JP5553031B2 - Wire harness, method for manufacturing covering member, method for manufacturing wire harness - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a wire harness, a method for manufacturing a covering member, and a method for manufacturing a wire harness.

  Vehicles represented by automobiles are equipped with various electrical equipment such as motors, fans, electronic control units for controlling them, various sensors, and switches. In order to electrically connect each of these electrical devices, a wire harness composed of electric wires is disposed in each part of the vehicle.

  For such a wire harness, it may be required to partially protect the electric wire from contact with members around the site to be installed. In such a case, the protective material is attached to the electric wire. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a wire harness in which a non-woven material covers an electric wire. In the wire harness according to Patent Document 1, a flat circuit body is sandwiched between coverings made of a thermoplastic material or the like, and a heating / cooling press is performed using a pair of molds so that the coverings are pressed against each other toward the other covering body. doing.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-197038

  However, in the wire harness described in Patent Document 1, when the flat circuit body extending from the covering body is bent, the stress when the flat circuit body bends is a boundary portion between the edge portion of the covering body and the flat circuit body. Concentrate on. For this reason, the flat circuit body at the boundary portion is easily damaged and may be disconnected.

  In particular, when the wire harness is attached to an opening / closing part that can be opened and closed with respect to a vehicle such as a back door panel, the flat circuit body is bent along with opening / closing of the opening / closing part. For this reason, the damage of the flat circuit body due to the stress concentration as described above becomes a larger problem.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said subject, and it aims at suppressing that external force concentrates on the boundary part of the edge part of a coating | coated member and the electric wire extended from the coating | coated member.

In order to solve the above problems, a wire harness according to a first aspect of the present invention is formed of a non-woven material that is heat-pressed with an electric wire, and in the state where a gap can be formed between the electric wire and the periphery of the electric wire. A covering member that covers the inner periphery of the covering member is harder than an outer periphery of the covering member.

A wire harness according to a second invention is the wire harness according to the first invention, wherein the covering member is made of a non-woven material having a first region and a second region harder than the first region. The second region is formed by rounding a plurality of rounds so as to constitute the inner circumferential side.

A method for manufacturing a covering member according to a third invention is a method for manufacturing a covering member that is made of a heat-pressed non-woven material and covers the periphery of an electric wire, and (a) relative to the non-woven material. A step of forming a hardened portion and a soft portion; and (b) a step of winding the non-woven material into a cylindrical shape so that the hardened portion is disposed on an inner peripheral surface.

A method for manufacturing a covering member according to a fourth invention is a method for manufacturing a covering member according to the third invention, wherein in the step (a), the non-woven material is relatively hard and soft. In the step (b), the non-woven material is wound a plurality of times so that the region to be hardened is disposed on the inner peripheral side.

A method for manufacturing a covering member according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is a method for manufacturing a covering member according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, wherein the step (a) is performed by heating and pressing a part of the non-woven material. In the step (b), after the step (a) is performed, the non-woven material that maintains a soft state is tubed on a core member that defines the shape of the inner peripheral surface. It is a process of winding in a shape.

A method for manufacturing a covering member according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is a method for manufacturing a covering member that is made of a heated non-woven material and covers the periphery of an electric wire, and (c) the non-woven material is coated on the inner peripheral surface. A step of forming a tubular non-woven portion by winding it around a core member defining the shape; and (d) heating the inner peripheral side portion of the tubular non-woven portion via the core member. And making it harder than the outer peripheral side of the non-woven portion.

The manufacturing method of the covering member which concerns on 7th invention is a manufacturing method of the covering member which concerns on 5th or 6th invention, Comprising: The said core member has an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of the said electric wire. Yes.

A method for manufacturing a wire harness disposed in a vehicle according to an eighth aspect of the invention includes: (e) a step of manufacturing a covering member by the method of manufacturing a covering member according to any one of the third to seventh aspects; And (g) determining a position of the covering member with respect to the electric wire.

According to the first and second inventions, the covering member covers the periphery of the electric wire in a state where a gap can be formed between the electric wire and the contact portion between the electric wire and the edge of the covering member is dispersed to some extent. . Thereby, it can suppress that an electric wire receives damage.

