Wire-guide latching device for a wire-harness assembly form board

The invention is a wire-guide latching device 22 for a wire-harness assembly form board 24. The device 22 comprises a first post 26 having first and second ends, with the first end coupled to the board and the second end terminating in a circumferentially disposed laterally extending flange 30. A second post assembly 32 is provided having first and second ends, with its first end coupled to the board 24 and incorporating a rotatable arm 52. The arm is rotatable from a first position wherein the arm's free end is in overlapping relationship with the flange 30 of the first post 26 to a second position out of engagement therewith and, further, moveable to a third position in the opposite direction from the second position. A detent system 80 is provided which is adapted to selectably hold the arm 52 in either the first or third positions. A spring 60 is provided which is adapted to bias the arm 52 to the first position when it is moved toward or into the second position.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
The invention relates to the field of wire-harness fabrication and, in 
particular, to a wire-guide latching device for aligning wires on 
wire-harness assembly form boards. 
BACKGROUND ART 
A wire harness typically comprises a multiwire main trunk with numerous 
multiwire branches all terminating in electrical connectors. In the 
assembling of a wire harness, each wire is typically laid up on a 
wiring-harness, "lay-up" form board between its desired termination points 
with the wire placed in a plurality of wire-guide devices. For example, 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,337,934, "Assembly Post" by J. E. Caveney, discloses a 
clamping device mounted on a form board which has jaws biased to the 
closed position in which the center of the jaws contain an elastic strap. 
Thus, when a wire is inserted into the jaws, the strap tends to force the 
wires together, forming a compact bundle. While this device has the 
advantage of automatically grouping the wires together, it does not lend 
itself to automated assembly in that an automatic wire-laying head would 
have difficulty placing a wire within the jaws of the individual clamps. 
Also of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,359, "Post Wire Guide Latching 
Means" by George Naranjo. Naranjo discloses a wire-guide latching device 
for use with telephone cables. The latching device comprises a pair of 
posts with a snap-on cross arm which forms a channel for the wires. The 
arm can be rotated to open the channel. This particular device has 
drawbacks when considered for use in an automated wire-harness assembly 
system in that the cross arm is not spring-biased to a closed position, 
nor are there detent means to hold positions, since the arm is primarily 
being held in position by friction. 
Other examples of wire-guiding devices for use on the assembly of wire 
harnesses are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,277, "Apparatus for Holding 
and Forming a Plurality of Objects into a Bundle" by J. J. Bulanda; U.S. 
Pat. No. 3,839,777, "Wire Harness Assembly" by E. T. Puzio; U.S. Pat. No. 
3,944,719, "Wire Routing Apparatus" by U. R. Rubey and, finally, U.S. Pat. 
No. 4,009,852, "Corner Post Harness Assembly Apparatus" by J. J. Bulanda, 
et al. 
None of these patents disclose a latching device for use on a wire-harness 
form board which allows the wire-dispensing head to move a spring-biased 
arm to an open position and allowing the wire to be placed in the channel, 
with the biasing means automatically returning the arm to its retracted 
position and, also, with a detent means for releasably holding the arm in 
the closed and open positions. 
Therefore, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a 
wire-harness latching device for a wire-harness form board which is 
adapted to allow automated wire-harness layup. 
Another object of the subject invention is to provide a latching device 
which provides for easy removal of the wiring harness from the form board 
after assembly. 
It is still a further object of the subject invention to provide a latching 
device for use on a wire-harness fabrication form board which can 
accommodate both automated wire lay-up and manual wire lay-up procedures. 
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION 
The invention is a wire-guide latching device for a wire-harness assembly 
form board. The device comprises a first post having first and second 
ends, with the first end coupled to the board and the second end 
terminating in a circumferentially disposed, laterally extending flange. A 
second post is provided, having first and second ends, with the first end 
coupled to the board and, at the second end, incorporating an arm having a 
free end rotatably mounted thereon and rotatable with the post. The arm is 
rotatable from a first position, wherein the arm's free end is in 
overlapping relationship with the flange of the first post to a second 
position out of engagement therewith and, further, moveable to a third 
position in a direction opposite to the second position. A detent means is 
provided which is adapted to selectably hold the arm in either the first 
or third position. A spring means is provided which is adapted to bias the 
arm to the first position when it is moved toward or into the second 
position. 
