Patent ID: 9378871
Filing Date: 2016-06-28
CPC Classification: B05D,B29C,H01B

Claim Text:
1. A wire harness manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a wire harness having an electric wire and a covering member, molded with thermoplastic material, that covers a predetermined part of the electric wire, comprising: a material plasticizing unit that plasticizes the thermoplastic material to a softened and plastic-deformable state upon reception of an external force; and a nozzle having a single thermoplastic material inlet communicating with the material plasticizing unit, the nozzle being formed from first and second nozzle components separably connected along a diametric plane and configured to define a through hole therebetween for accommodating the predetermined part of the electric wire when the first and second nozzle components are in an integrally connected state, and a thermoplastic material discharge orifice continuously surrounding a periphery of the through hole at one axial end of the through hole, each of the first and second nozzle components having a grooved member and a groove cover, the grooved member having an array of groove-shaped thermoplastic material channels, the groove cover covering the channels, the channels extending from the single thermoplastic material inlet and being branched to form channel branches that widen at farther distances from the thermoplastic material inlet so that the channel branches are joined and integrated with one another at the thermoplastic material discharge orifice that continuously surrounds the periphery of the through hole at the one axial end of the through hole, wherein, when the nozzle components are connected integrally, the covering member that covers the predetermined part of the electric wire can be integrally molded with the thermoplastic material, by discharging the thermoplastic material, plasticized by the material plasticizing unit from the thermoplastic material discharge orifice formed in the nozzle, on the outer peripheral surface of the predetermined part of the electric wire projected from one end of the through hole, in a state where the predetermined part of the electric wire is accommodated in the through hole formed in the nozzle.