Wire harness

Abstract

To provide a wire harness prevented in biting by a lid member of a wire arranged inside a housing body, in assembling.SOLUTION: A wire harness WH has a wire bundle WT and an electric connection box 1. The electric connection box 1 has: a frame side wall 30 formed along an opening 3b so that a frame 3 surrounds a storing space 3a and having an outer wall 31 and an inner wall 32 sandwiching a lower cover side wall 5c of a lower cover 5 in a closed state; and an electronic component block 6 assembled with an electronic component 100. A branch wire W2 branched from the wire bundle WT has a tape winding region W2a and a tape winding neck-below region W2b. The inner wall 32 has an inner wall side extended part 32A extended in a height direction Z and positioned facing the tape winding neck-below region W2b. In the inner wall side extended part 32A, a length from an opening end 31a of the outer wall 31 to an opening end 32Aa of the inner wall side extended part 32A is set to be longer than a length of a tape winding neck-below region T2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] Conventionally, there has been known an electrical junction box (also called a junction box, fuse box, relay box, etc.) that is mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile and that houses electronic components such as a wire harness, fuses, relays, etc. Such an electrical junction box is disclosed in, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 6. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-278843 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-185031 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-68274 [Patent Document 4] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-36542 [Patent Document 5] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-169421 [Patent Document 6] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-85821 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In a wire harness in which a portion of a bundle of electric wires is housed inside an electrical junction box, when a cover member is attached to the housing main body that constitutes the electrical junction box, there is a risk that a branch wire branching from the bundle of electric wires housed inside the housing main body may become caught between the housing main body and the cover member during assembly.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a wire harness that can prevent electric wires routed inside a housing main body from being pinched by a cover member during assembly. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, a wire harness according to the present invention includes: an electric wire bundle including a trunk line formed by bundling a plurality of electric wires; and branch wires branching from the trunk line; and an electric junction box connected to the electric wire bundle, wherein the electric junction box includes a housing main body having an opening and a storage space portion that stores an electronic component and a part of the electric wire bundle in an extending direction through the opening; and a lid member that is locked to the housing main body by a locking mechanism in a closed state in which the opening is closed, wherein the housing main body includes a body-side sidewall that is formed along the opening so as to surround the storage space portion, and has an outer wall and an inner wall that sandwich a lid-side sidewall that constitutes the lid member in the closed state; and the branch wires to which the electronic component is attached and that are stored in the storage space portion. and an electronic component block to which a connection terminal provided at an end of the branch wire is attached from the opening side, the branch wire has a tape winding area wrapped with insulating protective tape, and a tape winding neck area located between the electronic component block and the tape winding area in an assembled state in which the connection terminal is attached to the electronic component block, the inner wall has an inner wall side extending portion that extends toward the cover member in the closed state, is formed to be relatively long compared to the outer wall, and is located opposite the tape winding neck area in a direction perpendicular to the extending direction, and the length of the inner wall side extending portion from the opening end of the outer wall to the opening end of the inner wall side extending portion is set longer than the length of the tape winding neck area. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] The wire harness according to the present invention has an effect of preventing the electric wires routed inside the housing body from being pinched by the cover member during assembly. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view schematically showing a general configuration of an electric junction box applied to a wire harness according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a partial side view schematically showing a branch wire in the wire harness of FIG. 1 and an electronic component block in the electrical junction box. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a side view schematically showing the branch line and the inner wall side extension portion of the frame in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a plan view schematically showing the electrical junction box according to the embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view that schematically shows a locking mechanism between the frame and the lower cover of the electrical junction box according to the embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view that schematically shows a locking mechanism between the frame and the lower cover of the electrical junction box according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below. Furthermore, the components in the following embodiments include those that are easily replaceable by those skilled in the art, or those that are substantially identical. Furthermore, the components in the following embodiments can be variously omitted, replaced, or modified without departing from the spirit of the invention.

