the control of the control unit during the wire harness manufacturing method.

[0338] In this Fig.37 , in the tension control device 2 of the wire harness manufacturing device 1 , as an example in which the tension of the wire W18 increases when the slide portion 12 stops, a case in which the wire W18 is pulled due to the wire W18 being gathered by the large-scale gathering portion 20 is shown.

[0339] In step S53, when the sliding portion 12 pulls the electric wire W18 from the electric wire reel 111 with a balanced force F12 relative to the holding force of the electric wire holding mechanism 191a, the electric wires start to be gathered by the large-scale gathering portion 20. According to the present embodiment, this large-scale gathering portion 20 and the small-scale gathering portion 225 in the moving belt winding mechanism 22 that similarly performs electric wire gathering are bundling portions that bundle a plurality of electric wires W18. Hereinafter, as an example, the large-scale gathering portion 20 as the bundling portion will be described.

[0340] When bundling through the large-scale gathering section 20 is performed, the wire W18 is pulled so that the tension is temporarily increased, and in response to this, the output from the servo motor 32 that drives the slide 12 is temporarily increased from the above-mentioned balancing force F12 to the increased driving force F13. According to the present embodiment, in the control section 27, the reference value for tension control is set to be smaller than the driving force of the servo motor 32 that is temporarily increased due to bundling through the large-scale gathering section 20 and the small-scale gathering section 225. Finally, when the increased driving force F13 in the pulling-out direction D11 exceeds the reference value, the processing of the control section 27 shifts to the next step S54.

[0341] In step S54, the control unit 27 moves the slide portion 12 in the tension relaxation direction D32, which is the opposite direction to the pulling direction D11 of the electric wire W18, by a relaxation distance L11 longer than a distance required to make the driving force of the servo motor 32 smaller than the reference value. Figure 5 The wire reel 111 is rotated in the tension relieving rotation direction that reduces the index in the rotation direction D14 shown. The tension relieving rotation direction is a direction that makes the holding portion face the bundling point of the wires W18. Therefore, the wires W18 from the wire reel 111 enter a relaxed state between the sliding portion 12 and the wire holding mechanism 191a via the large-scale gathering portion 20. After this movement, the process shifts to the next step S55.

[0342] Here, in step S55, as a process after the above movement, the control unit 27 moves the slide unit 12 in the pulling direction D11 to a stop position where the electric wire W18 is pulled with a balance force F12 that is balanced with the holding force of the electric wire holding mechanism 191a. As a result, the electric wire W18 from the electric wire reel 111 enters a state of being stretched with a predetermined tension while passing through the large-scale gathering unit 20 between the slide unit 12 and the electric wire holding mechanism 191a. In the state where the electric wire W18 is stretched, a process of winding a tape when bundling through the large-scale gathering unit 20 or the like is performed.

[0343] Here, according to the present embodiment, there is a case where the control unit 27 retracts the slide unit 12 to a predetermined retracted position in the tension relaxation direction D32 after the electric wire W18 is pulled out by the movement of the slide unit 12. This retraction is performed to avoid interference with a mechanism device carried by the robot arm 21, which performs processing such as tape winding on the electric wire W18 pulled out by other slide units 12.

[0344] Fig.38 It is shown that when executing Figure 28 to Figure 35 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of steps S56 and S57 of the wire tension control method under the control of the control section during the wire harness manufacturing method shown.

[0345] In this Fig.37 2 schematically shows the retraction process of the slide portion 12 performed as one part of the tension control method by the control portion 27 constituting the tension control device 2 in the wire harness manufacturing device 1 according to the present embodiment.

[0346] According to step S56 in the retreat process, when the retreat period in which the approach of other mechanical mechanisms is expected arrives, the control unit 27 controls the servo motor 32 to retreat the slide 12 to the predetermined retreat position P17 in the above-mentioned tension relaxation direction D32. Due to this retreat, the wire W18 from the wire reel 111 enters a significantly relaxed state between the slide 12 and the wire holding mechanism 191a. Then, when the above-mentioned retreat period ends, the process shifts to the next step S57.

[0347] In step S57, the control unit 27 moves the slide 12 in the pulling direction D11 to return the slide 12 to the equilibrium position P18 before the retreat. Due to the return of the slide 12, the wire W18 from the wire reel 111 is stretched at a predetermined tension between the slide 12 and the wire gripping mechanism 191a.

[0348] According to this embodiment, when executing Figure 28 to Figure 35 During the wire harness manufacturing method shown, a tension control method including such a retraction is performed in parallel under the control of the control unit.

[0349] According to the wire harness manufacturing device 1, the wire harness manufacturing method, the wire harness W1, the tension control device 2, and the tension control method described in the present embodiment, the following effects can be achieved from various aspects.

[0350] First, from the viewpoint of forming the branch of the electric wire W18 by tape winding, the wire harness manufacturing device 1, the wire harness manufacturing method, and the wire harness W1 according to the present embodiment can achieve the following configuration, and can achieve the effects due to such configuration.

