Wire harness

Abstract

Provided is a wire harness with which it is possible to improve fixing workability of a terminal part while suppressing buckling of the terminal part. A wire harness (11) according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is provided with a solid core conductor (15) and a terminal part (16) provided at the end of the solid core conductor (15). The terminal part (16) is formed from a second metal material harder than a first metal material forming the solid core conductor (15), and is connected to the solid core conductor (15).

Description

Wire harness

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a wire harness.

[0002] Conventionally, there has been a wire harness including a solid core conductor that connects a vehicle's charging inlet connector and a battery (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This wire harness includes a terminal portion provided at an end of the solid core conductor. The terminal portion is forged from the solid core conductor. The terminal portion has a flat portion and a bolt fastening hole that penetrates the flat portion, and is fastened to a connection target by a bolt that is inserted through the bolt fastening hole.

[0003] Special Publication No. 2023-517714

[0004] In the above-described wire harness, the solid-core conductor itself must be made of a hard metal material to prevent the bolt-fastened terminal from buckling. Furthermore, particularly when the solid-core conductor connects a vehicle's charging inlet connector to a battery, the tolerances tend to increase as the solid-core conductor becomes longer. Furthermore, the long distance between the vehicle's charging inlet connector and the battery makes the relative positions of the connector and the battery prone to misalignment. For these reasons, the terminal must be fastened with a bolt while significantly bending the solid-core conductor made of a hard metal material with a large force. This resulted in poor workability in fastening the terminal.

[0005] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a wire harness that can improve the workability of fixing the terminal portions while suppressing buckling of the terminal portions.

[0006] The wire harness of the present disclosure is a wire harness comprising a solid core conductor and a terminal portion provided at an end of the solid core conductor, wherein the terminal portion is made of a second metal material harder than a first metal material constituting the solid core conductor and is connected to the solid core conductor.

[0007] According to the wire harness of the present disclosure, the workability of fixing the terminal portions can be improved while suppressing buckling of the terminal portions.

[0008] Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a wire harness, a charging inlet connector, and a battery according to an embodiment, and Fig. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the wire harness according to the embodiment.

[0009] [Description of Embodiments of the Present Disclosure] First, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described. A wire harness of the present disclosure is a wire harness including: [1] a solid core conductor and a terminal portion provided at an end of the solid core conductor, wherein the terminal portion is made of a second metal material harder than a first metal material constituting the solid core conductor and is connected to the solid core conductor.

[0010] According to this configuration, the terminal portion is made of a second metal material that is harder than the first metal material that constitutes the solid-core conductor, which suppresses buckling when fastened with a bolt, for example. Furthermore, the solid-core conductor is made of a first metal material that is softer than the second metal material that constitutes the terminal portion, which allows it to be easily flexed, making it easier to fasten the terminal portion with a bolt, for example.

[0011] [2] In the above [1], the first metal material and the second metal material may have the same main component. According to this configuration, since the first metal material and the second metal material have the same main component, galvanic corrosion can be suppressed.

[0012] [3] In the above [1] or [2], the first metal material may be 1000 series aluminum. According to this configuration, since the first metal material is 1000 series aluminum, it is soft and can be made lighter than, for example, a metal whose main component is copper. In addition, the electrical conductivity can be increased.

[0013] [4] In any one of the above [1] to [3], the second metal material may be a 6000 series aluminum alloy. According to this configuration, since the second metal material is a 6000 series aluminum alloy, it is hard and can be made lighter than, for example, a metal mainly composed of copper.

[0014] [5] In any one of [1] to [4] above, the terminal portion may have a bolt fastening hole. According to this configuration, since the terminal portion has the bolt fastening hole, a bolt can be inserted into the bolt fastening hole, which in turn makes the bolt fastening operation easier.

