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Method of determining the length of electric wires for use in constructing a wire harness, and method of constructing a wire harness

  • US 6,330,746 B1
  • Filed: 06/21/1999
  • Issued: 12/18/2001
  • Est. Priority Date: 06/22/1998
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A method of determining appropriate lengths of a plurality of wires to be used to construct a wire harness by a manufacturing process, comprising:

  • (1) cutting electric wires of said appropriate lengths, (2) temporarily binding groups of said electric wires together, (3) passing the groups through at least one jig on a wire harness assembly (4) s he groups to each other by winding adhesive tape around the groups, (5) inserting ends of a plurality of the wires into respective cavities in connector housings, (6) using an approximate length for each wire, each said approximate length being based on a respective path through the wire harness that passes through each said jig; and

    (7) determining each of the appropriate lengths by correcting each said approximate length to take into account the following correction factors;

    (a) bending of each of the wires as the wires passes through said at least one jig, correction factor (a) takes into account the difference between (i) a bent length of a wire path, at the center of the wire harness in section, that bends to pass through the center of the distance between fingers of the jig and (ii) a curved length of a wire path, at the center of the wire harness in section, that curves to pass between the center of the distance between the fingers of the jig and an inner peripheral surface of a finger at the side in which the wire is curved, and when one of the wires is intended to be inserted into a cavity in one of the connector housings, (b) the extent to which the wire is intended to extend into the said one of the connector housings, and (c) a distance of the cavity into which the wire is intended to be inserted from a position of said one of the connector housings that is central with respect to the wire harness.

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