[0351] According to the wire harness manufacturing device 1 described in the present embodiment, the pull-out tape winding section 181 in the fixed tape winding mechanism 18 and the moving tape winding mechanism 22 are used as a leading tape winding section as follows. The leading tape winding section is a portion that performs tape winding on the wires W18 connected to the same front-end connector W11 among the front-end connectors W11 and the wires W18 prepared in plurality for manufacturing the wire harness W1. Then, the moving tape winding mechanism 22 that performs tape winding on the wires W18 that are the target of wire aggregation is used as a subsequent tape winding section as follows. The subsequent tape winding section is a portion that branches by performing tape winding on a portion of the wires W18 connected to different front-end connectors W11 that has been individually tape wound by the leading tape winding section.

[0352] exist Figure 28 to Figure 35 In the wire harness manufacturing method shown, the process of steps S12 to S16 in which the tape winding section 181 during pulling out and the moving tape winding mechanism 22 are used as the preceding tape winding section becomes the preceding tape winding process. The preceding tape winding process is a process of performing tape winding on the electric wire W18 connected to the same front-end connector W11. In addition, steps S19, S26, S28, S31, and S35 in which the moving tape winding mechanism 22 is used as the subsequent tape winding section become the subsequent tape winding process. The subsequent tape winding process is a process of performing tape winding on a portion of the electric wire W18 connected to a different front-end connector W11 that has already been tape wound to form a branch.

[0353] According to the wire harness manufacturing device 1 and the wire harness manufacturing method having such a configuration of the present embodiment, first, the wire W18 connected to the same front-end connector W11 is preliminarily tape-wound. Thereafter, the wire W18 that has been pre-taped and connected to a different front-end connector W11 is tape-wound. Due to the 2-stage tape winding including the pre-tape winding and the subsequent tape winding, the formation of the branch shape and the shape determination by the tape winding are performed in parallel. Since these operations can be performed without special skills as long as the pre-tape and subsequent steps are followed, these operations can be effectively automated, and the wire harness manufacturing device according to the present embodiment is an automatic manufacturing device based on this point. In this way, according to the above-mentioned wire harness manufacturing device 1 and the wire harness manufacturing method, the operations from the formation of the branch shape to the shape determination by tape winding can be automatically performed.

[0354] Here, according to the present embodiment, the moving belt winding mechanism 22 as the subsequent belt winding section overlaps and winds the belt W19 on the belt W19 wound by the pulling-out belt winding section 181 as the preceding belt winding section and the moving belt winding mechanism 22. According to such a configuration, for example, compared with the case where the belt is wound by the subsequent belt winding section while avoiding the belt W19 wound by the preceding belt winding section, the belt winding by the subsequent belt winding section is easier to perform. In view of the ease of belt winding by the subsequent belt winding section, the above-mentioned series of operations can be further effectively automated.

[0355] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, a sliding portion 12 configured to pull out the electric wire W18 is provided. In addition, the preceding tape winding portion includes a pulling-out tape winding portion 181 for performing tape winding on the electric wire W18 being pulled out, and a moving tape winding mechanism 22 serving as a pulling-out tape winding portion for performing tape winding on the electric wire W18 that has been pulled out. Furthermore, the subsequent tape winding portion performs tape winding on the portion of the pulled-out electric wire W18 that has been tape wound. According to this configuration, the tape winding of the sliding portion 12 is performed at various times during and after the pulling-out, thereby enabling more efficient automation of operations from the formation of a branch shape to the determination of a shape by tape winding. Furthermore, by performing tape winding at various times during and after the pulling-out, the operation time can also be shortened.

[0356] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the tape winding section 181 during the pulling out performs the tape winding without any movement, and the tape winding section after the pulling out and the subsequent tape winding section constructed by the moving tape winding mechanism 22 move along the electric wire W18 to perform the tape winding. According to such a configuration, a part of the tape winding is an operation without any movement, so that the mechanism related to the tape winding can be simplified.

[0357] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the tape winding mechanism 22 is moved, and the tape winding section after the pulling out and the subsequent tape winding section are wound while moving from the front end side to the rear end side along the pulling out direction D11 of the electric wire W18. According to such a configuration, the front end connector W11 located at the front end side in the pulling out direction D11 can be used as a reference for starting tape winding.

[0358] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, an outer packaging material attaching portion 24 configured to perform the attachment of the outer packaging material W20 is provided, and the post-pulling tape winding portion and the subsequent tape winding portion constructed by the moving tape winding mechanism 22 also perform tape winding to fix the outer packaging material W20 to the electric wire W18. According to such a configuration, the operation from attaching the outer packaging material W20 to fixing can be automatically performed at any time without manual intervention.

[0359] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the robot arm 21 grasps the moving belt winding mechanism 22 and carries it to the winding position of the belt W19, and moves the moving belt winding mechanism 22 in response to the belt winding operation so that the moving belt winding mechanism 22 operates as the pull-out rear belt winding portion and the subsequent belt winding portion. According to such a configuration, the moving belt winding mechanism 22 is carried by the robot arm 21 to the winding position of the belt W19, and is appropriately operated to construct the pull-out rear belt winding portion and the subsequent belt winding portion. Therefore, compared with a configuration in which the pull-out rear belt winding portion and the subsequent belt winding portion are each installed as an independent mechanism, the device structure of the wire harness manufacturing device 1 can be simplified.

