Overmolded Harness Retainer Indicator for Engine Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional overmolded wiring harnesses for automotive engines have retainers that are not easily visible during assembly, requiring users to feel blindly or rotate the harness to locate them, increasing assembly time and complexity, while also being costly to manufacture.
Innovation Solution
An overmolded wiring harness with indicators protruding from the top surface, aligned with the retainer locations on the bottom surface, allowing users to visually identify the retainer positions without rotating the harness, and integrated into the overmolding process to minimize additional costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If foam overmold technology is applied to the wiring harness to prevent shrinking or expansion, then manufacturing precision and consistency are improved, but the visibility of retainers during assembly deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces indicators as intermediary elements that mediate between the overmolded harness body and the user's need to locate retainers. These indicators are integrated into the overmolded structure and provide visual cues that guide users to the retainer locations without requiring them to feel or rotate the harness, thus resolving the contradiction between maintaining precise overmolded shape and ensuring ease of assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The indicators are formed with different colors or visual characteristics compared to the surrounding overmolded surface, making them visually distinct and easily locatable. This use of color or visual contrast allows users to quickly identify retainer locations on the rectangular harness without having to manipulate the harness physically.
2Ease of manufacture
If the harness is assembled without visual indicators, then manufacturing complexity is reduced, but assembly time increases due to blind feeling or rotation requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The indicators are pre-formed as integral parts of the overmolded harness structure during the manufacturing process itself, rather than being added as separate components afterward. This preliminary action ensures that the visual cues are already in place when the harness is assembled, eliminating the need for additional assembly steps and reducing overall assembly time without significantly increasing manufacturing complexity.
3Strength
If retainers are located on the bottom surface of the rectangular harness, then structural integrity is improved, but ease of locating retainers deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The indicators serve as intermediary visual markers that correspond to the retainer locations on the bottom surface. Since the indicators are formed on the top or side surfaces of the rectangular harness, users can locate retainers by visual inspection of these accessible surfaces rather than having to reach underneath or manipulate the harness to see the bottom surface, thus resolving the detection difficulty while maintaining structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions the visibility of retainer locations from the bottom dimension (where retainers physically are) to the top or side dimensions (where indicators are placed). This dimensional shift allows users to locate retainers by looking at accessible surfaces rather than the bottom surface, effectively solving the detection problem without moving the retainers themselves.
Data Source
AI summary
An overmolded harness configured to be received in a receiving structure of an engine includes a body having at least one surface, and at least one retainer configured for engagement with the receiving structure. The retainer protrudes from at least one surface. At least one indicator is overmolded with the body and marks the location of the retainer.