[0010] [Embodiment] A wire harness WH and an electrical junction box 1 according to an embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view schematically illustrating a general configuration of the electrical junction box 1 applied to the wire harness WH according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a partial side view schematically illustrating the branch wire W2 of the wire harness WH of FIG. 1 and the electronic component block 6 of the electrical junction box 1. FIG. 3 is a side view schematically illustrating the branch wire W2 and the inner wall side extending portion 32A of the frame 3 of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a plan view schematically illustrating the electrical junction box 1 according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a locking mechanism between the frame 3 and the lower cover 5 of the electrical junction box 1 according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view schematically illustrating the locking mechanism between the frame 3 and the lower cover 5 of the electrical junction box 1 according to the embodiment. Note that the upper cover 4 and the lower cover 5 shown in FIG. 1 are omitted in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 4.

[0011] In the following description, for convenience, the illustrated X direction is the first width direction of the electrical junction box in this embodiment. The illustrated Y direction is the second width direction of the electrical junction box in this embodiment, which is a direction perpendicular to the first width direction. The illustrated Z direction is the height direction of the electrical junction box in this embodiment, which is a direction perpendicular to the first width direction and the second width direction. In particular, among the Z directions, the Z1 direction is the first height direction, and the Z2 direction is the second height direction. Furthermore, the above directions are respectively referred to as the "first width direction X," "second width direction Y," "height direction Z," "first height direction Z1," and "second height direction Z2."

[0012] 1 to 6, the electrical junction box 1 is shown upside down to facilitate understanding of the various components. When the electrical junction box 1 is actually mounted on a vehicle, the side of the electrical junction box 1 in the first height direction Z1 where the upper cover 4 is provided is the vertically upper side, and the side of the electrical junction box 1 in the second height direction Z2 where the lower cover 5 is provided is the vertically lower side. The first width direction X corresponds to the short side direction of a housing described below, and the second width direction Y corresponds to the long side direction of the housing. Unless otherwise specified, the directions used in the following description refer to the state in which the electrical junction box is mounted on a vehicle after the various components of the electrical junction box are assembled together.

[0013] The wire harness WH in this embodiment is, for example, a component in which a plurality of electric wires W used for power supply and signal communication are bundled together to connect various devices mounted on a vehicle, and the plurality of electric wires W are connected to the various devices using connectors or the like (not shown). As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the wire harness WH includes an electric wire bundle WT including a trunk line W1 and branch lines W2 branching from the trunk line W1, and an electric junction box 1 connected to the electric wire bundle WT. The wire harness WH is electrically connected to the electric junction box 1 via connection terminals P (see FIG. 2) provided at the ends of the electric wires W. The wire harness WH may also include grommets, protectors, fixtures, and the like (not shown).

[0014] The trunk wire W1 is formed by bundling a plurality of electric wires W. The electric wires W include, for example, a conductive conductor portion (core wire) and an insulating coating portion that covers the outside of the conductor portion. The core wire may be a stranded wire formed by twisting together a plurality of metal wires, or may be a solid metal wire.

[0015] The branch wire W2 has a connection terminal P at the end of each electric wire W. The connection terminal P is a metal fitting provided at the end of the electric wire W and is made of a conductive metal material. The connection terminal P is inserted into and held in the electrical junction box 1. As shown in FIG. 2 , the branch wire W2 has a tape winding region W2a and a tape winding neck region W2b. The tape winding region W2a is a region where, for example, insulating protective tape T is wound around the multiple electric wires W that make up the branch wire W2. The tape winding region W2a is located on the trunk wire W1 side of the branch wire W2. In this embodiment, the tape winding region W2a is a portion where protective tape T is wound to prevent the electric wires W from unraveling on a routing jig when the connection terminal P is assembled to the electronic component block 6 of the electrical junction box 1. In this embodiment, when the connection terminal P is assembled to the electronic component block 6 of the electrical connection box 1, the length L of the tape winding neck area W2b from the end of the electronic component block 6 on the second height direction Z2 side to the tape winding area W2a is defined as the tape winding neck length (see Figure 2).

