Flat harness and manufacturing method thereof
AssigneeFujikura Ltd.
InventorsKoji Sakiyama, Takehisa Ide
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Among each of the conductors 4a to 4e that form the flat cable 2 of the flat harness 1, at the installation part of the relay connector 6, conductors 4a and 4e, conductors 4a1 and 4a2, and conductors 4e1 and 4e2 are respectively cut and separated, and then connected to the relay connection terminal 8. Thereby, the number of conductors 4 that form the flat cable 2 is decreased to a minimum, and thus it is possible to decrease the unnecessary amount of material. In addition, in the manufacturing steps, the crimping step of the flat cable 2 to the relay connector 6, the cutting step, and the molding step are carried out in one step, and thus the number of manufacturing steps can be decreased.
Claims34
A harness comprising:
- a cable comprising a plurality of conductors surrounded by an insulating covering and arrayed in a substantially flat configuration;
- and
- a plurality of connectors installed at locations along the longitudinal direction of said cable and comprising connection terminals that connect to ones of said plurality of conductors, and connect external circuits to said ones of said plurality of conductors;
- wherein:
- a selected one of said ones of said plurality of conductors to which said connection terminals are connected is cut at a position between the connection terminals;
- and
- the connection terminals disposed at both sides of cut parts of said conductors form respectively different circuits.
A manufacturing method for a harness that comprises a cable comprising a plurality of conductors surrounded by an insulating covering and arrayed in a substantially flat configuration, and a plurality of connectors installed at locations along the longitudinal direction of said cable and comprising connection terminals that connect to ones of said plurality of conductors, and connect external circuits to said ones of said plurality of conductors, comprising:
- a connector installation step of installing each of said plurality of connectors at predetermined positions in the longitudinal direction of said cable such that said connection terminals and said ones of said plurality of conductors are connected;
- and
- a conductor cutting step of cutting a selected one of said conductors at a point between the plurality of connection terminals that are disposed along said conductor.
A harness comprising:
- a cable comprising a plurality of conductors surrounded by an insulating covering and arrayed in a substantially flat configuration;
- a relay connector installed on the cable;
- and
- at least two connectors, each one installed on the cable on either side of the relay connector, wherein:
- a first one of said plurality of conductors extends from a first one of said connectors, passes through said relay connector, and extends to a second one of said connectors;
- and
- a second one of said plurality of connectors extends from the first connector to the relay connector, is cut within the relay connector, and then extends from the relay connector to the second connector.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.