US-12627127-B2 - Wire harness

US12627127B2US 12627127 B2US12627127 B2US 12627127B2US-12627127-B2

Abstract

A wire harness including: a wire; an exterior tube that is tubular and covers an outer circumference of the wire; and a route restrictor that is attached to an outer circumference of the exterior tube, and is configured to restrict a route of the exterior tube, wherein: the exterior tube includes a linear portion, and a corrugated portion that is continuous from the linear portion, the corrugated portion has a higher bendability than the linear portion, and the route restrictor is attached to the linear portion.

Inventors

Katsutoshi Izawa
Kosuke Tanaka
Ryuta Saito

Assignees

SUMITOMO WIRING SYSTEMS, LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20211130
Priority Date: 20201218

Claims (11)

1 . A wire harness comprising: a wire; an exterior tube that is tubular and covers an outer circumference of the wire; a route restrictor that is attached to an outer circumference of the exterior tube, and is configured to restrict a route of the exterior tube, wherein: the exterior tube includes a linear portion, and a corrugated portion that is continuous from the linear portion, the corrugated portion has a higher bendability than the linear portion, the route restrictor includes: a body that covers part of an outer circumference of the exterior tube in a circumferential direction of the wire; and an insertion hole that is formed by two ends of the body in the circumferential direction of the wire, and extends in a length direction of the route restrictor over an entire length of the route restrictor, the insertion hole being an opening into which the exterior tube is insertable, and the route restrictor is attached to the linear portion; a coupler that is annular surrounding the outer circumference of the exterior tube, and extends over a boundary between the linear portion and the corrugated portion, the coupler extending over an end portion of the route restrictor and covering an end of the linear portion; a corrugated portion route restrictor that is attached to an outer circumference of the corrugated portion, and is configured to restrict a route of the corrugated portion, wherein the coupler covers the outer circumference of the exterior tube and an outer circumference of the corrugated portion route restrictor, and couples the exterior tube to the corrugated portion route restrictor, and wherein the coupler extends over a space between the route restrictor and the corrugated portion route restrictor, and surrounds an outer circumference of the route restrictor.
2 . The wire harness according to claim 1 , wherein the linear portion has an outer diameter that is smaller than an outer diameter of the corrugated portion.
3 . The wire harness according to claim 2 , wherein the route restrictor has a length that is shorter than a length of the linear portion.
4 . The wire harness according to claim 3 , wherein the route restrictor attached to the linear portion has an outer diameter that is smaller than or equal to the outer diameter of the corrugated portion.
5 . The wire harness according to claim 1 , wherein the body is major arc-shaped.
6 . The wire harness according to claim 5 , wherein the route restrictor has projections that respectively project toward the exterior tube from inner surfaces of the two ends of the body in the circumferential direction of the wire, and are in contact with an outer surface of the exterior tube.
7 . The wire harness according to claim 6 , wherein the linear portion has at least one recess, each of the projections fitted into a respective one of the at least one recess.
8 . The wire harness according to claim 7 , wherein two of the recesses are provided.
9 . The wire harness according to claim 7 , wherein three or more of the recesses are provided.
10 . The wire harness according to claim 1 , wherein the body is minor arc-shaped.
11 . The wire harness according to claim 1 , wherein: the corrugated portion route restrictor includes a first engagement, which is a protrusion protruding in a radial direction of the exterior tube or a recess formed in the exterior tube in the radial direction, and the coupler includes: a second engagement that engages with the first engagement in a manner of recess/protrusion engagement; and a protrusion that protrudes toward the insertion hole and is located inside the insertion hole.

Description

BACKGROUND The present disclosure relates to a wire harness. Conventionally, wire harnesses are known that include: a corrugated tube in a corrugated shape serving as an exterior member that covers an outer circumference of a wire member; and a route restricting member that covers part of the corrugated tube in a circumferential direction and restricts a route in which the wire member is routed (see, for example, JP 2013-55760A). The corrugated tube of the wire harness disclosed in JP 2013-55760A has a slit extending in a length direction. The route restricting member includes a route maintaining member provided along an outer circumference of the corrugated tube, and an attachment member provided in the slit. The attachment member is engageable with both an inner circumferential portion of the slit and an outer circumferential portion of the route maintaining member. By winding and fixing the corrugated tube, the route maintaining member, and the attachment member with tape, the route of the wire member is restricted. Such a wire harness has a configuration in which the route is restricted at a position at which the route restricting member is attached so that the wire member is not bent, and the wire member is easily bendable at a position at which no route restricting member is provided. With this, for example, the wire harness installed in a vehicle can be prevented from being suspended at the position at which the route restricting member is attached. Also, for example, when installing the wire harness in the vehicle, an operator can suitably bend the wire harness at the position at which no route restricting member is provided, and install the bent wire harness. SUMMARY However, in the above-described wire harness, the exterior member is a corrugated tube in a corrugated shape and is bendable in its entirety in the longitudinal direction, and thus, for example, the route restricting member needs to have a sufficient thickness in order to achieve sufficient route restriction. There is a demand for a wire harness with a simple configuration that can partially achieve sufficient route restriction, and is partially bendable. An exemplary aspect of the disclosure provides a wire harness that can realize both favorable route restriction and bendability. According to the present disclosure, a wire harness includes: a wire; an exterior tube that is tubular and covers an outer circumference of the wire; and a route restrictor that is attached to an outer circumference of the exterior tube, and is configured to restrict a route of the exterior tube, wherein: the exterior tube includes a linear portion, and a corrugated portion that is continuous from the linear portion, the corrugated portion has a higher bendability than the linear portion, the route restrictor includes: a body that covers part of an outer circumference of the exterior tube in a circumferential direction; and an insertion hole that is formed by two ends of the body in the circumferential direction, and extends in a length direction of the route restrictor over an entire length of the route restrictor, the insertion hole being an opening into which the exterior tube is insertable, and the route restrictor is attached to the linear portion. According to the wire harness of the present disclosure, it is possible to realize both favorable route restriction and bendability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a wire harness according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a side view illustrating part of the wire harness according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 2. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 6-6 in FIG. 2. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a wire harness according to another embodiment. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a wire harness according to yet another embodiment. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a wire harness according to yet another embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Description of Embodiments of Present Disclosure First, embodiments of the present disclosure will be listed and described. According to the present disclosure, a wire harness includes: [1] a wire member; an exterior member that is tubular and covers an outer circumference of the wire member; and a route restricting member that is attached to an outer circumference of the exterior member, and is configured to restrict a route of the exterior member, wherein the exterior member includes a linear portion, and a corrugated portion that is continuous from the linear portion, the corrugated portion is superior in bendability to the linear portion, the route restricting member includes: a body portion that covers part of the exterior member in a circumferential direction, out of the