[0015] [6] In any one of [1] to [5] above, the solid-core conductor may connect a vehicle's charging inlet connector and a battery. According to this configuration, the solid-core conductor connects the vehicle's charging inlet connector and the battery, so it is likely to be long and have large tolerances. Furthermore, the positional relationship between the vehicle's charging inlet connector and the battery is also likely to be misaligned. For these reasons, the solid-core conductor is likely to be significantly deflected when the terminal is bolted. However, because the solid-core conductor is made of a soft first metal material, it can be easily deflected, facilitating the bolting of the terminal.

[0016] [Details of the Embodiments of the Present Disclosure] Specific examples of the wire harness of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, for convenience of explanation, some of the configuration may be exaggerated or simplified. Furthermore, the dimensional ratios of each part may differ between drawings. In this specification, "parallel," "orthogonal," and "perfect circle" do not only refer to strictly parallel, orthogonal, or perfect circle, but also include approximately parallel, orthogonal, or perfect circle within the scope of the effects of this embodiment. Note that the present invention is not limited to these examples, but is defined by the claims, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the claims.

[0017] 1 , the wire harness 11 is for connecting a charging inlet connector 12 of a vehicle to a battery 13. An external charging cable (not shown) is connected to the charging inlet connector 12. The wire harness 11 includes two shielded bus bars 14.

[0018] (Configuration of Shield Bus Bar 14) As shown in FIG. 2, the shield bus bar 14 has a solid core conductor 15, a terminal portion 16, an insulating layer 17, and a shield layer 18.

[0019] (Configuration of solid core conductor 15) The solid core conductor 15 is a single-core wire. The solid core conductor 15 is formed in an elongated shape with a circular cross section. Note that Fig. 2 shows only the first end portion in the longitudinal direction of the shield bus bar 14, and the second end portion opposite the first end portion is not shown because it has the same configuration as the first end portion.

[0020] (Configuration of Terminal Portion 16) The terminal portion 16 is provided at an end of the solid-core conductor 15. The terminal portion 16 has a cylindrical joint portion 16a having an end face identical in shape to the end face of the solid-core conductor 15, a flat portion 16b extending from the joint portion 16a, and a bolt fastening hole 16c passing through the flat portion 16b. The terminal portion 16 is connected to the solid-core conductor 15 by joining the end face of the joint portion 16a to the end face of the solid-core conductor 15. The joint portion 16a is joined to the solid-core conductor 15 by, for example, friction stir welding (FSW) or electromagnetic pulse welding. The flat portion 16b of the terminal portion 16 is placed on a connection target (not shown), and the terminal portion 16 is bolted to the connection target by a bolt (not shown) inserted through the bolt fastening hole 16c. In this embodiment, the connection target is a connection terminal provided on the charging inlet connector 12 or the battery 13.

[0021] (Configuration of insulating layer 17) The insulating layer 17 covers the entire outer periphery of the solid core conductor 15. The insulating layer 17 covers almost the entire longitudinal length of the solid core conductor 15. The insulating layer 17 is made of an insulating resin material.

[0022] (Configuration of Shield Layer 18) The shield layer 18 covers the entire outer periphery of the insulating layer 17. The shield layer 18 covers the entire longitudinal portion of the insulating layer 17. The shield layer 18 is made of a metal material that has an electromagnetic shielding effect. For example, the shield layer 18 is made of a metal pipe, a braided wire, or the like.

[0023] Shield bus bar 14 is bent according to the shape of the vehicle body to connect charging inlet connector 12 and battery 13. While Fig. 1 schematically illustrates shield bus bar 14 as having a simple shape bent at a right angle in only one location, this is not limiting, and shield bus bar 14 may be bent in multiple locations or at different angles. When terminal portion 16 is bolted to a connection target, solid core conductor 15 connects charging inlet connector 12 and battery 13.

