Tape winding device

Abstract

The present invention provides a tape winding device capable of performing work for sticking an end of a tape to an article with high accuracy. The tape winding device comprises: a chuck for holding a wire harness clamp (22); a tape winding mechanism for movably holding a tape (1) that has been wound into a roll; and a sticking mechanism for sticking an end (1a) of the tape (1) to the clamp (22). The tape (1) is set so that the adhesive surface of a portion drawn out and hanging down from the roll portion faces one surface of the clamp (22). A sticking roller (54) of the sticking mechanism sticks the end (1a) of the tape (1) hanging down below the clamp (22) along the surface on the opposite side from the one surface. After the end (1a) of the tape (1) is stuck to the clamp (22) in this way, the tape winding mechanism winds the tape (1) around the clamp (22).

Description

Tape winding device

[0001] The present invention relates to a tape winding device.

[0002] Some conventional automotive wire harnesses are provided with a clamp for fixing to a vehicle body panel. For example, the clamp disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a plate portion that is placed along the electric wires of the wire harness and fixed to the electric wires by wrapping tape around the electric wires, and a locking portion that is provided in the center of the plate portion and press-fitted into a mounting hole in the vehicle body panel.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-23722

[0004] In the conventional wire harnesses described above, the task of securing the clamps to the wires with tape is performed manually by an operator, and automation has been desired. However, due to the difficulty of the task itself, no specific proposals have been made for automating this process. A particularly difficult aspect of automation is attaching the end of the tape to the clamp when starting to wind the tape. If winding of the tape begins without the end of the tape being attached to the clamp with high precision, the tape may become loose or misaligned, resulting in inconsistent quality.

[0005] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a tape winding device that can attach the end of a tape to an article with high precision.

[0006] The present invention is a tape winding device comprising a zipper for holding an object having a strip-shaped plate portion, a tape winding mechanism for movably holding a roll of tape, and an attachment mechanism for attaching the end of the tape to the plate portion, wherein when the tape is pulled out from the roll portion and set so that the adhesive surface of the hanging portion faces one surface of the plate portion, the attachment mechanism attaches the end of the tape that has hung down below the plate portion along the surface of the plate portion opposite the one surface, and after the end of the tape is attached to the plate portion, the tape winding mechanism winds the tape around the plate portion.

[0007] According to the tape winding device of the present invention, the task of attaching the end of the tape to an article can be performed with high precision.

[0008] 1 is a diagram showing a tape winding device according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the tape winding mechanism of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the chuck of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the application mechanism of FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a clamp and an electric wire on which tape is wound by the tape winding device of FIG. 1; FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the tape winding mechanism and application mechanism of FIG. 1 approaching the clamp held by the chuck; FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the application mechanism of FIG. 6 applying an end of the tape to the clamp; and FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram explaining the operation of the application mechanism of FIG. 7 applying an end of the tape to the clamp.

[0009] A "tape winding device" according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 8. The tape winding device 10 shown in Figure 1 is used in the manufacture of automotive wire harnesses, and is a device that fixes a clamp 22, which serves as an "article," to an electric wire 21 of a wire harness 2 shown in Figure 5 by winding the clamp 22 with tape.

[0010] 5, the electric wire 21 is covered with the corrugated tube 23 except for the attachment area of ​​the clamp 22. The clamp 22 is made of resin and has a band-shaped plate portion 221 and a locking portion 222 that is provided in the longitudinal center of the plate portion 221 and is press-fitted into an attachment hole in a vehicle body panel. The plate portion 221 is placed along the exposed portion of the electric wire 21 that is not covered by the corrugated tube 23, and is fixed to the electric wire 21 by wrapping tape around two locations, one end 221a and the other end 221b.

[0011] In addition, in the tape winding of this example, with the clamp 22 separated from the electric wire 21, the tape 1 is wound around the other end 221b of the plate portion 221 by about two turns, and the clamp 22 is aligned with the electric wire 21 without cutting the tape 1, and then the other end 221b and the electric wire 21 are wound together from there. The tape 1 is then cut once, and then the one end 221a and the electric wire 21 are wound together. By first winding the tape 1 around the clamp 22 alone in this way, it is possible to prevent the electric wire 21 and the clamp 22 from shifting in position.

[0012] The tape winding device 10 includes a chuck 3 that holds the clamp 22, a tape winding mechanism 4 that movably holds the tape 1 wound in a roll, and an attachment mechanism 5 that attaches the end 1a of the tape 1 to a plate portion 221.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 3, the chuck 3 includes a pair of clamping portions 31 and 32 that clamp one end portion 221a of the plate portion 221, and a cylinder 33 that moves the pair of clamping portions 31 and 32 toward and away from each other.

