Flat cable wiring harness and method of producing same
First Claim
1. A cable harness assembly comprising:
- a flat ribbon cable having a plurality of longitudinally extending conductors encapsulated in a longitudinally extending insulator for insulating said conductors from each other and from external engagement,said cable folded at respective positions for extending said conductors in a selected direction to a first termination position at which said insulator is longitudinally slit to form a first projecting conductor extending from a fold edge of said cable,a folded end on said projecting conductor for extending said conductor in the direction of said cable fold edge,means establishing an electrical connection to the projecting conductor,and a plurality of reverse bends in another conductor of said cable extending from said fold edge at the end of said slit and having a length substantially equal to the folded projecting portion of said projecting conductor for extending said one and other conductor in a common cable portion to another position.
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Abstract
The following specification describes a system for prefabricating a wiring harness by extending the conductors of flat ribbon cable in desired directions to specific or predetermined locations and slitting the insulating lengthwise at those locations to permit selected conductors to project for connection to a contactor terminal.
A projecting conductor is also folded back if it is to be connected to a contact at another location, and to enable the folded back conductor and the other conductors to then extend in a smooth cable, the other conductors are folded at the end of the slit in two reverse legs or three bends corresponding in length to the projection of the connected folded back conductor.
Contacts having insulation piercing shanks of unique design are provided for secure insulation piercing engagement with either folded projecting conductors or terminated conductors.
85 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A cable harness assembly comprising:
a flat ribbon cable having a plurality of longitudinally extending conductors encapsulated in a longitudinally extending insulator for insulating said conductors from each other and from external engagement, said cable folded at respective positions for extending said conductors in a selected direction to a first termination position at which said insulator is longitudinally slit to form a first projecting conductor extending from a fold edge of said cable, a folded end on said projecting conductor for extending said conductor in the direction of said cable fold edge, means establishing an electrical connection to the projecting conductor, and a plurality of reverse bends in another conductor of said cable extending from said fold edge at the end of said slit and having a length substantially equal to the folded projecting portion of said projecting conductor for extending said one and other conductor in a common cable portion to another position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for prefabricating a cable harness assembly comprising the steps of;
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providing a flat ribbon cable having a plurality of longitudinally extending conductors encapsulated in a longitudinally extending insulator for insulating said conductors from each other and from external engagement, folding said cable at respective positions for extending said conductors in a selected direction to a first termination position, slitting said insulator longitudinally between a pair of conductors to project one conductor from a fold edge of said cable, folding said one conductor at an end spaced from said fold edge to extend said conductor in the direction of said fold edge from said folded end, and providing a plurality of reverse bends in said other conductor of said pair extending from said fold edge and having a length substantially equal to the length of said folded conductor projecting from said fold edge for extending said pair of conductors in coplanar relationship in a common cable portion. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An insulation piercing terminal for establishing electrical engagement with either one strand or a plurality of strands of a flat ribbon conductor embedded in the insulating material of a flat ribbon cable, the improvement comprising;
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an elongate shank portion on said terminal having a plurality of spaced tangs offset in opposite directions from the longitudinal axis of said shank portion with a passage adjacent each tang extending toward said axis, an arm extending transversely to said axis from an edge of said shank portion for each tang and passage with each arm having a tang and passage aligned with a respective one of said spaced tangs and passages, and means for enabling each arm to be folded for overlapping a conductor of said cable and for passing each tang through said conductor and engaging the tang of each arm in a respective one of said spaced passages and the spaced tangs in a respective arm passage in response to either one strand or a plurality of strands of said conductor being located between said shank portion and said arms. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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Specification