[0024] Here, the terminal portion 16 is made of a second metallic material that is harder than the first metallic material that constitutes the solid-core conductor 15. In other words, the terminal portion 16 is made of a second metallic material that has greater strength than the first metallic material that constitutes the solid-core conductor 15. Note that the "strength" here refers to the amount of force that can be withstood per unit area without deformation. The material and shape of the terminal portion 16 are set so that it does not buckle when fastened with a bolt. Conversely, the solid-core conductor 15 is made of a first metallic material that is softer than the second metallic material that constitutes the terminal portion 16. In other words, the solid-core conductor 15 is made of a first metallic material that has less strength than the second metallic material that constitutes the terminal portion 16.

[0025] In this embodiment, the first metal material constituting the solid core conductor 15 and the second metal material constituting the terminal portion 16 have the same main component. Specifically, the first metal material constituting the solid core conductor 15 and the second metal material constituting the terminal portion 16 are both primarily composed of aluminum. More specifically, the first metal material is 1000-series aluminum, and the second metal material is a 6000-series aluminum alloy.

[0026] Next, the operation of the wire harness 11 configured as described above will be described. For example, when the terminal portion 16 is bolted to a connection target, the terminal portion 16 may be bolted while bending the solid core conductor 15 due to tolerances of the solid core conductor 15 or misalignment between the charging inlet connector 12 and the battery 13. In this case, if the first metal material constituting the solid core conductor 15 is hard, the terminal portion 16 would be bolted while bending with a large force. However, because the solid core conductor 15 is made of a soft first metal material, the terminal portion 16 can be easily bent, facilitating the bolting operation.

[0027] The advantages of the above embodiment are as follows: (1) Because the terminal 16 is made of a second metal material that is harder than the first metal material that constitutes the solid-core conductor 15, buckling is suppressed, for example, when the terminal 16 is fastened with a bolt. Furthermore, because the solid-core conductor 15 is made of a first metal material that is softer than the second metal material that constitutes the terminal 16, the solid-core conductor 15 can be easily flexed, making it easier to fasten the terminal 16 with a bolt. Furthermore, because the solid-core conductor 15 is made of a soft first metal material, stress on the terminal 16 when fastened with a bolt can be kept small.

[0028] (2) The first metal material constituting the solid core conductor 15 and the second metal material constituting the terminal portion 16 have the same main component (aluminum), which makes it possible to suppress galvanic corrosion.

[0029] (3) The first metal material constituting the solid core conductor 15 is 1000 series aluminum, which is soft and can be made lighter than, for example, a metal whose main component is copper. In addition, the electrical conductivity can be increased.

[0030] (4) The second metal material constituting the terminal portion 16 is a 6000 series aluminum alloy, which is hard and can be made lighter than, for example, a metal whose main component is copper.

[0031] (5) Because the terminal portion 16 has a bolt fastening hole 16c, a bolt can be inserted through the bolt fastening hole 16c, thereby facilitating the bolt fastening operation. (6) Because the solid-core conductor 15 connects the charging inlet connector 12 and the battery 13, it is likely to be long and have large tolerances. Furthermore, the relative positions of the charging inlet connector 12 and the battery 13 are easily misaligned. For these reasons, the solid-core conductor 15 is likely to bend significantly when the terminal portion 16 is fastened with a bolt. However, because the solid-core conductor 15 is made of a soft first metal material, it can be easily flexed, facilitating the bolt fastening operation of the terminal portion 16.

[0032] This embodiment can be implemented with the following modifications. This embodiment and the following modifications can be implemented in combination with each other as long as there is no technical contradiction. In the above embodiment, the first metal material constituting the solid core conductor 15 and the second metal material constituting the terminal portion 16 have the same main component (aluminum), but this is not limited to this and the main components may be different. For example, the main component of the first metal material may be aluminum, while the second metal material may be a metal whose main component is copper.

[0033] In the above embodiment, the first metal material constituting the solid core conductor 15 is 1000 series aluminum, but this is not limited to this and may be changed to another first metal material that is softer than the second metal material constituting the terminal portion 16.

[0034] In the above embodiment, the second metal material constituting the terminal portion 16 is a 6000 series aluminum alloy, but this is not limited to this and may be changed to another second metal material that is harder than the first metal material constituting the solid core conductor 15.

