Patent Application
20200070746
This application is based on and claims priority from Japanese patent application No. 2018-160843 filed on Aug. 29, 2018, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to, for example, a wire harness with an exterior body which electrically connects a vehicle body (body) side and a slide door side of an automobile which opens/closes an entrance (opening portion), and a wiring structure thereof.
Japanese Patent No. 6216629 discloses a wiring structure of a wire harness for a slide door which electrically connects a holding portion on a body side and a holding portion on a slide door side of a vehicle while displacing a curved portion of a flexible portion according to an opening/closing operation of the slide door. In this type of wire harness, in many cases, an exterior body for protection is provided at a bent portion of the wire harness. Examples of the exterior body include a corrugated tube having a bellows shape, for example.
As shown in
However, since a diameter of the electric wire bundle 522 in which the plurality of electric wires 520 are bundled together as described above is large, the electric wire bundle 522 is inferior in a flexibility and a bendability. Therefore, there is a possibility that a bending performance of the wire harness with an exterior body 500 configured by accommodating the electric wire bundle 522 in the exterior body 510 is not high.
Therefore, as shown in
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a wire harness with an exterior body and a wiring structure thereof, in which electric wires can be suppressed be densely concentrated in the exterior body and a bending durability can be improved.
In order to achieve the above object, the wire harness with an exterior body and the wiring structure thereof according to the present invention are characterized by the following (1) to (3).
(1) A wire harness with an exterior body comprising:
a plurality of electric wires (51) assemblies, which are formed by a plurality of electric wires (51) as a plurality of electric wire bundles (52), obtained by dividing the plurality of electric wires into a plurality of groups and bundling each group, in at least a part of a bent section in which at least a part of the electric wires in a length direction in a predetermined direction are repeatedly bended; and
a hollow tubular exterior body having an accommodation space which accommodates at least the bent section of the plurality of electric wires assemblies, and having a flexibility which is bendable in the predetermined direction,
wherein when an inner width dimension in the predetermined direction of an accommodation area of the electric wire bundles is defined as A, and the smallest diameter among the outer diameters of the plurality of electric wire bundles is defined as B, in a cross section orthogonal to a longitudinal direction of the accommodation space of the exterior body, A and B satisfy the following relationship
B>(A/2).
(2) The wire harness with an exterior body according to above (1),
wherein in the accommodation area of the electric wire bundles in the accommodation space, a single electric wire is further accommodated, and when an outer diameter of the single electric wire is defined as C, and the largest diameter among the outer diameters of the plurality of electric wire bundles is defined as D, the following relationship is satisfied
C<(A−D).
(3) A wiring structure for a wire harness with an exterior body,
wherein one end of the wire harness with an exterior body according to above (1) in the longitudinal direction is connected to a holding portion on a body side of a vehicle, and the other end thereof is connected to a holding portion on a slide door side which opens/closes an opening portion of the vehicle.
According to the wire harness with an exterior body having the above configuration (1), in the accommodation area of the electric wire bundles in the accommodation space of the exterior body, the two electric wire bundles are not arranged side by side in a horizontal direction which is a bent direction. For example, a width in a case where the two electric wire bundles having the same minimum diameter B are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction is 2B. In contrast, the inner width dimension A of the accommodation area of the electric wire bundles in the accommodation space of the exterior body is smaller than 2B. Therefore, in the accommodation area, the two electric wire bundles having the smallest diameter B cannot be arranged side by side. In addition, other electric wire bundles having a larger diameter cannot be arranged side by side. That is, regardless of a size of the diameter, the two electric wire bundles are not arranged side by side in the horizontal direction. Therefore, even if the electric wire bundles are concentrated in a lower area due to its own weight, the electric wire bundles are not arranged side by side but are arranged in a vertical direction so as to be piled up. When the exterior body is bent in the horizontal direction, the electric wire bundle and the electric wire bundle are not entangled with each other, so that a bending resistance is not increased. In a case where the two electric wire bundles are arranged side by side, the electric wire bundle and the electric wire bundle may rub against each other at the time of bending, and a sliding resistance may increase due to friction, but such a problem is suppressed. In addition, since the diameter of each electric wire bundle is reduced, a degree of freedom of the electric wire in the exterior body is increased. As a result, densely concentrate of electric wires in the exterior body can be avoided, the electric wires are easily bent, and a bending durability is improved. Since the electric wire bundles are stacked in the exterior body, an inner dimension of the exterior body can also be reduced. In addition, since the electric wires can be accommodated in the exterior body in a unit of the electric wire bundles instead of being accommodated in a loose manner, a work of passing the electric wires through the inside of the exterior body can be facilitated.
