Wire Harness Integrating Fluid Flow Passage for Thermal Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wire harnesses for vehicles face challenges in assemblability, particularly when dealing with various devices that utilize fluids, as they lack efficient integration of fluid flow paths and heat exchange mechanisms, leading to complexities in assembly and thermal management.
Innovation Solution
A wire harness design that incorporates a conductive first wiring material for power and communication, bundled with a second wiring material featuring a flow passage for fluid circulation, which forms a circulation path connecting heat source and consumption units, and a sheath material that secures and separates the wiring materials, enhancing assembly efficiency and thermal management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If wire harnesses are designed separately for electrical wiring and fluid flow paths, then each system can be optimized independently, but assembly complexity increases and assembly efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines electrical wiring (first wiring material) and fluid flow paths (second wiring material) into a single integrated wire harness structure. The second wiring material is bundled with the first wiring material, creating a unified assembly that reduces the number of separate components and simplifies installation procedures, thereby improving assembly efficiency while reducing assembly complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The wire harness is designed to serve multiple functions simultaneously: electrical power transmission through the first wiring material, fluid circulation through the second wiring material with flow passages, and thermal management through heat exchange. This multi-functional integration allows a single component to replace what would traditionally require separate systems, improving productivity without excessive complexity.
2Temperature
If fluid flow paths are integrated into the wire harness, then thermal management capability is enhanced, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flow passage is formed within the second wiring material, which is then bundled with the first wiring material. This nested structure allows the fluid flow path to be embedded within the wire harness architecture, enabling thermal management functionality without requiring separate external piping, thus enhancing temperature control while managing manufacturing complexity through integrated design.
Solution Approach 2:
The second wiring material is configured with embedded flow passages, creating a composite structure that combines structural integrity with fluid transport capability. This composite approach allows the wire harness to perform both mechanical wiring and thermal management functions, enhancing temperature control capability while the integrated formation process manages manufacturing complexity.
3Productivity
If the second wiring material is bundled with the first wiring material, then assembly efficiency is improved, but separation and maintenance difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
While the first and second wiring materials are bundled together for assembly efficiency, the design maintains functional segmentation with distinct electrical and fluid pathways. The flow passage is specifically formed in the second wiring material, allowing fluid circulation to be independent from electrical wiring. This segmentation enables separate maintenance and repair of fluid system components without necessarily requiring disassembly of the entire bundled structure.
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 design improves assembly efficiency by simplifying wiring and fluid handling, enhances thermal efficiency by effective heat exchange, and improves fuel economy and environmental performance by optimizing heat utilization and dissipation.
Implementation Method 1
having a flow passage formed therein through which a liquid can flow
Implementation Method 2
the liquid is a heat exchange medium that circulates through the circulation path constituted by the second wiring material and exchanges heat in the heat source unit and the heat consumption unit
Data Source
AI summary
A wire harness includes a conductive first wiring material, wired to a vehicle, and a second wiring material wired to the vehicle in a state where at least a part of the second wiring material is bundled with the first wiring material. The second wiring material has a flow passage formed therein through which a liquid can flow.