Wire harness manufacturing equipment

Abstract

In wire harness manufacturing equipment where general wires and twisted wires are mixed, the machine cycle time is shortened. [Solution] The wire harness manufacturing apparatus 1 is a device that automatically produces wire harnesses having general wires, twisted wires, and connectors connected to their ends. The wire harness manufacturing apparatus 1 comprises a twisted wire processing unit 2, a general wire processing unit 3, and a housing transport mechanism 10. The housing transport mechanism 10 is a mechanism that moves the connector housing between the terminal insertion machine 28 of the twisted wire processing unit 2 and the terminal insertion machine 37 of the general wire processing unit 3, and consists of a housing holder that holds the connector housing and a transport belt that transports the housing holder. The housing transport mechanism 10 circulates a plurality of housing holders in the route P1-P2-P3-P4-P1.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a wire harness manufacturing apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, various manufacturing apparatuses for automatically producing wire harnesses have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). As an example of a conventional wire harness manufacturing apparatus, there is one shown in FIG. 4. This wire harness manufacturing apparatus 503 automatically produces a wire harness having a plurality of general electric wires and connectors connected to the terminals thereof, and is composed of a plurality of processing machines and the like.

[0003] In this specification, the "general electric wire" refers to a single wire that is not twisted together with other electric wires. Also, the "connector" is composed of a terminal connected to the terminal of each electric wire and a resin connector housing that houses the terminal. Further, the "twist wire" described later refers to a wire formed by twisting two electric wires in pairs.

[0004] The measuring and cutting machine 531 shown in FIG. 4 is a processing machine that pulls out an electric wire from a reel by a predetermined length and cuts it. The rubber plug mounting machine 532 is a processing machine that mounts a rubber plug on an electric wire. The stripping machine 533 is a processing machine that removes the insulation coating at the terminal of an electric wire to expose the core wire. The terminal crimping machines 534 and 535 are processing machines that crimp a terminal to the terminal of an electric wire. The crimping state inspection device 536 is a device that photographs the terminal crimped to an electric wire and determines whether the crimping state is good or bad. The terminal insertion machine 537 is a device that inserts the terminal attached to an electric wire together with a rubber plug into each cavity of a connector housing. The housing supply device 539 is a device that supplies a connector housing before terminal insertion to the terminal insertion machine 537. The housing discharging device 538 is a device that takes out the connector housing after terminal insertion. The electric wire conveying mechanism 530 is a mechanism that sequentially receives an electric wire from the measuring and cutting machine 531 and sequentially conveys it to the terminal insertion machine 537 via the above-described various processing machines and the like.

[0005] Figure 5 is an operation time chart of the wire harness manufacturing apparatus 503 shown in Figure 4. In this example, the entire process, from measuring and cutting 32 wires to inserting the terminals attached to each of these 32 wires into a single connector housing, takes 106 seconds. In the second round, since processes other than terminal insertion can be started before the terminal insertion process of the first round is completed, the second round can be completed 99.2 seconds after the end of the first round. The same applies to the third round and beyond.

[0006] Furthermore, in the terminal insertion process described above, one terminal is inserted into each connector housing one by one. Once all terminals have been inserted, the connector housing is discharged from the terminal insertion machine 537, and the next connector housing is supplied. For this reason, the first round of terminal insertion and the second round of terminal insertion cannot be carried out simultaneously.

[0007] Thus, with the conventional wire harness manufacturing machine 503, terminal insertion into other connector housings cannot begin until all terminals have been inserted into one connector housing, resulting in a long machine cycle time.

[0008] Furthermore, the inventors of this application have considered a manufacturing apparatus for automatically producing wire harnesses having general-purpose wires, twisted wires, and connectors connected to their ends. This wire harness manufacturing apparatus is shown in Figure 6.

[0009] The wire harness manufacturing apparatus 601 shown in Figure 6 has a measuring and cutting machine 611, with a twisted wire processing unit and a general wire processing unit located downstream of the measuring and cutting machine 611. Further downstream are a terminal insertion machine 612, a housing supply device 613, and a housing discharge device 614. The wire transport mechanism 610 sequentially receives wires from the measuring and cutting machine 611 and transports them sequentially to the terminal insertion machine 612 via the twisted wire processing unit and the general wire processing unit.

