Vehicle Seat Wire Harness Guide Structure to Prevent Twist Wear
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wire harness attachment structures for vehicle seats that flip up around a rotation shaft often result in wire wear and potential short-circuits due to twisting, and require a large rotation shaft dimension to accommodate a cylindrical body, making them bulky and inefficient.
Innovation Solution
A compact wire harness attachment structure featuring a guide member with wall portions that allow the wire harness to curve perpendicular to the central axis without twisting, reducing curvature and load, and incorporating a rib for stability, enabling the structure to be implemented in a compact form.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the wire harness is inserted into a cylindrical body whose central axis coincides with the rotation shaft, then the wire harness can accommodate the flip-up operation, but the wire harness is twisted and electric wires may wear and short-circuit
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the orientation of the wire harness from axial (parallel to rotation shaft) to radial (perpendicular to rotation shaft). The wire harness is disposed to extend in a radial direction of the rotation shaft, allowing it to curve toward the vehicle body side wall portion without twisting along its extension direction. This dimensional change eliminates the harmful twisting motion that causes wire wear.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide member acts as an intermediary structure that guides and constrains the wire harness movement. The guide member includes a pair of wall portions arranged to face each other in an axial direction of the rotation shaft, with the wire harness disposed between these wall portions. This intermediary structure prevents the wire harness from contacting other members and ensures it follows the intended curved path without twisting.
2Reliability
If a cylindrical body with relatively large dimension in central axis direction is used to accommodate the wire harness, then the wire harness can be protected, but the rotation shaft dimension becomes large and the structure becomes bulky
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from an axial arrangement (wire harness extending parallel to rotation shaft axis) to a radial arrangement (wire harness extending perpendicular to rotation shaft axis). This allows the wire harness to be accommodated in a radial direction rather than requiring extended axial space, significantly reducing the rotation shaft dimension in the central axis direction and enabling a more compact structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide member is segmented into a pair of wall portions that face each other in the axial direction, creating a channel that guides the wire harness. This segmentation allows the wire harness to be confined within a compact radial space between the wall portions, eliminating the need for a large cylindrical body and reducing the overall rotation shaft dimension.
3Ease of operation
If the wire harness curves toward the vehicle body side wall portion, then the wire harness follows the flip-up motion, but twisting occurs in the extension direction of the wire harness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the curvature direction of the wire harness from axial curvature (twisting along its length) to radial curvature (bending perpendicular to its length). The wire harness extends in a radial direction and curves toward the vehicle body side wall portion in a direction perpendicular to its extension direction, similar to how a clock hand curves when rotating. This maintains structural stability while enabling flip-up motion.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs curved guidance surfaces in the guide member that match the desired radial curvature path of the wire harness. The wall portions are configured to guide the wire harness along a smooth curved path toward the vehicle body side wall portion, eliminating sharp angles and preventing twisting by maintaining continuous radial curvature throughout the flip-up operation.
Data Source
AI summary
A wire harness attachment structure for a vehicle seat capable of being flipped up from a usage position where the vehicle seat is disposed on a floor to a storage position where the vehicle seat is disposed along a standing wall portion of a vehicle body, includes: a rotation shaft that couples the vehicle seat to the standing wall portion; a guide member including a pair of wall portions arranged to face each other in an axial direction of the rotation shaft, and being partly opened in a radial direction between the wall portions; and a wire harness that electrically couples the vehicle seat and the vehicle body. A portion of the wire harness is disposed between the wall portions and does not come into contact with a member other than the wall portions when the vehicle seat is flipped up from the usage position to the storage position.