Wire Harness Protective Member Impact Absorption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wire harnesses with flexible exterior materials are vulnerable to damage from flying debris and heat exposure, particularly when routed near heat-generating components, as existing route-regulating members do not provide adequate protection against such hazards.
Innovation Solution
A protective member is introduced, comprising a cover, attachment, and connector that can be attached to the exterior material or route regulator, featuring a bend or curve to absorb impacts and an annular structure for secure attachment, which covers the exterior material to prevent damage from stones and heat conduction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the wire harness is routed with exterior material exposed to the outside of the vehicle, then the wire harness can be easily installed and accessed, but the exterior material is vulnerable to damage from flying stones and heat exposure
Solution Approach 1:
The protective member is divided into multiple functional segments: a cover portion for impact protection, a connector portion for attachment, and an intermediate portion with bend/curve for impact absorption. This segmentation allows each part to perform its specific function optimally while maintaining overall protection effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector portion is designed with a bend or curve that acts as a cushioning element before impacts reach the attachment portion. This pre-positioned cushioning structure absorbs and redirects impact forces, protecting the exterior material and wire harness from damage before the harmful effects can take place.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a protective member is added to shield the exterior material, then protection against stones and heat is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple protective functions are merged into a single integrated protective member structure. The cover, connector, and intermediate portions work together as one unified component that provides both impact protection and heat shielding, eliminating the need for separate protective elements and reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The protective member is designed as a multi-functional component that simultaneously provides mechanical impact protection, heat shielding, and secure attachment capabilities. This universal design allows one component to fulfill multiple protective roles, reducing the total number of parts needed in the wire harness assembly.
3Strength
If the protective member connector is made rigid to ensure strong attachment, then attachment strength is improved, but impact transfer to the exterior material increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bend or curve in the connector portion is strategically positioned to provide cushioning before impacts are transmitted to the attachment portion. This pre-cushioning design maintains strong attachment strength while intercepting and absorbing impact forces, preventing them from being directly transferred to the exterior material and wire harness.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector portion incorporates a bend or curve rather than a straight rigid structure. This curvature allows the connector to maintain structural strength for secure attachment while providing geometric flexibility to absorb and redirect impact forces, reducing the transmission of harmful forces to protected components.
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 protective member effectively shields the exterior material from impacts and heat, ensuring the wire harness remains functional and durable by reducing displacement and impact transfer, thus enhancing the protection of the wire harness over a wider area.
Implementation Method 1
the bend or the curve of the protective member connector serves to buffer the impact, and thus, impact transferred from the cover to the attachment can be suppressed
Implementation Method 2
capable of, for example, causing a stone flying toward the exterior material to rebound therefrom
Implementation Method 3
blocking the conduction of heat from a heat-generating portion to the exterior material
Data Source
AI summary
A protective member for a wire harness, the wire harness including a wire, an exterior material that has flexibility and covers the wire, a route regulator that has an axis extending along a wiring route of the wire and regulates the wiring route of the wire from outside the exterior material, a fixing member for fixing the route regulator to a vehicle, and at least one connector that connects the route regulator to the exterior material, the protective member being configured to protect the exterior material of the wire harness, the protective member including: a cover for covering the exterior material; an attachment that is to be attached to the exterior material or the route regulator; and a protective member connector that connects the cover and the attachment to each other.