Color indicating device

Abstract

To make it possible to efficiently perform a coloring operation hassle free to result in no necessity of keeping a color indicator that is not used.SOLUTION: On a plurality of side surfaces of a coloring indicator 20 having a polygonal cross section, with different colored patterns determined for each wire gripping rod 10 displayed one by one so as to correspond to a position of a tip of each wire W held by the wire gripping lod 10, by rotating and positioning the coloring indicator 20, the side surface 21 on which the colored pattern corresponding to the wire gripping rod 10 is displayed faces a work front.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a coloring instruction device used when applying coloring for identification to the tip of an electric wire.

Background Art

[0002] When assembling a terminal attached to the tip of an electric wire into a connector housing, for example, an operator may need to identify the electric wire and the terminal to be assembled. Before such a process, a process of applying coloring to the tip of the electric wire (coloring process) is inserted so that the operator can easily identify the terminal and the electric wire in a later process.

[0003] For example, in a conventional coloring process, a long flat coloring indicator on which a coloring pattern is described is placed parallel to an electric wire holding rod that holds a number of electric wires in parallel, and the operator applies coloring to the terminal while checking the coloring pattern of the coloring indicator. Since this flat coloring indicator displays only one coloring pattern, the operator needs to replace the coloring indicator for each electric wire holding rod. Therefore, the production efficiency has been reduced due to the trouble of replacement. Also, there has been a problem with the storage of unused electric wire holding rods. For example, if there are eight coloring patterns, the seven coloring indicators other than the one in use need to be placed near the workbench. Moreover, the coloring indicator is long. Therefore, extra space is required for storage.

[0004] On the other hand, as a technique for coloring a predetermined portion of the coating of an electric wire, automatic machines described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 are known.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] However, when coloring a terminal or its vicinity, it is necessary to handle the terminal carefully so as not to damage it. Also, when selecting and coloring one of multiple colors on the terminal, it is necessary to provide mechanisms such as coloring heads for each color to be used. Therefore, there is a problem that the cost becomes too high in an automatic machine. Thus, there has been a demand for a technique that can efficiently apply multiple colors to terminals and electric wires manually.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its object is to provide a coloring indication device that can perform coloring work efficiently, does not require storage of unused coloring indicators, and can rationalize the coloring work.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] In order to achieve the above object, the coloring indication device according to the present invention is characterized by the following (1) to (3). (1) A coloring indication device that indicates the color to be applied when coloring the tips of a plurality of electric wires included in each group for each group, For each group, a plurality of long electric wire gripping rods that grip the vicinity of the tips of a plurality of electric wires included in each group in parallel with the longitudinal direction of each electric wire oriented in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the rod, A rod guide that supports one of the plurality of electric wire gripping rods selected as the object of coloring work slidably and positionable in the sliding direction in its longitudinal direction, A long rod-shaped coloring indicator with a polygonal cross-section that is supported parallel to the rod guide and rotatable around its own axis, and holds one of the side surfaces of the same number as the number of corners of the polygonal prism facing the work front, The coloring pattern to be applied to the tips of the plurality of electric wires gripped by the electric wire gripping rods is predetermined for each electric wire gripping rod, On each of the plurality of side surfaces of the cross-sectionally polygonal colored indicator, one of the different colored patterns defined for each wire gripping rod is displayed so as to correspond to the position of the tip of each wire held by the wire gripping rod. The colored indicator is held in a rotationally positioned state such that, during the coloring operation, the side surface on which the colored pattern corresponding to the wire gripping rod set on the rod guide is displayed faces the work front. A colored indication device characterized by the above.

[0009] (2) Further comprising a display device that displays a colored pattern corresponding to the wire gripping rod or information equivalent thereto based on the identification information of the wire gripping rod. The colored indication device according to (1) above, characterized by the above.

[0010] (3) Further comprising a lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the colored indicator. The colored indication device according to (1) or (2) above, characterized by the above.