In particular, according to the first aspect , the inner peripheral portion of the covering member is harder than the outer peripheral portion. Therefore, the electric wire is reliably protected by the inner peripheral portion of the covering member. Further, the outer peripheral portion of the covering member is softer than the inner peripheral portion. For this reason, since the part of the outer peripheral side of a coating | coated member softens the impact of a contact with arrangement | positioning object site | part, it can suppress that a sound generate | occur | produces. That is, the covering member can satisfy both performances of electric wire protection performance and noise reduction performance.

According to the third to fifth inventions, the non-woven material is formed into a cylindrical shape by forming a relatively hard part and a soft part in the non-woven material and disposing the hard part on the inner peripheral surface. A covering member is manufactured by winding. As a result, it is possible to manufacture a covering member having a hard inner peripheral surface and a soft outer peripheral surface that can satisfy both of the protection performance and the silencing performance of the electric wire.

In particular, according to the fifth invention, the covering member is manufactured by winding a non-woven material maintaining a soft state into a cylindrical shape around the core member by heat-pressing a part of the non-woven material. . For this reason, the curvature radius of an inner peripheral surface can be made uniform in the circumferential direction.

According to the sixth invention, the non-woven material is wound around the core member defining the shape of the inner peripheral surface in a cylindrical shape to form the cylindrical non-woven portion, and the inner peripheral side portion of the cylindrical non-woven portion is By heating through a member, it is harder than the outer peripheral side of a cylindrical nonwoven part, and a coating | coated member is manufactured. As a result, it is possible to manufacture a covering member having a hard inner peripheral surface and a soft outer peripheral surface that can satisfy both of the protection performance and the silencing performance of the electric wire. The core member defines the shape of the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical non-woven portion and is used for heating to make the inner peripheral side portion of the cylindrical non-woven portion harder than the outer peripheral side portion. Therefore, the apparatus used for a prior heating press becomes unnecessary.

According to the seventh invention, since the core member has an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of the electric wire, a covering member having an inner circumference larger than the outer circumference of the electric wire can be produced reliably.

According to the eighth aspect of the invention, a wire harness including a covering member wound in a cylindrical shape in which a hardened portion is arranged on the inner peripheral side and a soft portion is arranged on the outer peripheral side is manufactured. As a result, a wire harness having a cylindrical protective member having a hard inner peripheral surface and a soft outer peripheral surface, which can satisfy both the protection performance and the silencing performance of the electric wire can be manufactured. Moreover, since the position of a protection member can be determined with respect to an electric wire, the protection member can cover reliably the position which should be protected among electric wires.

It is a perspective view of the wire harness which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a side view of a heating press apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows a mode that a nonwoven material is wound around the core member which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows a mode that a 2nd nonwoven part is wound around the 1st cylindrical part which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a side view of a heating press apparatus. It is a side view of the wire harness which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the mode of preparation of the coating | coated member which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following embodiment is an example embodying the present invention, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

<1. First Embodiment>
A wire harness 1 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 includes an electric wire bundle 3 and a covering member 10 made of a non-woven material 40.

  First, the wire bundle 3 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the electric wire bundle 3 has a structure in which a plurality of electric wires 2 are bundled. The electric wire 2 has a structure in which a core wire which is a linear conductor is coated with an insulating coating made of an insulator such as a resin. Connection terminals are attached to both ends of such an electric wire 2. When the connection terminal attached to the electric wire 2 is connected to each electrical equipment via a connector or the like, the wire harness 1 is connected to each electrical equipment. As the form of the electric wire 2 used for the electric wire bundle 3, other forms such as a circular cross section or a flat cable are also conceivable. Moreover, in this Embodiment, although it is the electric wire bundle 3 comprised by the some electric wire 2, the electric wire which comprises the wire harness 1 may be single. Other optical cables may be arranged along the electric wires 2.