[0014] 2, the tape winding mechanism 4 includes a holding portion 41 that holds the center of the roll portion of the tape 1, a ring portion 42 that is disposed on the outer periphery of the roll portion of the tape 1, and a frame portion 43 that rotatably holds the ring portion 42. In addition, although not shown, the tape winding mechanism 4 also includes a moving means for moving the frame portion 43 and a chuck (different from the chuck 3) that holds the clamp 22.

[0015] The ring portion 42 has a space 42 b for positioning the roll portion of the tape 1 , and a threading portion 42 a for threading the portion of the tape 1 pulled out from the roll portion to the outside of the ring portion 42 .

[0016] The frame portion 43 has an attachment hole 43b to which the ring portion 42 is attached, and a through-portion 43a formed by cutting out a portion of the frame portion 43. The through-portion 43a passes the clamp 22, the electric wire 21, and the attachment mechanism 5 from the outside of the frame portion 43 into the attachment hole 43b, i.e., into the through-portion 43a.

[0017] The ring portion 42 rotates relative to the frame portion 43, and when the through-portion 42a is adjacent to and positioned directly above the through-portion 43a, it becomes possible to pass the clamp 22, the electric wire 21, and the attachment mechanism 5 into the through-portion 42a from the outside of the frame portion 43. At the start and end of winding the tape 1, the through-portion 42a is positioned directly above the through-portion 43a.

[0018] The frame portion 43 is also provided with a cutter 44 that cuts the wound tape 1, and a pressing portion 45 that presses the winding end of the cut tape 1 to align it with the wire harness 2. The cutter 44 is displaced between a state where it is retracted into the frame portion 43 and a state where it protrudes toward the threading portion 43a. The tape 1 is cut by protruding toward the threading portion 43a.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 4, the pasting mechanism 5 includes a holding unit 52, a rotating unit 51, a pasting roller 54, a spring that biases the rotating unit 51 to one side in the rotation direction, and a cylinder 55 as a "drive unit" that raises and lowers the holding unit 52.

[0020] A pin 53 is passed through the rotating portion 51, and the pin 53 is attached to the holding portion 52, thereby rotatably holding the rotating portion 51 in the holding portion 52. The dashed-dotted line P in FIG. 4 represents the axial direction of the pin 53. The rotating portion 51 rotates in directions R1 and R2 around the dashed-dotted line P. The spring is a torsion spring, and biases the rotating portion 51 in the R2 direction. Therefore, when the rotating portion 51 rotates in the R1 direction, it rotates in the R1 direction against the biasing force of the spring.

[0021] The joining roller 54 is a roller that comes into contact with the non-adhesive surface of the tape 1, and is rotatably held by the rotating part 51. The center of rotation of the joining roller 54 is parallel to the dashed line P.

[0022] Next, a description will be given of the operation of the tape winding device 10. First, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, the chuck 3 holds one end 221a of the plate portion 221 of the clamp 22. In this state, the clamp 22 is separated from the electric wire 21.

[0023] Next, as shown in FIG. 6 , the tape winding mechanism 4 and the application mechanism 5 approach the clamp 22 held by the chuck 3. In the state shown in FIG. 6 , the threading portion 42a of the ring portion 42 is positioned directly above the threading portion 43a of the frame portion 43, and the portion of the tape 1 that is pulled out from the roll and hangs down is positioned between the threading portions 42a and 43a. The other end 221b of the plate portion 221 of the clamp 22 is positioned at the threading portion 42a. The adhesive surface of the hanging portion of the tape 1 faces one surface of the other end 221b of the plate portion 221. This surface does not come into contact with the electric wire 21 and is the surface on which the locking portion 222 is provided. The tape 1 hangs down below the plate portion 221.

[0024] Next, when the holding portion 52 is raised by the cylinder 55, the applying roller 54 is positioned on the non-adhesive surface side (right side in the figure) of the tape 1, as shown in Figure 8(a). When the holding portion 52 is raised further, the applying roller 54 comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface 42c of the ring portion 42. This causes the rotating portion 51 to rotate toward the tape 1 side (left side in the figure), i.e., in the R1 direction, against the biasing force of the spring, and as shown in Figure 8(b), the applying roller 54 is positioned at the threading portion 42a and comes into contact with the lower end of the other end 221b of the plate portion 221 via the tape 1.

[0025] As the holding portion 52 rises further, the rotating portion 51 rises while rotating further in the R1 direction (to the left in the figure), and as shown in Fig. 8(c) , the joining roller 54 comes into contact with the surface of the other end 221b of the plate portion 221 opposite to the one surface via the tape 1. This opposite surface is the surface that comes into contact with the electric wire 21 (because the tape 1 is wound under the other end 221b of the plate portion 221, the other end 221b does not come into direct contact with the electric wire 21 but comes into contact with it via the tape 1). Then, as the holding portion 52 rises further, the joining roller 54 joins the end 1a of the tape 1 along the opposite surface of the other end 221b of the plate portion 221, as shown in Fig. 7 .