[0360] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, after the electric wire W18 is pulled out, at least one of the plurality of slides 12 (in the present embodiment, all the slides 12) rotates the front connector W11 around the torsion axis X12 so as to be able to twist the electric wire W18. Then, in the preceding tape winding section, the post-pulling tape winding section constructed by the moving tape winding mechanism 22 performs tape winding on the twisted electric wire W18 as one of the winding targets. According to such a configuration, for the wire harness W1 having the twisted electric wire W18, operations from the formation of the branch shape to the shape determination by tape winding can be automatically performed.

[0361] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, a plurality of the tape winding sections 181 are provided to be arranged in the orthogonal direction D13 relative to the pulling direction D11 of the electric wire W18. Then, each of the tape winding sections 181 rotates the tape reel 181a around each electric wire W18 and winds the tape W19 pulled out from the tape reel 181a around each electric wire W18. According to such a configuration, due to the plurality of tape winding sections 181, tape winding can be performed simultaneously and in parallel on the electric wires W18 pulled out by the plurality of sliding sections 12.

[0362] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the plurality of pulled-out tape winding sections 181 rotate the tape reels 181a in the same reel rotation direction D28. According to such a configuration, the reel rotation directions D28 of the tape reels 181a in the plurality of pulled-out tape winding sections 181 are the same, so that the gaps between the plurality of pulled-out tape winding sections 181a can be reduced while avoiding interference therebetween. Thus, since the gaps therebetween are reduced, it is possible to avoid enlargement of the device and arrange the plurality of pulled-out tape winding sections 181 side by side.

[0363] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, there is provided the jig attaching portion 23. According to such a configuration, the attaching operation of the fixing jig W17 can be automatically performed.

[0364] In addition, in the wire harness W1 manufactured by the wire harness manufacturing device 1 and the wire harness manufacturing method according to the present embodiment, each front end connector W11 side becomes a branch line tape winding portion W13 forming a branch line. The branch line tape winding portion is a portion where the electric wire W18 connected to the same front end connector W11 is wound with a tape. In addition, these branch line tape winding portions W13 are further wound with a tape to form a branch portion, which becomes a branch tape winding portion W15.

[0365] For the above-mentioned wire harness W1, it is possible to perform operations from the formation of the branch shape to the shape determination by the tape winding in parallel by performing the tape winding for the branch line in advance and then performing the tape winding by bundling them to form a branch in two stages. These operations can be efficiently automated because they can be performed without special skills as long as the two-step tape winding process is followed. Therefore, for the above-mentioned wire harness W1, it is possible to manufacture the wire harness W1 by automatically performing operations from the formation of the branch shape to the shape determination by the tape winding.

[0366] Next, from the viewpoint of restraining the electric wires W18 in a parallel state to perform the manufacturing operation, the wire harness manufacturing apparatus and the wire harness manufacturing method according to the present embodiment include the following configurations, while the following effects are achieved due to these configurations.

[0367] According to the wire harness manufacturing device 1 of the present embodiment, there is a comb-shaped wire holding mechanism 191a and a plurality of sliding portions 12 used as a parallel limiting portion, which pulls out the wire W18 to apply appropriate tension thereto and pulls the wire W18. The parallel limiting portion is a portion for limiting the prepared plurality of wires to a parallel state. In addition, the pull-out belt winding portion 181 and the moving belt winding mechanism 22 in the fixed belt winding mechanism 18 are used as a preceding bundling portion, which is configured to select and bundle a portion of the wires W18 among the plurality of wires W18. In addition, the moving belt winding mechanism 22 is used as a subsequent bundling portion, which is configured to further bundle the bundling portion obtained by the preceding bundling portion to form a branch.

[0368] In addition, Figure 28 to Figure 35 In the wire harness manufacturing method shown, the process from step S12 in which the electric wires W18 are pulled out in a parallel state until step S30 in which the parallel state of all the electric wires W18 collapses, that is, until step S29, is a parallel limiting step. The parallel limiting step is a process of limiting the plurality of electric wires W18 to a parallel state. In addition, each of the steps from step S12 to step S16 in which the middle tape winding portion 181 is pulled out and the moving tape winding mechanism 22 is used as a preceding bundling portion is a preceding bundling process of selecting a part of the plurality of electric wires W18 for bundling. In addition, each of step S19, step S26, step S28, step S31, and step S35 in which the moving tape winding mechanism 22 is used as a subsequent tape winding portion is a subsequent bundling step. The subsequent bundling step is a step of further bundling the portion that has been bundled in the preceding bundling step to form a branch.

