Wire Harness Positioning Using Annular Recess Locking
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wire harnesses face challenges in maintaining the positional accuracy of path restricting members, which can lead to misalignment and instability in the routing of the wire harness main body.
Innovation Solution
A wire harness design that incorporates a move restricting member with a bellowed exterior tube featuring alternating annular protrusions and recesses, along with a path restricting member and a cable tie mechanism, ensures precise positioning by preventing movement in the lengthwise direction through engagement with the exterior tube's recesses and surface features.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a path restricting member is attached to the exterior tube to restrict the wire harness path, then the wire harness routing is stabilized, but the path restricting member cannot be positioned accurately in the lengthwise direction
Solution Approach 1:
The exterior tube is segmented with alternating annular protrusions and recesses along its lengthwise direction. The move restricting member is segmented with a first engagement portion that fits into one recess and a second engagement portion that engages with the path restricting member. This segmentation creates discrete positioning points that improve manufacturing precision while maintaining routing stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The move restricting member acts as an intermediary component between the exterior tube and the path restricting member. It transfers the positioning function from direct attachment to a multi-component system, where the engagement portions serve as intermediaries to achieve both accurate positioning and stable restriction.
2Ease of operation
If the path restricting member is made movable to facilitate installation, then the assembly workability is improved, but the positional accuracy and stability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The exterior tube is pre-formed with annular recesses at specific positions before assembly. The move restricting member is pre-configured with engagement portions that correspond to these recesses. This preliminary preparation enables easy snap-fit assembly while ensuring the path restricting member is automatically positioned at the correct location, maintaining both assembly workability and positional accuracy.
3Ease of manufacture
If the exterior tube has a smooth surface for easy attachment, then the manufacturing simplicity is improved, but the move restricting member cannot be positioned accurately
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of modifying the entire exterior tube surface, only specific annular segments (protrusions and recesses) are formed along the lengthwise direction. This segmented approach maintains the simplicity of the overall tube manufacturing while providing precise positioning features where needed, balancing manufacturing ease with positioning accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
A wire harness including: a wire harness main body that includes an electric wire and an exterior tube that encloses an outer circumferential surface of the electric wire; a path restricting member that is attached to an outer circumferential surface of the exterior tube and restricts a path of the wire harness main body; and a move restricting member that is attached to the outer circumferential surface of the exterior tube and restricts the path restricting member from moving in a lengthwise direction of the exterior tube relative to the exterior tube.