[0026] When the applying mechanism 5 applies the end 1 a of the tape 1 to the opposite surface of the plate portion 221 as described above, the cylinder 55 lowers the holding portion 52, and the holding portion 52 retreats below the tape winding mechanism 4. When the applying roller 54 separates from the plate portion 221 and the ring portion 42, the rotating portion 51, which has rotated in the R1 direction, is returned in the R2 direction by the biasing force of the spring and returns to its initial position.

[0027] After the joining mechanism 5 has been retracted as described above, the tape winding mechanism 4 then causes the roll portion of the tape 1 to make a circular motion around the other end 221b of the plate portion 221, and winds the tape 1 around the other end 221b of the plate portion 221. In other words, the tape 1 is wound under around the other end 221b of the plate portion 221. At this time, the winding is preferably about two turns.

[0028] When the underwinding of the tape 1 is completed, a chuck provided in the tape winding mechanism 4 holds one end 221a of the plate portion 221, and the chuck 3 releases the plate portion 221. Next, the tape winding mechanism 4 moves together with the clamp 22 to the vicinity of the electric wire 21, positions the electric wire 21 in the threading portion 42a, and aligns the plate portion 221 of the clamp 22 along the electric wire 21.

[0029] Next, the tape winding mechanism 4 causes the rolled portion of the tape 1 to move circularly around the other end 221b of the plate portion 221 and the electric wire 21, and winds the tape 1 around the other end 221b and the electric wire 21. That is, the other end 221b and the electric wire 21 are wound together. At this time, the winding is preferably about three turns. After the underwinding, the tape 1 is not cut, and the tape 1 is wound together while connected to the plate portion 221. Then, after about three turns of winding, the tape 1 is cut by the cutter 44. Furthermore, since the winding end of the tape 1 cut by the cutter 44 is raised, it is pressed by the pressing portion 45 to align it with the electric wire 21.

[0030] As described above, when tape winding around the other end 221b of the plate portion 221 and the electric wire 21 is completed, the chuck provided in the tape winding mechanism 4 releases the one end 221a of the plate portion 221. At this point, the clamp 22 is fixed to the electric wire 21, so even if the chuck releases the one end 221a, the clamp 22 does not separate from the electric wire 21. Thereafter, to ensure that the clamp 22 is fixed, the one end 221a of the plate portion 221 and the electric wire 21 are wound together. Furthermore, although under-winding is performed before the other end 221b of the plate portion 221 and the electric wire 21 are wound together, under-winding is not performed (under-winding is not possible) when the one end 221a of the plate portion 221 and the electric wire 21 are wound together because the plate portion 221 is already aligned with the electric wire 21.

[0031] In this way, the clamp 22 is automatically wound and fixed to the electric wire 21 by the tape winding device 10. As described above, when the tape 1 is wound under-wound around the plate portion 221, the tape winding device 10 can use the attachment mechanism 5 to attach the end 1a of the tape 1 to the plate portion 221 with high precision. This allows the tape 1 to be wound without loosening, shifting, or variations in quality.

[0032] In the above-described embodiment, the tape winding device 10 is used to manufacture wire harnesses for automobiles, but the tape winding device of the present invention can also be used to wind tape around items other than the clamp 22 and the electric wire 21.

[0033] The above-described embodiment merely shows a typical form of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. In other words, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications within the scope of the gist of the present invention. As long as such modifications still include the configuration of the present invention, they are of course included in the scope of the present invention.

[0034] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Tape 3 Zipper 4 Tape winding mechanism 5 Applying mechanism 10 Tape winding device 22 Clamp (article) 51 Rotating part 52 Holding part 54 Applying roller 55 Cylinder (driving part) 221 Plate part

Claims

1. A tape winding device comprising: a zipper for holding an object having a strip-shaped plate portion; a tape winding mechanism for movably holding a roll of tape; and an attachment mechanism for attaching an end of the tape to the plate portion, wherein when the adhesive surface of the portion of the tape pulled out from the roll and hanging down is set to face one surface of the plate portion, the attachment mechanism attaches the end of the tape that has hung down below the plate portion along the surface of the plate portion opposite to the one surface, and after the end of the tape has been attached to the plate portion, the tape winding mechanism winds the tape around the plate portion.

2. The tape winding device of claim 1, wherein the application mechanism comprises a holding section, a rotating section rotatably held by the holding section, an application roller rotatably held by the rotating section, a spring that biases the rotating section to one side in the rotation direction, and a drive section that raises and lowers the holding section, wherein when the holding section is raised by the drive section, the application roller is positioned on the non-adhesive side of the tape, and when the holding section is raised further, the application roller abuts against the tape winding mechanism, causing the rotating section to rotate towards the tape against the biasing force of the spring, and when the holding section is raised further, the application roller applies the end of the tape along the opposite surface of the plate section.

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