Flat-Molded Wire Harness Layout for Reduced Routing Space
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wire harnesses with circular cross-sectional shapes face challenges in reducing the routing space due to their geometry, making it difficult to minimize the space required for routing.
Innovation Solution
A wire harness design featuring a resin member with a flat cross-sectional shape having longitudinal and lateral directions, allowing the harness to be routed such that the first or second plane of the resin member faces the routing surface, thereby reducing the required space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If a cylindrical exterior member with circular cross-section is used to surround electric wires, then the wire harness can be easily manufactured and assembled, but the routing space cannot be thinned
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by changing the cross-sectional shape from a symmetric circular form to an asymmetric flat shape with distinct longitudinal and lateral directions. This asymmetric geometry allows the wire harness to fit into tighter routing spaces while maintaining ease of manufacture through integral molding processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a circular cross-section (rotational symmetry) to a flat cross-section with defined longitudinal and lateral dimensions. This dimensional change enables the wire harness to optimize its profile in specific directions, thinning the routing space requirement while preserving manufacturing simplicity through the flat mold design.
2Volume of moving object
If a flat cross-sectional shape with longitudinal and lateral directions is used, then the routing space can be thinned, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the exterior member and electric wires into a single integrally molded component. This combination eliminates the need for separate assembly steps, allowing the flat cross-sectional shape to be manufactured efficiently in one process while achieving the routing space reduction goal.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the cross-section from circular to flat, defining specific longitudinal and lateral dimensions. This parameter optimization enables the wire harness to fit tighter routing spaces while the integral molding process maintains manufacturing ease by producing the optimized shape in a single operation.
Data Source
AI summary
A wire harness includes a plurality of electric wires, and a resin member that has one main body covering the plurality of electric wires and is integrally molded with the plurality of electric wires; in which a cross-sectional shape of the main body in a plane orthogonal to an axial direction of the electric wire is a flat shape having a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction, and the main body has at least one of a first plane that is a plane extending in the longitudinal direction and a second plane that is a plane extending in the lateral direction.