Wiring harness arrangement structure

Abstract

To provide a wiring harness arrangement structure that can give flexibility to the arrangement shape of a wire group with low cost.SOLUTION: A wiring harness arrangement structure 1 comprises a wire group 7, a wiring harness 3 having a pair of connectors 9 and 9, and a fixing member 5 on which the wiring harness 3 is fixed. The pair of connectors 9 and 9 includes a pair of first connectors 9A and 9A and a pair of second connectors 9B and 9B. The wire group 7 includes a first wire group 7A composed of multiple first wires 11A and a second wire group 7B composed of multiple second wires 11B. The first wire group 7A includes a first sheath 13A that sheathes the outer periphery of the multiple first wires 11A so as to bundle the multiple first wires 11A, being arranged on the fixing member 5 via the first sheath 13A. The second wire group 7B includes a second sheath 13B that sheathes the outer periphery of the multiple second wires 11B so as to bundle the multiple second wires 11B, being arranged on the fixing member 5 via the second sheath 13B.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a wire harness arrangement structure. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a wire harness arrangement structure includes a wire harness having an electric wire group consisting of a plurality of electric wires and a plurality of pairs of connectors electrically connected to both ends of the electric wire group. Also, a wire harness including a vehicle body as a fixing member on which the wire harness is arranged is known (see Patent Document 1). The electric wire group of the wire harness has a main wire portion and a plurality of branch wires branched from the main wire portion. One side ends of the main wire portion and the plurality of branch wires are electrically connected to one of the plurality of connectors. The other side ends of the plurality of branch wires are electrically connected to the plurality of other connectors, respectively. In this wire harness arrangement structure, the main wire portion is fixed to a plurality of protectors, thereby maintaining the arrangement shape of the main wire portion relative to the vehicle body. The plurality of branch wires are drawn out from the protectors and arranged between adjacent protectors. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8-205356 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the wire harness arrangement structure as disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, a plurality of branch lines are branched from a main line portion whose arrangement shape relative to a fixing member is fixed. Therefore, the arrangement shape of the branch lines relative to the fixing member is determined by the main line portion, and there is no freedom in the arrangement shape of the branch lines relative to the fixing member. If there is no freedom in the arrangement shape of the branch lines, it is necessary to unnecessarily lengthen the length of the electric wires for a pair of connectors whose arrangement positions are fixed, which increases costs.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the problems inherent in the conventional techniques, and an object of the present invention is to provide a wire harness arrangement structure that allows freedom in the arrangement shape of the electric wires and allows for cost reduction. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The wire harness arrangement structure according to the present embodiment includes a wire harness having an electric wire group consisting of a plurality of electric wires and a plurality of pairs of connectors electrically connected to both ends of the electric wire group, and a fixing member on which the wire harness is arranged, wherein the plurality of pairs of connectors include at least a pair of first connectors and a pair of second connectors, the electric wire group includes a first electric wire group consisting of a plurality of first electric wires, both ends of which are electrically connected to the pair of first connectors, and a second electric wire group consisting of a plurality of second electric wires, both ends of which are electrically connected to the pair of second connectors, the first electric wire group has a first sheath that aggregates the plurality of first electric wires and covers the outer periphery of the plurality of first electric wires, and is arranged on the fixing member via the first sheath, and the second electric wire group has a second sheath that aggregates the plurality of second electric wires and covers the outer periphery of the plurality of second electric wires, and is arranged on the fixing member via the second sheath. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a wire harness arrangement structure that allows freedom in the arrangement shape of the electric wires and can reduce costs. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of a wire harness arrangement structure according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] 1 is a schematic diagram of a connector and a group of electric wires in a wire harness arrangement structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a main portion of a first electric wire group of the wire harness arrangement structure according to the embodiment. [Figure 4]FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a main portion showing another example of a group of electric wires in the wire harness arrangement structure according to the embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a main portion showing another example of a group of electric wires in the wire harness arrangement structure according to the embodiment. [Figure 6] 2 is an enlarged side view of a main portion of the wire harness arrangement structure according to the embodiment when a first terminal is attached to a first electric wire. FIG. [Figure 7] 2 is a perspective view of a first housing of a first connector of the wire harness arrangement structure according to the embodiment. FIG. [Figure 8] 4 is an enlarged front view of a main portion when a group of electric wires is assembled to a fixing portion of the wire harness arrangement structure according to the embodiment. FIG. [Figure 9] 2 is an enlarged front view of a main portion of the wire harness arrangement structure according to the embodiment when a group of electric wires is attached to a fixing portion. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, the wire harness arrangement structure according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the dimensional ratios in the drawings are exaggerated for the convenience of explanation and may differ from the actual ratios.