[0010] The twisted wire processing unit shown in Figure 6 includes a pair-twisting machine 622 that twists two wires together to form a twisted wire, a rubber stopper attachment machine 623, a stripping machine 624, terminal crimping machines 625 and 626, and a crimping condition inspection device 627.

[0011] The general wire processing unit shown in Figure 6 includes a rubber stopper attachment machine 632, a wire stripping machine 633, terminal crimping machines 634 and 635, and a crimping condition inspection device 636.

[0012] This wire harness manufacturing apparatus 601 shares a measuring and cutting machine 611, processes twisted wires cut to a predetermined length in a twisted wire processing unit, and general wires cut to a predetermined length in a general wire processing unit. Then, all terminal-equipped wires are transported to a shared terminal insertion machine 612, where multiple terminals are sequentially inserted into a single connector housing.

[0013] Figure 7 is an operation time chart for the wire harness manufacturing apparatus 601 shown in Figure 6. In this example, the twisting process for twisted wires takes a long time, and the first cycle of processes takes 193 seconds. In the second cycle, the twisting process is performed simultaneously with the process of the first cycle, allowing the second cycle to be completed 164 seconds after the end of the first cycle. The same applies to the third cycle and beyond. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0014] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2014-2853 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0015] As described above, the inventors of the present invention have investigated a wire harness manufacturing apparatus in which general wires and twisted wires are mixed, but there was room for improvement in terms of shortening the machine cycle time.

[0016] Therefore, the present invention aims to shorten the machine cycle time in a wire harness manufacturing apparatus in which general wires and twisted wires are mixed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0017] The present invention relates to a wire harness manufacturing apparatus comprising: a twisted wire processing unit comprising: a measuring and cutting machine for drawing out a wire to a predetermined length and cutting it; a pair twisting machine for twisting two wires together to form a twisted wire; a terminal crimping machine for crimping terminals onto the ends of the wires; a terminal insertion machine for inserting terminals into a connector housing; and a wire transport mechanism for sequentially receiving wires from the measuring and cutting machine and transporting them to the terminal insertion machine via the pair twisting machine and terminal crimping machine; a general wire processing unit comprising: a measuring and cutting machine for drawing out a wire to a predetermined length and cutting it; a terminal crimping machine for crimping terminals onto the ends of the wires; a terminal insertion machine for inserting terminals into a connector housing; and a wire transport mechanism for sequentially receiving wires from the measuring and cutting machine and transporting them to the terminal insertion machine via the terminal crimping machine; and a housing transport mechanism for moving the connector housing between the terminal insertion machine of the twisted wire processing unit and the terminal insertion machine of the general wire processing unit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0018] According to the present invention, the machine cycle time can be shortened in a wire harness manufacturing apparatus in which general wires and twisted wires are mixed. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0019] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of a wire harness manufacturing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Figure 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the operation of the housing transport mechanism. [Figure 3] Figure 1 is an operation time chart for the wire harness manufacturing equipment. [Figure 4] This is a schematic diagram of a conventional wire harness manufacturing apparatus. [Figure 5]It is an operation time chart of the wire harness manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 4. [Figure 6] It is a schematic configuration diagram of the wire harness manufacturing apparatus of the reference example. [Figure 7] It is an operation time chart of the wire harness manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 6.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0020] The "wire harness manufacturing apparatus" according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

[0021] The wire harness manufacturing apparatus 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is an apparatus capable of automatically producing a wire harness having general electric wires, twisted electric wires, and connectors connected to the ends thereof. As shown in FIG. 1, the wire harness manufacturing apparatus 1 includes a processing unit 2 for twisted electric wires, a processing unit 3 for general electric wires, and a housing conveying mechanism 10.

[0022] The processing unit 2 for twisted electric wires includes a measuring and cutting machine 21, a pair twisting machine 22, a rubber plug mounting machine 23, a stripping machine 24, terminal crimping machines 25 and 26, a crimping state inspection device 27, a terminal insertion machine 28, an electric wire conveying mechanism 20, and a housing supply device 29.

[0023] The measuring and cutting machine 21 is a processing machine that draws out an electric wire from a reel by a predetermined length and cuts it.

