Cable management materials and wire harnesses

Abstract

The objective is to provide wiring materials and wire harnesses that can appropriately improve the workability of wiring. [Solution] The wiring material W comprises a plurality of flat wiring materials 10 that are flexible and include a plurality of conductors 11, with insulating portions 12 provided on the outside of the plurality of conductors 11, and a connection portion 20 that electrically connects a portion of the plurality of conductors 11 in one flat wiring material 10 to a portion of the plurality of conductors 11 in another flat wiring material 10, and each conductor 11 protruding from the insulating portion 12 in the extending direction X of the conductor 11, with the connection portion 20 provided on one side X1 and the other side X2 in the extending direction X. The wire harness WH comprises the wiring material W and a connector 50 provided on the wiring material W.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a wiring material and a wire harness.

Background Art

[0002] As a technology related to conventional wiring materials and wire harnesses, for example, in Patent Document 1, flat conductors with edges rounded in the longitudinal direction are laminated in the plate thickness direction, an insulating sheet is provided between adjacent flat conductors, and an insulating layer is formed around the plurality of laminated flat conductors. A wiring material is disclosed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, for such wiring materials and wire harnesses, for example, the size of the conductor may be set according to the allowable current value. And depending on the size of the conductor, the workability of wiring may decrease, and there is room for further improvement in the configuration of the wiring material and the wire harness.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a wiring material and a wire harness that can appropriately improve the workability of wiring.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To achieve the above objective, the cable routing material of the present invention comprises a plurality of flat cable routing materials that are flexible and include a plurality of conductors, with insulating portions provided on the outside of the plurality of conductors; a portion of the plurality of conductors in one flat cable routing material and a portion of the plurality of conductors in another flat cable routing material; and a connecting portion where each conductor is electrically connected at a portion that protrudes from the insulating portion in the direction of extension of the conductor, wherein the connecting portion is provided on one side and the other side in the direction of extension.

[0007] To achieve the above objective, the wire harness of the present invention comprises a plurality of flat wiring members that are flexible and include a plurality of conductors, with insulating portions provided on the outside of the plurality of conductors; a portion of the plurality of conductors in one flat wiring member and a portion of the plurality of conductors in another flat wiring member; and a connecting portion where each conductor is electrically connected at a portion that protrudes from the insulating portion in the direction of extension of the conductor, wherein the connecting portion comprises wiring members provided on one side and the other side in the direction of extension, and a connector provided on the wiring member. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] The cable routing material and wire harness according to the present invention have the effect of properly improving the workability of cable routing. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a wire harness according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II in Figure 1. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in Figure 1. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. Furthermore, some of the components in the following embodiments may be easily substituted or substantially identical to those that are easily substituted by those skilled in the art.

[0011] [Embodiment] The wire harness WH shown in Figures 1 to 3 comprises a wiring harness W and connectors 50 provided on the wiring harness W. The wiring harness W comprises a plurality of flat wiring harnesses 10. Each flat wiring harness 10 includes a plurality of conductors 11 and an insulating portion 12. The wire harness WH is installed in a vehicle such as an automobile and is used for power supply and signal communication by connecting various devices installed in the vehicle. In addition to the wiring harness W and connectors 50, the wire harness WH may also include electrical connection boxes, grommets, protectors, etc.

[0012] In the following explanation, the direction in which the conductor 11 extends will be referred to as the extension direction X, and the two directions perpendicular to the extension direction X will be referred to as the width direction Y and the height direction Z. The width direction Y is the direction of the width of the flat cable member 10. The height direction Z is the direction of the thickness of the flat cable member 10. Furthermore, in the following explanation, one side of the extension direction X will be referred to as side X1 and the other side as side X2. Similarly, the width direction Y will be referred to as side Y1 and the other side Y2, and the height direction Z will be referred to as side Z1 and the other side Z2.