According to the wire harness with an exterior body having the above configuration (2), even when the unbundled single electric wire is mixed in the electric wire assemblies, a bendability of the single electric wire can be kept good.
According to the wiring structure of the wire harness with an exterior body having the above configuration (3), it is possible to improve the bending durability of the wire harness with an exterior body wired between the body and the slide door.
According to the present invention, the electric wires can be suppressed be densely concentrated in the exterior body, and the bending durability can be improved.
The present invention has been briefly described above. Further, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading a mode (hereinafter, referred to as an “embodiment”) for carrying out the invention described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
A specific embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
As shown in
The wire harness WH is disposed on a step member 4 of a vehicle 100. The step member 4 is disposed on an opening portion of the vehicle 100. The opening portion is an entrance provided on a vehicle body, and is opened/closed by a slide door 5. The step member 4 is disposed at a lower end portion of the opening portion, and is fixed to, for example, a body panel 12 (
In the following description, in the step member 4, a surface on an upper side of the vehicle is a front surface 41 and a surface on a lower side of the vehicle is a back surface 42. The wire harness WH is disposed on a back surface 42 side (lower side) of the step member 4. A step-side guide portion 43 is provided on the back surface 42 of the step member 4. The step-side guide portion 43 guides a slide portion 7 disposed on a lower arm 6 of the slide door 5. The lower arm 6 is an arm fixed to a lower portion of the slide door 5. The slide portion 7 is provided at a tip end portion of the lower arm 6 on a vehicle body center side.
As shown in
The step-side guide portion 43 protrudes from the back surface 42 of the step member 4 toward the vehicle lower side. The step-side guide portion 43 includes a pair of wall portions 44, 45 facing each other, and is formed integrally with a main body of the step member 4. The first wall portion 44 is positioned closer to the vehicle body center side than the second wall portion 45 in the vehicle width direction. As shown in
The step-side guide portion 43 has a first straight line portion 43a, a curved portion 43b, and a second straight line portion 43c. The curved portion 43b connects the first straight line portion 43a positioned on a front side and the second straight line portion 43c positioned on a rear side. The first straight line portion 43a is inclined with respect to the vehicle front-rear direction toward the vehicle body center side as it goes to the vehicle front side. As described above, since the first straight line portion 43a is inclined, the slide door 5 moves toward the vehicle body center side as it goes to the vehicle front side, and closes the opening portion of the vehicle body. The curved portion 43b when viewed from the vehicle upper side has a curved shape projecting toward a door side in the vehicle width direction.
As shown in
The partition wall 46 is provided closer to the vehicle body center side than the step-side guide portion 43. The partition wall 46 is a rib-like wall portion protruding from the back surface 42 of the step member 4 toward the vehicle lower side. The partition wall 46 is formed integrally with the main body of the step member 4. The partition wall 46 is provided along the step-side guide portion 43 from the front end to the rear end of the step member 4. A passage of a belt 13 is formed between the partition wall 46 and the first wall portion 44.
The belt 13 is an endless belt made of rubber or the like. The belt 13 is disposed so as to surround the partition wall 46. Protrusions are formed at equal intervals on an inner peripheral surface of the looped belt 13. The slide portion 7 is connected to the belt 13, and is driven by a rotational movement of the belt 13 to move in the vehicle front-rear direction. A motor (not shown) is disposed on a front surface 41 side of the step member 4. The belt 13 is connected to the motor via a sprocket or the like, and is driven and rotated by the motor.
As shown in
The wire harness WH electrically connects the vehicle body side of the vehicle 100 and the slide door 5. One end of the wire harness WH in the longitudinal direction is connected to the holding portion 3 on the body side of the vehicle, and the other end thereof is connected to the holding portion 2 on the slide door side which opens/closes the opening portion of the vehicle.
