Wire harness and wire harness assembling method

An assembling method of a wire harness comprising:

• a short-circuit process in which a plurality of wire terminals are electrically shorted to one another through use of a joint connector, each of the plurality of wire terminals being provided to the plurality of wire terminals included in a wire harness main body;
• and
• a joint connector fixing process in which the joint connector is fixed onto an outer surface of the wire harness main body,
• wherein, the joint connector used to short the wire terminals to one another in the short-circuit process comprises:
• a joint terminal contacting each of the wire terminals, and thereby shorting the wire terminals to one another;
• and a connector housing holding the joint terminal and each of the wire terminals while housing the joint terminal and each of the wire terminals therein, respectively,
• wherein, the joint terminal comprises:
• a plurality of electrical contact portions aligned in a direction substantially orthogonal to an axial direction of the wires connected to the wire terminals;
• and a short-circuit portion extending in a direction of the alignment of the electrical contact portions, and connecting to each of the electrical contact portions;
• wherein, the connector housing comprises:
• an external wall surrounding a terminal chamber which is configured to house each of the wire terminals and is open to the outside;
• and a plurality of terminal locking tabs integrally formed with the external wall, and each locking a respective one of the wire terminals housed in the terminal chamber while maintaining contact with the joint terminal, each of the terminal locking tabs being configured to deflect between a locking position that locks each of the wire terminals and an unlocking position that unlocks each of the wire terminals by retracting outwardly of the external wall from the locking position,
• wherein, in the short-circuit process, each of the wire terminals is inserted into the terminal chamber, and is locked by the respective terminal locking tab in a position in contact with the joint terminal, thereby shorting the wire terminals to one another,
• wherein, in the joint connector fixing process, after all of the wire terminals are inserted in the terminal chamber, and are locked by the terminal locking tabs, the joint connector is fixed onto a peripheral surface of the wire harness main body while an outer surface of the external wall of the connector housing faces and contacts the peripheral surface of the wire harness main body, the outer surface of the external wall of the connector housing being provided with the terminal locking tabs.