Wire harness manufacturing apparatus

Abstract

This disclosure provides a wire harness manufacturing apparatus (1) that can shorten the machine cycle time in wire harness manufacturing apparatuses that mix ordinary wires and stranded wires. The wire harness manufacturing apparatus (1) is an apparatus for automatically manufacturing wire harnesses having ordinary wires, stranded wires, and connectors connected to the ends of the ordinary wires and stranded wires. The wire harness manufacturing apparatus (1) includes a stranded wire processing unit (2), an ordinary wire processing unit (3), and a housing transport mechanism (10). The housing transport mechanism (10) is a mechanism for moving connector housings between the terminal insertion machine (28) of the stranded wire processing unit (2) and the terminal insertion machine (37) of the ordinary wire processing unit (3), and the housing transport mechanism (10) consists of a housing holding tool for holding the connector housing, a conveyor belt for transporting the housing holding tool, etc. The housing transport mechanism (10) causes multiple housing holding tools to circulate along a path P1-P2-P3-P4-P1.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a wire harness manufacturing apparatus. Background Technology

[0002] Traditionally, various automated wire harness manufacturing apparatuses have been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1). As examples of conventional wire harness manufacturing apparatuses, there exist... Figure 4 The apparatus shown is a wire harness manufacturing apparatus 503 that automatically manufactures wire harnesses having multiple ordinary wires and connectors connected to the ends of these ordinary wires, and the wire harness manufacturing apparatus 503 is composed of multiple processing machines, etc.

[0003] In this specification, the term "ordinary wire" refers to a single wire that is not twisted with other wires. Furthermore, the term "connector" refers to a construction consisting of terminals connected to the ends of each wire and a resin-made connector housing for accommodating the terminals. Additionally, the term "stranded wire" as used below refers to a construction formed by twisting two wires together in pairs.

[0004] Figure 4 The measuring cutter 531 shown is a processing machine that pulls a wire of a specified length from a spool and then cuts it. The rubber plug attaching machine 532 is a processing machine that attaches rubber plugs to the wire. The wire stripping machine 533 is a processing machine that removes the insulation coating from the ends of the wire to expose the core wire. The terminal crimping machines 534 and 535 are processing machines that crimp terminals to the ends of the wire. The crimping condition inspection device 536 is a device that takes images of the crimped terminals to determine the quality of the crimping. The terminal insertion machine 537 is a device that inserts the terminals attached to the wire, along with the rubber plugs, into the various cavities of the connector housing. The housing supply device 539 is a device that supplies the connector housing to the terminal insertion machine 537 before terminal insertion. The housing discharge device 538 is a device that removes the connector housing after terminal insertion. The wire transport mechanism 530 is a mechanism that sequentially receives wires from the measuring cutter 531 and then transports the wires through the aforementioned processing machines to the terminal insertion machine 537.

[0005] Figure 5 yes Figure 4 The operation timing diagram of the wire harness manufacturing apparatus 503 is shown. In this example, the series of steps from the measurement and cutting step of the 32 wires to the insertion of the terminal of each of the 32 wires into a connector housing takes 106 seconds. Furthermore, in the second round, since the steps other than the terminal insertion step can be performed before the completion of the terminal insertion step in the first round, the second round can be completed 99.2 seconds after the first round has finished. The third round and subsequent rounds are similar to the second round.

[0006] Furthermore, in the aforementioned terminal insertion step, once each terminal is inserted into a connector housing and all terminal insertions are complete, the connector housing is ejected from the terminal insertion machine 537, and the next connector housing is supplied. Therefore, the first round of terminal insertion and the second round of terminal insertion cannot be performed simultaneously.

[0007] In this way, since in the conventional wire harness manufacturing apparatus 503, the insertion of terminals for another connector housing cannot begin until all terminals for one connector housing have been inserted, the machine cycle time becomes longer.

[0008] Furthermore, the inventors of this application have researched a manufacturing apparatus for automatically manufacturing wire harnesses having ordinary wires, stranded wires, and connectors connected to the ends of these wires. This wire harness manufacturing apparatus is... Figure 6 The configuration shown.

[0009] exist Figure 6 In the wire harness manufacturing apparatus 601 shown, a stranded wire processing unit and a general wire processing unit are arranged downstream of the measuring and cutting machine 611. A terminal insertion machine 612, a housing supply device 613, and a housing discharge device 614 are arranged downstream of both the stranded wire processing unit and the general wire processing unit. A wire conveying mechanism 610 sequentially receives wires from the measuring and cutting machine 611 and transports them sequentially through the stranded wire processing unit and the general wire processing unit to the terminal insertion machine 612.