Next, the wire harness with an exterior body will be described in detail.
As shown in
As shown in the cross section in
The plurality of electric wires 51 assemblies are power supply lines or signal lines which connect the vehicle body side and the slide door side, and are wired so as to extend in a length direction so as to be aligned in a horizontal direction. As described above, at least a partial section of the electric wires 51 assemblies in the length direction is repeatedly bent in the horizontal direction. In all or a part of the bent section in the electric wires 51 assemblies, a plurality of electric wires are divided into a plurality of groups, and is bundled with a tape, a resin band, or the like for each group. Accordingly, at least a part of the plurality of electric wires 51 assemblies in the length direction are formed as a plurality of electric wire bundles 52. When the electric wires 51 are bound and bundled, a cross-sectional size and variety of the electric wires 51 can be appropriately selected according to an application. In addition, as described above, a range in which the electric wire bundles 52 are formed may be an entire length of a range in which the exterior body 50 exists, may be an entire length of the bent portion of the wire harness WH, or may be a part of the length of the bent portion.
A shape of a cross section of each of the electric wire bundles 52 changes depending on a position of each electric wire, the thickness of each electric wire, a degree of twist of each electric wire, or the like, but in the present specification, for convenience, a size of the cross section is represented by an outer diameter, which is regarded as a perfect circle or a shape close to the perfect circle.
The exterior body 50 is a hollow tubular body having a rectangular cross section having a flexibility which accommodates and protects at least the bent section of the plurality of electric wires 51 assemblies, and restricts a bent direction of each of the electric wires 51. Here, as the exterior body 50, for example, a corrugated tube having a bellows shape made of resin is used. The exterior body 50 in the present embodiment is configured to have a length which covers substantially the entire electric wires 51 assemblies in the length direction except for both ends thereof in the length direction. The exterior body 50 includes the accommodation space 50a which accommodates the plurality of bundled electric wire bundles 52, the FFC 56, and the plate-shaped elastic body 58, and in a state of accommodating them, can be bendable in the horizontal direction orthogonal to a vertical direction and the longitudinal direction.
The FFC 56 is a flat electrical connection member (circuit body) having a flexibility, and is provided as a power supply line or a signal line which connects the vehicle body side and the slide door side. The wire harness WH according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of FFCs. The plurality of FFCs are laminated in a thickness direction.
The plate-shaped elastic body 58 is a member for improving a bending stability of the wire harness WH, and has a curved cross-sectional shape orthogonal to an axial direction of the FFC 56. The cross-sectional shape of the plate-shaped elastic body 58 is a curved shape projecting toward one side in a plate thickness direction. The plate-shaped elastic body 58 is configured to generate a restoring force which restores to the above-described curved shape. The wire harness WH according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of plate-shaped elastic bodies 58. The plurality of plate-shaped elastic bodies 58 are overlapped with each other with convex surfaces facing a same side.
The plate-shaped elastic body 58 and the FFC 56 are accommodated inside the accommodation space 50a (the rectangular cross section) of the exterior body 50 so as to be close to one side in the horizontal direction. In addition to the electric wires 51 assemblies, the plate-shaped elastic body 58 and the FFC 56 are accommodated in the accommodation space 50a of the exterior body 50. Therefore, in the accommodation space 50a of the exterior body 50, a remaining area (space) other than a space in which members other than the electric wires 51 assemblies are accommodated is defined as an accommodation area 50b of the electric wire bundles 52.
A cross-sectional shape of the accommodation area 50b of the electric wire bundles 52 secured in the accommodation space 50a of the exterior body 50 is vertically long rectangular shape in an upper-lower direction. Here, an inner width dimension in the horizontal direction of the accommodation area 50b having a rectangular cross section is defined as A.
The smallest diameter among the outer diameters of the plurality of electric wire bundles 52 is defined as B. A value of the outer diameter B of the electric wire bundle 52B having the smallest diameter and a value of the inner width dimension A of the accommodation area 50b are set so as to satisfy the following relationship (1).