[0010] 1, a wire harness arrangement structure 1 according to this embodiment is applied to a wire harness 3 that electrically connects electrical components (not shown), such as between a power source and equipment mounted on a vehicle, or between equipment and equipment. The wire harness 3 is arranged in a predetermined arrangement shape relative to a fixed member 5 such as a body or panel of the vehicle.

[0011] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 9, the wire harness arrangement structure 1 includes a wire harness 3 and a fixing member 5. The fixing member 5 is a fixing member for fixing a wire harness.

[0012] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, the wire harness 3 includes a group of electric wires 7 and a connector 9. The group of electric wires 7 includes an electric wire group 7 and a connector 9. As shown in FIG.

[0013] The electric wire group 7 is made up of a plurality of electric wires 11. The electric wire group 7 is made up of a plurality of (four in this example) electric wire groups 7 corresponding to the electrical components to be electrically connected. Here, the electric wire group 7 is made up of a first electric wire group 7A, a second electric wire group 7B, a third electric wire group 7C, and a fourth electric wire group 7D. Note that the basic configurations of the multiple electric wire groups 7 are similar, so hereinafter, the first electric wire group 7A will be mainly described, and detailed descriptions of the other electric wire groups 7 will be omitted.

[0014] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the first electric wire group 7A includes a plurality of first electric wires 11A and a first sheath 13A.

[0015] The first electric wire 11A is, for example, a coated electric wire in which the outer circumference of a core wire 15 made of a conductive material is covered with an insulating coating 17 made of an insulating material. A plurality of first electric wires 11A (four in this example) are used, each having a different type of signal line or power line, wire diameter size, etc., according to the circuit of the electric component to which it is applied. The plurality of first electric wires 11A are electrically connected at both ends to two electric components, respectively, thereby electrically connecting the two electric components.

[0016] The first sheath 13A is made of an insulating material such as polyvinyl chloride or polyethylene. The first sheath 13A covers the outer periphery of the first electric wires 11A in a state where the first electric wires 11A are collected and bundled. By collecting and covering the first electric wires 11A with the first sheath 13A, the first electric wire group 7A can be handled as a single electric wire. In addition, the first electric wires 11A can be protected. The first electric wire group 7A in which the first electric wires 11A are bundled with the first sheath 13A is also called a cab-tire cable.

[0017] It should be noted that the number of the electric wires 11 in each of the electric wire groups 7 may be any number. For example, as shown in Fig. 4, the number of the electric wires 11 may be six, and the outer circumferences of the six electric wires 11 may be collectively covered with a sheath 13 to form one electric wire group 7. Alternatively, as shown in Fig. 5, the number of the electric wires 11 may be eight, and the outer circumferences of the eight electric wires 11 may be collectively covered with a sheath 13 to form one electric wire group 7.

[0018] The connectors 9 are provided at both ends of the electric wire groups 7, and one pair is used for each electric wire group 7. For this reason, four pairs of connectors 9 are used here, including a pair of first connectors 9A, 9A, a pair of second connectors 9B, 9B, a pair of third connectors 9C, 9C, and a pair of fourth connectors 9D, 9D, corresponding to the four electric wire groups 7. Note that the basic configurations of the multiple connectors 9 are the same, so hereinafter, the first connector 9A will be mainly described, and detailed descriptions of the other connectors 9 will be omitted.

[0019] As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 6 and 7, the first connector 9A includes a plurality of first terminals 19A and a first housing 21A.

[0020] A plurality of first terminals 19A (eight in this example) are used corresponding to both ends of a plurality of first electric wires 11A (four in this example). The first terminals 19A are made of a conductive material and include, for example, an electric wire connecting portion 23 and an electrical connection portion 25. The electric wire connecting portion 23 includes a covering fixing portion 27 and a core wire fixing portion 29. The covering fixing portion 27 includes a pair of crimping pieces, and the pair of crimping pieces are crimped to the outer periphery of the insulating covering 17 of the first electric wire 11A to fix the first terminal 19A to the first electric wire 11A. The core wire fixing portion 29 includes a pair of crimping pieces, and the pair of crimping pieces are crimped to the outer periphery of the core wire 15 exposed from the insulating covering 17 of the first electric wire 11A to electrically connect the first terminal 19A and the first electric wire 11A. The electrical connection portion 25 is formed in a tab shape by a single member continuous with the electric wire connecting portion 23. The electrical connection portion 25 comes into contact with a mating terminal (not shown) of a mating connector (not shown) provided on the electrical component, thereby electrically connecting the first terminal 19A to the mating terminal.

