Stepped Link Wire Harness Guide for Automotive Slide Door Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wire harness routing structures in automotive slide doors experience excessive stress due to large bending angles and force concentrations, particularly with thick wires, which can lead to premature wear and damage.
Innovation Solution
A slide door wire harness routing structure featuring a harness guide formed by successively rotatable stepped link members with coupling pins in a vertical direction, allowing the wire harness to be inclined and twisted, thereby distributing the bending force and reducing stress.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the wire harness is routed through a conventional harness guide with link members in a horizontal plane, then the routing structure is simple, but excessive stress and large bending angles occur during door opening and closing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a stepped link member with a step in the height direction, changing the wire harness routing from a purely horizontal plane to a three-dimensional path with vertical elevation changes. This dimensional transition allows the wire harness to be inclined relative to the height direction, distributing bending forces and reducing stress concentrations that occur in conventional horizontal-only routing during door opening and closing movements.
2Power
If thick wires are used in the wire harness to meet increasing power requirements, then power feeding capability is improved, but stress and bending damage increase
Solution Approach 1:
By routing the wire harness through a stepped link member that introduces vertical inclination, the patent creates a three-dimensional routing path that distributes mechanical stress more effectively. This allows thick wires needed for high power transmission to be protected from excessive bending stresses and concentrated forces that would otherwise occur in horizontal routing during door movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the routing path by introducing a step in the height direction, creating an inclined configuration. This parameter change transforms the routing from a two-dimensional horizontal path to a three-dimensional path with controlled inclination angles, reducing the bending radius and stress on thick power-carrying wires during door operation.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the harness guide is curved and displaced in a horizontal plane during door movement, then routing flexibility is achieved, but large bending angles and concentrated forces act on the wire harness
Solution Approach 1:
The stepped link member adds a vertical dimension to the routing path, creating an inclined configuration that intersects with the horizontal displacement plane. This three-dimensional routing distributes the bending forces that occur during door opening and closing, preventing concentrated forces at single bending points while maintaining the necessary routing flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a dynamic routing solution where the harness guide can be entirely curved and displaced in a horizontal direction through rotatable coupling of link members, while the stepped configuration provides a static inclined geometry. This combination allows the system to adapt to door movement while maintaining stress-distributing inclination angles throughout the routing path.
Data Source
AI summary
A wire harness (5) to be bridged between a slide door (3) and a vehicle body (BO) is inserted into a harness guide (6). The harness guide (6) is coupled by a multitude of stepped links (10). Each link (10) is composed of a first coupling portion (11) and a second coupling portion (12) connected to the first coupling portion (11) via a step. Coupling pins (23) projecting in a vertical direction on the second coupling portions (12) are rotatably inserted into insertion holes (14) in the first coupling portions (11) of adjacent stepped links (10), whereby the entire harness guide (6) has a uniform inclination and the wire harness (5) inside is also arranged in a similar inclined posture. Thus, if the harness guide (6) is curved when opening or closing the slide door (3), the wire harness (5) also is curved, but simultaneously twisted, relieving stress.