[0013] As shown in Figure 2, the multiple conductors 11 in each flat cable member 10 are arranged in the width direction Y. The conductors 11 have a cross-section perpendicular to the extension direction X that is elongated in the width direction Y. The conductors 11 are made of a conductive metallic material, such as copper, copper alloy, aluminum, or aluminum alloy. The cross-sectional area S of each conductor 11 in each flat cable member 10 in the direction perpendicular to the extension direction X is the same for all of them. In this embodiment, each flat cable member 10 is provided with six conductors 11.

[0014] An insulating section 12 is provided on the outside of each flat cable member 10, where multiple conductors 11 are located. The insulating section 12 is composed of resin sheets 12a and 12b made of, for example, an insulating resin material. The multiple conductors 11 are sandwiched between the resin sheet 12a on one side Z1 and the resin sheet 12b on the other side Z2 in the height direction Z. Each of the multiple conductors 11 is fixed to at least one of the resin sheets 12a and 12b of the insulating section 12 by joining means such as laser welding or ultrasonic bonding. The resin sheets 12a and 12b are joined to each other at the ends on one side Y1 and the other side Y2 in the width direction Y. Inside the insulating section 12, a space P is provided between adjacent conductors 11. Therefore, the multiple conductors 11 are not electrically connected inside the insulating section 12. The space P may be filled with an insulating resin material or the like, or the resin sheet 12a and the resin sheet 12b may be in close contact with each other so as to fill the space P.

[0015] Each conductor 11 is formed in a flattened shape and is flexible. Therefore, the flat cable material 10, in which multiple conductors 11 are arranged in the width direction Y and multiple conductors 11 are covered by insulating parts 12, is flexible.

[0016] Each of the multiple conductors 11 protrudes from the insulating portion 12 in the extending direction X. Specifically, as shown in Figure 1, each of the multiple conductors 11 protrudes along the extending direction X from one end 12c X1 and the other end 12d X2 in the extending direction X of the insulating portion 12. In other words, each of the multiple conductors 11 is exposed at the ends 12c and 12d of the insulating portion 12.

[0017] In this embodiment, the wire harness WH is provided with three flat wiring members 10A, 10B, and 10C. The three flat wiring members 10A, 10B, and 10C are stacked along the height direction Z (i.e., with the flat surface of each flat wiring member 10 facing the height direction Z). As shown in Figure 2, each of the flat wiring members 10A, 10B, and 10C is provided with a plurality of conductors 11A, 11B, and 11C, respectively. Each of the plurality of conductors 11A, 11B, and 11C is provided with six conductors 11A-1 to 11A-6, 11B-1 to 11B-6, and 11C-1 to 11C-6, respectively.

[0018] As shown in Figure 3, some of the conductors 11A-1, 11A-3, and 11A-5 of the six conductors 11A-1 to 11A-6 in one flat cable member 10, are electrically connected at connection points 20 to some of the conductors 11B-1 to 11B-6 and 11C-1 to 11C-6 in the other flat cable members 10, 10B and 10C, at connection points 20. As shown in Figure 1, the connection points 20 are provided in the portions where each conductor 11 protrudes from the insulating portion 12 in the extending direction X. The connection points 20 are provided on one side X1 and the other side X2 in the extending direction X. The conductors 11 are connected to each other at the connection points 20 by joining methods such as laser welding, resistance welding, or ultrasonic bonding.

[0019] More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the conductor 11A-1 of the flat cable member 10A is electrically connected to the conductor 11B-1 of the flat cable member 10B and the conductor 11C-1 of the flat cable member 10C at the connection portion 20-1. Similarly, the conductor 11A-3 is electrically connected to the conductors 11B-3 and 11C-3 at the connection portion 20-3, and the conductor 11A-5 is electrically connected to the conductors 11B-5 and 11C-5 at the connection portion 20-5. That is, in other words, some of the conductors 11 of one flat cable member 10 are electrically connected to some of the conductors 11 of another flat cable member 10 adjacent in the height direction Z (i.e., the stacking direction in which the flat cable members 10 are stacked). Also, the conductors 11 connected at the connection portion 20 are conductors 11 that are adjacent to each other every other one in the width direction Y. As described above, the connection portions 20-1, 20-3, and 20-5 are provided on each of the one side X1 and the other side X2 in the extending direction X.

