Patent Application
20070104927
This invention relates to a covering sheet used for combining a plurality of sheathed wires into a bundle in a manner to protect these sheathed wires, and the invention also relates to a wire harness.
For protecting a plurality of sheathed wires simultaneously when combining these sheathed wires into a bundle, there is used, for example, a sheathed wire-covering sheet having a sheet-like construction.
One example of this related sheathed wire-covering sheet comprises a base sheet, and an adhesive double coated tape bonded to one side edge portion of the base sheet. In use, the base sheet is rolled in its widthwise direction into a tubular shape, with the adhesive double coated tape surface disposed outwardly, and embraces a plurality of sheathed wires bundled together, and the superposed opposite side edge portions of the base sheet are fixed to each other by bonding the adhesive double coated tape surface to an inner surface of the base sheet (see, for example, JP-UM-A-58-81990 (Page 1, FIG. 1)).
In another example of the related sheathed wire-covering sheet, an adhesive is coated directly on one edge portion of the base sheet instead of using the adhesive double coated tape. A method of using this sheathed wire-covering sheet is generally the same as described above for the former sheathed wire-covering sheet.
The above related sheathed wire-covering sheets have the following problems.
In the former sheathed wire-covering sheet employing the adhesive double coated tape, the cost of production of this adhesive double coated tape is rather high, and this has increased the production cost of the sheathed wire-covering sheet.
In the latter sheathed wire-covering sheet having the adhesive coated thereon, a large-scale process is required for coating the adhesive, and therefore the productivity is not good, and this has also increased the production cost of the sheathed wire-covering sheet as is the case with the former sheathed wire-covering sheet.
Therefore, this invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the invention is to provide a covering sheet and a wire harness which can solve the above problems.
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a covering sheet for being wound on a sheathed wire, comprising:
a base sheet that has a strip shape; and
an adhesive tape that has an adhesive surface formed only on one side thereof,
wherein the adhesive tape is bonded to the base sheet so as to project from one side edge portion of the base sheet.
Preferably, the adhesive tape is smaller in width than the base sheet.
The adhesive tape is bonded to the base sheet so as to project a predetermined amount from the one side edge portion of the base sheet.
Preferably, a plurality of the adhesive tape, each of which is smaller in width than the base sheet. The adhesive tapes are bonded to the base sheet so as to project a predetermined amount respectively from the opposite side edge portions of the base sheet.
Preferably, the adhesive tape is greater in width than the base sheet. The adhesive tape is bonded to the base sheet so as to project a predetermined amount from one side edge portion or both of the opposite side edge portions of the base sheet.
According to the present invention, there is also provided a wire harness, comprising:
the covering sheet as defined in claim 1; and
a bundle of sheathed wires around which the covering sheet is wound.
The sheathed wire-covering sheet of the present invention employs the adhesive tape which can be produced at a low cost, and has the adhesive surface formed only on one side thereof. The adhesive tape is bonded to the strip-like base sheet, and projects from the side edge portion of the base sheet extending in the longitudinal direction of this base sheet. With this construction, the sheathed wire-covering sheet can be easily produced, and besides the production cost of the sheathed wire-covering sheet can be reduced.
The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail preferred exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Preferred embodiments of sheathed wire-covering sheets of the present invention will now be described. Sheathed wires, illustrated in the preferred embodiments of the invention, are used in a vehicle, and the sheathed wires, having the sheathed wire-covering sheet of the invention wound therearound, form a wire harness.
As shown in
As shown in
In this first embodiment, the base sheet 1 is rolled in its widthwise direction into a tubular shape with the adhesive surface 2a disposed inwardly. However, in contrast, the base sheet 1 can be rolled in its widthwise direction with the adhesive surface 2a disposed outwardly, in which case the adhesive surface 2a is bonded to an inner surface of the base sheet 1.
As shown in
In use, the base sheet 1 and sheathed wires W are arranged in such a manner that longitudinal axes of adhesive surfaces 2a of the two adhesive tapes 2 are disposed parallel to longitudinal axes of the sheathed wires W, and then one of the adhesive surfaces 2a is bonded to the sheathed wires W, and then the base sheet 1 is rolled in its widthwise direction into a tubular shape, and embraces the plurality of sheathed wires W bundled together, and the superposed opposite side edge portions of the base sheet 1 are fixed to each other by bonding the other adhesive surface 2a to an outer surface of the base sheet 1.