  A covering member 10 covers the outer periphery of such a wire bundle 3. The covering member 10 is a cylindrical member that covers the periphery of the electric wire bundle 3, and has an inner diameter that can form a gap with the outer periphery of the electric wire bundle 3. Such a covering member 10 is composed of a non-woven material 40 that is heat-pressed.

  The nonwoven material 40 includes intertwined basic fibers and an adhesive resin called a binder. The adhesive resin is a resin having a melting point (for example, about 110 ° C. to 150 ° C.) lower than the melting point of the basic fiber. Such a nonwoven material 40 is heated to a temperature lower than the melting point of the basic fiber and higher than the melting point of the adhesive resin, so that the adhesive resin melts and melts into the gaps of the basic fibers. Thereafter, when the temperature of the nonwoven material 40 is lowered to a temperature lower than the temperature of the adhesive resin, the adhesive resin is cured in a state in which the basic fibers existing in the vicinity are bonded. Thereby, the shape of the nonwoven material 40 becomes harder than the state before heating, and is maintained in the shape molded by the mold during heating.

  The adhesive resin is, for example, a granular resin or a fibrous resin. It is also conceivable that the adhesive resin is formed so as to cover the periphery of the core fiber. As described above, the fiber having a structure in which the core fiber is coated with the adhesive resin is referred to as a binder fiber. As the material of the core fiber, for example, the same material as the basic fiber is adopted.

  Further, the basic fiber only needs to maintain the fiber state at the melting point of the adhesive resin, and various fibers can be adopted in addition to the resin fiber. Further, as the adhesive resin, for example, a thermoplastic resin having a melting point lower than the melting point of the basic fiber is employed. As a combination of the basic fiber constituting the nonwoven material and the adhesive resin, for example, a resin fiber mainly composed of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is adopted as the basic fiber, and copolymerization of PET and PEI (polyethylene isophthalate). It is conceivable that a resin is employed as the adhesive resin. In such a nonwoven material, the melting point of the basic fiber is about 250 ° C., and the melting point of the adhesive resin is about 110 ° C. to 150 ° C. Such a non-woven material 40 is heated to a temperature of about 110 ° C. to 250 ° C. in the mold, so that the adhesive resin melts and binds the surrounding basic fibers to a shape along the inner surface of the mold. Molded. And after heating, by cooling, the nonwoven material 40 is hardened | cured, maintaining the shape | molded shape.

  The covering member 10 has at least one round of the non-woven material 40 that does not constitute the first cylindrical portion 13 on the outer periphery of the first cylindrical portion 13 formed by rolling the non-woven material 40 as described above into a cylindrical shape. It is configured by rounding (here, a plurality of rounds). That is, the shape of the cross section orthogonal to the extending direction of the covering member 10 is a multilayered shape in which the nonwoven material 40 is formed around the first cylindrical portion 13 made of the center nonwoven material. . And the part of the nonwoven material 40 which comprises the 1st cylindrical part 13 formed in the center is hard compared with the part of the nonwoven material 40 which covers the outer periphery. That is, the covering member 10 has a structure in which the inner peripheral portion is harder than the outer peripheral portion.

  Such a covering member 10 covers the periphery of the wire bundle 3. The inner diameter of the covering member 10 is formed to such a size that a gap can be formed between the covering member 10 and the wire bundle 3. Specifically, the outer diameter of the electric wire bundle 3 (more specifically, the outer diameter of the minimum circumscribed circle including the cross section of the electric wire) is smaller than the outer diameter of the first cylindrical portion 13 of the covering member 10. That is, the wire harness 1 includes the electric wire 2 and the covering member 10 that is formed of the heat-pressed nonwoven material 40 and covers the periphery of the electric wire 2 in a state where a gap can be formed between the electric wire 2 and the wire harness 1.

  The positioning of the covering member 10 with respect to the wire bundle 3 is preferably performed as follows. That is, the fixture is attached so as to connect the one end along the extending direction of the covering member 10 and the wire bundle 3. In the present embodiment, an adhesive tape 18 is preferably used as the fixture. The adhesive tape 18 is wound so as to cover a gap region between the covering member 10 and the wire bundle 3 and in a plane direction perpendicular to the extending direction of the wire bundle 3 (details will be described later). By being taped in this way, the covering member 10 can be fixed at a fixed position with respect to the extending direction of the wire bundle 3. The form in which the above-mentioned adhesive tape 18 tapes the wire bundle 3 and the covering member 10 is merely an example, and various forms can be used for positioning the covering member 10 with respect to the wire bundle 3.