[0024] The pair twisting machine 22 is disposed downstream of the measuring and cutting machine 21. The pair twisting machine 22 is a processing machine that pair twists two electric wires cut to a predetermined length by the measuring and cutting machine 21 into one twisted electric wire. The pair twisting machine 22 includes three heads and can simultaneously pair twist three sets of twisted electric wires.

[0025] The rubber stopper attachment machine 23 is located downstream of the twisting machine 22. The rubber stopper attachment machine 23 is a processing machine that attaches an annular rubber stopper to the outer circumference of an electric wire. This rubber stopper will be inserted into the connector housing in a later process to seal the space between the electric wire and the connector housing.

[0026] The wire stripping machine 24 is located downstream of the rubber stopper fitting machine 23. The wire stripping machine 24 is a processing machine that removes the insulating coating at the end of an electric wire to expose the core wire.

[0027] The terminal crimping machines 25 and 26 are located downstream of the stripping machine 24. The terminal crimping machines 25 and 26 are processing machines that crimp terminals to the ends of electric wires. They crimp the core wire crimping portion of the terminal to the core wire exposed by the stripping machine 24, and crimp the insulation crimping portion of the terminal to the insulation coating.

[0028] The crimping condition inspection device 27 is located downstream of the terminal crimping machines 25 and 26. The crimping condition inspection device 27 is a device that takes a photograph of the terminals crimped onto the wires by the terminal crimping machines 25 and 26 and determines whether the crimping condition is good or bad. Wires with terminals that are judged to be defective by this crimping condition inspection device 27 are removed, and wires with terminals that are judged to be good are sent to the terminal insertion machine 28.

[0029] The terminal insertion machine 28 is located downstream of the crimping condition inspection device 27. The terminal insertion machine 28 is a device that inserts the terminals crimped onto the wires by the terminal crimping machines 25 and 26, together with the rubber plugs attached to the wires by the rubber plug attachment machine 23, into each cavity of the connector housing.

[0030] The wire transport mechanism 20 is a mechanism that sequentially receives wires from the measuring and cutting machine 21 and transports them sequentially to the terminal insertion machine 28 via the twisting machine 22, rubber stopper fitting machine 23, stripping machine 24, terminal crimping machines 25, 26, and crimping condition inspection device 27. The wire transport mechanism 20 consists of multiple pallets for gripping each wire and a transport belt for transporting the multiple pallets. Each pallet is equipped with three gripping parts and can be used for both twisted wires and general wires.

[0031] The housing supply device 29 is a device that supplies the connector housing to the housing transport mechanism 10 before the terminals are inserted.

[0032] This twisted wire processing unit 2 can process not only twisted wires but also general wires. When processing general wires with the twisted wire processing unit 2, the process in the twisting machine 22 is skipped and the process proceeds to the next step.

[0033] The general-purpose wire processing unit 3 includes a measuring and cutting machine 31, a rubber stopper fitting machine 32, a stripping machine 33, terminal crimping machines 34 and 35, a crimping condition inspection device 36, a terminal insertion machine 37, a wire transport mechanism 30, and a housing dispensing device 38.

[0034] The measuring and cutting machine 31 is a processing machine that pulls out a predetermined length of electric wire from a reel and cuts it.

[0035] The rubber stopper fitting machine 32 is located downstream of the measuring and cutting machine 31. The rubber stopper fitting machine 32 is a processing machine that attaches an annular rubber stopper to the outer circumference of an electric wire. This rubber stopper will be inserted into the connector housing in a later process to seal the space between the electric wire and the connector housing.

[0036] The wire stripping machine 33 is located downstream of the rubber stopper fitting machine 32. The wire stripping machine 33 is a processing machine that removes the insulating coating at the end of an electric wire to expose the core wire.

[0037] The terminal crimping machines 34 and 35 are located downstream of the wire stripping machine 33. The terminal crimping machines 34 and 35 are processing machines that crimp terminals to the ends of electric wires. They crimp the core wire crimping portion of the terminal to the core wire exposed by the wire stripping machine 33, and crimp the insulation crimping portion of the terminal to the insulation coating.

[0038] The crimping condition inspection device 36 is located downstream of the terminal crimping machines 34 and 35. The crimping condition inspection device 36 is a device that takes a photograph of the terminals crimped onto the wires by the terminal crimping machines 34 and 35 and determines whether the crimping condition is good or bad. Wires with terminals that are judged to be defective by this crimping condition inspection device 36 are removed, and wires with terminals that are judged to be good are sent to the terminal insertion machine 37.