The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the 
invention, both as to its organization and its method of operation, 
together with further objects and advantages thereof, will be better 
understood from the following description in connection with the 
accompanying drawings in which a presently preferred embodiment is 
illustrated by way of example. It is to be expressly understood, however, 
that the drawings are for purposes of illustration and description only, 
and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 
Referring to FIGS. 1 through 6, it can be seen that the latching device, 
generally indicated by numeral 22, is mounted on a wire-harness assembly 
form board 24. The device 22 comprises a first post 26 threadably mounted 
by its first end 28 to the form board 24 and which terminates at its 
second end 29 in a circumferentially disposed laterally extending flange 
30. A second post, or post assembly, generally designated by numeral 32, 
includes a hollow tubular member 34 having a first end 36 with a through 
hole 38 and a counterbore 40 extending to the opposite end 41. The tubular 
member 34 is fastened to the form board 24 by means of a threaded bolt 46 
which extends through a hole 47 in the form board 24 and engages a nut 48. 
Rotatably mounted within the counterbore 40 is a shaft 50 having a 
laterally extending arm 52. A coil spring 60 is mounted about the post 32, 
having an inwardly directed detent end 62 engaging a hole 64 in the post 
32 and a second end 70 in contact with one side of the arm 52. Thus, the 
shaft 50 is rotatable about the longitudinal axis 72 of the counterbore 
40. 
A detent system, best illustrated in FIG. 6, generally designated by 
numeral 80, is mounted within the second post 32 and the shaft 50. The 
detent system 80 comprises, in part, a pair of holes 82 and 84 in the 
shaft 50 at substantially right angles to each other. Mounted within the 
member 34 is a ball 87, spring biased toward the shaft 50 by means of a 
spring 88. Thus, when the arm 52 is in a first position, wherein the arm 
52 is in an overlapping relationship with the flange 30 (best illustrated 
in FIGS. 2 and 3), the detent system 80 releasably holds the arm in that 
position (ball 87 engages hole 82). When moved clockwise to the open 
position (indicated by numeral 52A) by means of a wire-dispensing guide 92 
(See FIGS. 1, 4, and 5), the detent force of the spring 88 is overcome, 
but the spring 60 will force the arm 52 back to its first position upon 
passage of the wire-dispensing guide 92 therethrough and, thus, the 
individual wire or groups of wires making up the wire-harness assembly 93 
can be easily routed and "locked" in position. The spring 60 is positioned 
such that there is little or no force applied to the arm 52 when the arm 
is in the first position and such that a return force is only applied when 
the arm is moved toward the second position. 
After the individual wires or groups of wires of the wire-harness assembly 
93 are "layed up", the "trunk" portion 93A and individual "branch" 
portions, such as trunk 93B, are tied into bundles at appropriate 
distances along their lengths. Thereafter, the wire-latching device is 
opened to a third position (indicated by numeral 52B in FIG. 2) by 
rotating the arm 52 counterclockwise such that the detent 80 will hold the 
arm 52 in the third position (the ball 87 engaging hole 84) allowing 
removal of the completed wire-harness assembly therefrom. Thus it can be 
seen that the wire-guide latching device 22 with its automatic latching 
features can greatly speed up the assembly process while insuring that 
individual wires stay properly located along the length of the harness. 
While the invention has been described with reference to particular 
embodiments, it should be understood that the embodiments are merely 
illustrative as there are numerous variations and modifications which may 
be made by those skilled in the art. Thus, the invention is to be 
construed as being limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended 
claims. 
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
The invention has applicability to automated, wire-harness fabrication.