Flexible Hose Sheathing for Automotive Cable Bundles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for producing sheathings for electric cables in automobiles are limited by the use of rigid guide devices and manual processing, which complicates the production of flexible and temperature-resistant cable harnesses, and often result in inhomogeneous structures and high production costs.
Innovation Solution
A flexible hose sheathing is produced using an additive manufacturing process, where layers of shapeless or shape-neutral materials, such as liquid plastics, are built up directly onto the cables or around them, allowing for automated and unmanned production, and enabling the creation of complex geometries without the need for special tools.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If rigid guide devices are used for cable management, then mechanical protection is improved, but flexibility and adaptability to three-dimensional routing deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible hose sheathing made from elastomeric material that completely encloses the cable bundle, replacing rigid guide devices while maintaining mechanical protection. The flexible nature of the hose sheathing allows it to adapt to three-dimensional routing and bending requirements in the engine compartment, resolving the contradiction between protection and flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the material parameter from rigid plastic to elastomeric material, fundamentally altering the mechanical properties of the cable management system. This parameter change enables the sheathing to provide both mechanical protection and the necessary flexibility for complex routing applications.
2Ease of manufacture
If adhesive tapes and wrapping films are used for cable bundling, then ease of manufacture is improved, but processing difficulty and manual labor requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical wrapping and adhesive application processes with a molded hose sheathing system. The elastomeric material can be extruded or formed into the final shape in one continuous operation, eliminating the multiple manual steps of wrapping, adhering, and securing that characterize traditional adhesive tape methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The molded hose sheathing enables continuous production of cable bundles without the intermittent manual operations required by adhesive tapes. The extrusion or molding process can run continuously, producing the protective sheathing in a single uninterrupted action rather than through multiple discrete steps.
3Strength
If textile-like fiber braid is used for cable bundling, then mechanical strength is improved, but flexibility and homogeneity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses an elastomeric material that forms a homogeneous, isotropic structure unlike the anisotropic fiber braid. This composite material provides uniform mechanical properties in all directions, achieving both the required strength and the flexibility needed for cable routing, while eliminating the directional dependencies and inhomogeneities of fiber-based solutions.
4Adaptability or versatility
If manual wrapping methods are used for cable harness production, then adaptability to unique wiring harnesses is improved, but productivity and automation potential worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The molded hose sheathing system serves multiple functions in a single operation: it protects the cables, bundles them together, provides thermal insulation, and enables three-dimensional routing. This multi-functionality allows the same basic process to be used for different cable harness configurations, maintaining adaptability while enabling automation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a dynamic molding or extrusion process that can adapt to different cable bundle geometries and routing requirements. The flexible nature of the elastomeric material allows the same continuous process to produce various shapes and configurations, enabling both customization and high-volume production.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach simplifies the production of flexible and mechanically stable cable harnesses that can be bent and adapted to three-dimensional installations, reducing costs and maintaining or increasing flexibility, while ensuring mechanical protection and resistance to media and temperature requirements.
Implementation Method 1
a sheathing for bundling cables in automobiles into a cable bundle, in particular for encasing the cables with the hose sheathing, is produced wholly or partially by means of an additive manufacturing process by building up a predetermined sequence of layers
Implementation Method 2
building up a predetermined sequence of layers from a shapeless or shape-neutral material, in particular from a liquid plastic, which is then solidified
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a sleeve (1) for electric wires (2). In said method and apparatus, the sleeve (1) is manufactured entirely or in part in a generative manufacturing process in which a predefined succession of layers is formed. According to the invention, the sleeve (1) as a flexible tubular sleeve (1) surrounds the wires (2) in such a way as to combine wires (2) in automobiles into a wire bundle (3).