[0039] The terminal insertion machine 37 is located downstream of the crimping condition inspection device 36. The terminal insertion machine 37 is a device that inserts the terminals crimped onto the wires by the terminal crimping machines 34 and 35, together with the rubber plugs attached to the wires by the rubber plug attachment machine 32, into each cavity of the connector housing.

[0040] The wire transport mechanism 30 is a mechanism that sequentially receives wires from the measuring and cutting machine 31 and transports them sequentially to the terminal insertion machine 37 via the rubber stopper fitting machine 32, the stripping machine 33, the terminal crimping machines 34 and 35, and the crimping condition inspection device 36. The wire transport mechanism 30 consists of multiple pallets for gripping each wire and a transport belt for transporting the multiple pallets.

[0041] The housing dispensing device 38 is a device that removes the connector housing from the housing transport mechanism 10 after the terminals have been inserted.

[0042] The housing transport mechanism 10 is a mechanism that moves the connector housing between the terminal insertion machine 28 of the twisted wire processing unit 2 and the terminal insertion machine 37 of the general wire processing unit 3. The housing transport mechanism 10 consists of a housing holder that holds the connector housing and a transport belt, etc., that transports the housing holder.

[0043] In this example, the housing transport mechanism 10 is equipped with multiple housing holders, and these housing holders are circulated along the route P1-P2-P3-P4-P1 shown in Figure 2.

[0044] At position P1, the connector housing, before terminal insertion, is supplied from the housing supply device 29 and set in the housing holder. The connector housing set in the housing holder at position P1 is then transported to position P2 together with the housing holder.

[0045] At position P2, the terminal insertion machine 28 of the twisted wire processing unit 2 sequentially inserts the terminals crimped onto the wires by the terminal crimping machines 25 and 26, and the rubber stoppers attached to the wires by the rubber stopper attachment machine 23, into the connector housing. Once the insertion of all terminals and rubber stoppers by the terminal insertion machine 28 is complete, the connector housing, along with the housing holder, is transported to position P3.

[0046] At position P3, the terminal insertion machine 37 of the general wire processing unit 3 sequentially inserts the terminals crimped onto the wires by the terminal crimping machines 34 and 35, and the rubber stoppers attached to the wires by the rubber stopper attachment machine 32, into the connector housing. Once the insertion of all terminals and rubber stoppers by the terminal insertion machine 37 is complete, the connector housing, along with the housing holder, is transported to position P4.

[0047] At position P4, the connector housing, after terminal insertion, is removed by the housing dispensing device 38. Subsequently, only the housing holder is transported to position P1, and the above process is repeated.

[0048] Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the operation of the housing transport mechanism 10 and its relationship with the terminal insertion machines 28, 37, housing supply device 29, and housing dispensing device 38; the actual arrangement of each device does not need to be as shown in Figure 2. Similarly, in Figure 1, for the sake of explanation, the twisted wire processing unit 2 and the general wire processing unit 3 are shown arranged in a single row; however, in this invention, the arrangement of the twisted wire processing unit 2 and the general wire processing unit 3 is not specified.

[0049] Figure 3 is an operation time chart of the wire harness manufacturing apparatus 1 shown in Figure 1. In this example, six wires are cut by the measuring and cutting machine 21, three sets of twisted wires are twisted together by the pair twisting machine 22, rubber stoppers are attached to each wire by the rubber stopper attachment machine 23, the insulation coating is removed from each wire by the stripping machine 24, and terminals are crimped onto each wire by the terminal crimping machines 25 and 26. Then, the twisted wires that receive a good rating from the crimping condition inspection device 27 are sent to the terminal insertion machine 28, where the terminals and rubber stoppers attached to these twisted wires are inserted into the cavities of the connector housing. Processing of general wires is started while the terminal insertion machine 28 is in operation. In this example, 32 wires are cut using a measuring and cutting machine 31, rubber stoppers are attached to each wire using a rubber stopper attachment machine 32, the insulation coating is removed from each wire using a stripping machine 33, and terminals are crimped onto each wire using terminal crimping machines 34 and 35. Then, the general wires that receive a good rating from the crimping condition inspection device 36 are sent to the terminal insertion machine 37, where the terminals and rubber stoppers attached to these general wires are inserted into the cavities of the connector housing. In this way, a wire harness having three twisted wires (a total of six wires used), 32 general wires, and connectors connected to their ends is automatically produced.