B>(A/2) (1)
In addition to the electric wire bundles 52, a single electric wire 53 which is not bundled is accommodated in the accommodation area 50b of the electric wire bundles 52 in the accommodation space 50a. When an outer diameter of the single electric wire 53 is defined as C, and the largest diameter in the outer diameters of the plurality of electric wire bundles 52 is defined as D, a values of C with respect to values of A, B, and D are set so as to satisfy the following relationship (2).
C>B or C<(A−D) (2)
According to the above configuration, in the accommodation area 50b of the electric wire bundle 52 in the accommodation space 50a of the exterior body 50, the two electric wire bundles 52 are not arranged side by side in the horizontal direction. For example, a width in a case where the two electric wire bundles having the same minimum diameter B are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction is 2B. On the other hand, the above condition “B>(A/2)” is rewritten into “2B>A”. That is, the inner width dimension A of the accommodation area 50b of the electric wire bundles 52 in the accommodation space 50a of the exterior body 50 is smaller than 2B.
Therefore, in the accommodation area 50b, the two electric wire bundles 52B having the smallest diameter B cannot be arranged side by side. Even if there are the two electric wire bundles 52B having the smallest diameter B, they cannot be arranged side by side, and thus other electric wire bundles 52 having a larger diameter cannot be arranged side by side. That is, regardless of a size of the diameter, the two electric wire bundles 52 are not arranged side by side in the horizontal direction. As shown in
Since the electric wire bundles 52 are stacked in the exterior body 50, an inner dimension of the exterior body 50 can also be reduced. In addition, as in a wire harness WH-K in a comparative example of
As described above, even when the unbundled single electric wire 53 is mixed with the electric wire bundles 52, a bendability of the electric wire 53 can be kept good by satisfying the above-described condition (2).
From the above, it is possible to improve the bending durability of the wire harness WH with an exterior body wired between the body and the slide door.
As in another embodiment of
Although the corrugated tube is illustrated as the exterior body 50 in the above-described embodiment, a member other than the corrugated tube may be used as long as the member is bendable in a state where the electric wire bundles 52 are accommodated therein.
A wiring position of the wire harness WH is not particularly limited to a sliding door type entrance. The wiring position may be any position where the wire harness WH is required to be bent.
Here, characteristics of the wire harness with an exterior body and the wiring structure thereof according to the embodiments of the present invention described above will be briefly summarized in the following [1] to [3], respectively.
[1] A wire harness (WH, WH-2) with an exterior body including:
a plurality of electric wires (51) assemblies, which are formed by a plurality of electric wires (51) as a plurality of electric wire bundles (52), obtained by dividing the plurality of electric wires into a plurality of groups and bundling each group, in at least a part of a bent section in which at least a part of the electric wires in a length direction in a predetermined direction (horizontal direction) are repeatedly bended; and
a hollow tubular exterior body (50) having an accommodation space (50a) which accommodates at least the bent section of the plurality of electric wires (51) assemblies, and having a flexibility which is bendable in the predetermined direction (horizontal direction),
wherein when an inner width dimension in the predetermined direction (horizontal direction) of an accommodation area (50b) of the electric wire bundles (52) is defined as A, and the smallest diameter among the outer diameters of the plurality of electric wire bundles (52) is defined as B, in a cross section orthogonal to a longitudinal direction of the accommodation space (50a) of the exterior body (50), A and B satisfy the following relationship
B>(A/2).
[2] The wire harness (WH, WH-2) with an exterior body according to the above [1],
wherein in the accommodation area (50b) of the electric wire bundles (52) in the accommodation space (50a), a single electric wire (53) is further accommodated, and when an outer diameter of the single electric wire (53) is defined as C, and the largest diameter among the outer diameters of the plurality of electric wire bundles (52) is defined as D, the following relationship is satisfied
C<(A−D).
[3] A wiring structure for the wire harness (WH, WH-2) with an exterior body,
wherein one end of the wire harness (WH, WH-2) with an exterior body according to the above [1] in the longitudinal direction is connected to a holding portion [3] on a body side of a vehicle, and the other end thereof is connected to a holding portion (2) on a slide door (5) side which opens/closes an opening portion of the vehicle.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-160843 | Aug 2018 | JP | national |
