Wiring harness construction means and method

Means and method are provided for conveniently breaking out wires from a wire bundle in a wiring harness during the fabrication or layout stage, there being a wrapper having two parallel rows of holes punched therein and a specially designed comb having teeth with detent ends which are inserted through the first row of holes in the wrapper. The wire bundle is then passed alongside these teeth with the desired strands being broken out between the teeth, and subsequent to the breakout process the wrapper is folded over the wire bundle and the second row of holes engaged securely over the detent ends of the comb teeth. Both sides of the wrapper are provided with indicia identifying the origin and the destination of wires passing through particular teeth pairs, and a resilient block which temporarily detains the comb and wrapper on the layout board during the fabrication process also utilizes a coded arrangement of upright pins which cooperate with coded holes punched in the wrapper to ensure that only the proper wrapper type is positioned at any of the breakout stations on the layout board.

BACKGROUND 
The invention is in the field of wire harness making. Wire harnesses are 
used in electrical appliances, aircraft, boats, automobiles, and 
electronic equipment where printed circuit boards are not possible. 
Despite what is obviously an enormous number of harnesses that are needed 
constantly, harness making technology is not particularly advanced. 
Typically, according to present techniques a layout board is used on which 
nails or pegs are positioned at strategic points where the wires break 
out, or make a bend. The operator has an instruction sheet or manual 
informing him or her where each wire goes, and what color it is. The 
operator bends the wires around the appropriate nails or pegs and then 
wraps the various bundles and branches of wires with tape, string, or 
special plastic wrappers which automatically form a closed loop when one 
end is pulled through an opening in the other end. 
Along a typical harness there are positions that are taped or bundled as 
described above which are called "breakout" points where certain of the 
wires are diverted from the main bundle to be connected later to one or 
more electrical connectors. There are some specially designed devices to 
help order and identify wires at breakout points, one commercially 
marketed version being similar to its description in U.S. Pat. No. 
3,024,301. The marketed version of the device shown in that patent is 
functionally very similar to the illustrations although the side walls are 
toothed strips made of plastic. Another device marketed under the 
trademark "Panduct" utilizes a channel-shaped metallic member with slotted 
sides through which the breakout wires pass, and a sliding cover which is 
longitudinally inserted over the open-ended edges of the channel. This 
device is used primarily with large wires in industrial applications where 
heavy machinery is being wired. 
There is no comprehensive, efficient system utilized for preparing wire 
harnesses which permits the orderly breaking out of wires at different 
breakout points and identifies the wires automatically at the breakout 
point, gives information about the sources and destination of each wire, 
and also indicates the manner in which the wires must be stripped and the 
type of connector or terminal that will be attached to the broken out 
wires without requiring the operator to refer to outside instructions or 
manuals. 
SUMMARY 
The present invention fills the above-stated gap in the art by providing a 
comprehensive means and method of forming wiring harnesses, enabling the 
breakout points to be dealt with logically and systematically and 
resulting in a permanently affixed breakout element at each breakout point 
which identifies source and destination of the broken out wires. 
Fabrication of a wiring harness according to the instant means and method 
starts on a layout board. At the different breakout points on the layout 
board, a slotted resilient block is screwed down which is preferably 
specific to that layout station and is keyed to accept wire breakout 
wrappers with indicia specific to that station. 
Once the proper blocks have been fastened to the layout board, a special 
comb is press-fitted into the slots provided by each block. These combs 
have upwardly projecting teeth with arrowhead-shaped detent tips, and a 
pre-perforated wrapper is slipped over these teeth. This wrapper is also 
provided with the above-mentioned coding in the form of a coded hole 
pattern which enables them to slip over coded pins projecting upwardly 
from the mounting block. The wrappers, with the inside up at this point, 
have information indexed to the spaces between the comb teeth identifying 
the destination, and preferably the source as well, of the wires to be 
entrained between the teeth and broken out to a connector. 
After the wires have been broken out, the wrapper is folded over the wire 
bundle and permanently engaged by another row of perforations pressed over 
the detent ends of the teeth of the comb. The outside of the wrapper also 
contains indexed rows of indicia identifying sources and destinations of 
the wires so that a permanent record is made at each junction or breakout 
point without requiring color coding or manuals. At this point the harness 
is removed from the layout board, with the combs slipping free of the 
slotted blocks and becoming a permanent part of the harness along with the 
wrappers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
A typical breakout junction or element 20 which is at the heart of this 
invention is seen in FIG. 4, and in a preceding stage of completion in 
FIG. 3. With reference to these two figures, a basic understanding of the 
simple construction inherent in the design of the instant invention can be 
had. Basically, a block 22 is properly positioned at a breakout station on 
a layout board 24 seen in FIG. 15. Passing through the length of the block 
is a slot 26 which temporarily detains the spine 28 of a comb-like strip, 
or simply comb, 30. The comb has teeth 32 which will be detailed 
hereinafter with particular reference to FIG. 10, with detent ends 34. 
