Abstract:
A device for assisting in the production of wiring harnesses. The device includes a board, with a groove that makes it possible to receive cables. The device further includes an arrangement for transporting a cable, including a nozzle making it possible to position the cable in the groove of the board. Further, a control is configured and arranged to drive the displacement of the cable transport arrangement. Also, flexible and resilient holding elements are provided for holding cables in the groove. The holding elements deform to allow the nozzle to pass when the nozzle positions a cable in the groove and then revert to their initial form to hold the cable in the groove.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of the French patent application No. 1352694 filed on Mar. 26, 2013, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by way of reference. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to the field of the production of wiring harnesses, in particular wiring harnesses used in aircraft. A wiring harness is made up of a plurality of cables running between at least two connection points. When a harness includes a number of branches, and therefore more than two connection points, each cable of the harness follows a route between two of said connection points and the routes followed by the different cables that make up the harness at least partially cover one another. The different cables running side by side over a same route portion are generally attached together, for example by means of cable ties, in order to guarantee the cohesion of the harness. 
         [0003]    The wiring harnesses are generally produced manually by an operator who uses a form board for that. U.S. Pat. No. 3,653,411 describes such a board. The latter comprises a plurality of pins defining the run of the cables of the harness on the board and the operator is thus guided to route the cables between these pins so as to form the harness. The manual production of the harnesses is lengthy to carry out and it would be desirable to be able to automate it so as to increase productivity. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    An object of the present invention is to remedy the abovementioned drawback. It relates to a device for assisting in the production of wiring harnesses, said device comprising a board. This device is noteworthy in that said board comprises a groove suitable for receiving cables and in that the device also comprises:
       means for transporting a cable, comprising a nozzle making it possible to position the cable in the groove of the board;   control means suitable for driving the displacement of the cable transport means; and       
 
         [0007]    means for holding cables in the groove, these holding means being flexible so as to be able to be deformed to allow the nozzle to pass when the latter positions a cable in the groove and to then revert to their initial form to hold the cable in the groove. 
         [0008]    The device according to the invention therefore makes it possible to automatically place cables in the groove of the board by means of said nozzle. Furthermore, once placed in the groove, the different cables are held in this groove by means of the holding means, until the production of a harness is completed. 
         [0009]    According to a first embodiment, the holding means are produced in an elastomer material covering at least a part of the groove. Preferably, the elastomer material comprises a slot in line with the groove. 
         [0010]    According to a second embodiment, the holding means comprise at least one brush with bristles that cover at least a part of the groove. 
         [0011]    According to a first variant, the cable transport means comprise a moving head securely attached to a framework situated on the top of the board, said moving head supporting the nozzle. 
         [0012]    According to a second variant, the cable transport means comprise a robotized arm supporting the nozzle. 
         [0013]    Advantageously, the device for assisting in the production of wiring harnesses also comprises cable cutting means. 
         [0014]    Also advantageously, the device for assisting in the production of wiring harnesses also comprises laser marking means. 
         [0015]    In a particular embodiment, the groove comprises channels suitable for facilitating the fitting of cable ties around the cables contained in said groove. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]    The invention will be better understood on reading the following description and on examining the appended figures. 
           [0017]      FIG. 1  represents, from a perspective view, a device for assisting in the production of harnesses according to an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 2  represents, from another perspective view, a part of the device represented in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0019]      FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b  represent, from perspective views, two exemplary boards of the device represented in  FIGS. 1 and 2 ; 
           [0020]      FIG. 4  represents a vertical cross-sectional view of a part of the device represented in  FIGS. 1 and 2 ; 
           [0021]      FIG. 5  represents, from a perspective view, a variant of the device represented in  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0022]      FIGS. 6   a  and  6   b  represent, from a plan view, a part of a board provided with cable holding means according to a particular embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0023]    The device  1  for assisting in the production of wiring harnesses represented in  FIG. 1  comprises a board  2  placed on a substantially horizontal table  10 . Preferably, the board is produced in a plastic material, for example polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Other types of materials are, however, possible without departing from the framework of the invention. Cable transport means  4  are also arranged on this table. The device  1  also comprises control means  12  suitable for driving the displacement of the cable transport means  4 . As represented in more detail in  FIGS. 2 ,  3   a  and  3   b , the board  2  comprises at least one groove  8 . This groove is suitable for receiving cables. It is covered, at least partly, by means  6  for holding cables in said groove. These means  6  can, for example, be produced in an elastomer material comprising a slot in line with the groove. The thickness of the elastomer material is preferably between 1 and 4 millimeters. In a first embodiment, the means  6  correspond to a sheet of elastomer material covering the whole of the board  2 , for example glued onto the latter. In another embodiment, as represented in  FIGS. 1 ,  2 ,  3   a  and  3   b , the holding means  6  correspond to a set of plates of elastomer material distributed on the board  2  and covering certain parts of the groove  8 . The groove has at least two ends, each corresponding to connection points for the cables forming the harness. For example, in  FIG. 3   a , five ends E 1 , E 2 , E 3 , E 4  and E 5  are provided, whereas in  FIG. 3   b , three ends E′ 1 , E′ 2  and E′ 3  are provided. A same board can have a number of grooves: for example the board represented in  FIG. 3   a  has two grooves  8  and  8   a,  which makes it possible to produce two harnesses. In this figure, the two grooves  8  and  8   a  are of similar forms, therefore corresponding to the production of two harnesses of the same type. However, it is also possible to provide, on a same board, a number of grooves of different forms corresponding to different types of harnesses. Preferably, the groove  8  comprises channels  9 . These channels  9  are produced in a plane at right angles to a longitudinal axis of the groove, so as to facilitate the fitting of cable ties around the cables of the harness. 