[0011] According to the colored indication device having the configuration of (1) above, even when the colored pattern for the wire is different for each wire gripping rod, by rotating the colored indicator so that the side surface of the colored indicator on which the colored pattern corresponding to the wire gripping rod to be worked on is displayed faces the work front, the operator can easily recognize the color to be applied to each wire while looking at the colored pattern displayed on that side surface. Therefore, the coloring operation can be efficiently performed without the troublesome labor and time required to replace the long flat plate-shaped colored indicator with only one colored pattern described as in the prior art according to the wire gripping rod. Also, there is no need to secure a storage place for the unused colored indicators. According to the coloring instruction device configured as described in (2) above, since the coloring pattern corresponding to the set wire gripping rod or information equivalent thereto is displayed on the display device, an operator can easily recognize the color to be applied to each wire by looking at the display and rotating the coloring indicator. In this case, the display device may display the coloring pattern itself, or may display the part number (corresponding to the coloring pattern) corresponding to the set wire gripping rod, and the operator may check the correspondence table between the part number and the coloring pattern to recognize the coloring pattern. According to the coloring instruction device configured as described in (3) above, the coloring indicator can be lowered until the wire gripping rod is positioned at the working position, and after positioning the wire gripping rod at the working position, the coloring indicator can be operated to be raised to an appropriate position. That is, in the preparatory stage where the tip of the wire moves to the working position, the coloring indicator can be retracted downward with respect to the tip of the wire held by the wire gripping rod. Therefore, unnecessary contact of the coloring indicator with the terminal at the tip of the wire can be avoided during the movement to the working position. Note that the control of the raising operation of the coloring indicator may be manually performed by the operator using the lifting switch, or may be automatically performed when the wire gripping rod is set at the working position.

Advantages of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, while using one coloring indicator, coloring based on a plurality of coloring patterns can be applied to the tips of the wires held by each wire gripping rod for each wire gripping rod. Therefore, the coloring work can be efficiently performed without the troublesome effort of replacing the coloring indicator. In addition, since one coloring indicator is sufficient, there is no need to store unused coloring indicators, and the rationalization of the coloring work can be achieved.

[0013] The present invention has been briefly described above. Further, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading through the embodiments for carrying out the invention described below (hereinafter referred to as "embodiments") with reference to the attached drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0015] Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the respective figures.

[0016] The coloring instruction device of the present embodiment is a device for instructing the color to be colored when coloring the tips of a plurality of electric wires included in each group (for example, a group of electric wires for a sub-harness held by one electric wire holding rod) for each group.

[0017] Figure 1 is a diagram showing an outline of the overall configuration of a coloring instruction device according to an embodiment. Figure 2 is a perspective view showing the relationship between the coloring indicator in the coloring instruction device and the tip of the electric wire held by the electric wire holding rod.

[0018] As shown in Figure 1, this coloring instruction device 1 includes a workbench 2, a plurality of long electric wire holding rods 10, a rod guide 15, a coloring indicator 20, an identification information reading device 51, a personal computer 52, a display (display device) 53, and a plurality of colored pens 80 used by the operator. Here, at least the rod guide 15 and the coloring indicator 20 are supported by the workbench 2. The identification information reading device 51 is constituted by, for example, a barcode reader.

[0019] The wire holding rod 10 is a long rod-shaped member that holds a plurality of wires W included in each group (for example, a group of wires for constituting a sub-harness of one part number) for each group, and is sequentially conveyed from the previous process. Each wire holding rod 10 is attached with identification information 13 corresponding to the part number. Examples of the identification information 13 include barcodes and identification marks.

[0020] Each wire holding rod 10 is provided with a gripping portion 11 that grips the vicinity of the tips of the plurality of wires W included in each group in parallel with the longitudinal direction of each wire W (the X direction in the figure) in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the rod (the Y direction in the figure). The gripping portion 11 is such that the gripping interval is adjusted according to the thickness of the wire W by elastic deformation or the like, and the wire W can be detachably gripped.

[0021] The rod guide 15 is a long guide member that supports one wire holding rod 10 selected as the object of the coloring operation among the plurality of wire holding rods 10 so as to be slidable in the longitudinal direction and positionable in the sliding direction. The arrow S in FIG. 1 indicates the sliding direction. The rod guide 15 is constituted by, for example, a groove that allows one wire holding rod 10 to slide from one end side to the other end side in the longitudinal direction of the rod guide 15 so as not to fall off.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 2, the coloring indicator 20 is a long rod-shaped member with a polygonal cross-section that is supported in parallel with the rod guide 15 and rotatable around its own axis. The rotation direction is indicated by the arrow R in the figure. This coloring indicator 20 is held in a state where one of the side surfaces 21 equal in number to the number of corners of the polygonal prism is positioned in the rotation direction facing the working front (the position closest to the coloring portion when working). Here, since coloring is applied to the base end portion of the terminal T, the coloring indicator 20 is rotationally positioned and fixed so that the side surface 21 displaying the corresponding coloring pattern faces the coloring portion at a lower position close to the coloring portion. The coloring indicator 20 is rotatably supported by brackets 30 and stays (not shown) arranged at necessary locations.