[0035] In the above embodiment, the terminal portion 16 has a flat portion 16b and a bolt fastening hole 16c, but this is not limited to this, and the terminal portion 16 may have another shape, for example, one that does not have a bolt fastening hole 16c.

[0036] In the above embodiment, the solid core conductor 15 is used to connect the charging inlet connector 12 and the battery 13, but this is not limited to this, and the solid core conductor 15 may also be used to connect other electrical devices.

[0037] In the above embodiment, the wire harness 11 includes two shield bus bars 14 each having the solid core conductor 15, the terminal portion 16, the insulating layer 17, and the shield layer 18. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the wire harness 11 may not include the shield layer 18. Furthermore, for example, the wire harness 11 may include an outer insulating layer that further covers the outer periphery of the shield layer 18.

[0038] In the above embodiment, the first end and the second end in the longitudinal direction of the shield bus bar 14 have the same configuration, but this is not limited to this, and the first end and the second end may have different configurations.

[0039] In the above embodiment, the solid core conductor 15 has a circular cross-sectional shape. However, this is not limited to this as long as it is a single-core wire. For example, the cross-sectional shape may be rectangular or elliptical.

[0040] In the above embodiment, the joint portion 16a is joined to the solid core conductor 15 by, for example, FSW or electromagnetic pulse joining, but this is not limited to this and the joint portion 16a may be connected to the solid core conductor 15 by other structures or methods, such as crimping or welding.

[0041] Before connecting and / or joining the terminal portion 16 and the solid-core conductor 15, the end face of the joint portion 16a of the terminal portion 16 and the end face of the solid-core conductor 15 may be flat, allowing for close contact or surface contact without a gap. In the example shown in FIG. 2 , the solid-core conductor 15 can be joined to the terminal portion 16 over the entire end face of the solid-core conductor 15, i.e., over the entire conductor cross-sectional area of ​​the solid-core conductor 15. This maximizes the conductor cross-sectional area of ​​the solid-core conductor 15 (i.e., the thickness of the solid-core conductor 15 or the shield busbar 14) when electrically connecting the solid-core conductor 15 and the terminal portion 16, improving the mechanical strength and reliability of the joint between the terminal portion 16 and the solid-core conductor 15. Joining flat surfaces is advantageous for uniformly distributing stress and avoiding localized stress concentration. The end face of the joint portion 16a of the terminal portion 16 and the end face of the solid-core conductor 15 may each consist of only one or more flat surface regions.

[0042] 2, the end face of the joint portion 16a of the terminal portion 16 and the end face of the solid-core conductor 15 may be joined directly, without any intervening material such as solder or adhesive between them, which is different from the first and second metallic materials. For example, if the solid-core conductor 15 and the terminal portion 16 both contain aluminum atoms, then after joining the solid-core conductor 15 and the terminal portion 16, a joint region with a predetermined axial length or thickness where the aluminum atoms of the solid-core conductor 15 and the aluminum atoms of the terminal portion 16 coexist will be formed.

[0043] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 11 Wire harness 12 Charging inlet connector 13 Battery 14 Shield bus bar 15 Solid core conductor 16 Terminal portion 16a Joint portion 16b Flat portion 16c Bolt fastening hole 17 Insulating layer 18 Shield layer

Claims

1. A wire harness comprising: a solid core conductor; and a terminal portion provided at an end of the solid core conductor, wherein the terminal portion is made of a second metallic material harder than a first metallic material constituting the solid core conductor and is connected to the solid core conductor.

2. The wire harness according to claim 1, wherein the first metal material and the second metal material have the same main component.

3. The wire harness according to claim 1, wherein the first metallic material is 1000 series aluminum.

4. The wire harness according to claim 1, wherein the second metallic material is a 6000 series aluminum alloy.

5. The wire harness according to claim 1, wherein the terminal portion has a bolt fastening hole.

6. The wire harness according to claim 1, wherein the solid core conductor connects a charging inlet connector and a battery of a vehicle.

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