  Next, a method for manufacturing the wire harness 1 will be described.

  First, a partial surface region (region to be hardened) of the non-woven material 40 having a rectangular surface region is heated and pressed by the heat press device 30 (hereinafter referred to as a first heat pressing step). The heat press apparatus 30 has a structure shown in FIG. 2 as an example. As described above, the heating press device 30 includes the lower mold unit 31 and the upper mold unit 35.

  The lower mold unit 31 includes a lower mold member 33 and a heater 34. The lower mold member 33 is a long member formed of a material such as a metal having excellent thermal conductivity. The lower mold member 33 has a protrusion 331 that protrudes upward and is formed along the longitudinal direction. Of the surfaces constituting the protrusion 331, the shape of the contact surface with the upper mold unit 35 is rectangular. As shown in FIG. 2, the heater 34 is embedded in the lower mold member 33.

  The upper mold unit 35 includes an upper mold member 36 and a heater 37. The upper mold member 36 has a structure in which the lower mold member 33 is inverted, and is a long member formed of a material such as a metal having excellent thermal conductivity, like the lower mold member 33. The upper mold member 36 has a protrusion 361 that protrudes downward and is formed along the longitudinal direction. Of the surfaces constituting the protrusion 361, the shape of the contact surface with the lower mold unit 31 is a rectangular shape like the protrusion 331. As shown in FIG. 2, the heater 37 is embedded in the upper mold member 36.

  The heaters 34 and 37 that heat the protrusion 331 and the protrusion 361 are not necessarily embedded in the upper mold member 36 and the lower mold member 33, and can transfer heat to the protrusions 331 and 361. If so, the heaters 34 and 37 may have any installation form.

  The longitudinal direction of the upper mold member 36 and the lower mold member 33 included in the heating press device 30 and the direction of one side of the nonwoven material 40 are aligned so that the nonwoven material 40 is between the protrusion 331 and the protrusion 361. Set to The protrusions 331 and 361 heated by the heaters 34 and 37 sandwich the first non-woven part 41 of the non-woven material 40.

  In the first heat press step, the first heat press condition when the nonwoven material 40 is hot pressed is set by, for example, the heating temperature, the press time, the press pressure, and the like. In general, the higher the heating temperature, the longer the pressing time, and the higher the pressing pressure, the harder the nonwoven material 40 after cooling because it is compressed into a dense structure.

  Then, the surface area | region (area | region which becomes hard) of the 1st nonwoven part 41 heat-pressed among the nonwoven materials 40 is rounded to a cylinder shape. At this time, the non-woven material 40 is melted by being hot-pressed and wound around the outer periphery of the core member 50 before the adhesive resin is cooled and cured (see FIG. 3). The core member 50 is made of metal, and for example, iron or the like is used. The outer diameter of the core member 50 is larger than the outer diameter of the wire bundle 3. The non-woven material 40 is placed in such a state that it is wound around the core member 50 for a certain period of time, so that the melted adhesive resin is cooled and solidified. That is, the nonwoven material 40 is cooled and solidified into a cylindrical shape having an inner diameter corresponding to the outer diameter of the core member 50.

  The core member 50 is pulled out, and the first cylindrical portion 13 in a state where the nonwoven material 40 is rounded once is formed. Since the first tubular portion 13 is formed by winding the nonwoven material 40 around the core member 50 having a larger outer periphery than the outer periphery of the wire bundle 3, the inner periphery of the first tubular portion 13 is the outer periphery of the wire bundle 3. Bigger than.

