Wire Harness Wrapping Head With Centering Rollers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automated systems for wrapping wire harnesses lack reliability in centering and guiding the wire bundle during the banding process, often requiring separate guide elements and pivoting jaws, which can lead to suboptimal wrapping results and adaptability issues with different wire diameters.
Innovation Solution
An assembly head with a rotatable winding head featuring three resiliently mounted rollers that press and center the wire bundle, eliminating the need for separate guide elements and pivoting jaws, and a belt drive system with a smaller contact area to ensure precise engagement and offset-free rotation, allowing for efficient and adaptable banding across various wire diameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate guide elements and pivoting jaws are used to center and guide the wire bundle, then the wire harness can be wrapped, but the system becomes complex and reliability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions (centering, guiding, and pressing the wire bundle) into a single integrated pressing element with rollers, eliminating the need for separate guide elements and pivoting jaws. This merging of functions simplifies the device structure while maintaining wrapping reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The pressing element with rollers serves multiple purposes simultaneously: it centers the wire bundle in the annular segment, guides the wire harness during insertion, and presses the tape against the wire bundle during rotation. This multi-functionality reduces the number of components needed.
2Manufacturing precision
If a belt drive with large contact area is used, then power transmission is sufficient, but positioning precision and rotation accuracy deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The belt drive is designed with a differentiated contact area where the engagement zone is minimized to only the necessary portion for precise positioning and offset-free rotation. This local optimization allows sufficient power transmission at the engagement points while maintaining high rotation precision.
3Manufacturing precision
If the system is designed for specific wire diameters, then manufacturing precision is high, but adaptability to different wire diameters decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The pressing elements with resiliently mounted rollers provide dynamic adaptation to different wire bundle diameters. The resilient mounting allows the rollers to maintain optimal contact pressure regardless of the wire harness size, enabling precise banding across various diameters without requiring system reconfiguration.
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
The solution ensures reliable, fully automatic wrapping of wire harnesses with improved centering and adaptability, achieving a consistent and efficient banding process without the need for additional guide elements, enhancing the precision and reliability of the banding operation.
Implementation Method 1
at least three pressing elements with resiliently mounted rollers are provided... the pressing elements with the rollers are designed in such a way that, during operation, that is to say during the rotation of the winding head, they on the one hand press the tape against the wire harness
Implementation Method 2
a belt drive system with a smaller contact area to ensure precise engagement and offset-free rotation
Data Source
AI summary
An assembly head is used for wrapping a wire harness in an automated manner by means of a winding module. The module has a winding head which rotates about an axis of rotation and, according to a first aspect, has a total of three pressing elements with spring-mounted rollers, which, during the taping process, press a tape against the wire harness and guide the tape in a centering manner. According to a second aspect, a belt drive having a toothed belt is provided for driving the winding head. The toothed belt engages on the circumferential side only in one portion extending over a small angular range.