A wrapper 36 has a first row of pre-perforated holes 38 which are slipped 
over the teeth into the position shown in FIG. 3. Subsequently, a 
plurality of wires or strands 40 are drawn along the backside of the teeth 
and broken out between them as can be seen in both FIGS. 3 and 4. Once all 
the wires have been properly broken out, the other side of the wrapper is 
folded over the wires with the second row of holes 42 engaged on the comb 
teeth 32 to permanently and securely engage both the wire bundle and the 
breakout wires at the breakout point. Once this has been done at all the 
breakout stations on the layout broard and any connectors or other devices 
attached to the broken out ends of the wires, the harness is removed from 
the layout board by slipping the comb spines 28 out of their slots 26 and 
the harness is completed, or at least this phase is finished. 
Turning now to the details of the invention and referring to FIGS. 13 
through 15, as mentioned above, the layout board 24 provides the working 
surface for the assembly of the harness. On this board it is determined 
generally where the wires will run and where the breakout points will be, 
and at the breakout points or breakout stations some device must be 
installed onto the layout board which will temporarily retain the breakout 
element of the present invention, including the comb and the wrapper, in 
position. Clearly a variety of arrangements would accomplish this end 
quite well and the solution shown here is not intended to be limiting. 
In the illustrated embodiment a resilient block 22 is used to temporarily 
grip the comb. This block preferably has a depending lip 44 which creates 
a slight void beneath the slot 26, and inasmuch as the block is fabricated 
of a resilient material and is compressed down against the layout board 
such as by mounting screws 46, the slot constricts. This constricting 
action could either be used on a harness-by-harness basis such that each 
breakout point is individually tightened and loosened for each harness, or 
more conveniently, it merely provides a way in which the slot can be 
adjusted if it becomes too loose or too tight over a period of time to 
make a good friction fit. There could also be pins which pass through the 
block from the left as seen in FIG. 13 which also pass through holes in 
the spine of the comb to positively retain it if such action is necessary. 
However, probably the most convenient approach would be to use a friction 
fit, adjusted from time to time by the screws 46 to strike a compromise 
between adequate retaining force and ease of removal of the harness from 
the board. 
Reference will now be made to the comb 30 as best seen in detail in FIGS. 
10 through 12. The flat strip or spine 28 of the comb element is deep 
enough to be inserted all the way into the slot 26. Upstanding from the 
spine, the teeth 32 comprise a shank portion 48, a narrowed neck 50, an 
arrowhead-shaped top 52, and a pair of depending barbs 54 which, being 
part of the arrowhead 52, define the detent function at the tips of the 
teeth. The teeth, and the rest of the comb, are fabricated of material 
stiff enough to keep its form but which becomes resilient and easy to 
deform when it is made thin. The shank and neck of the teeth may move 
slightly to accommodate an oversized wire or an irregularly positioned 
wrapper, but basically the wrapper and wires are accommodated by thin, 
resilient barbs 54 which, as can be seen in FIG. 10, are easily compressed 
as the wrapper is snapped over them. 
It is intended that the wrapper be semi-permanently retained by the detents 
as shown in FIG. 10, and that the detents not bend upwardly and deform 
backwards if the wrapper is pulled up after installation. To this end, a 
small, flexible web 56 can be, and in the preferred embodiment is, part of 
the arrowhead and spans one side as shown in FIG. 16. It should also be 
noted that the dimensions of the tooth tips is rather precise in that as 
the wrapper is snapped over them, there is room adjacent to the neck 50 
for the wrapper to reside while the teeth snap back into position. 
The ends of the comb element may be provided in different sizes, or may be 
such that an oversized comb may be fabricated from two or more standard 
sized elements. This second system is illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12 where 
the ends of the comb spine mount on extended tabs a peg and peg hole 58 
and 60, respectively. The continuous comb can be constructed as shown in 
FIG. 12 utilizing this structure. An oversized breakout element utilizing 
a double comb is shown at 62 in FIGS. 5 and 6. 