  In this way, a region to be hardened is formed by heating and pressing a part of the nonwoven material 40, and the nonwoven material 40 in a soft state is wound around the rod-shaped core member 50 by the heating press. By winding a part of the nonwoven material 40 around the core member 50, the radius of curvature of the portion of the nonwoven material 40 wound around the core member 50 can be made uniform along the circumferential direction. That is, the shape of the inner peripheral surface of the first non-woven portion 41 is defined by the core member 50. Further, since the core member 50 has an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of the wire bundle 3, a gap can be reliably formed between the electric wire 2 and the covering member 10.

  The soft nonwoven material 40 that has been hot-pressed may not necessarily be wound around the core member 50. The non-woven material 40 that has been heat-pressed may be wound into a cylindrical shape without using the core member 50.

  Further, instead of winding the hot-pressed nonwoven material 40 around the core member 50, the hot-pressing may be performed on the nonwoven material 40 in a state of being wound around the core member 50 once. That is, this is a method for manufacturing the covering member 10 in which the step (a) and the step (b) are performed simultaneously. In this case, the non-woven material 40 wound once around the core member 50 is set together with the core member 50 in a heat press apparatus as shown in FIG. The portion of nonwoven material 40 that is not heated at this stage extends out of the hot press. After the heat pressing, the first non-woven portion 41 is hardened by being cooled and solidified.

  The wire bundle 3 is passed through the first tubular portion 13 made of the nonwoven material thus formed, and the wire bundle 3 is partially covered by the first tubular portion 13. And the part (it calls the 2nd non-woven part 42) of the nonwoven material 40 which does not comprise the 1st cylindrical part 13 is wound around the outer periphery of the 1st cylindrical part 13 with which the wire bundle 3 was passed. That is, the nonwoven material 40 includes a first nonwoven part 41 and a second nonwoven part 42. Note that the wire bundle 3 is not limited to the form inserted through the first cylindrical part 13 and may be inserted into the first cylindrical part 13 after the covering member 10 is formed. Good.

  The second non-woven portion 42 is wound around the first tubular portion 13 by a plurality of turns by rotating the first tubular portion 13 so as not to break the shape of the first tubular portion 13 (see FIG. 4). ). That is, a multilayered cylindrical structure in which the first cylindrical portion 13 exists at the center is formed. Double-sided tape 20 is affixed to the end of the second non-woven portion 42 to be wound. The end of the second non-woven part 42 to which the double-sided tape 20 is attached is joined to the outer peripheral surface of the second non-woven part 42 that has been wound first by the double-sided tape 20.

  In this way, the heat press (hereinafter referred to as the second heat press step) is performed again in a state where the bonding with the double-sided tape 20 is performed. By performing the second heat pressing step, the second non-woven portion 42 is bonded more firmly than the double-sided tape 20. In addition, joining of the 2nd nonwoven part 42 by the double-sided tape 20 does not necessarily need to be performed, and the 2nd heat press process is performed in the state where joining of the 2nd nonwoven part 42 by the double-sided tape 20 is not performed. It doesn't matter. Moreover, the 2nd nonwoven part 42 does not necessarily need to be joined by heat-pressing at a 2nd heat-press process. For example, the second non-woven portion 42 may be joined by tape winding or sewing.

  The second heat pressing step is performed on the nonwoven material in a state where the second nonwoven portion 42 is wound around the first tubular portion 13. The heat press apparatus 9 is an apparatus shown by FIG. 5 as an example. As shown in FIG. 5, the hot press device 9 includes an upper mold unit 95 and a lower mold unit 91.

  The lower mold unit 91 includes a lower mold member 92 and a heater 93. The lower mold member 92 is a long member made of a metal having excellent thermal conductivity. The lower die member 92 is formed in a groove shape that is open at both ends in the longitudinal direction, and the shape of the inner cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction is a semicircular shape. The semicircular roundness of the lower mold member 92 conforms to the shape of the lower portion of the nonwoven material in a state where the second nonwoven portion 42 is wound around the first tubular portion 13.

  The upper mold unit 95 includes an upper mold member 96 and a heater 97. The upper mold member 96 is a long member formed of a material such as a metal having excellent thermal conductivity. The upper mold member 96 protrudes in a shape that fits into the groove-shaped portion of the lower mold member 92. And the shape of the surface which fits in the lower mold | type member 92 and comprises an inner peripheral part is a semicircle shape.