[0021] The first housing 21A is used as a pair corresponding to both ends of the first electric wire group 7A. The first housing 21A is made of an insulating material such as synthetic resin, and is formed in a casing shape that can be fitted with a mating housing (not shown) of a mating connector provided in an electric component. The first housing 21A is provided with a plurality (four in this case) of terminal accommodating chambers 31 capable of accommodating the first terminals 19A corresponding to the plurality (four in this case) of first terminals 19A provided at one end of the first electric wire group 7A. By accommodating the plurality of first terminals 19A in the plurality of terminal accommodating chambers 31, the ends of the plurality (four in this case) of first electric wires 11A are gathered in the first connector 9A. A lock arm 35 having a locking portion 33 that can engage with a locked portion (not shown) provided in the mating housing is provided in an elastically deformable manner on the upper portion of the first housing 21A. The locking portion 33 of the locking arm 35 engages with the locked portion to maintain the mating state between the first housing 21A and the mating housing. The engagement between the locking portion 33 and the locked portion can be released by pressing the operating portion 37 of the locking arm 35, causing the locking arm 35 to elastically deform, thereby disengaging the first housing 21A from the mating housing. When the first housing 21A is mated with the mating housing, the first terminal 19A and the mating terminal are electrically connected.

[0022] 1, such a wire harness 3 is arranged on a fixed member 5 such as a body or a panel of a vehicle. The wire harness 3 arranged on the fixed member 5 needs to be fixed in its arrangement shape relative to the fixed member 5, for example, to avoid interference with surrounding members or to improve the appearance. Therefore, the fixed member 5 is provided with a fixing portion 39.

[0023] As shown in Figs. 1, 8 and 9, the fixing portion 39 is provided integrally with the fixing member 5 and has a pair of clamping portions 41, 41 that are open on the side opposite to the fixing member 5. When the sheath 13 of the electric wire group 7 is inserted into the pair of clamping portions 41, 41 from the opening, the pair of clamping portions 41, 41 clamp the outer periphery of the sheath 13 like a clamp or clip, and hold the electric wire group 7, and fix the electric wire group 7 to the fixing member 5. A plurality of fixing portions 39 (six in this case) are provided for the fixing member 5. The plurality of fixing portions 39 are provided on the fixing member 5 so that at least one of them corresponds to one electric wire group 7. Here, two fixing portions 39 are provided for the first electric wire group 7A, and the first sheath 13A that collectively covers the plurality of first electric wires 11A is fixed to the fixing portions 39. Two fixing parts 39 are provided for the second electric wire group 7B, and a second sheath 13B that collectively covers the second electric wires 11B is fixed to the fixing parts 39. One fixing part 39 is provided for the third electric wire group 7C, and a third sheath 13C that collectively covers the third electric wires 11C is fixed to the fixing part 39. One fixing part 39 is provided for the fourth electric wire group 7D, and a fourth sheath 13D that collectively covers the fourth electric wires 11D is fixed to the fixing part 39.

[0024] Here, in the conventional wire harness arrangement structure, the electric wire group 7 of the wire harness 3 has a trunk portion and a branch line branched from the trunk portion. In the conventional wire harness arrangement structure, for example, the trunk portion has the arrangement shape of the first electric wire group 7A in the wire harness arrangement structure 1. In this case, for example, the second electric wire group 7B, which is a branch line, necessarily passes through the arrangement path of the first electric wire group 7A, and cannot be arranged in the shortest arrangement shape. For this reason, in the conventional wire harness arrangement structure, there is no freedom in the arrangement shape of the electric wire group 7, and it is necessary to unnecessarily increase the length of the electric wire 11, resulting in high costs. In addition, in the conventional wire harness arrangement structure, a bundling member for bundling the multiple electric wires 11, a fixing member for fixing to the fixing member 5, a protective member such as a protector, and the like are attached to the trunk portion and the branch lines, resulting in a large number of parts and high costs.

