Patent Publication Number: US-11027940-B2

Title: Winding unit and spiral electric wire manufacturing method

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a winding device for winding an electric wire and a method for manufacturing a spiral electric wire. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     In general, a wiring harness used for a vehicle or the like is manufactured by performing various processing on electric wires. When processing the electric wire, it is necessary to hold the electric wire in an appropriate form. Therefore, a wire-holding bar having a pair of elastic clamping pieces has been proposed (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1). In the wire-holding bar described in Patent Literature 1, the protruding dimensions of a pair of elastic clamping pieces can be adjusted so that electric wires of various electric wire diameters can be clamped. 
     PRIOR ART DOCUMENT 
     Patent Literature 
     
         
         Patent Literature 1: JP 2010-92788 A 
       
    
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     Technical Problem 
     In wire processing steps, particularly in the case of elongated electric wires, it is preferable to bundle electric wires and convey them. That is, it is preferable that the wire is wound up into an annular (spiral) shape and an end portion of the electric wire is held by a holding member (for example, the wire-holding bar as described in Patent Literature 1). However, although it is easy to hold the end portion of the electric wire, it is not easy to wind the electric wire, and a lot of man-hours are required. 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a winding unit capable of easily winding an electric wire and a method of manufacturing a spiral electric wire. 
     Solution to Problem 
     According to the present invention, there is provided a winding unit for winding an electric wire comprising: 
     a delivery device for delivering the electric wire in a longitudinal direction; 
     a hold device for holding a winding start portion of the electric wire; 
     a winding device having a base portion and a projecting portion projecting from the base portion; and 
     a guide device for guiding the electric wire delivered by the delivery device so as to travel from a tip of the projecting portion toward the base portion, 
     wherein the projecting portion has an inclined surface whose outer diameter increases toward the base portion from the tip end on an outer peripheral surface thereof, and 
     wherein the guide device guides the electric wire toward the center of the tip. 
     Effect of the Invention 
     According to the winding unit of the present invention as described above, the electric wire is wound around the projecting portion of the winding device as follows. The electric wire delivered by the delivery device and guided by the guide device travels from the tip of the projecting portion toward the base portion. Since the projecting portion has the inclined surface, the electric wire moves toward the base portion while moving radially outwardly along the inclined surface. 
     The wire that has reached the base portion is pressed against the base portion by the force that the delivery device tries to deliver and a bending force acts the electric wire. The electric wire tries to escape from the bending force, but since the guide device guides the electric wire toward the center of the tip of the projecting portion, the electric wire is difficult to deform so as to move radially outward (away from the center portion). Accordingly, the electric wire starts to move along the circumferential direction and is wound around the projecting portion. In this way, it is possible to wind the electric wire around the projecting portion by utilizing the delivering force of the delivery device, and the electric wire can be easily wound up. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a partial cross-sectional view showing a winding unit according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a partial cross-sectional view showing how winding of an electric wire is started in the winding unit; 
         FIG. 3  is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state in which a hold device is moved in the winding unit; 
         FIG. 4  is a partial cross-sectional view showing how the electric wire is wound up in the winding unit; 
         FIG. 5  is a front view showing how the electric wire is wound around the winding device of the winding unit; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view showing how the electric wire is wound around the winding device; 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view showing a state in which the electric wire is held by the hold device; and 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view showing the winding unit according to a modification of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.  FIG. 1  is a partial cross-sectional view showing a winding unit  1  according to an embodiment of the present invention;  FIG. 2  is a partial cross-sectional view showing how winding of an electric wire  20  is started in the winding unit  1 ;  FIG. 3  is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state in which a hold device  5  is moved in the winding unit  1 ;  FIG. 4  is a partial cross-sectional view showing how the electric wire  20  is wound up in the winding unit  1 ;  FIG. 5  is a front view showing how the electric wire  20  is wound around the winding device  6  of the winding unit  1 ;  FIG. 6  is a perspective view showing how the electric wire  20  is wound around the winding device  6 ; and  FIG. 7  is a perspective view showing a state in which the electric wire  20  is held by a hold member  30 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the winding unit  1  of the present embodiment includes a delivery device  2 , a cut device  3 , a guide device  4 , a hold device  5 , an initial position determining device, and a winding device  6 . The winding unit  1  cuts the electric wire  20  wound around a drum  10  to a predetermined length and, as shown in  FIG. 7 , and holds the electric wire  20  with the hold member (rod)  30 . In the present embodiment, a vertical direction is Z direction, and two directions within a horizontal plane are X direction and Y direction. 