  The heaters 93 and 97 are embedded in the upper mold member 96 and the lower mold member 92, respectively. The heaters 93 and 97 heat the nonwoven material 40 to a temperature lower than the melting point of the basic fiber and higher than the melting point of the adhesive resin via the lower mold member 92 and the upper mold member 96. The heaters 93 and 97 are not necessarily embedded in the upper mold member 96 and the lower mold member 92. As long as heat can be transferred to the outer surfaces of the upper mold member 96 and the lower mold member 92, the heaters 93 and 97 may be installed in any manner.

  The non-woven material in a state in which the wire bundle 3 is passed and the second non-woven portion 42 is wound around the first tubular portion 13 is placed on the hot press device 9, and the second hot press step is performed. Since it is joined with the double-sided tape 20, the state in which the second non-woven portion 42 is wound around the first tubular portion 13 is maintained, and the second heat pressing step is performed. Thus, the 2nd nonwoven part 42 in which the 2nd heat press process was performed is called the 2nd cylindrical part 15. FIG. By performing the second heat pressing step, the portion of the rolled non-woven material 40 of the second non-woven portion 42 is thermally welded, so that the shape of the second cylindrical portion 15 is maintained. In this way, the covering member 10 is formed.

  The second heating press condition is also set by the heating temperature, pressing time, pressing pressure, etc. as described above. However, the hardness of the nonwoven material 40 that is cured by the heating press under the second heating press condition is set to be softer than the hardness of the nonwoven material 40 that is cured by the heating press under the first heating press condition. . For example, under the second heating press condition, the heating temperature is lower than the first heating condition, the pressing time is short, and the pressing pressure is small. Therefore, although the 2nd cylindrical part 15 hardens | cures by a 2nd heat press process, it does not become hard as the 1st cylindrical part 13. FIG. That is, the 2nd cylindrical part 15 is a state by which the shape was maintained by heat welding, having softness. Thus, the second cylindrical portion 15 is a portion wound around the outer periphery of the first cylindrical portion 13 and is relatively soft compared to the first cylindrical portion 13.

  In order to prevent the formed covering member 10 from moving along the extending direction of the wire bundle 3, the adhesive tape 18 is wound around one end of the covering member 10 and the wire bundle 3. Of the both ends of the covering member 10 from which the wire bundle 3 extends, the end on the side where the wire bundle 3 moves by an external force is left as it is, and the end opposite to the side on which the wire bundle 3 moves is the adhesive tape 18. Tape winding is performed. The adhesive tape 18 extends from the end of the covering member 10 to the portion of the wire bundle 3 extending from the covering member 10 through the end opening edge of the covering member 10 and the wire bundle 3 or vice versa. Wound up. The adhesive tape 18 may be spirally wound around the covering member 10 or the wire bundle 3. Between the end opening edge of the covering member 10 and the wire bundle 3, the end opening of the covering member 10 with the adhesive tape 18 disposed in the end opening edge of the covering member 10. It is good to wind so that between an edge and the wire bundle 3 may be obstruct | occluded. At this time, the wire bundle 3 is disposed at the center of the opening edge of the covering member 10. As a result, the covering member 10 is positioned with respect to the wire bundle 3 by the adhesive tape 18. The location where the covering member 10 is positioned by the adhesive tape 18 may be not only one end of the covering member 10 but also both ends. In this way, the wire harness 1 according to this embodiment is manufactured. As described above, the covering member 10 forms a relatively hard region and a soft region in the non-woven material 40, and the hard region is arranged on the inner peripheral side, so that a plurality of the non-woven materials 40 are disposed. Manufactured by rolling around.

  In addition, the non-woven material 40 which is hardened on one side and processed softly on the other side of the surface area of the non-woven material 40 has one side on the inner peripheral side and the other side on the outer peripheral side, The covering member 10b may be formed by being wound once. That is, the form of the wire harness 1b shown in FIG. 6 may be used.