In the above example, the base sheet 1 and the sheathed wires W are arranged in such a manner that the longitudinal axes of the adhesive surfaces 2a are disposed parallel to the longitudinal axes of the sheathed wires W, and the base sheet 1 is wound around the sheathed wires W to embrace them. However, the base sheet 1 can be rolled into a tubular shape, with the longitudinal axes of the two adhesive surfaces 2a disposed perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the sheathed wires W, so that the superposed opposite end portions of the base sheet 1 can be fixed to each other by bonding the adhesive surfaces 2a to the outer surface of the base sheet 1, as shown in
As shown in
In use, the base sheet 1 and sheathed wires W are arranged in such a manner that longitudinal axes of two (exposed) adhesive surfaces 2a of the adhesive tape 2 are disposed parallel to longitudinal axes of the sheathed wires W, and then one of the two adhesive surface 2a is bonded to the sheathed wires W, and then the base sheet 1 is rolled in its widthwise direction into a tubular shape, and embraces the plurality of sheathed wires W bundled together, and the superposed opposite side edge portions of the base sheet 1 are fixed to each other by bonding the other adhesive surface 2a to an outer surface of the base sheet 1.
In this example, also, the base sheet 1 can be rolled into a tubular shape, with the longitudinal axes of the two adhesive surfaces 2a disposed perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the sheathed wires W, so that the superposed opposite end portions of the base sheet 1 can be fixed to each other by bonding the adhesive surfaces 2a to the outer surface of the base sheet 1, as described above for the second embodiment.
In a modified form of the invention, an adhesive tape 2 which is larger in width than the base sheet 1 is bonded to the base sheet 1, and projects a predetermined amount from one side edge portion of the base sheet 1.
In this case, a longitudinal axis of an adhesive surface 2a is disposed parallel to the longitudinal axes of the sheathed wires W, and in this condition the base sheet 1 is rolled in its widthwise direction into a tubular shape, with the adhesive surface 2a disposed inwardly, and embraces the plurality of sheathed wires W bundled together, and the superposed opposite side edge portions of the base sheet 1 are fixed to each other by bonding the adhesive surface 2a to an outer surface of the base sheet 1, as described above for
In a sheathed wire-covering sheet of a fourth embodiment as shown in
In the sheathed wire-covering sheet of this construction shown in
In the sheathed wire-covering sheet of the fourth embodiment, the base sheet 1 is rolled in its widthwise direction into a tubular shape, using the mountain portions and valley portions at the opposite side edge portions thereof as the registration unit, that is, in such a manner that the mountain portions at each side edge portion of the base sheet 1 are brought into registry with the corresponding valley portions at the opposite side edge portion thereof, and by doing so, the opposite side edge portions of the base sheet 1 can be easily brought into registry with each other.
In a modified form of the invention shown in
In this embodiment, although the mountain portions and the valley portions are alternately formed in a continuous manner at each of the opposite side edge portions of the base sheet 1, the invention is not limited to this construction. For example, one mountain portion and one valley portion can be formed at each of the opposite side edge portions of the base sheet 1, or mountain portions and valley portions may be alternately formed at intervals, that is, in a discontinuous manner.
As described above, the sheathed wire-covering sheets of the above embodiments can be produced at a low cost. The adhesive tape (or tapes) 2, having the adhesive surface 2a formed only on one side thereof, is used, and the adhesive tape 2a is bonded to the base sheet 1, and projects from the side edge portion of the base sheet 1 extending in the longitudinal direction of this base sheet 1. Therefore, the sheathed wire-covering sheets of the invention can be easily produced, and besides the production cost thereof can be reduced.
Although the preferred embodiments of the sheathed wire-covering sheets of the invention have been described above, these have been given as examples of the invention, and the invention is not limited to these preferred embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the subject matter of the invention.
For example, in the above embodiments, although the adhesive tape (or tapes) 2, having the adhesive surface 2a formed on one side thereof, is used, there can be used an adhesive tape 2 having a plurality of (two in
Although the invention has been illustrated and described for the particular preferred embodiments, it is apparent to a person skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made on the basis of the teachings of the invention. It is apparent that such changes and modifications are within the spirit, scope, and intention of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
The present application is based on Japan Patent Application No. 2005-321766 filed on Nov. 7, 2005, the contents of which are incorporated herein for reference.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| P2005-321766 | Nov 2005 | JP | national |