     The delivery device  2  is, for example, constituted by a pair of rollers sandwiching the electric wire  20  from the Z direction, and delivers the electric wire  20  wound around the drum  10  in the longitudinal direction and advances along the X direction. The delivery device  2  has a scale function for measuring the delivery length of the electric wire  20 . In other words, the winding unit  1  is additionally provided to a measuring device for cutting the electric wire to a predetermined length. 
     The cut device  3  has, for example, a cutting blade, and cuts the electric wire  20  delivered by the delivery device  2  and measured to a predetermined length. 
     The guide device  4  has a tubular shape extending along the X direction and having an insertion portion  41  through which the electric wire  20  is inserted. That is, the guide means  4  guides the electric wire  20  so as to move along the X direction. 
     The hold device  5  is constituted by, for example, a chuck which sandwiches the electric wire  20 , and is moved in the X direction, for example, by the initial position determining device. 
     The winding device  6  has a disc-shaped base portion  61 , a projecting portion  62  projecting from the base portion  61 , and a wall portion  63  standing from the outer peripheral edge of the base portion  61  and surrounding the projecting portion  62 . The projecting portion  62  is formed in, for example, a truncated cone shape and has an inclined surface  621  whose outer diameter increases toward the base portion  61  from the tip end on the outer peripheral surface thereof. In the present embodiment, the inclined surface  621  is curved when viewed from the Y direction (the inclination angle with respect to the base portion  61  becomes closer to vertical as headed toward the distal end side). However, the inclination angle of the inclined surface with respect to the base portion  61  may be substantially constant. The projecting portion  62  has a circular upper surface  622  at its tip end. 
     A projecting direction of the projecting portion  62  is inclined at a predetermined inclination angle θ (for example, 30°) with respect to the X direction. The electric wire  20  that has passed through the guide device  4  travels toward the projecting portion  62 , but it hangs down by gravity until it reaches the projecting portion  62 . The inclination angle θ is set such that an advancing direction of the hanging electric wire  20  substantially coincides with the projecting direction of the projecting portion  62 . That is, the inclination angle θ may be appropriately set according to a delivery speed of the delivery device  2 , a distance between an exit of the guide device  4  and the projecting portion  62 , flexibility of the electric wire  20 , and the like, and is preferably 0 to 90°, and more preferably 0 to 45°. The base portion  61  is inclined with respect to the Z direction by the same inclination angle θ. 
     Next, a positional relationship of each part of the winding unit  1  will be described. The drum  10 , the delivery device  2 , the cut device  3 , the guide device  4  and the winding device  6  are arranged in this order from one side in the X direction (the left side in  FIG. 1 ). As a result, the electric wire  20  delivered by the delivery device  2  toward the other side (the right side in  FIG. 1 ) in the X direction is further guided to the other side in the X direction by the guide device  4  toward the projecting portion  62  of the winding device. The projecting portion  62  projects from the base portion  61  toward the one side in the X direction. 
     The insertion portion  41  of the guide device  4  is arranged at substantially the same position in the Y direction with respect to the center O 1  of the upper surface  622  of the projecting portion  62  and is arranged somewhat above in the Z direction. As a result, the electric wire  20  traveling from the guide device  4  toward the projecting portion  62  hangs down due to gravity, so that the electric wire  20  goes toward the center O 1 . That is, the guide device  4  guides the electric wire  20  toward the center of the tip of the projecting portion  62 . Incidentally, the position at which the electric wire  20  reaches the projecting portion  62  is only required to be inside the outermost portion (base end portion) of the inclined surface  621 , and may be slightly deviated from the center O 1 . 