[0023] The coloring patterns to be respectively colored on the tips of a plurality of electric wires W (one group of electric wires) held by the electric wire holding rod 10 are predetermined for each electric wire holding rod 10, that is, for each sub-harness held by the electric wire holding rod 10. Here, a case where there are eight types of coloring patterns A to H is shown as an example. Corresponding to these eight types of coloring patterns, the coloring indicator 20 has a cross-section octagon with eight side surfaces 21. Note that the number of types of coloring patterns and the number of side surfaces 21 of the coloring indicator 20 do not necessarily have to match, but in order to display all types of coloring patterns, the number of side surfaces 21 of the coloring indicator 20 must be equal to or more than the number of types of coloring patterns.

[0024] On a plurality of side surfaces 21 of the cross-section polygonal coloring indicator 20, different coloring patterns A to H determined for each electric wire holding rod 10 are respectively displayed so as to correspond to the positions of the tips of the respective electric wires W held by the electric wire holding rod 10. FIG. 3 shows an example of the coloring patterns displayed on each side surface 21 of the coloring indicator 20 developed. Also, FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the coloring pattern of the coloring indicator 20 and the tip of the electric wire W. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, identification labels 22 are displayed at the ends of a plurality of side surfaces 21 of the cross-section polygonal coloring indicator 20 so that an operator can recognize the types of the displayed coloring patterns. Therefore, the operator can rotate the coloring indicator 20 so that the side surface 21 on which the necessary coloring pattern is displayed faces the working front while looking at this label.

[0025] When the electric wire holding rod 10 is set on the rod guide 15, the personal computer 52 reads the identification information 13 of the electric wire holding rod 10 via the identification information reading device 51, and displays the coloring pattern (or information corresponding thereto) corresponding to the electric wire holding rod 10 on the display 53 based on the read identification information.

[0026] Next, the operation will be described. When using this coloring instruction device 1, one wire gripping rod 10 to be colored is set one by one in the rod guide 15 and positioned at an appropriate position. When the identification information 13 of the set wire gripping rod 10 is read, information on the corresponding coloring pattern is displayed on the display 53. Based on this information, the coloring indicator 20 is rotated.

[0027] By doing so, the side surface 21 of the coloring indicator 20 on which the coloring pattern corresponding to the wire gripping rod 10 to be worked is displayed can be directed towards the work front. The operator can easily recognize the color to be applied to the tip of each wire W while looking at the coloring pattern displayed on the side surface, and can perform coloring using the coloring pen 80.

[0028] Therefore, unlike the conventional method, the coloring operation can be efficiently performed without the troublesome labor and time required to replace a long flat coloring indicator on which only one coloring pattern is described according to the wire gripping rod. That is, while using one coloring indicator 20, coloring based on a plurality of coloring patterns A to H can be applied to the tip of the wire W held by each wire gripping rod 10 for each wire gripping rod 10. Therefore, the coloring operation can be efficiently performed without the troublesome labor such as replacing the coloring indicator 20. In addition, since all coloring patterns can be indicated by one coloring indicator 20, there is no need to store unused coloring indicators, eliminating the need to secure a storage location. As a result, the coloring operation can be rationalized.

[0029] In addition, since the coloring pattern (or information corresponding thereto) corresponding to the wire gripping rod 10 set in the rod guide 15 is displayed on the display 53, the operator can easily recognize the color to be applied to each wire W just by looking at the display and rotating the coloring indicator 20. Although the display 53 may display the coloring pattern itself, it is preferable to display the part number (corresponding to the coloring pattern) corresponding to the set wire gripping rod 10, and have the operator check the correspondence table between the part number and the coloring pattern to recognize the coloring pattern.

