METHOD FOR ADAPTING AN ELECTRICAL HARNESS FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE

Description

Technical field of the invention

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of electrical wiring harnesses for motor vehicles. The invention specifically relates to a method for adapting an electrical wiring harness for a motor vehicle. The invention also relates to an electrical wiring harness for a motor vehicle adapted by implementing such a method. The invention is particularly applicable to motor vehicles. Prior art

[0002] It is known that modern motor vehicles, particularly automobiles, are equipped with electronic control units connected by electrical harnesses, i.e., bundles of electrical cables, which transmit electrical signals and / or digital data between the electronic control units to manage the operation of certain vehicle components. These electrical harnesses are installed in vehicles during phases that generally occur very early in the vehicle manufacturing process, making their removal after production typically a very difficult task.However, when integrating vehicles into car-sharing or fleet management systems after manufacturing, it is necessary to integrate computer systems into the vehicles themselves to implement the functionalities required for the operation of these systems. To do this, it becomes necessary to connect these computer systems to the various systems that manage vehicle operation, particularly the electronic control units. Generally, these connections are made by adapting the vehicle's original electrical wiring harnesses, most often by cutting and / or splicing them.However, such electrical harness adaptation processes involving cuts and / or splices can then cause serious problems ranging from imperfect connections, impairing the proper transmission of signals and / or data between on-board electronic control units, to the risk of vehicle fires.

[0003] Furthermore, the fleet of vehicles used in car-sharing or fleet management systems is generally subject to periodic renewal. This means that vehicles previously modified to integrate these systems must then be modified again to remove the previously installed components. Specifically, this means that the computer systems that enabled the functionality of the car-sharing or fleet management systems must be removed from the vehicles, and consequently, the wiring harnesses must be adapted once more to restore them to a configuration as close as possible to their original form.However, when the methods used to adapt electrical harnesses rely on making cuts or splices, it becomes almost impossible to adapt the harnesses again without risking the reappearance of imperfect connections or creating a risk of vehicle fire. Indeed, every electrician knows that an electrical wire that has been cut, whose ends at the point of the cut are subsequently joined together, for example using a splice sleeve, will never be as reliable as an electrical wire that has never been cut (e.g., risk of connection failure during impacts, risk of electrical arcing, risk of oxidation of the ends at the point of the cut, etc.).

[0004] US 5,971,799 A discloses a method for adapting an electrical harness for a motor vehicle. Summary of the invention

[0005] The invention therefore aims to provide a method to overcome these drawbacks. In particular, the invention aims to provide a method for adapting an electrical harness for a motor vehicle to allow, without cutting or splicing, the connection of said harness to a computer system configured for temporary and removable installation on board a motor vehicle. Furthermore, the invention also aims to provide an adaptation method that allows, upon removal of the computer system from the vehicle, the electrical harness to be re-adapted so that it regains a shape identical in every respect to its original form, i.e., the shape it had when the vehicle left the production line.

[0006] These objectives are achieved, according to the invention, by means of a method for adapting an electrical harness for a motor vehicle to allow, without cutting or splicing, the connection of said electrical harness to a computer system configured to be temporarily and removably installed on board a motor vehicle, said electrical harness comprising a first connector equipped with at least one socket in which a plug arranged at one end of an electrical wire is removably housed, and a second connector equipped with at least one terminal, said second connector being configured to be connected to an electronic control unit of the vehicle, the method comprising the steps of: extract the plug from the first connector of the first connector socket so as to leave the first connector socket temporarily vacant, obtain an additional connector comprising at least one socket formed to removably house the plug of the first connector and at least one electrical wire having, at one end, a first plug formed to fit within the first socket of the first connector, the other end of the electrical wire of the additional connector being connected within the additional connector to a second plug, insert the plug of the first connector into the socket of the additional connector, and insert the first plug of the electrical wire of the additional connector into the socket of the first connector left temporarily vacant following the extraction of the plug of the first connector from the socket of the first connector.

[0007] The invention further relates to an electrical harness for a motor vehicle according to claim 2.

[0008] The invention further relates to a motorized land vehicle comprising an electrical harness as described above. Brief description of the figures

[0009] Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon examination of the detailed description below, and the accompanying drawings, in which: [ Fig. 1 [ ] schematically represents an electrical wiring harness for a motor vehicle, [ Fig. 2 ] schematically represents an electrical harness for a motor vehicle after the implementation of a first step of the process according to the invention, [ Fig. 3 ] schematically represents an electrical harness for a motor vehicle after the implementation of other steps of the process according to the invention, and [ Fig. 4] schematically represents an electrical harness for a motor vehicle after the implementation of another step of the process according to the invention. Detailed description of the invention

[0010] To the figure 1 A wiring harness 1 for a motor vehicle is schematically represented. Such a wiring harness includes a first connector 4 equipped with one (or more) socket(s) 5 in which one (or more) plug(s) 3 are removably housed, arranged at one end of an electrical wire 2, and a second connector 7 equipped with one (or more) pin(s) 6 and configured to be connected to an electronic control unit of the vehicle.