[0050] As shown in Figure 3, in this example, the first cycle of processes takes 193 seconds. In the second cycle, the twisted wire processing is carried out simultaneously with the general wire processing in the first cycle, and the processing of the general wires in the second cycle, excluding the insertion of terminals and rubber stoppers, is carried out simultaneously with the insertion of terminals and rubber stoppers in the first cycle, allowing the second cycle to be completed 99.2 seconds after the end of the first cycle. The same applies to the third cycle and beyond. Comparing wire harness manufacturing apparatus 1 with wire harness manufacturing apparatus 601 in Figure 6, the time required for the first cycle is the same, but from the second cycle onward, wire harness manufacturing apparatus 1 is able to reduce the required time by approximately 65 seconds compared to wire harness manufacturing apparatus 601.

[0051] Thus, the wire harness manufacturing apparatus 1 allows the terminal insertion machine 28 of the twisted wire processing unit 2 to insert terminals into one connector housing, while the terminal insertion machine 37 of the general wire processing unit 3 inserts terminals into other connector housings simultaneously. Therefore, the machine cycle time in wire harness production can be shortened.

[0052] Furthermore, since the wire harness manufacturing apparatus 1 can also process general wires with the twisted wire processing unit 2, the machine cycle time can be shortened by processing general wires with the twisted wire processing unit 2, depending on the configuration of the wire harness to be produced.

[0053] The embodiments described above merely represent typical forms of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. That is, it can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the core principles of the present invention. As long as such modifications still possess the configuration of the present invention, they are of course included within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0054] 1. Wire harness manufacturing equipment 2. Processing unit for twisted wires 3. Processing unit for general-purpose electric wires 10 Housing transport mechanism 21,31 Measurement and cutting machine 22 Pair twisting machine 23,32 Rubber stopper fitting machine 24,33 Peeling machine 25, 26, 34, 35 Terminal crimping machine 27,36 Crimping condition inspection device 28,37 Terminal insertion machine 29 Housing supply device 38 Housing dispensing device

Claims

1. A twisted wire processing unit comprising: a measuring and cutting machine for pulling out a predetermined length of wire and cutting it; a pair twisting machine for twisting two wires together to form a twisted wire; a terminal crimping machine for crimping terminals onto the ends of the wires; a terminal insertion machine for inserting terminals into connector housings; and a wire transport mechanism that sequentially receives the wires from the measuring and cutting machine and transports them to the terminal insertion machine via the pair twisting machine and terminal crimping machine. A general-purpose wire processing unit comprising: a measuring and cutting machine for pulling out a predetermined length of wire and cutting it; a terminal crimping machine for crimping terminals onto the ends of the wires; a terminal insertion machine for inserting terminals into connector housings; and a wire transport mechanism that sequentially receives wires from the measuring and cutting machine and transports them to the terminal insertion machine via the terminal crimping machine. The connector housing is provided with a housing transport mechanism that moves the connector housing between the terminal insertion machine of the twisted wire processing unit and the terminal insertion machine of the general wire processing unit. A wire harness manufacturing apparatus characterized by the following features.

2. The housing transport mechanism sequentially transports multiple connector housings. The terminal insertion machine of the twisted wire processing unit can insert terminals into one connector housing while the terminal insertion machine of the general wire processing unit can insert terminals into other connector housings simultaneously. The wire harness manufacturing apparatus according to feature 1.

3. A housing supply device that supplies connector housings to the housing transport mechanism before terminal insertion, The system includes a housing dispensing device for removing the connector housing from the housing transport mechanism after the terminals have been inserted. The wire harness manufacturing apparatus according to feature 1.

4. The twisted wire processing unit and the general wire processing unit each further include a rubber stopper attachment machine for attaching rubber stoppers to the wire, a stripping machine for removing the insulation coating at the end of the wire, and a crimping condition inspection device for photographing the terminals crimped to the wire and determining the quality of the crimping. The wire harness manufacturing apparatus according to feature 1.

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