[0369] According to the above-mentioned wire harness manufacturing device 1 and wire harness manufacturing method, the manufacture of the wire harness W1 can start from restricting a plurality of wires W18 to a parallel state, which can be mechanically achieved without requiring any skilled operation such as laying out the wires W18 in a branch shape. Thereafter, by two-stage bundling including a preceding bundling and a subsequent bundling, the processing from the formation of a branch shape to the shape determination by bundling is performed in parallel and simultaneously. Regarding the two-stage bundling, it can be performed mechanically because it can be performed without any special skills as long as the process is followed. In this way, any one of the processing from the restriction to the parallel state to the formation and shape determination of the branch shape via the two-stage bundling can be performed mechanically, so that automation can be effectively achieved. The wire harness manufacturing device 1 according to the present embodiment is an automated manufacturing device in this respect. In this way, according to the above-mentioned wire harness manufacturing device and wire harness manufacturing method, the processing from the formation of a branch shape to the shape determination by bundling can be automatically performed.

[0370] Here, in this embodiment, the parallel limiting portion composed of the wire holding mechanism 191a and the sliding portion 12 limits the plurality of wires W18 to a parallel state in the air. According to such a configuration, for example, compared with a configuration in which the plurality of wires W18 are placed and fixed on a wiring board, etc., the degree of freedom of obtaining the wires W18 during the subsequent bundling is increased, so that the obtaining direction of the wires W18 thereafter can be optimized.

[0371] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the parallel limiting portion composed of the wire holding mechanism 191a and the sliding portion 12 limits the plurality of wires W18 from both sides of the space in the longitudinal direction of the wires W18. According to such a configuration, for example, the plurality of wires W18 are supported at a plurality of positions in the longitudinal direction and the wires W18 are limited to a parallel state, and the degree of freedom of obtaining the wires W18 in the bundle can be further improved compared to the configuration of, for example, supporting the plurality of wires W18 at a plurality of positions in the longitudinal direction and limiting the wires W18 to a parallel state.

[0372] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, in the wire harness manufacturing method, the parallel limiting process from step S12 to step S29 is performed as follows. That is, according to the present embodiment, the parallel limiting process is performed in parallel in the preceding bundling process including step S12 to step S16 and the subsequent bundling process including step S19, step S26, and step S28. According to such a configuration, the parallel limiting process is performed in parallel in both the preceding bundling process and the subsequent bundling process, so that a situation in which the electric wires accidentally become loose and tangled, such as during the formation of a branch shape, can be effectively avoided.

[0373] Next, according to the present embodiment, from the viewpoint that the wire harness manufacturing device 1 includes the tension control device 2 and the wire harness manufacturing method includes the tension control method, the following configuration is included while the effects due to such configuration can be achieved.

[0374] First, the tension control device 2 includes: a slide 12 that holds the end of the electric wire to move in a straight line; and a control section 27. The control section 27 controls the pull-out amount of the electric wire while acquiring the driving force of the servo motor 32 for driving the slide 12 as an index representing the tension of the electric wire W18. Then, the control section 27 compares the driving force as an index with a predetermined reference value when the slide stops, and moves the slide 12 in response to the comparison result.

[0375] In addition, the wire harness manufacturing device 1 according to the present embodiment includes the above-mentioned tension control device 2 and an operating mechanism configured to perform a manufacturing operation of the wire harness W1 on the electric wire W18 in a state where the tension is controlled by the tension control device 2. Figure 2 In the wire harness manufacturing device 1 shown, Fig.36 A plurality of structural components other than the tension control device 2 shown are used as the above-mentioned operating mechanism.

[0376] In addition, according to the tension control method of this embodiment, Figure 36 to Figure 38 In the tension control method shown, step S51 becomes a pull-out amount control process for controlling the pull-out amount of the electric wire by linearly moving the slide 12. Then, subsequent steps S52 to S57 become a movement control process for comparing the driving force of the servo motor 32 as a tension index with a reference value when the slide stops, and moving the slide 12 in response to the comparison result.

[0377] In addition, the wire harness manufacturing method according to the present embodiment includes a tension control process (step S51 to step S57) of controlling the tension of the electric wire by the above-mentioned tension control method and an operation process (step S11 to step S40) of performing a manufacturing operation of the wire harness.

[0378] According to the tension control device 2, the wire harness manufacturing device 1, the tension control method and the wire harness manufacturing method of the present embodiment, the following effects can be achieved. That is, according to the present embodiment, when the sliding portion 12 is stopped after the wire W18 is pulled out by the required wire pull-out amount, the control portion 27 controls the movement of the sliding portion 12 in response to the comparison result of comparing the index representing the tension of the wire W18 with the predetermined reference value. Due to the movement control of the sliding portion 12, when excessive tension exceeding the reference value is about to be applied to the wire W18 when the sliding portion 12 stops, measures such as moving the sliding portion in the direction of relieving the tension can be taken to suppress the tension applied to the wire W18. In addition, the required structure of such tension control can be a structure for pulling out the wire and its control structure. In this way, according to the present embodiment, the tension applied to the wire can be suppressed by a simple configuration.