[0011] For the sake of clarity in the description, the method of adapting the electrical harness 1 for a motor vehicle according to the invention will now be described by considering only the steps relating to a single electrical wire 2 of the electrical harness 1. However, those skilled in the art will understand that the same steps can be reproduced for several electrical wires of the electrical harness 1 and, even, for all the electrical wires of the electrical harness 1.

[0012] According to a first step of the adaptation process according to the invention, illustrated in the figure 2The first connector 4 is first disconnected from the second connector 7, and the plug 3 of the electrical wire 2 is extracted from the socket 5 of the first connector 4. This operation can be performed using a screwdriver or other pointed object to interact with a fastening device on the socket 5, which allows the plug 3, attached to the end of the electrical wire 2, to be removably secured. Such a fastening device might include, for example, a screw, a clip, or any other equivalent fastener. Thus, it is immediately apparent that, during this first step, no cut is made to the electrical wire 2, which therefore remains in its original form.

[0013] Next, the adaptation process according to the invention of the electrical beam 1 continues by implementing a second and a third step which are jointly illustrated in the figure 3The second step of the method according to the invention consists of obtaining an auxiliary connector 11 configured to be connected to an interface (or connector) 8 of an embedded computer system enabling the integration of the vehicle into a car-sharing or fleet management system. The auxiliary connector 11 comprises one (or more) socket(s) 12 formed to removably house the plug 3 extracted from the first connector 4 during the previous step and at least one electrical wire 9, or electrical cable, having, at one end, a plug 10 formed to fit into the socket 5 of the first connector 4, the other end of the electrical wire 9 of the auxiliary connector 11 being connected to a plug 13 formed to connect to a terminal 14 of the interface 8. Then, during the third step of the method according to the invention, the plug 3 of the electrical wire 2 is inserted into the socket 12 of the auxiliary connector 11.Thus, following these two steps of the adaptation process according to the invention, no cut or splice is made on wire 2 of the electrical bundle 1.

[0014] Finally, a final step in the process of adapting the electrical beam 1 according to the invention, illustrated schematically in the figure 4 , consists of connecting the plug 10 arranged at the end of the electrical wire 9 of the auxiliary connector 11 to the socket 5 of the first connector 4 left temporarily vacant following the first step of the process which consisted of extracting the plug 3 of the first connector 4 from the socket 5 of the first connector 4.

[0015] Therefore, according to the method of the invention, it becomes possible to connect a removable computer system to the wiring harness without any irreversible modification of the harness. Indeed, those skilled in the art will understand that, when it becomes necessary to remove the removable computer system from the vehicle, the steps described above can be reversed so that the wiring harness can regain a shape identical in every respect to its original form, i.e., the one it had when the vehicle left the production line.Furthermore, it is also understood that the method according to the invention allows for the adaptation of an electrical harness without the need to make any cuts or splices on the electrical wires, or cables, which form the electrical harness, which helps to ensure the total integrity of the transmission of signals and / or data between each of the connectors of an electrical harness adapted by the implementation of the method according to the invention and without any step of the method being the source of any risk of fire of the vehicle.

Claims

1. Method of adapting an electrical harness (1) for a land motor vehicle in order to allow, without cutting or splicing, the connection of said electrical harness to a computer system configured to be temporarily and removably carried on board a land motor vehicle, said method comprising said electrical harness comprising a first connector (4) provided with at least one socket (5) in which a plug (3) arranged at one end of an electrical wire (2) is removably housed, and a second connector (7) provided with at least one paste (6), said second connector (7) being configured to be connected to an electronic control unit of the vehicle, characterised in that the method comprises the steps of : - extracting the plug (3) of the first connector (4) from the socket (5) of the first connector (4) thereby leaving the socket (5) of the first connector (4) temporarily vacant, - providing a booster connector (11) comprising at least one socket (12) formed to removably house the plug (3) of the first connector (4) and at least one electrical wire (9) provided at one end with a first plug (10) formed to fit within the first socket (5) of the first connector (4), the other end of the electrical wire (9) of the booster connector (11) being connected within the booster connector to a second plug (13), - insert the plug (3) of the first connector (4) into the socket (12) of the booster connector (11), and - inserting the first plug (10) of the electrical wire (9) of the booster connector (11) into the socket (5) of the first connector (4) left temporarily vacant following the removal of the plug (3) of the first connector (4) from the socket (5) of the first connector (4).

2. An electrical harness (1) for a land motor vehicle adapted by the implementation of the method according to claim 1 ; comprising a first connector (4) provided with at least one socket (5) in which a plug (3) arranged at one end of an electric wire (2) is removably housed, and a second connector (7) provided with at least one paste (6), said second connector (7) being configured to be connected to an electronic control unit of a land motor vehicle, comprising a booster connector (11) comprising at least one socket (12), at least one electrical wire (9) provided at one end with a first plug (10), and the other end of the electrical wire (9) of the booster connector (9) being connected within the booster connector to a second plug (13).

3. A motorized land vehicle, characterized in that it comprises an electrical harness according to claim 2.