  In order to produce such a covering member 10b, pressing is performed in the thickness direction of the nonwoven material 40 while only the pressing surface of one mold is heated. Only one side of the nonwoven material 40 that has been hot pressed is cured and the other side that has been pressed remains soft. Therefore, the covering member 10b can be manufactured by winding the nonwoven material 40 so that the hardened surface is on the inner peripheral side. The joining of the ends is performed by heat welding, joining with a tape, sewing, or the like.

  Thus, the covering members 10 and 10b according to the present embodiment form a relatively hard part and a soft part on the nonwoven material 40, and arrange the hard part on the inner peripheral surface. It is manufactured by winding the nonwoven material 40 into a cylindrical shape.

  As described above, the wire harnesses 1 and 1b according to the present embodiment are formed of the electric wire 2 and the heat-pressed nonwoven material 40, and in a state where a gap can be formed between the electric wire 2 and the electric wire 2 Covering members 10 and 10b covering the periphery of. For this reason, since the electric wire 2 which received external force accompanying opening / closing of the opening / closing portion can move so as to sway within a certain range within the gap, the contact portion between the electric wire 2 and the edge portions of the covering members 10 and 10b Will be dispersed without being fixed at a certain location. That is, it is possible to suppress the external force generated by opening / closing of the opening / closing portion from being concentrated locally on the wire bundle 3. Thereby, it can suppress that the electric wire 2 receives damage locally and is disconnected.

  By the way, as in the prior art, when heat pressing is performed by a mold from the outer side of the thermoplastic felt, heat is transferred from the outer peripheral portion to the inner peripheral portion of the thermoplastic felt. The outer peripheral portion is hard and the inner peripheral portion is soft. Since the outer peripheral portion is hard, the electric wire is protected, but abnormal noise occurs due to vibration caused by contact with the members around the site where the covering is disposed.

  On the other hand, as for the covering members 10 and 10b which concern on this embodiment, the 1st cylindrical part 13 which is an inner peripheral part is relatively harder than the 2nd cylindrical part 15 which is an outer peripheral part. It is a structure. For this reason, the electric wire 2 is protected from surrounding members by the first cylindrical portion 13 having a hard property. Further, since the second cylindrical portion 15 that is the outer peripheral portion is softer than the first cylindrical portion 13, even if the second cylindrical portion 15 comes into contact with members around the portion where the covering member 10 is disposed. Vibration does not occur. For this reason, generation | occurrence | production of unusual noise can be suppressed. That is, the covering member 10 can achieve both the protection performance of the electric wire 2 and the silencing performance. Moreover, the protection performance and the silencing performance of such an electric wire 2 can be further enhanced by making the first tubular portion 13 harder and the second tubular portion 15 softer. If the 2nd cylindrical part 15 is joined without performing a heat press, it is possible to make the 2nd cylindrical part 15 softer.

  Moreover, since the covering member 10 and the electric wire 2 are positioned at a fixed position, the position where the covering member 10 should protect the electric wire 2 can be reliably protected.

  Moreover, the formation of the first cylindrical portion 13 which is a region to be hardened is performed by winding the heat-pressed nonwoven material 40 (first nonwoven portion 41) around the core member 50. For this reason, the curvature radius of the inner peripheral part of the 1st cylindrical part 13 can be made uniform in the circumferential direction. In addition, by making the outer periphery of the core member 50 larger than the outer periphery of the wire bundle 3, a gap can be reliably formed between the wire bundle 3 and the covering member 10.

<2. Second Embodiment>
Next, the covering member 10c according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the following embodiments, the same components as those shown in the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and are different from the covering members 10 and 10b of the first embodiment. Will be described only.