     Hereinafter, the procedure for winding the electric wire  20  by the winding unit  1  (that is, manufacturing the spiral electric wire) and the operation of each part will be described. First, prior to delivering the electric wire  20 , as shown in  FIG. 2 , the electric wire  20  is held by the hold device  5  in the vicinity of the exit of the guide device  4 . Therefore, the hold device  5  holds a winding start portion  20 A of the electric wire  20 . Incidentally, the end portion of the electric wire  20  on the winding start side may be held by the hold member  30  shown in  FIG. 7 . Next, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the initial position determining device moves the hold device  5  so as to approach the winding device  6  from an exit of the guide device  4 , and locates it in the vicinity of an outer edge of the upper surface  622  of the projecting portion  62 . 
     Next, the electric wire  20  is delivered by the delivery device  2 . As a result, as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the electric wire  20  reaches the base portion  61  and is wound around the projecting portion  62 . When the electric wire  20  is delivered by a predetermined length, the delivery device  2  stops delivering and the cut device  3  cuts the electric wire  20 . The end portion of the electric wire  20  on the winding end side is held by the hold member  30  and the electric wire  20  is pulled out from the projecting portion  62 . As a result, as shown in  FIG. 7 , the electric wire  20  is wound up and both ends are held. The electric wire  20  is conveyed to the next process in a state of being wound up in this way. 
     Here, a detailed operation when the electric wire  20  is wound by the projecting portion  62  will be described. The electric wire  20  delivered by the delivery device  2  and guided by the guide device  4  travels from a distal end of the projecting portion  62  toward the base portion  61 . Since the projecting portion  62  has the inclined surface  621 , the electric wire  20  moves toward the base portion  61  while moving radially outwardly along the inclined surface  621 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , since the electric wire  20  that has reached the base portion  61  is pressed against the base portion  61  by the force that the delivery device  2  is going to deliver, a bending force acts. The electric wire  20  tries to escape from the bending force, but since it is guided toward the center portion of the projecting portion  62  by the guide device  4 , it is difficult for the electric wire  20  to deform so as to face radially outward (away from the center portion). Therefore, the electric wire  20  starts to move along the circumferential direction and is wound around the projecting portion  62 . 
     Since the electric wire  20  is wound around the drum  10 , it has a curling tendency and is easy to bend in a predetermined direction. Therefore, a rotational direction when the electric wire  20  moves in the circumferential direction is determined by the relationship between the winding start portion  20 A held by the hold device  5  and the easy bending direction of the electric wire  20 . As described above, the electric wire  20  is wound around the projecting portion  62 , whereby the spiral electric wire is manufactured. 
     According to this embodiment as described above, there are the following effects. That is, the electric wire  20  delivered by the delivery device  2  is guided by the guide device  4  toward the center portion of the projecting portion  62 . Along with this, the projecting portion  62  has the inclined surface  621  on the outer peripheral surface. As a result, the electric wire  20  can be wound around the projecting portion  62  by utilizing the force of the delivery device  2 , and the electric wire  20  can be easily wound up. 
     Further, the hold device  5  holding the winding start portion  20 A of the electric wire  20  is brought close to the winding device  6  from the exit of the guide means  4  by the initial position determining device. This makes it easy to move the electric wire  20  along the circumferential direction at the beginning of winding. 
     Further, the guide device  4  advances the electric wire  20  in the X direction which is the horizontal direction, and the projecting direction of the projecting portion  62  is inclined with respect to the X direction. This makes it easy for the advancing direction of the hanging electric wire  20  and the projecting direction of the projecting portion  62  to substantially coincide with each other, so that the electric wire  20  can be easily wound around the projecting portion  62 . 
     Further, since the delivery device  2  has the measuring scale function, the measuring device can be used as the delivery device  2 . Therefore, as compared with a configuration in which the measuring device and the delivery device are provided independently, the entire winding unit  1  can be simplified. 
     Incidentally, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but includes other configurations and the like that can achieve the object of the present invention, and the following modifications and the like are also included in the present invention. 
     For example, in the above-described embodiment, the electric wire  20  is wound around the projecting portion  62  only by the delivery force of the delivery device  2 , but an auxiliary mechanism for winding the electric wire  20  on the projecting portion  62  may be provided. For example, as shown in  FIG. 8 , the winding unit may be provided with a circulation guide device  7  for guiding the electric wire  20  guided by the guide device  4 . 