[0379] Here, according to the present embodiment, the sliding portion 12 is provided with a front end connector W11 connected to the end of the electric wire so as to move in a straight line. According to such a configuration, when handling the electric wire W18 having the front end connector W11 connected to the end of the electric wire, the end of the electric wire can be effectively held by the front end connector W11 with better holding characteristics than the electric wire itself, and tension control can be performed.

[0380] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the wire holding mechanism 191a is provided at the pull-out source side of the wire W18, and the slide portion 12 pulls out the wire W18 when the wire holding mechanism 191a is in a non-holding state. Furthermore, the slide portion 12 stops while applying a tension that pulls the wire W18 in the pull-out direction D11 with a force that is balanced with the holding force when the wire holding mechanism 191a is in the holding state. Then, the control portion 27 uses a value corresponding to the holding force of the wire holding mechanism 191a as a reference value. According to such a configuration, by pulling the wire W18 with a force that is balanced with the holding force at the pull-out source side, it is possible to perform operation on the wire W18 when the slide portion 12 stops with good operability while applying a moderate tension to the wire W18.

[0381] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the sliding part 12 is provided in plural so as to move in parallel with each other. In addition, between the sliding part 12 and the wire holding mechanism 191a, as a bundling part for bundling the plurality of wires W18, a large-scale gathering part 20 and a small-scale gathering part 225 of the moving belt winding mechanism 22 are provided. In addition, in the control part 27, the reference value of the tension control becomes smaller than the index temporarily increased due to the bundling of the bundling part. According to such a configuration, for example, even if the tension when bundling the plurality of wires W18 temporarily increases, the tension is reflected in advance on the reference value in the tension control, so that the increase in the tension can be effectively suppressed.

[0382] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, when the tension index exceeds the reference value, the control unit 27 moves the slide 12 only by the relaxation distance L11, which is longer than the distance required to reduce the index below the reference value in the tension relaxation direction D32. Furthermore, after the movement, the control unit 27 moves the slide 12 in the pull-out direction D11 until the stop position where the wire W18 is pulled with the balance force F12 balanced with the holding force of the wire holding mechanism 191a. According to such a configuration, when the index exceeds the reference value, first, the slide 12 is significantly moved only by the above-mentioned long relaxation distance L11, thereby significantly suppressing the tension in the wire W18. Thereafter, by moving the slide 12 to the stop position where the wire W18 is pulled with the balance force F12, the wire W18 is stretched with appropriate tension. In this way, according to the above configuration, the two goals of rapid relaxation when the tension increases and ensuring satisfactory operability for the wire W18 thereafter can be effectively achieved.

[0383] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, when a predetermined retraction period arrives, the control portion 27 retracts the slide portion 12 in the tension relaxation direction D32 to a predetermined retraction position, and when the retraction period ends, the control portion 27 returns the slide portion 12 to the position before the retraction in the pull-out direction D12. According to such a configuration, for example, in a case where the slide portion 12 and the electric wire W18 pulled by the slide portion 12 hinder peripheral operations, peripheral operations can be performed with good operability by retracting the slide portion together with the entire electric wire W18.

[0384] According to the present embodiment, the slide portion 12 includes a holding portion 121 and a sliding body portion 122. Then, when the index exceeds the reference value, the control portion 27 moves the holding portion 121 along the sliding body portion 122. Figure 5 The rotation direction D14 shown causes the slide body 122 to move in the tension relaxation direction D32 while rotating in the tension relaxation direction. According to such a configuration, when the index exceeds the above-mentioned reference value, the tension in the electric wire W18 can be further effectively suppressed due to the movement of the slide body 122 toward the tension relaxation direction D32 and the rotation of the holding portion 121 in the tension relaxation direction.

[0385] Next, according to the present embodiment, from the viewpoint of pulling out the electric wires through the slide portion 12 to perform branching formation, the following configurations are included, and the effects according to these configurations can be achieved.

[0386] The wire harness manufacturing device 1 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of sliding parts 12, each of which is equipped with a front end connector W11 connected to the wire W18 and moves the front end connector W11 linearly. In addition, the moving belt winding mechanism 22 serves as a branch forming part that selectively bundles the plurality of wires W18 pulled out by the plurality of sliding parts 12 to form a branch. Then, the control part 207 controls the pulling amount of the wires and the branching operation.

[0387] In such Figure 28 to Figure 35 In the wire harness manufacturing method shown, step S12 becomes a wire pulling process, which pulls out the wire W18 while controlling the pulling amount of each wire W18 by moving the plurality of sliding parts 12 in a straight line. In addition, the process from step S19 when branching starts to step S35 when the branch shape is finally determined becomes a branch forming process for selectively bundling a plurality of wires W18 to form a branch.

[0388] According to the wire harness manufacturing device 1 and the wire harness manufacturing method of the present embodiment, any skilled operation such as laying out the wires W18 in a branch shape is not required. Then, due to the linear movement of the plurality of sliding portions 12 that respectively hold the front-end connector W11 and the subsequent formation of the branches after the movement, the formation of the branch shape and the shape determination by bundling are performed. This series of operations can be implemented mechanically, and in view of this, these operations are performed under predetermined control because they can be performed without the need for skilled operation as long as the procedure is followed. That is, according to the above-mentioned wire harness manufacturing device 1 and the wire harness manufacturing method, operations from the formation of the branch shape to the shape determination by bundling can be automatically performed.