[0025] In contrast, in the wire harness 3 in the wire harness arrangement structure 1, one electric wire group 7 consisting of a plurality of electric wires 11, both ends of which are electrically connected to a pair of connectors 9, 9, is collectively covered with a sheath 13. By collectively covering the outer periphery of the plurality of electric wires 11 with the sheath 13, one electric wire group 7 can be handled as one electric wire. Therefore, it is possible to give freedom to the arrangement shape of one electric wire group 7, and one electric wire group 7 can be arranged on the fixing member 5 by the shortest route. In addition, it is not necessary to unnecessarily lengthen the length of the electric wires 11, and costs can be reduced. In addition, the fixing member 5 is provided with a fixing portion 39 for fixing the sheath 13, so that one electric wire group 7 can be fixed to the fixing member 5 by fixing the sheath 13 to the fixing portion 39, and the arrangement shape of one electric wire group 7 relative to the fixing member 5 can be maintained. Therefore, there is no need to attach bundling members, fixing members, protective members, etc. to the multiple electric wire groups 7, and the number of parts and the assembly work can be reduced, resulting in lower costs.

[0026] Such a wire harness arrangement structure 1 includes a wire group 7 including a plurality of electric wires 11, a wire harness 3 including a plurality of pairs of connectors 9, 9 electrically connected to both ends of the wire group 7, and a fixing member 5 on which the wire harness 3 is arranged. The plurality of pairs of connectors 9, 9 include at least a pair of first connectors 9A, 9A and a pair of second connectors 9B, 9B. The wire group 7 includes a first wire group 7A including a plurality of first electric wires 11A whose both ends are electrically connected to the pair of first connectors 9A, 9A, and a second wire group 7B including a plurality of second electric wires 11B whose both ends are electrically connected to the pair of second connectors 9B, 9B. The first wire group 7A includes a first sheath 13A that collects the plurality of first electric wires 11A and covers the outer periphery of the plurality of first electric wires 11A, and is arranged on the fixing member 5 via the first sheath 13A. Further, the second electric wire group 7B has a second sheath 13B that collects the second electric wires 11B and covers the outer periphery of the second electric wires 11B, and is disposed in the fixing member 5 via the second sheath 13B.

[0027] In one electric wire group 7, a plurality of electric wires 11 are collected and covered with the sheath 13, so that one electric wire group 7 can be handled as one electric wire. This allows freedom in the arrangement shape of one electric wire group 7, and one electric wire group 7 can be arranged along the shortest route to the fixing member 5. In addition, there is no need to unnecessarily lengthen the length of the electric wires 11, which allows costs to be reduced.

[0028] Therefore, in such a wire harness arrangement structure 1, it is possible to provide a degree of freedom in the arrangement shape of the electric wire group 7, and it is possible to reduce costs.

[0029] The fixing member 5 is provided with fixing portions 39 that fix the first sheath 13A and the second sheath 13B together.

[0030] Therefore, by fixing the sheath 13 to the fixing portion 39, one electric wire group 7 can be fixed to the fixing member 5, and the arrangement shape of one electric wire group 7 relative to the fixing member 5 can be maintained. Therefore, there is no need to assemble bundling members, fixing members, protective members, etc. to multiple electric wire groups 7, and the number of parts and assembly work can be reduced, resulting in lower costs.

[0031] Although the present embodiment has been described above, the present embodiment is not limited to this, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the gist of the present embodiment.

[0032] For example, in the wire harness arrangement structure according to the present embodiment, the multiple sets of pairs of connectors are four sets, but the number of pairs of connectors may be three or less, or five or more. Accordingly, the number of the multiple electric wire groups may correspond to the number of pairs of connectors. [Explanation of symbols]

[0033] 1 Wire harness layout structure 3 Wire Harness 5 Fixing material 7 wire group 7A 1st wire group 7B 2nd wire group 9 Connectors 9A 1st Connector 9B 2nd Connector 11 Electric wire 11A 1st wire 11B 2nd electric wire 13 Sheath 13A First sheath 13B Second sheath 39 Fixed part

Claims

1. a wire harness including a group of electric wires and a plurality of pairs of connectors electrically connected to both ends of the group of electric wires; a fixing member on which the wire harness is disposed; Equipped with The plurality of pairs of connectors each include at least a pair of first connectors and a pair of second connectors, The electric wire group includes a first electric wire group including a plurality of first electric wires, both ends of which are electrically connected to the pair of first connectors, and a second electric wire group including a plurality of second electric wires, both ends of which are electrically connected to the pair of second connectors, the first electric wire group includes a first sheath that collects the first electric wires and covers an outer periphery of the first electric wires, and is disposed on the fixing member via the first sheath; The second electric wire group has a second sheath that aggregates the plurality of second electric wires and covers the outer periphery of the plurality of second electric wires, and is disposed on the fixing member via the second sheath, forming a wire harness arrangement structure.

2. The wire harness arrangement structure according to claim 1 , wherein the fixing member is provided with fixing portions that fix the first sheath and the second sheath, respectively.

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