     In the configuration shown in  FIG. 8 , the guide device  4 B is formed in an L shape, thereby changing the traveling direction so that the electric wire  20  delivered in the X direction is directed downward in the Z direction. Incidentally, when the guide device  4  which does not change the traveling direction is used as in the above embodiment, the circulation guide device may be provided. Further, when the guide device changes the traveling direction, the traveling direction after the change is not limited to the Z direction. 
     The circulation guide device  7  has an insertion member  71  and a circulation movement device for moving the circulation guide device  7  on the XY plane. The insertion member  71  has, for example, two rod-shaped members extending along the X direction and two rod-like members extending along the Y direction, and these rod-like members cross each other to form an insertion hole  711 . The electric wire  20  is inserted into the insertion hole  711  of the insertion member  71 . The circulation moving device is constituted by, for example, an actuator which moves in the X direction and an actuator which moves in the Y direction. 
     The circulation moving device circulates the insertion member  71  so that the insertion hole  711  overlaps the outer peripheral surface of the projecting portion  62  as seen from the Z direction and the insertion hole  711  circulates around the central portion of the projecting portion  62 . Incidentally, the trajectory when the insertion hole  711  circulates may be a circle shape or a polygonal shape. According to the configuration in which the circulation guide device  7  is provided as shown in  FIG. 8 , the electric wire  20  can be easily wound around the projecting portion  62 . 
     Further, in the above-described embodiment, the hold device  5  for holding the winding start portion  20 A of the electric wire  20  is moved by the initial position determining device. However, in the case where the electric wire  20  tends to move along the circumferential direction at the beginning of winding, such as in the case where the hold device  5  is disposed in advance in the vicinity of the winding device  6  or in the case where the exit of the guide device  4  is arranged in the vicinity of the winding device  6 , the initial position determining device may be omitted. 
     Further, in the above embodiment, the projecting direction of the projecting portion  62  is inclined with respect to the X direction which is the horizontal direction. However, the projecting direction of the projecting portion is appropriately set according to the direction in which the guide device guides the electric wire  20 , the delivery speed of the electric wire  20 , the distance between the guide device and the projecting portion, flexibility of the electric wire, and the like. For example, when the guide device  4  guides the electric wire  20  in the X direction as in the above-described embodiment, when the delivery speed of the electric wire  20  is high, the distance between the guide device and the projecting portion is short and the electric wire is not easily bent, it is hard for the electric wire  20  to hang down due to gravity. Therefore, the projecting direction of the projecting portion  62  does not have to be inclined with respect to the X direction. 
     In the above-described embodiment, the delivery device  2  has the measuring scale function. However, the delivery device may simply deliver the electric wire or may have other functions. 
     Further, in the above-described embodiment, the projecting portion  62  is formed in a truncated cone shape. However, the projecting portion may have an inclined surface whose outer diameter increases from the tip toward the base portion, and is not limited to a truncated cone shape. For example, the projecting portion may have a conical shape and not have an upper surface, or may be formed in a pyramidal shape or a truncated pyramid shape. In addition, the entire outer peripheral surface of the protruding portion may not be inclined, and the protruding portion may have an inclined surface in a part of the outer peripheral portion. 
     Although the best configurations, methods, and the like for carrying out the present invention are disclosed in the above description, the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, the present invention has been particularly shown and described with particular reference to certain embodiments; however, various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art to the above-described embodiments, in shapes, materials, quantities, and other detailed configurations without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the description that limits the shape, material, etc. disclosed above is exemplarily described for easy understanding of the present invention, and does not limit the present invention. Therefore, the description of the parts with limitations on part or all of the restrictions on their shapes, materials and the like is included in the present invention. 
     REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 
     
         
           1  winding unit 
           2  delivery device 
           4  guide device 
           5  hold device 
           6  winding device 
           61  base portion 
           62  projecting portion 
           621  inclined surface 
           7  circulation guide device 
           71  insertion member 
           711  insertion hole 
           20  electric wire 
           20 A winding start portion