  In the second embodiment, the nonwoven material 40 is heated by the core member 50. In the second embodiment, first, the non-woven material 40 is wound around the core member 50 in a cylindrical shape to form the cylindrical non-woven portion 46. In addition, the cylindrical nonwoven part 46 should just wind 1 round or more as shown in FIG. And the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical non-woven part 46 which contacts the core member 50 is heated by heating the core member 50. The heating of the core member 50 can be performed by connecting the heater 70 to the core member 50, but any form may be used as long as the heating of the core member 50 is possible. By heating, the adhesive resin of the nonwoven material 40 constituting the inner peripheral surface melts. Then, the heater 70 is stopped, that is, the heating is stopped, so that the adhesive resin from which the nonwoven material 40 wound around the core member 50 is melted is cooled and solidified after a certain period of time. That is, the non-woven material 40 has a cylindrical shape with an inner diameter corresponding to the outer diameter of the core member 50. By pulling out the core member 50, the inner peripheral surface of the covering member 10c is harder than the outer peripheral surface.

  At this time, since the core member 50 has an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of the electric wire 2, a covering member 10 c that covers the periphery of the electric wire 2 in a state where a gap can be formed between the core member 50 and the electric wire 2. Can be formed.

  Thus, in the second embodiment, the non-woven material 40 is wound around the core member 50 in a cylindrical shape to form the cylindrical non-woven portion 46. And the part of the inner peripheral side of the cylindrical non-woven part 46 is heated via the core member 50, so that the part of the inner peripheral side is harder than the outer peripheral side of the cylindrical non-woven part 46, and the covering member 10c is made. To manufacture. The core member 50 defines the shape of the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical non-woven portion 46 and is used for heating to make the inner peripheral side portion of the cylindrical non-woven portion 46 harder than the outer peripheral side portion. Therefore, the heating press device 30 used for forming the first cylindrical portion 13 which is a hardened portion is not necessary, and the workability of the work of hardening the inner peripheral side portion of the covering member 10c is improved.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,1b Wire harness 2 Electric wire 3 Wire bundle 10, 10b, 10c Cover member 13 1st cylindrical part 15 2nd cylindrical part 40 Nonwoven material 41 1st non-woven part 42 2nd non-woven part 46 Cylindrical non-woven part 50 cores Element

Claims (8)

Electric wires,
A covering member that is formed of a heat-pressed nonwoven material and covers the periphery of the electric wire in a state in which a gap can be formed between the electric wire,
Equipped with a,
A wire harness in which an inner peripheral portion of the covering member is harder than an outer peripheral portion of the covering member . The wire harness according to claim 1,
The covering member is formed by rolling a non-woven material having a first region and a second region harder than the first region, so that the second region forms an inner peripheral side. Wire harness. A method of manufacturing a covering member made of a non-woven material and covering the periphery of an electric wire,
(A) forming a relatively hard part and a soft part in the nonwoven material;
(B) a step of winding the non-woven material into a cylindrical shape so that the hardened portion is disposed on an inner peripheral surface;
A method for manufacturing a covering member. It is a manufacturing method of the covering member according to claim 3,
In the step (a), in the nonwoven material, a relatively hard region and a soft region are formed,
In the step (b), a method of manufacturing a covering member, wherein the non-woven material is wound a plurality of times so that the region to be hardened is arranged on an inner peripheral side. It is a manufacturing method of the covering member according to claim 4,
The step (a) is a step of forming the region to be hardened by heating and pressing a part of the nonwoven material,
The step (b) is a step of winding the non-woven material that maintains a soft state after the step (a) into a cylindrical shape around a core member that defines the shape of the inner peripheral surface. Manufacturing method. A method of manufacturing a covering member made of a non-woven material and covering the periphery of an electric wire,
(C) winding the non-woven material around a core member that defines the shape of the inner peripheral surface to form a tubular non-woven portion;
(D) the step of making the inner peripheral side portion of the cylindrical nonwoven part harder than the outer peripheral side of the cylindrical nonwoven part by heating through the core member;
A method for manufacturing a covering member. It is a manufacturing method of the covering member according to claim 5 or 6,
The said core member is a manufacturing method of the coating | coated member which has an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of the said electric wire. A method of manufacturing a wire harness disposed in a vehicle,
(E) a step of producing a covering member by the method for producing a covering member according to any one of claims 3 to 7;
(F) a step of inserting an electric wire through the covering member;
(G) determining the position of the covering member relative to the wire;
A method of manufacturing a wire harness comprising:

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