[0389] Here, according to the present embodiment, a rear end connector connection portion 172 is provided, which is configured to cut off the electric wire W18 at the pull-out source side while connecting the electric wire W18 to the rear end connector W12, and the control portion 27 controls its connection operation. According to such a configuration, the cutting of the electric wire W18 at the pull-out source side and the connection with the rear end connector W12 can be automatically performed under the control of the control portion 27.

[0390] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the rear-end connector moving portion 163 is provided as described below. The rear-end connector moving portion 163 installs the rear-end connector W12 at the rear-end connector mounting position P15, which is offset from the rear-end connection position P16 in the orthogonal direction D13. In addition, the rear-end connector moving portion 163 is a portion that moves in the orthogonal direction D13 after the rear-end connector W12 is installed to position the rear-end connector W12 at the rear-end connection position P16. The control portion 27 also controls the positioning of the rear-end connector W12 to the rear-end connection position P16 due to the movement of the rear-end connector moving portion 163. According to such a configuration, the positioning of the rear-end connector W12 to the rear-end connection position P16 at the pull-out source side of the electric wire W18 can be automatically performed under the control of the control portion 27.

[0391] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, a front end connector connection portion 171 is provided for connecting the electric wire W18 to the front end connector W11 at the front end connection position P14 at the pull-out source side. The sliding portion 12 installs the front end connector W11 at the front end connector installation position P13 opposite to the pull-out source side, and after installation, the sliding portion 12 is a portion that moves in a straight line toward the pull-out source side to position the front end connector W11 at the front end connection position P14. The control portion 27 controls the connection operation by such a front end connector connection portion 171 and the positioning of the front end connector W11 to the front end connection position P14 due to the movement of the sliding portion 12. According to such a configuration, for a series of operations from the positioning of the front end connector W11 to the front end connection position P14 to the connection of the front end connector W11 due to the movement of the sliding portion 12, they can be automatically performed under the control of the control portion 27.

[0392] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, a front connector mounting portion 15 is provided, which is configured to mount the front connector W11 on the sliding portion 12 at the front connector connection position P13. The control portion 27 also controls the mounting operation of the front connector W11 to the sliding portion 12 through the front connector mounting portion 15. According to such a configuration, the mounting of the front connector W11 on the sliding portion 12 at the front connector mounting position P13 can be automatically performed under the control of the control portion 27.

[0393] Next, according to the present embodiment, from the perspective of the overall configuration of the device and method for pulling out the wire W18 due to the movement of the sliding portion 12 until the rear end connector W12 is connected via branching, the following configurations are included, and the effects according to these configurations can be achieved.

[0394] The wire harness manufacturing device 1 according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of slides 12 capable of being mounted with front-end connectors W11 and a front-end connector connection portion 171 that connects the electric wires W18 to the front-end connectors W11 of each slide 12. In addition, the wire harness manufacturing device 1 includes a small-scale gathering portion 225 and a large-scale gathering portion 20 serving as a wire gathering portion and a moving tape winding mechanism 22 serving as a tape winding portion. The wire gathering portion is a portion configured to selectively gather the electric wires W18 pulled out from different slides 12 to form a branch shape, and the tape winding portion is a portion configured to perform tape winding on the gathered electric wires W18 to determine the branch shape formed due to the electric wire gathering portion. In addition, the wire harness manufacturing device 1 includes a rear-end connector moving portion 163 and a rear-end connector connection portion 172. The rear-end connector moving portion 163 is provided in plurality, wherein each rear-end connector moving portion 163 is mounted with a rear-end connector W12, and each rear-end connector moving portion 163 moves in the orthogonal direction D13 to distribute the electric wires W18 pulled out by the movement of the slide 12 to each rear-end connector W12. The rear end connector connection portion 172 is a portion that connects the electric wires W18 to the rear end connectors W12 while cutting off the electric wires W18 distributed to the respective rear end connectors W12 .

[0395] In addition, according to Figure 28 to Figure 35 In the wiring harness manufacturing method, step S11 is a preliminary connection process of distributing and connecting the wires W18 that can be pulled out to a plurality of front-end connectors W11. In addition, step S12 is a wire pulling process of moving the front-end connectors W11 in parallel to each other along a straight line to pull out the wires W18. In addition, steps S19 to S35 of performing tape winding together with the gathering of the wires become a tape winding process of selectively gathering the pulled out wires W18 to form a branch shape and determining the branch shape by tape winding. Then, step S25 is a subsequent connection process of distributing the pulled out wires W18 to each rear-end connector W12, and cutting off the wires W18 distributed to each rear-end connector W12 while connecting the wires W18 to the rear-end connector W12.