[0016] The electrical junction box 1 is mounted on a vehicle (not shown) such as an automobile, and distributes power supplied from a power source such as a battery to various electronic devices mounted on the vehicle via various electronic components 100. As shown in FIG. 1 , the electrical junction box 1 is incorporated into a wire harness WH, and houses electronic components 100 such as connectors, fuses, relays, branches, and electronic control units that constitute connection processing components for electric wires W, which are wiring materials, in an integrated manner. When the electronic components 100 are mounted on the electrical junction box 1, terminals 101 protruding from the main body of the electronic components 100 are electrically connected to connection terminals P. In other words, the electronic components 100 are electrically connected to the electric wires W via the terminals 101 and the connection terminals P.

[0017] The electrical junction box 1 is installed in a location exposed to the external environment, such as the engine compartment of a vehicle, and is connected between a power source such as a battery and various electronic devices installed in the vehicle. The electrical junction box 1 may also be called a junction box, fuse box, relay box, etc., but in this embodiment, these are collectively referred to as an electrical junction box. As shown in FIG. 1 , the electrical junction box 1 includes a housing 2 composed of multiple housing members. In this embodiment, the electrical junction box 1 is installed in a vehicle by bringing a vehicle mounting portion provided on the outside of the housing 2 into contact with a mounting panel or the like (not shown) on the vehicle side and fastening the vehicle mounting portion to the mounting panel on the vehicle side with fastening members such as bolts.

[0018] 1, the housing 2 is formed in a box shape using an insulating synthetic resin material or the like, and accommodates the electronic component 100 and a part of the wire bundle WT in the extending direction in an accommodation space 2a formed inside. The housing 2 includes a frame 3, an upper cover 4, and a lower cover 5, and has a structure in which multiple layers (three layers) are stacked in the order of the lower cover 5, the frame 3, and the upper cover 4 from the second height direction Z2 side, i.e., a structure divided into multiple housing members.

[0019] The frame 3 is an example of a housing main body and is a part of the housing 2. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 , the frame 3 has a substantially rectangular outer peripheral shape when viewed from the height direction Z in an installed state in which the electrical junction box 1 is installed in a vehicle. The frame 3 has a storage space 3a. The storage space 3a is a part of the storage space 2a of the housing 2. In the installed state, the frame 3 has an opening 3b at its end in the second height direction Z2 and an opening 3c at its end in the first height direction Z1. The frame 3 is formed into a hollow shape in which the openings 3b and 3c communicate with each other via the storage space 3a in the height direction Z. The storage space 3a of the frame 3 is divided into multiple compartments, and the electronic component blocks 6 that house the electronic components 100 and the electronic components 100 are inserted and held in the compartmented storage spaces 3a.

[0020] The frame 3 has a frame-side sidewall 30 formed along the opening 3b so as to surround the accommodation space 3a. As shown in Fig. 5, the frame-side sidewall 30 constitutes a double wall having an outer wall 31 and an inner wall 32. The outer wall 31 and the inner wall 32 are formed so as to sandwich the lower cover-side sidewall 5c constituting the lower cover 5 in a closed state in which the lower cover 5 closes the opening 3b.

[0021] As shown in Figures 1, 3, and 5 to 6, the outer wall 31 is disposed outside the inner wall 32. As shown in Figures 5 to 6, the outer wall 31 has a locking receiving portion 33 provided at the opening end 31a on the opening 3b side. The locking receiving portion 33 locks with a locking portion 53 provided on the lower cover side wall 5c. The locking receiving portion 33 has a locking hole 33a penetrating in the height direction Z. The locking portion 53 is locked to the locking receiving portion 33 by having a claw portion 53a formed to protrude in the first height direction Z1 pass through the locking hole 33a of the locking receiving portion 33.