Turning now to the exact construction and configuration of the wrapper 36, 
the preferred embodiment is well illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 4. The 
simplest and cheapest form of wrapper would be reasonably tough paper or 
plastic stock but conceivably even a pair of hinged panels could be used. 
The requirements of the wrapper are that it have a central, flexible, or 
hinged surface 64 which can wrap around the wires as shown in FIG. 4 and 
projecting sides with the above-described rows of holes 38 and 42. The 
right side of the wrapper acts as a base member onto which the wires are 
laid, and the left side acts as a keeper to retain both the wire bundle 
and the broken out strands in place as shown in FIG. 4. 
It is desirable that several types of indicia be presented on the wrapper, 
some of which are indexed between the rows of holes. Inasmuch as breakout 
stations are intermediate points for all wires passing therethrough, each 
wire has an origin and a destination. Although the device does not adapt 
itself to identify wires which simply pass through from one side to the 
other, all wires that are broken out can be identified as to their 
destination by indicia 66 which appears on the inside surface 68 of the 
wrapper as shown in FIG. 1 and the outside surface as shown at 70 in FIG. 
2. In the illustrated embodiment the breakout goes to connector A-17 and 
the terminal of that connector to which each wire goes is identified by 
number. 
Further information concerning the origin of the wires, identified at 72, 
is particularly helpful when assembling the breakout junction and is 
provided on the inside and outside surfaces of the wrapper. Additionally, 
information as the harness member being made may be included at 74, and on 
the outside of the wrapper the stock number of the connector to which the 
breakout wires will lead, together with the length of the wire tips that 
must be stripped to make the proper connections, may be shown at 76. This 
is a great benefit to the operator, who can strip and terminate the wires 
then and there without reference to outside information. 
Because all of the information becomes a permanent part of the harness 
structure, repair and re-wiring is greatly simplified. This information 
also requires that each of the wrappers be printed specifically for a 
particular break out. To prevent wrappers from being confused, which would 
obviously lead to chaos in the harness structure, the wrappers are 
preferably provided with keyway holes 79 which slip over key pins 78 as 
shown in FIGS. 1 through 3. This clearly physically prevents the insertion 
of the wrong wrapper on any of the blocks 22. These pegs have been omitted 
from FIGS. 13 through 15 for simplification. 
There are several ways in which the wrappers can be made, depending at 
least in part on the number of them which will be needed and how regularly 
they will be used. First, the holes may be provided either pre-punched in 
the individual wrapper, or the operator could be provided with a special 
hole punch tool. The wrappers, independently of the holes, could simply be 
hand-lettered with the desired indicia if a small number of wrappers is 
needed. 
In the event that a moderate but not tremendous number of a particular 
wrapper is needed, a sheet of 81/2 by 11 paper can be initially printed on 
both sides with the proper indicia for a series of rows and columns of 
wrappers. This sheet can be reproduced in any common reprography machine 
which will copy both sides, and then cut into individual wrappers. A 
preferred technique would be to reproduce the master sheet on special 
paper which is already pre-punched with the necessary holes for all the 
wrappers on that sheet. 
In the event a very large number of a particular wrapper is used, they 
would be provided pre-printed, pre-punched, and pre-cut from the supplier 
who would use ordinary printing and die cutting techniques. 
Several different types of breakouts are shown in FIGS. 5 through 9. The 
double comb of FIGS. 5 and 6 has already been mentioned, and a terminal 
breakout 80, which orders the last wires to be ordered in the wire bundle, 
is also shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. 
There are at least two instances in which a pair of the wrappers would be 
used at a single breakout. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a bi-lateral 
breakout 82 uses one wrapper for the base wrapper at 84 and a second 
wrapper 86 as the keeper. 
In breakout 88, the incoming wires do not run parallel to the comb and 
would conflict where the wrapper fold would ordinarily be. Therefore, 
bottom and top, base and keeper wrappers means 90 and 92 are used. Note 
that in the sandwich shown at 82, either a dual block or a special block 
94 is needed, as two combs are used, whereas the breakout at 88 uses the 
standard block 22 and a single comb. 
It is intended that the harness-forming means and method described, 
illustrated and claimed herein will be used in conjunction with already 
developed automatic wire threading and feeding machinery which is computer 
controlled. This machinery is adapted to easily wire connectors of the 
insulation displacement type which are becoming increasingly popular, and 
these connectors might also appear on the layout board 24. 
Thus as disclosed and claimed, the method and structure shown herein 
represents the most advanced wire bundling and breakout procedures yet to 
surface in the harness-making industry.