[0396] According to the wire harness manufacturing device 1 and the wire harness manufacturing method of the present embodiment, the wire harness W1 is manufactured by connecting the wires to the front-end connector W11, pulling out the wires, forming and determining the branches by wire gathering and tape winding, and connecting the wires to the rear-end connector W12. Any of this series of operations does not require skilled operations such as the laying of the branch-shaped wires W18, and can be performed mechanically, and therefore any one of the operations can be effectively automated. The wire harness manufacturing device 1 according to the present embodiment is an automatic manufacturing device based on this point. In this way, according to the above-mentioned wire harness manufacturing device and wire harness manufacturing method, a series of operations related to the manufacture of the wire harness W1 can be automatically performed.

[0397] Here, according to the present embodiment, the sliding portion 12 includes a holding portion 121 that holds the front end connector W11 and a sliding body portion 122. Then, the holding portion 121 twists the electric wire W18 by rotating around the twisting axis X12. According to such a configuration, it is also possible to automatically manufacture the wire harness W1 including the twisted electric wire W18 without human intervention.

[0398] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the holding portion 121 of the slide portion 12 is attached so as to be rotatable around the rotation axis X11 orthogonal to the moving direction D12 of the slide portion 12. Thus, when the electric wires W18 connected to the front end connector W11 are gathered, the holding portion 121 is rotated so that the front end connector W11 faces the direction of the gathered electric wires W18. According to such a configuration, when the electric wires W18 are gathered, due to the rotation of the holding portion 121, by facing the front end connector W11 in the direction in which the electric wires W18 face, the tension applied to the electric wires W18 can be suppressed.

[0399] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, after the connection of the electric wire W18 from one front-end connector W11 to the rear-end connector W12 and its cutting are completed, there may be a situation where the adjacent electric wire W18 extending to another adjacent front-end connector W11 needs to be further connected to the rear-end connector W12. In this case, the rear-end connector moving portion 163 moves the rear-end connector W12 to the adjacent rear-end connection position P16 that can be connected to the adjacent electric wire W18. Then, the rear-end connector connecting portion 172 connects the adjacent electric wire W18 to the rear-end connector W12 at the adjacent rear-end connection position P16 and cuts it off. According to this configuration, when the electric wire W18 connected to a plurality of front-end connectors W11 is distributed to one rear-end connector W12, it is possible to distribute efficiently by moving the rear-end connector W12 rather than the electric wire W18 whose posture tends to be unstable. In addition, for each front-end connector W11, the connection of the electric wire W18 to the rear-end connector W12 is divided into several times, so that the load during the connection with the rear-end connector W12 and the surrounding structure can be suppressed.

[0400] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the electric wire gathering section includes the large-scale gathering section 20 and the small-scale gathering section 225. According to such a configuration, electric wire gathering can be efficiently performed by using the large-scale gathering section 20 and the small-scale gathering section 225 according to the amount of electric wires.

[0401] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the existing wire arrangement portion 25 is provided, which is configured to arrange the existing wire W21 in parallel with the wire W18. According to such a configuration, it is possible to additionally provide the existing wire W21 prepared separately after the wire W18 is pulled out by the slide portion 12, so as to increase the degree of freedom in manufacturing the wire harness W1.

[0402] In addition, according to the present embodiment, a wire holding mechanism 191a serving as an excess length pulling portion is provided to further pull out the excess length by holding and twisting the middle portion of at least a portion of the wire W18. According to such a configuration, for example, a portion of the wire W18 can have an appropriate excess length, thereby increasing the manufacturing freedom of the wire harness W1.

[0403] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the moving tape winding mechanism 22 as the tape winding portion temporarily fixes the electric wire W18 as the target of the excess length pulling out by winding the tape at a position closer to the front end connector W11 than the middle portion held during the excess length pulling out before the excess length is pulled out. According to such a configuration, the electric wire W18 as the target of the excess length pulling out is temporarily fixed, so that the electric wire W18 can be effectively prevented from being scattered during the excess length pulling out.

[0404] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, there is provided a delivery section 26 configured to move the completed wire harness W1 to a predetermined delivery destination 26a. According to such a configuration, the manufacturing of the wire harness W1 including the delivered completed wire harness W1 can be automatically performed.

[0405] Note that the above embodiments are merely representative embodiments of the wire harness manufacturing device, wire harness manufacturing method, wire harness, tension control device, and tension control method. The wire harness manufacturing device, wire harness manufacturing method, wire harness, tension control device, and tension control method are not limited thereto, and various modifications thereof can be implemented.

[0406] For example, according to the above-described embodiment, as an example of a wire harness of a manufacturing target, a wire harness W1 installed and routed in a car is shown. However, the wire harness is not limited thereto, and it may be a wire harness other than a wire harness for installation in a vehicle.

[0407] Furthermore, according to the above-described embodiment, as an example of a wiring harness of a manufacturing target, a wiring harness W1 having a branch shape in which 9 front-end connectors W11 and 6 rear-end connectors W12 are provided and branched at 7 positions is shown as an example. However, the wiring harness is not limited thereto, and the specific number of connectors and the number of branches are not particularly limited as long as it has a branch shape in which connectors are provided at both sides.