[0022] As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the inner wall 32 has an inner-wall-side extending portion 32A. The inner-wall-side extending portion 32A extends toward the lower cover 5 when the lower cover 5 closes the opening 3b, and is formed relatively long relative to the outer wall 31. The inner-wall-side extending portion 32A is formed near the electronic component block 6 attached to the frame 3. In this embodiment, the inner-wall-side extending portion 32A is positioned opposite the tape neck region W2b in a direction perpendicular to the extending direction (height direction Z) of the inner-wall-side extending portion 32A (see FIGS. 1 and 3). In this embodiment, the length H of the inner-wall-side extending portion 32A from the opening end 31a of the outer wall 31 to the opening end 32Aa of the inner-wall-side extending portion 32A is set longer than the length L of the tape neck region W2b (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

[0023] The upper cover 4 is a part of the housing. In the above-described installed state, the upper cover 4 is located on the first height direction Z1 side of the frame 3 and closes the opening 3c of the frame 3. When viewed from the height direction Z, the upper cover 4 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape whose outer peripheral shape is the same as (or substantially the same as) the outer peripheral shape of the frame 3. The upper cover 4 has a storage space 4a. The storage space 4a is a part of the storage space 2a of the housing 2. Therefore, the storage space 2a of the housing 2 is composed of the storage space 3a of the frame 3, the storage space 4a of the upper cover 4, and the storage space 5a of the lower cover 5. The upper cover 4 has an opening 4b at its end on the second height direction Z2 side. The upper cover 4 is formed in a lid shape in which the storage space 4a and the opening 4b communicate with each other. When the upper cover 4 is assembled to the frame 3, the opening 4b faces the opening 3c of the frame 3 in the height direction Z, and the upper cover 4 is locked to the frame 3 by a locking mechanism (not shown) provided on the side of the upper cover 4.

[0024] The lower cover 5 is a part of the housing 2. In the above-described installed state, the lower cover 5 is located on the second height direction Z2 side of the frame 3 and closes the opening 3b of the frame 3. When viewed from the height direction Z, the lower cover 5 is formed in a substantially rectangular shape whose outer peripheral shape is the same as (or substantially the same as) the outer peripheral shape of the frame 3. The lower cover 5 has a storage space 5a. The storage space 5a is a part of the storage space 2a of the housing 2. The lower cover 5 has an opening 5b formed at its end on the first height direction Z1 side. The lower cover 5 is formed in a tray shape in which the storage space 5a and the opening 5b communicate with each other. When the lower cover 5 is assembled to the frame 3, the opening 5b is engaged with the frame 3 with the opening 5b facing the opening 3b of the frame 3 in the height direction Z. The lower cover 5 has a lower-cover-side side wall 5c.

[0025] Next, the assembly procedure for the wire harness WH according to this embodiment will be described. First, an operator assembles the connection terminals P of the electric wires W to the electronic component blocks 6 of the frame 3 to prepare the branch wires W2. When preparing the branch wires W2, the tape winding region W2a is set so that the length L of the tape winding neck region W2b is minimized. It is preferable to determine the minimum value for the length L of the tape winding neck region W2b by creating a sample to determine how small it can be depending on the type and number of electric wires W connected to the connection terminals P inserted into the electronic component blocks 6, the shape of the electronic component blocks 6, etc. Then, it is preferable to set the length H of the inner-wall-side extending portion 32A in the extension direction so that it is equal to or greater than the determined minimum value.

[0026] Next, the worker inserts the electronic component block 6 together with the branch wire W2 into the accommodation space 3a from the second height direction Z2 side of the frame 3, and fixes it by fitting it with a block mounting member (not shown) of the frame 3. Next, the worker attaches the electronic components 100 to each electronic component block 6 from the first height direction Z1 side of the frame 3, and electrically connects the electronic components 100 and the electric wires W.

[0027] Next, the worker positions the lower cover 5 on the second height direction Z2 side of the frame 3, and inserts the lower cover 5 from the second height direction Z2 side toward the first height direction Z1 side relative to the frame 3. The worker continues to insert the lower cover 5 toward the first height direction Z1 side relative to the frame 3, and when the lower cover 5 can no longer be moved toward the first height direction Z1 side, assembly of the lower cover 5 to the frame 3 is completed.

[0028] Next, the worker positions the upper cover 4 on the first height direction Z1 side of the frame 3, and inserts the upper cover 4 from the first height direction Z1 side toward the second height direction Z2 side relative to the frame 3. When the worker continues to insert the upper cover 4 toward the second height direction relative to the frame 3 and can no longer move the upper cover 4 toward the second height direction, the attachment of the upper cover 4 to the frame 3 is complete, and the assembly of the electrical junction box 1 is also complete.