[0030] It is also possible to further include a lifting mechanism (not shown) for lifting and lowering the coloring indicator 20. In this case, a plurality of cylinders are installed on the workbench 2 such that the rods advance and retract in the vertical direction, and the coloring indicator 20 is supported by the tip portions of these rods. Then, the coloring indicator 20 is lowered until the wire gripping rod 10 is positioned at the working position, and after the wire gripping rod 10 is positioned at the working position, the coloring indicator 20 can be operated to rise to an appropriate position. That is, in the preparation stage where the tip of the wire W moves to the working position, the coloring indicator 20 can be retracted downward with respect to the tip of the wire W held by the wire gripping rod 10. Therefore, during the movement to the working position, useless contact of the coloring indicator 20 with the terminal T at the tip of the wire W can be avoided. The control of the rising operation of the coloring indicator 20 may be manually performed by an operator using a lifting switch (not shown), or may be automatically performed when the wire gripping rod 10 is set at the working position.

[0031] Here, the features of the coloring indication device according to the above-described embodiment of the present invention are briefly summarized and listed in the following [1] to [3] respectively. [1] A coloring indication device (1) for indicating the color to be colored when coloring the tips of a plurality of wires included in each group for each group, For each group, a plurality of long wire gripping rods (10) that grip the vicinity of the tips of a plurality of wires included in each group in parallel with the longitudinal direction of each wire directed in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the rod, A rod guide (15) that supports one wire gripping rod (10) selected as the coloring work target among the plurality of wire gripping rods (10) so as to be slidable and positionable in the sliding direction in its longitudinal direction, A long rod-shaped coloring indicator (20) having a polygonal cross-section that is supported parallel to the rod guide (15) and rotatable about its own axis, and holds one of the side surfaces among the same number of side surfaces as the number of corners of the polygonal prism facing the working front, The coloring pattern to be colored on the tips of the plurality of wires gripped by the wire gripping rod (10) is predetermined for each wire gripping rod (10), On each of the plurality of side surfaces of the cross-section polygonal colored indicator (20), one of the different colored patterns determined for each of the wire gripping rods (10) is displayed so as to correspond to the position of the tip of each wire held by the wire gripping rod (10). During the coloring operation, the colored indicator (20) is held in a rotationally positioned state such that the side surface on which the colored pattern corresponding to the wire gripping rod (10) set on the rod guide (15) is displayed faces the working front. A colored indication device, characterized in that.

[0032] [2] The colored indication device further comprises a display device (display 53) that displays a colored pattern corresponding to the wire gripping rod (10) or information equivalent thereto based on the identification information of the wire gripping rod (10). The colored indication device according to [1] above, characterized in that.

[0033] [3] The colored indication device according to [1] or [2] above further comprises a lifting mechanism for lifting and lowering the colored indicator (20). The colored indication device according to [1] or [2] above, characterized in that.

Explanation of Signs

[0034] 1 Colored indication device 2 Workbench 10 Wire gripping rod 11 Gripping part 13 Identification information 15 Rod guide 20 Colored indicator 21 Side surface 22 Identification label 30 Bracket 51 Reading device 52 Personal computer 53 Display (display device) 80 Coloring pen A~H Colored patterns

Claims

1. A coloring instruction device that instructs the color to be applied when coloring the tips of a plurality of electric wires included in each group for each group, For each group, a plurality of long wire gripping rods that grip the vicinity of the tips of the plurality of electric wires included in each group in parallel with the longitudinal direction of each wire oriented in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the rod, A rod guide that supports one wire gripping rod selected as the object of coloring operation among the plurality of wire gripping rods so as to be slidable and positionable in the sliding direction in its longitudinal direction, A long rod-shaped coloring indicator having a polygonal cross-section that is supported in parallel with the rod guide and rotatable about its own axis, and one of the side surfaces equal to the number of corners of the polygonal prism is held with the working front facing it, For each wire gripping rod, a coloring pattern to be applied to the tips of the plurality of electric wires gripped by the wire gripping rod is predetermined, On the plurality of side surfaces of the coloring indicator having a polygonal cross-section, the different coloring patterns determined for each wire gripping rod are displayed one by one so as to correspond to the positions of the tips of the respective electric wires held by the wire gripping rod, The coloring indicator is held in a state where it is rotationally positioned so that the side surface on which the coloring pattern corresponding to the wire gripping rod set on the rod guide is displayed faces the working front during the coloring operation, A coloring instruction device characterized by the above.

2. Further comprising a display device that displays a coloring pattern corresponding to the wire gripping rod or information equivalent thereto based on the identification information of the wire gripping rod, The coloring instruction device according to claim 1, characterized by the above.

3. Further comprising a lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the coloring indicator, The coloring instruction device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the above.

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