[0010] Figure 6 The stranded wire processing unit includes: a twisting machine 622 for twisting two wires together to produce stranded wires, a rubber plug attaching machine 623, a stripping machine 624, terminal crimping machines 625 and 626, and a crimping status inspection device 627.

[0011] Figure 6 The ordinary wire processing unit includes a rubber plug assembly machine 632, a stripping machine 633, terminal crimping machines 634 and 635, and a crimping status inspection device 636.

[0012] The wire harness manufacturing apparatus 601 uses a common measuring cutter 611. Wires to be cut to a predetermined length for stranded wires are processed in a stranded wire processing unit, and wires to be cut to a predetermined length for ordinary wires are processed in an ordinary wire processing unit. Then, the wire harness manufacturing apparatus 601 transports all the wires with terminals to a common terminal insertion machine 612 to insert multiple terminals into a connector housing.

[0013] Figure 7 yes Figure 6The operation timing diagram of the wire harness manufacturing apparatus 601 is shown. According to this example, the twisting step of the stranded wires takes a long time, and the first round of steps takes 193 seconds. Then, in the second round, by performing the twisting step simultaneously with the steps of the first round, the second round can be completed 164 seconds after the first round has been completed. The third round and subsequent rounds are similar to the second round.

[0014] [List of Citations]

[0015] [Patent Literature]

[0016] [Patent Document 1] JP 2014-2853A Summary of the Invention

[0017] [Technical Issues]

[0018] As described above, the inventors of this application have studied a wire harness manufacturing apparatus that mixes ordinary wires and stranded wires; however, there is room for further improvement in terms of reducing machine cycle time.

[0019] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to shorten the machine cycle time in wire harness manufacturing apparatus that mixes ordinary wires and stranded wires.

[0020] [Solution to the problem]

[0021] This invention relates to a wire harness manufacturing apparatus, characterized in that it comprises: a stranded wire processing unit, the stranded wire processing unit including: a measuring cutter that pulls out a wire of a predetermined length and cuts the wire; a twisting machine that twists two wires together to form a stranded wire; a terminal crimping machine that crimps terminals onto the ends of the wires; a terminal insertion machine that inserts the terminals into a connector housing; and a wire transport mechanism that sequentially receives the wires from the measuring cutter and then transports the wires sequentially through the twisting machine and the terminal crimping machine to the terminal insertion machine; and ordinary wire processing. The unit, the ordinary wire processing unit, includes: a measuring cutter that pulls out a wire of a predetermined length and cuts the wire; a terminal crimping machine that crimps a terminal onto the end of the wire; a terminal insertion machine that inserts the terminal into the connector housing; a wire transport mechanism that sequentially receives the wire from the measuring cutter and then sequentially transports the wire through the terminal crimping machine to the terminal insertion machine; and a housing transport mechanism that moves the connector housing between the terminal insertion machine of the stranded wire processing unit and the terminal insertion machine of the ordinary wire processing unit.

[0022] [Invention Effects]

[0023] According to the present invention, the machine cycle time in a wire harness manufacturing apparatus that mixes ordinary wires and stranded wires can be shortened. Attached Figure Description

[0024] Figure 1 This is a schematic configuration diagram showing a wire harness manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 2 It is shown Figure 1 A conceptual diagram of the operation of the shell transport mechanism.

[0026] Figure 3 yes Figure 1 The operation timing diagram of the wire harness manufacturing device.

[0027] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a conventional wire harness manufacturing apparatus.

[0028] Figure 5 yes Figure 4 The operation timing diagram of the wire harness manufacturing device.

[0029] Figure 6 This is a schematic configuration diagram of a wire harness manufacturing apparatus for a reference example.

[0030] Figure 7 yes Figure 6 The operation timing diagram of the wire harness manufacturing device.

[0031] Reference tag list

[0032] 1. Wire harness manufacturing equipment

[0033] 2 Stranded Wire Processing Unit

[0034] 3. Ordinary wire processing unit

[0035] 10. Shell transport mechanism

[0036] 21, 31 Measuring and Cutting Machine

[0037] 22-pair winch

[0038] 23, 32 Rubber Plug Assembly Machine

[0039] 24, 33 Peeling Machine

[0040] 25, 26, 34, 35 terminal crimping machine

[0041] 27, 36 Crimping condition inspection device

[0042] 28 and 37 terminal insertion machine

[0043] 29. Housing supply device

[0044] 38. Shell discharge device Detailed Implementation

[0045] Reference Figures 1 to 3 A “wire harness manufacturing apparatus” according to an embodiment of the present invention is described.