[0408] Furthermore, according to the above-described embodiment, as an example of a wire harness manufacturing device, the wire harness manufacturing device 1 is shown which has nine rows of sliding parts 12 and the shapes and arrangements of other mechanical parts are as follows. Figure 1 and Figure 2 However, the wire harness manufacturing device is not limited thereto, and may be configured to freely set the number of sliding parts and the shapes and arrangements of the various mechanical parts.

Claims

1. A wire harness manufacturing device, comprising: a plurality of sliding parts, the plurality of sliding parts being arranged between the first end side and the second end side so as to move linearly in parallel with each other, the sliding parts being capable of being equipped with front end connectors respectively; a front-end connector connection portion provided at the first end side and configured to connect the electric wires to be distributed and supplied to the respective sliding portions and to be pulled out from the first end side to the second end side to the front-end connector equipped in the sliding portion as a distribution destination; a wire gathering portion configured to selectively gather the wires pulled out by the movement of the different sliding portions to form a branch shape; a tape winding unit configured to: perform tape winding on the gathered electric wires to determine the branch shape; a plurality of rear-end connector moving parts, the plurality of rear-end connector moving parts being provided to respectively have rear-end connectors installed therein, each of the rear-end connector moving parts being configured to: distribute the wires pulled out by the movement of the sliding part to each of the rear-end connectors by the movement of each of the rear-end connector moving parts at the first end side in a direction orthogonal to the movement direction of the sliding part; as well as A rear end connector connection portion is configured to cut the electric wires distributed to the respective rear end connectors and connect the electric wires to the rear end connectors.

2. The wire harness manufacturing device according to claim 1, in, The sliding portion includes a holding portion for holding the front end connector and a sliding body portion for mounting the holding portion, and The holding portion is configured to twist the electric wire by rotating around a twist axis along a moving direction of the sliding portion.

3. The wire harness manufacturing device according to claim 1, in, The sliding portion includes a holding portion for holding the front end connector and a sliding body portion for mounting the holding portion, and The retaining portion is attached to the sliding body portion so as to be rotatable around a rotation axis orthogonal to a moving direction of the sliding portion, and the retaining portion is configured to rotate so that when the wires connected to the front end connector are gathered by the wire gathering portion, the front end connector faces the direction in which the gathered wires face.

4. The wire harness manufacturing device according to claim 1, in, The rear-end connector moving portion is configured such that, in the rear-end connector connecting portion, after the connection and disconnection of the electric wire connected to one of the front-end connectors with the rear-end connector have been completed, in the case where it is necessary to further connect an adjacent electric wire extending to another adjacent front-end connector to the rear-end connector, the rear-end connector moving portion moves the rear-end connector to an adjacent rear-end connecting position where the electric wire can be connected to the adjacent electric wire, and The rear end connector connection portion connects the adjacent electric wires to the rear end connector at the adjacent rear end connection positions and cuts off the adjacent electric wires.

5. The wire harness manufacturing device according to claim 1, wherein: The electric wire gathering section includes a large-scale gathering section and a small-scale gathering section, the large-scale gathering section being configured to gather the electric wires of the electric wire amount when the electric wire amount of the target electric wires exceeds a predetermined amount, and the small-scale gathering section being configured to gather the electric wires of the electric wire amount when the electric wire amount of the electric wires is less than the predetermined amount. 6 . The wire harness manufacturing device according to claim 1 , further comprising an existing wire arranging section configured to arrange existing wires having both ends connected with the connectors respectively in parallel with the wires pulled out by the movement of the sliding section.

7. The wire harness manufacturing device according to claim 1 further includes an excess length imparting portion, which is configured to: hold the middle portion of a portion of the wire pulled out by the movement of the sliding portion in the moving direction of the wire, and twist the wire around an axis orthogonal to the moving direction to pull out the excess length.

8. The wire harness manufacturing device according to claim 7, wherein: The tape winding portion is configured to temporarily fix the electric wire as the excess length pulling-out target by winding the tape around a portion closer to the front end connector than the middle portion before the excess length is pulled out by the excess length imparting portion.

9. The wire harness manufacturing device according to claim 1 further includes a delivery unit, which is configured to: hold the electric wires connected to the front-end connector and the rear-end connector and already wound with a tape as a completed wire harness, and remove the front-end connector and the rear-end connector from the sliding unit and the rear-end connector moving unit at one time and move the wire harness to a predetermined delivery destination.

10. A method for manufacturing a wiring harness, comprising: Preliminary connection step: Distribute and connect the wires that can be pulled out to a plurality of front-end connectors; Wire pulling out step: moving the front end connectors parallel to each other along a straight line to pull out the wires; a tape winding step of selectively gathering the drawn electric wires to form a branch shape, and determining the branch shape by performing tape winding; as well as The subsequent connecting step is to distribute the pulled out electric wires to a plurality of rear end connectors, respectively, and then cut the electric wires distributed to the respective rear end connectors and connect the electric wires to the rear end connectors.

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