[0029] As described above, the wire harness WH according to this embodiment includes the electric wire bundle WT and the electric junction box 1. The electric junction box 1 includes a frame-side sidewall 30 formed along the opening 3b so as to surround the housing space 3a and having an outer wall 31 and an inner wall 32 that sandwich the lower-cover-side sidewall 5c of the lower cover 5 in a closed state, and an electronic component block 6 to which an electronic component 100 is assembled. A branch wire W2 branching from the electric wire bundle WT includes a tape-wound region W2a and a tape-wound neck region W2b. The inner wall 32 has an inner-wall-side extending portion 32A that extends in the height direction Z and is positioned opposite the tape-wound neck region W2b. The length H of the inner-wall-side extending portion 32A from the opening end 31a of the outer wall 31 to the opening end 32Aa of the inner-wall-side extending portion 32A is set to be longer than the length L of the tape-wound neck region T2.

[0030] With the above configuration, the wire harness WH of this embodiment can prevent the branch wire W2 routed inside the frame 3 from being pinched by the lower cover 5 during assembly of the electrical junction box 1, provided that the length L of the tape winding under-neck region T2 of the branch wire W2 is set by the tape winding region W2a. Furthermore, the wire harness WH does not require any parts for preventing the branch wire W2 from being pinched, making it possible to suppress an increase in the number of parts.

[0031] Moreover, the wire harness WH according to this embodiment includes a locking portion 53 provided on the lower cover side wall 5c of the lower cover 5 and a lock-receiving portion 33 provided on the opening end 31a of the outer wall 31 of the frame 3. This allows, for example, an assembly worker to easily lock the locking portion 53 with the lock-receiving portion 33.

[0032] In addition, it is preferable that the wire harness WH of this embodiment be set so that the length H of the inner wall side extending portion 32A in the extension direction and the length L of the tape winding neck region T2 are H=L, taking into consideration the vehicle layout and the assembly work of the electrical connection box 1. [Explanation of symbols]

[0033] 1 Electrical junction box 2. Case 3 frames 3a Storage space 3b opening 30 Frame side wall 31 Exterior Wall 31a Open end 32 Inner wall 32A Inner wall extension 32Aa open end 4 Upper cover 5 Lower cover 5c Lower cover side wall 6 Electronic Component Blocks 33 Locking receiving part 53 Locking part 100 Electronic Components P connection terminal T protective tape W electric wire W1 Main Line W2 Branch Line W2a Tape winding area W2b Tape wrapping area under the neck WT wire bundle WH Wire Harness

Claims

1. an electric wire bundle including a trunk line formed by bundling a plurality of electric wires and branch lines branching from the trunk line; an electric junction box connected to the electric wire bundle, The electrical connection box comprises: a housing body having an opening and a housing space for housing a part of the wire bundle in an extending direction and an electronic component through the opening; a cover member that is locked to the housing body by a locking mechanism in a closed state in which the opening is closed, The housing body includes: a body-side sidewall formed along the opening so as to surround the storage space, and having an outer wall and an inner wall that sandwich a lid-side sidewall constituting the lid member in the closed state; an electronic component block to which the electronic components are assembled and to which a connection terminal provided at an end of the branch line accommodated in the accommodation space is assembled from the opening side, The branch line is a tape winding region where an insulating protective tape is wound; a tape winding neck area located between the electronic component block and the tape winding area in an assembled state in which the connection terminal is assembled to the electronic component block, The inner wall is an inner wall-side extending portion that extends toward the lid member in the closed state, is formed relatively long with respect to the outer wall, and is positioned opposite the tape neck area in a direction perpendicular to the extending direction, The inner wall side extending portion is The length from the opening end of the outer wall to the opening end of the inner wall-side extending portion is set to be longer than the length of the tape winding neck region. A wire harness characterized by:

2. The locking mechanism includes: a locking portion provided on the lid-side sidewall; a locking receiving portion provided at an open end of the outer wall; The wire harness according to claim 1 .

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