Integrated wire harness batch production systems and methods
First Claim
1. A wire harness assembly system comprising:
- a. a wire preparation system that comprises a programmable, automated wire cutting and crimping machine, said wire preparation system being operable to produce at least a first type of prepared wire elements having lengths and transverse dimensions, each of the prepared wire elements of the first type having opposite ends and a wire conductor extending between the opposite ends, said wire conductor having an outer surface and a wire insulator covering substantial portions of said outer surface, and each of the opposite ends being prepared ends characterized either as (i) a stripped end such that a portion of the wire conductor is not covered by the wire insulator at or near the respective end of said wire element, or as (ii) a terminated end such that a wire terminal is integrated with the prepared wire element in electrical communication with the wire conductor at or near the respective end of said wire element;
b. a transportable storage structure removably positionable in a first proximity, said first proximity being proximal to said wire preparation system for receiving said prepared wire elements produced by said wire preparation system, said transportable storage structure containing an array of tubular surfaces assembled in a generally parallel arrangement, wherein;
i. each of said tubular surfaces defines a distinct elongate storage space in which a single wire element of the first type can be stored lengthwise;
ii. each of said tubular surfaces has a first corresponding opening for receiving said single wire element lengthwise into the corresponding storage space defined by that same tubular surface, such that the length of said single wire element is aligned with the length of said storage space;
iii. each individual tubular surface being capable of freely releasing said single wire element from the storage space defined thereby; and
iv. each of said first openings has an identifiable location within the transportable storage structure, the identifiable location of each said first openings being discreet from said first openings of the others of said;
c. a loading system for directing movement of individual wire elements produced by said wire preparation system, to cause loading of said individual wire elements lengthwise into respectively different ones of said elongate storage spaces, said loading system operating to direct movement of said individual wire elements into the respectively different spaces by directing such movement of the individual wire elements from said wire preparation system through the identifiable locations of the respective first corresponding openings; and
d. an indexing system for automatically creating a machine-readable index characterizing the identity of individual storage spaces of said transportable storage structure into which individual wire elements of the first type have been loaded by said loading system.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Virtually-integrated wire harness design and automated production systems and methods that achieve completely integrated data management by automatically producing scripts to dynamically propagate production commands and data to various subsystems for handling assembling necessary circuits and wire harness layout boards to produce corresponding batches of wire harnesses while script-based methods control configuring, testing, and using wire harness layout boards, and assembling, testing, reworking, and delivering wire harnesses. As derived from CAD-created specifications, the production system uses a programmable, automated wire C&C center prepares individual wire circuits. While automatic wire indexing, sorting, and delivery systems transfer circuits into, and retrieve circuits from, a transportable programmable, automated, indexed storage system equipped with an array of individual circuit tubes, and a script-controlled assembly system sends visual, aural, and other cues to help an assembler populate and configure a wire harness layout board with connector blocks and turn posts, and guides the assembler in building, testing, reworking, and delivering the corresponding batch of wire harnesses.
85 Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A wire harness assembly system comprising:
-
a. a wire preparation system that comprises a programmable, automated wire cutting and crimping machine, said wire preparation system being operable to produce at least a first type of prepared wire elements having lengths and transverse dimensions, each of the prepared wire elements of the first type having opposite ends and a wire conductor extending between the opposite ends, said wire conductor having an outer surface and a wire insulator covering substantial portions of said outer surface, and each of the opposite ends being prepared ends characterized either as (i) a stripped end such that a portion of the wire conductor is not covered by the wire insulator at or near the respective end of said wire element, or as (ii) a terminated end such that a wire terminal is integrated with the prepared wire element in electrical communication with the wire conductor at or near the respective end of said wire element; b. a transportable storage structure removably positionable in a first proximity, said first proximity being proximal to said wire preparation system for receiving said prepared wire elements produced by said wire preparation system, said transportable storage structure containing an array of tubular surfaces assembled in a generally parallel arrangement, wherein; i. each of said tubular surfaces defines a distinct elongate storage space in which a single wire element of the first type can be stored lengthwise; ii. each of said tubular surfaces has a first corresponding opening for receiving said single wire element lengthwise into the corresponding storage space defined by that same tubular surface, such that the length of said single wire element is aligned with the length of said storage space; iii. each individual tubular surface being capable of freely releasing said single wire element from the storage space defined thereby; and iv. each of said first openings has an identifiable location within the transportable storage structure, the identifiable location of each said first openings being discreet from said first openings of the others of said; c. a loading system for directing movement of individual wire elements produced by said wire preparation system, to cause loading of said individual wire elements lengthwise into respectively different ones of said elongate storage spaces, said loading system operating to direct movement of said individual wire elements into the respectively different spaces by directing such movement of the individual wire elements from said wire preparation system through the identifiable locations of the respective first corresponding openings; and d. an indexing system for automatically creating a machine-readable index characterizing the identity of individual storage spaces of said transportable storage structure into which individual wire elements of the first type have been loaded by said loading system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A wire harness assembly system comprising:
-
a. a wire preparation system that comprises a programmable, automated wire cutting and crimping machine, said wire preparation system being operable to produce at least a first type and a second type of prepared wire elements having lengths and transverse dimensions, each of the prepared wire elements of the first type and the second type having a wire conductor covered with a wire insulator and having at least one integrated terminal in electrical communication with the wire conductor at an end of the wire element; b. a transportable storage structure containing an array of plastic tubes assembled in a generally parallel arrangement, wherein; i. each of said tubular surfaces defines an elongate storage space in which a single wire element can be stored lengthwise; ii. each of said tubular surfaces having a first corresponding opening for receiving such a single wire element into said storage space; iii. each individual tubular surface being capable of freely releasing a single wire element from the storage space defined thereby; and iv. each of said first openings has an identifiable location within the transportable storage structure, the identifiable location of each said first openings being discreet from the others of said first openings; and c. an indexed loading system for directing movement of individual wire elements produced by said wire preparation system, to cause loading of said individual wire elements lengthwise into respectively different ones of said elongate storage spaces, said indexed loading system operating to direct movement of said individual wire elements into the respectively different spaces by directing such movement of the individual wire elements from said wire preparation system through the identifiable locations of the respective first corresponding openings; d. a first machine readable data storage system; e. a first data recording system for creating and storing location data in said first machine readable data storage system, said location data representing the types of wire elements that are loaded by said indexed loading system relative to the storage spaces in which the corresponding prepared wire elements are stored; f. an ejection system for selectively causing movement of individual wire elements from their respective storage spaces to a location at which an assembler can retrieve the same for assembly of a wire harness; g. said ejection system being associated with a data processor for controlling removal and presentation of said wire elements from said storage structure and to a wire harness assembler based in part on the location data in said first data storage device; h. a second memory storage system to store said indexes for said prepared wires stowed in said array of tubular surfaces, and i. a second communication means for said second memory storage system to receive said indexes from said computer-controlled prepared wire indexing, sorting, and transfer system and to transmit said indexes to a computer-controlled indexed prepared wire retrieval system. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
Specification