[0046] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 The wire harness manufacturing apparatus 1 shown is an apparatus capable of automatically manufacturing wire harnesses having ordinary wires, stranded wires, and connectors connected to the ends of these wires. For example... Figure 1 As shown, the wire harness manufacturing apparatus 1 includes a stranded wire processing unit 2, a regular wire processing unit 3, and a housing transport mechanism 10.

[0047] The stranded wire processing unit 2 includes a measuring and cutting machine 21, a twisting machine 22, a rubber plug attaching machine 23, a stripping machine 24, a terminal crimping machine 25, 26, a crimping status inspection device 27, a terminal insertion machine 28, a wire conveying mechanism 20, and a housing supply device 29.

[0048] Measuring cutter 21 is a processing machine that pulls a wire of a predetermined length from a spool and then cuts it.

[0049] The twisting machine 22 is located downstream of the measuring cutter 21. The twisting machine 22 is a processing machine that twists two wires cut to a predetermined length by the measuring cutter 21 to form a stranded wire. The twisting machine 22 includes three heads and is therefore capable of twisting three stranded wires.

[0050] A rubber plug fitting machine 23 is located downstream of the twisting machine 22. The rubber plug fitting machine 23 is a processing machine that fits annular rubber plugs onto the outer periphery of the wire. The rubber plug is then inserted into the connector housing in a subsequent step to seal the space between the wire and the connector housing.

[0051] The wire stripper 24 is located downstream of the rubber plug assembly machine 23. The wire stripper 24 is a processing machine that removes the insulation coating from the ends of wires to expose the core wires.

[0052] Terminal crimping machines 25 and 26 are located downstream of the stripping machine 24. Terminal crimping machines 25 and 26 are processing machines that crimp terminals to the ends of wires, and are configured to crimp the core wire crimping portion of the terminal to the core wire exposed at the stripping machine 24, and crimp the covered crimping portion of the terminal to the insulation covered portion of the wire.

[0053] A crimping condition inspection device 27 is located downstream of terminal crimping machines 25 and 26. The crimping condition inspection device 27 is a device that takes images of the terminals crimped onto wires by the terminal crimping machines 25 and 26 to determine the quality of the crimping condition. Wires with terminals that are determined to be defective by the crimping condition inspection device 27 are removed, and wires with terminals that are determined to be excellent are conveyed to the terminal insertion machine 28.

[0054] Terminal insertion machine 28 is located downstream of crimping condition inspection device 27. Terminal insertion machine 28 is a device that inserts the terminals crimped to the wires at terminal crimping machines 25 and 26 together with the rubber plugs installed to the wires at rubber plug mounting machine 23 into the respective cavities of connector housing.

[0055] The wire transport mechanism 20 sequentially receives wires from the measuring and cutting machine 21 and then transports them sequentially through the twisting machine 22, the rubber plug attaching machine 23, the stripping machine 24, the terminal crimping machines 25 and 26, and the crimping condition inspection device 27 to the terminal insertion machine 28. The wire transport mechanism 20 consists of multiple trays for holding each wire, a conveyor belt for transporting the multiple trays, etc. Each tray includes three holding parts and can be shared by both stranded wires and ordinary wires.

[0056] The housing supply device 29 is a device for supplying the connector housing to the housing transport mechanism 10 before the terminal is inserted.

[0057] This stranded wire processing unit 2 can process not only stranded wires but also ordinary wires. When processing ordinary wires by the stranded wire processing unit 2, the step at the stranding machine 22 is omitted, and the next step is performed directly.

[0058] The ordinary wire processing unit 3 includes a measuring and cutting machine 31, a rubber plug fitting machine 32, a stripping machine 33, a terminal crimping machine 34, 35, a crimping status inspection device 36, a terminal insertion machine 37, a wire conveying mechanism 30, and a housing discharge device 38.

[0059] Measuring cutter 31 is a processing machine that pulls out a predetermined length of wire from a spool and then cuts it.

[0060] A rubber plug fitting machine 32 is located downstream of the measuring and cutting machine 31. The rubber plug fitting machine 32 is a processing machine that fits annular rubber plugs onto the outer periphery of the wire. The rubber plug is then inserted into the connector housing in a subsequent step to seal the space between the wire and the connector housing.

[0061] The wire stripper 33 is located downstream of the rubber plug assembly machine 32. The wire stripper 33 is a processing machine that removes the insulation coating from the ends of wires to expose the core wires.

[0062] Terminal crimping machines 34 and 35 are located downstream of the stripping machine 33. Terminal crimping machines 34 and 35 are processing machines that crimp terminals to the ends of wires, and are configured to crimp the core wire crimping portion of the terminal to the core wire exposed at the stripping machine 33, and crimp the covered crimping portion of the terminal to the insulating covered portion of the wire.