[0020] On the other hand, some of the other conductors 11A-2, 11A-4, and 11A-6 of the six conductors 11A-1 to 11A-6 in one flat cable member 10A are not electrically connected to some of the other conductors 11B-2, 11B-4, 11B-6, 11C-2, 11C-4, and 11C-6 of the six conductors 11B-1 to 11B-6 and 11C-1 to 11C-6 in the other flat cable members 10B and 10C.

[0021] Terminals 40 are connected to each conductor 11. As shown in FIG. 1, one terminal 41 is assembled to the conductor 11 connected at the connection part 20. Terminals 42 are assembled to each conductor 11 not connected at the connection part 20. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, a terminal 41 (see FIG. 1) is assembled to the conductor 11-1 to which the conductors 11A-1, 11B-1, and 11C-1 are electrically connected. Similarly, terminals 41 are assembled to the conductor 11-3 to which the conductors 11A-3, 11B-3, and 11C-3 are electrically connected, and to the conductor 11-5 to which the conductors 11A-5, 11B-5, and 11C-5 are electrically connected. Also, terminals 42 (see FIG. 1) are assembled to the conductors 11A-2, 11B-2, etc. that are not electrically connected to other conductors 11. As shown in FIG. 1, the terminals 40 are assembled to the ends of the respective conductors 11 on one side X1 and the other side X2 in the extending direction X of the conductor 11. The terminals 40 (terminals 41, 42) are accommodated in the connector 50 on each of one side X1 and the other side X2 in the extending direction X.

[0022] The wiring material W described above is a flat wiring material 10A, 10B, 10C which has flexibility, includes a plurality of conductors 11, and has an insulating portion 12 provided outside the plurality of conductors 11. A part of the conductors 11A of the plurality of conductors 11A in one flat wiring material 10A, namely 11A-1, 11A-3, 11A-5, is electrically connected to a part of the conductors 11B, 11C of the plurality of conductors 11B, 11C in the other flat wiring materials 10B, 10C, namely 11B-1, 11B-3, 11B-5, 11C-1, 11C-3, 11C-5. The connection part 20 (connection parts 20-1, 20-3, 20-5) electrically connects each conductor 11 at a portion protruding from the insulating portion 12 in the extending direction X of the conductor 11. The connection part 20 is provided on one side X1 and the other side X2 in the extending direction X. And the wire harness WH includes the wiring material W and a connector 50 provided on the wiring material W.

[0023] For example, in flat cable routing materials that carry large currents, the cross-sectional area of ​​the conductors provided in the flat cable routing material may be set to be large. On the other hand, in the cable routing work of flat cable routing materials, the flat cable routing material may be bent or folded during routing. In this case, flat cable routing materials containing conductors with large cross-sectional areas have high resistance to bending, which can reduce the efficiency of cable routing. In the cable routing material W of this embodiment, for example, conductors 11-1, 11-3, and 11-5 to which conductor 11 is joined have a large size (cross-sectional area) and can carry a large current. On the other hand, the multiple flat cable routing materials 10 are flat cable routing materials 10 with the same configuration and containing conductors 11 of the same size (cross-sectional area). Therefore, the cable routing material W of this embodiment can carry a large current to conductors 11-1, 11-3, and 11-5, while the conductor thickness of each flat cable routing material 10 is thin. Therefore, each flat cable member 10 can be bent with less force compared to flat cable members equipped with conductors with a large cross-sectional area, making it easier to perform cable routing work such as bending, thus appropriately improving the workability of cable routing.