         [0024]    In a first variant represented in  FIG. 2 , the cable transport means  4  comprise a three-axis framework. The latter comprises two parallel rails  14  securely attached to the table  10 , and a motorized rail  16  suitable for being displaced in translation on the two rails  14 . For its part, a motorized carriage  20  can be displaced in translation on the motorized rail  16 . This carriage  20  also makes it possible to displace, in vertical translation, a head  18  securely attached to said carriage. This head  18  comprises a nozzle  22 , and cable driving means  25 , as represented in  FIG. 4 . These driving means  25  can, for example, comprise wheels or rollers, likely to drive the cable by friction. Advantageously, the head  18  also comprises cable cutting means  21 . Also advantageously, the head  18  also comprises laser marking means  30  for marking the cable. The device  1  also comprises cable feeding means  24 . These means  24  can, for example, correspond to a set of payout devices suitable for receiving reels of cables as represented in  FIG. 2 . The means  24  can, for example, be placed on the table  10 . The availability of a number of payout devices makes it possible to produce harnesses comprising cables of several types corresponding to different characteristics, each reel corresponding to a cable type. 
         [0025]    The control means  12  comprise a computer with a memory that contains information relating to at least one type of harness that is to be produced. In operation, based on said information, the computer sends instructions to the transport means  4  so as to drive the displacements of said transport means. Each cable forming the harness must generally be arranged between two ends of the groove in which it is placed. Before a cable is positioned in the groove, when the suitable cable type is not inserted in the head  18  and the nozzle  22 , the computer controls the displacement of the transport means  4  so as to bring the head  18  into proximity with the cable feeding means  24 . The computer then automatically controls the insertion into the head  18  and the nozzle  22 , of the appropriate cable type, available on one of the payout devices of said cable feeding means  24 . This automatic insertion of the cable into the head  18  and the nozzle  22  can be performed, for example, by a clamp controlled by the computer. Without departing from the framework of the invention, the insertion of the cable into the head  18  and the nozzle  22  could also be performed manually by an operator. When the suitable cable type is placed in the head  18  and the nozzle  22 , the computer controls the positioning of the cable in the groove. As an illustration, the example of a cable having to be placed between the ends E 1  and E 5  of the groove  8  of  FIG. 3   a  is considered here. For this, the computer controls the displacement of the transport means  4  so as to bring the nozzle  22  in line with the end El of the groove  8 , then it controls a vertical displacement of the head  18  so as to engage the nozzle  22  in said end of the groove. Since the end E 1  is covered by the cable holding means  6 , produced in an elastomer material comprising a slot in line with the groove, the nozzle  22  penetrates into the groove  8  through this slot, by deforming the elastomer material. The computer then controls the transport means  4  so as to generate a horizontal displacement of the nozzle  22  in the groove  8 , to the end E 5 . The computer simultaneously controls the cable driving means  25  of the head  18  in such a way that the speed at which the cable leaves the nozzle  22  corresponds to the linear speed of displacement of the nozzle in the groove. This makes it possible to place the cable in the groove, a first end thereof remaining at the end E 1  of the groove. Furthermore, the holding means  6  make it possible to guarantee that the cable does indeed remain inside the groove. Simultaneously with the positioning of the cable in the groove, the computer controls the laser marking means  30 , to produce a desired marking of the cable in synchronism with the driving of the cable by the means  25 . The computer controls the cable cutting means of the head  18  in such a way that a second end of the cable, resulting from said cutting of the cable, is positioned substantially at the end E 5  of the groove. For this, the cutting of the cable is advantageously anticipated, during the displacement of the nozzle in the groove between the ends E 1  and E 5 , at a point of the groove situated at a distance of E 5  corresponding to the distance traveled by the cable in the head  18  between the cutting means  21  and the nozzle  22 . The computer then controls a vertical displacement of the head  18  so as to extract the nozzle  22  from the groove. This process is repeated as many times as are necessary, until all of the cables of the harness are placed in the groove. An operator can then place the cable ties around the cables of the harness, so as to hold the various cables together in the desired conformation. For this, he or she fits the cable ties into the channels  9 . Each channel  9  allows a cable tie to circulate around all the cables contained in the groove at the position of said channel. 
         [0026]    In a second variant, represented in  FIG. 5 , the cable transport means  4  comprise a robotized arm  15 , one end of which bears the head  18  already described, and therefore the nozzle  22 . The method for producing a harness is similar to that already described, except that the displacements of the nozzle  22  are performed by the robotized arm  15 , controlled by the computer. 
         [0027]    The invention has been described in the case where the cable holding means  6  are produced in an elastomer material comprising a slot in line with the groove. Other holding means can be envisaged, for example brushes with bristles that cover at least a part of the groove  8 . According to a first embodiment represented in  FIG. 6   a , two brushes  28   a  and  28   b  are placed on the top surface of the board  2 , in line with one another, on either side of the groove  8 . The bristles  29   a  and  29   b  of the two brushes meet substantially above the groove, so as to hold the cables in the groove. The flexibility of the bristles allows for the engagement and the circulation of the nozzle  22  in the groove. According to another embodiment represented in  FIG. 6   b , a brush  28  is placed on one side of the groove and its bristles  29  are long enough to cover all the width of the groove. Other arrangements or other holding means can be envisaged without departing from the framework of the invention. 
         [0028]    As is apparent from the foregoing specification, the invention is susceptible of being embodied with various alterations and modifications which may differ particularly from those that have been described in the preceding specification and description. It should be understood that I wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all such modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of my contribution to the art.