[0063] A crimping condition inspection device 36 is located downstream of terminal crimping machines 34 and 35. The crimping condition inspection device 36 is a device that takes images of the terminals crimped onto wires at the terminal crimping machines 34 and 35 to determine the quality of the crimping condition. Wires with terminals that are determined to be defective by the crimping condition inspection device 36 are removed, and wires with terminals that are determined to be excellent are conveyed to the terminal insertion machine 37.

[0064] Terminal insertion machine 37 is located downstream of crimping condition inspection device 36. Terminal insertion machine 37 is a device that inserts the terminals crimped to the wires at terminal crimping machines 34 and 35 together with the rubber plugs installed to the wires at rubber plug mounting machine 32 into the respective cavities of connector housing.

[0065] The wire conveying mechanism 30 is a mechanism that sequentially receives wires from the measuring and cutting machine 31 and then transports the wires sequentially through the rubber plug connector 32, the stripper 33, the terminal crimping machines 34 and 35, and the crimping condition inspection device 36 to the terminal insertion machine 37. The wire conveying mechanism 30 consists of multiple trays for holding each wire and a conveyor belt for transporting the multiple trays.

[0066] The housing ejection device 38 is a device for removing the connector housing after the terminal is inserted from the housing transport mechanism 10.

[0067] The housing transport mechanism 10 is a mechanism that moves the connector housing between the terminal insertion machine 28 of the stranded wire processing unit 2 and the terminal insertion machine 37 of the ordinary wire processing unit 3. The housing transport mechanism 10 consists of a housing holding tool for holding the connector housing, a conveyor belt for transporting the housing holding tool, etc.

[0068] In this example, the housing transport mechanism 10 includes a plurality of housing retaining tools that travel along, for example, Figure 2 The route shown is a loop from P1 to P2 to P3 to P4 to P1.

[0069] At position P1, the connector housing before terminal insertion is supplied by housing supply device 29 and placed in housing retaining tool. The connector housing placed in housing retaining tool at position P1 is transported together with housing retaining tool to position P2.

[0070] At position P2, the terminals crimped onto the wires at terminal crimping machines 25 and 26 and the rubber plugs attached to the wires at rubber plug attaching machine 23 are sequentially inserted into the connector housing via the terminal insertion machine 28 of the stranded wire processing unit 2. When the terminal insertion machine 28 has completed the insertion of all terminals and rubber plugs, the connector housing and housing retaining tool are transported together to position P3.

[0071] At position P3, the terminals crimped onto the wires at terminals crimping machines 34 and 35 and the rubber plugs attached to the wires at rubber plug attaching machine 32, via the terminal insertion machine 37 of the ordinary wire processing unit 3, are sequentially inserted into the connector housing. When the terminal insertion machine 37 has completed the insertion of all terminals and rubber plugs, the connector housing and housing retaining tool are transported together to position P4.

[0072] At position P4, the connector housing with the terminal inserted is removed by housing ejection device 38. Thereafter, only the housing retaining tool is transported to position P1, and the above steps are repeated.

[0073] also, Figure 2 This is a conceptual diagram used to describe the operation of the housing transport mechanism 10 and the correspondence between the housing transport mechanism and the terminal insertion machines 28 and 37, the housing supply device 29, and the housing discharge device 38. In reality, it is not necessary to use a diagram like this. Figure 2 The various devices are arranged as shown. Similarly, in Figure 1 In this illustration, for the sake of simplicity, the stranded wire processing unit 2 and the ordinary wire processing unit 3 are shown arranged in a horizontal row. However, in this invention, there are no particular restrictions on the arrangement of the stranded wire processing unit 2 and the ordinary wire processing unit 3.

[0074] Figure 3 yes Figure 1The operation timing diagram of the wire harness manufacturing apparatus 1 is shown below. In this example, six wires are cut at the measuring cutter 21, and three pairs of stranded wires are twisted at the twisting machine 22. Rubber plugs are then attached to each wire at the rubber plug attaching machine 23. The insulation coating of each wire is removed at the stripping machine 24, and terminals are crimped onto each wire at the terminal crimping machines 25 and 26. Then, stranded wires that are deemed satisfactory at the crimping condition inspection device 27 are conveyed to the terminal insertion machine 28, and the terminals and rubber plugs attached to these stranded wires are inserted into the respective cavities of the connector housing at the terminal insertion machine 28. Furthermore, during the operation of the terminal insertion machine 28, the processing of ordinary wires begins. In this example, 32 wires are cut at the measuring cutter 31, rubber plugs are attached to each wire at the rubber plug attaching machine 32, the insulation coating of each wire is removed at the stripping machine 33, and terminals are crimped onto each wire at the terminal crimping machines 34 and 35. Then, the ordinary wires that are deemed excellent at the crimping condition inspection device 36 are conveyed to the terminal insertion machine 37, and the terminals and rubber plugs already attached to these ordinary wires are inserted into the respective cavities of the connector housing at the terminal insertion machine 37. In this way, a wire harness with three stranded wires (using a total of six wires), 32 ordinary wires, and connectors connected to the ends of these wires is automatically manufactured.