[0024] Furthermore, some of the conductors 11A-2, 11A-4, and 11A-6 in one flat cable member 10A are not electrically connected to some of the conductors 11B-2, 11B-4, 11B-6, 11C-2, 11C-4, and 11C-6 in other flat cable members 10B and 10C. This makes it possible to have a cable member W in which conductors 11-1, 11-3, and 11-5 that carry large currents and conductors 11A-2, 11B-2, etc. that carry smaller currents are arranged side by side.

[0025] Furthermore, multiple flat cable members 10A, 10B, and 10C are arranged in a stack. This allows the flat cable members 10 to be stacked in the height direction Z, which is perpendicular to the width direction Y in which the conductors 11 are arranged, and adjacent conductors 11 in the height direction Z can be joined together, so that the conductors 11 can be joined without bending or otherwise altering each conductor 11.

[0026] Furthermore, the cross-sectional area of ​​each conductor 11 in the direction perpendicular to the extending direction X is formed to be the same. As a result, multiple flat wiring members 10 used in the wiring member W can be flat wiring members 10 of the same specifications, eliminating the need to prepare separate flat wiring members for high currents. This allows for the production of a large number of standardized flat wiring members 10, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost of the wiring member W.

[0027] Furthermore, the rigging material and wire harness according to the embodiments of the present invention described above are not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims.

[0028] In the above description, the flat cable guide 10 is described as having multiple conductors 11 with a rectangular cross-section sandwiched between resin sheets 12a and 12b, but it is not limited to this, and any flat material that is flexible and has multiple conductors is acceptable. For example, the flat cable guide 10 can be a flexible printed circuit board (FPC), a flexible flat cable (FFC), or a sheet made by cutting copper foil or copper plate and connecting it to a thin sheet. A flexible printed circuit board can be formed by laminating conductor foil or coverlay to a base film such as polyimide via an adhesive layer. A flexible flat cable is a multi-core wire in which multiple conductors are arranged in parallel, and can be formed by sandwiching both sides of the conductors with an insulator such as plastic film tape and joining each component by heat welding or thermal fusion.

[0029] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the conductor 11 has a rectangular cross-section in the direction perpendicular to the extending direction X, but it can also have a shape other than a rectangular cross-section, such as a circular shape. Also, in this embodiment, the cross-sectional area S of all conductors 11 is assumed to be the same, but it does not have to be the same.

[0030] The rigging material and wire harness according to this embodiment may be constructed by appropriately combining the components of the embodiments and modified examples described above. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0031] 10:Flat wiring material 11: Conductor 12: Insulation 20: Connection part 50: Connector S: Cross-sectional area W: Routing material WH: Wire harness X: Extending direction Y: width direction Z: Height direction

Claims

1. Multiple flat wiring members, each having flexibility, containing multiple conductors, and having insulating portions on the outside of the multiple conductors, A connection portion in which a portion of the plurality of conductors in one flat cable member is electrically connected to a portion of the plurality of conductors in another flat cable member, and each conductor is electrically connected to a portion that protrudes from the insulating portion in the direction of extension of the conductor. Equipped with, The connecting portion is provided on one side and the other side in the extending direction. Routing material.

2. Some of the conductors in the plurality of conductors in the first flat cable member are not electrically connected to some of the conductors in the plurality of conductors in the other flat cable member. The cable routing material according to claim 1.

3. Multiple of the aforementioned flat cable members are arranged in a stacked manner. The cable routing material according to claim 1 or claim 2.

4. The cross-sectional area of ​​each conductor in the direction perpendicular to the extension direction is formed to be the same. The cable routing material according to claim 1 or claim 2.

5. A plurality of flat cable members having flexibility and containing a plurality of conductors, with insulating portions provided on the outside of the plurality of conductors; a portion of the plurality of conductors in one flat cable member connecting with a portion of the plurality of conductors in another flat cable member; and a connecting portion where each conductor is electrically connected at a portion protruding from the insulating portion in the direction of extension of the conductor, wherein the connecting portion is provided on one side and the other side in the direction of extension of the cable member. A connector provided on the aforementioned cable material, Equipped with, Wire harness.

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