[0075] like Figure 3 As shown, in this example, the first round of steps takes 193 seconds. In the second round, the processing of the stranded wire is performed simultaneously with the processing of the ordinary wire in the first round. Simultaneously, the processing of the ordinary wire in the second round, except for the insertion of terminals and rubber plugs, is performed simultaneously with the insertion of terminals or rubber plugs into the ordinary wire in the first round, allowing the second round to be completed 99.2 seconds after the first round. The third and subsequent rounds are similar to the second round. When the wire harness manufacturing device 1 is connected to... Figure 6 When compared with the wire harness manufacturing apparatus 601, the time required for the first round is the same; however, in the second round and thereafter, the time required by the wire harness manufacturing apparatus 1 is reduced by 65 seconds compared with the time required by the wire harness manufacturing apparatus 601.

[0076] In this manner, the wire harness manufacturing apparatus 1 can simultaneously allow the terminal insertion machine 28 of the stranded wire processing unit 2 to insert terminals into the connector housing, while the terminal insertion machine 37 of the ordinary wire processing unit 3 inserts terminals into another connector housing. Therefore, the machine cycle time in the wire harness manufacturing process can be shortened.

[0077] Furthermore, the wire harness manufacturing apparatus 1 can process ordinary wires using the stranded wire processing unit 2. Therefore, due to the configuration of the wire harness to be manufactured, the machine cycle time can be shortened by processing ordinary wires by the stranded wire processing unit 2.

[0078] The above embodiments are merely representative examples of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. That is, various modifications can be constructed without departing from the spirit of the present invention. As long as such modifications still have the structure according to the present invention, they are certainly included within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A wire harness manufacturing apparatus (1), the wire harness manufacturing apparatus (1) comprising: A stranded wire processing unit (2) comprising: Measuring cutter (21), which pulls out a wire of a predetermined length and cuts the wire; Twisting machine (22) twists two wires together to form a stranded wire; Terminal crimping machines (25, 26) crimp terminals onto the ends of the wires; Terminal insertion machine (28) inserts the terminals into the connector housing; and The wire transport mechanism (20) sequentially receives the wire from the measuring cutter (21) and then transports the wire sequentially through the twisting machine (22) and the terminal crimping machine (25, 26) to the terminal inserter (28); A general-purpose wire processing unit (3) includes: Measuring cutter (31), which pulls out a wire of a predetermined length and cuts the wire; Terminal crimping machines (34, 35) crimp terminals onto the ends of the wires; Terminal insertion machine (37), the terminal insertion machine (28) inserts the terminals into the connector housing; and A wire transport mechanism (30) that sequentially receives the wires from the measuring cutter (31) and then sequentially transports the wires through the terminal crimping machines (34, 35) to the terminal inserter (37); and The housing transport mechanism (10) moves the connector housing between the terminal inserter (28) of the stranded wire processing unit (2) and the terminal inserter (37) of the ordinary wire processing unit (3).

2. The wire harness manufacturing apparatus (1) according to claim 1, in, The housing transport mechanism (10) sequentially transports a plurality of the connector housings, and When the terminal insertion machine (28) of the stranded wire processing unit (2) inserts a terminal into a connector housing, the terminal insertion machine (37) of the ordinary wire processing unit (3) can simultaneously insert a terminal into another connector housing.

3. The wire harness manufacturing apparatus (1) according to claim 1 further includes: A housing supply device (29) supplies the connector housing to the housing transport mechanism (10) before terminal insertion; as well as Housing ejection mechanism (38) removes the connector housing after terminal insertion from the housing transport mechanism (10).

4. The wire harness manufacturing apparatus (1) according to claim 1, wherein, Each of the stranded wire processing unit (2) and the ordinary wire processing unit (3) further includes: a rubber plug fitting machine (23, 32) for fitting rubber plugs to the wire; a stripping machine (24, 33) for removing insulation from the ends of the wire; and a crimping condition inspection device (27, 36) for taking images of the terminals crimped to the wire to determine the quality of the crimping condition.

Images