Cable harness with a water-sealing portion

Abstract

A cable harness that has water-sealing properties includes a sheath that accommodates an ABS sensor cable and a parking brake cable. The ABS sensor cable and the parking brake cable branch apart at an end portion of the sheath. An integrally molded member includes, in an integrated manner, a water-sealing portion that seals the end portion of the sheath from water, and a bracket attachment portion that is attached to the bracket.

Claims

1. A cable harness in which at least a signal line and a power-source line are contained inside of a sheath, the cable harness comprising: a water-sealing portion that causes the signal line and the power-line to branch apart in different drawing-out directions at an end portion of the sheath, and that seals the end portion of the sheath from water is formed; a bracket attachment portion for attaching a bracket is integrally provided on the water-sealing portion; and a recessed portion disposed on at least a portion of an outer peripheral surface of the bracket attachment portion.

2. The cable harness according to claim 1, wherein the bracket attachment portion is provided on the sheath.

3. The cable harness according to claim 1, wherein the water-sealing portion and the bracket attachment portion are integrally formed of urethane.

4. The cable harness according to claim 3, wherein an electrical line separate from the signal line and the power-source line is further contained inside of the sheath.

5. The cable harness according to claim 4, wherein the electrical line includes two electrical lines for active suspension.

6. The cable harness according to claim 1, wherein the signal line is an ABS sensor cable.

7. The cable harness according to claim 1, wherein the power-source line is a parking brake cable.

8. The cable harness according to claim 1, wherein the different drawing-out directions are directions in which the signal line and the power-source line intersect each other.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a cable harness according to an embodiment.

(2) FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional diagram for illustrating a water-sealing structure of the cable harness shown in FIG. 1.

(3) FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional diagram of a cable harness according to a reference example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(4) An embodiment of a cable harness will be described below.

(5) As shown in FIG. 1, a cable harness 10 of the present embodiment is formed by an ABS sensor cable 11 and a parking brake cable 12 being jointly covered by a sheath S and integrated with each other.

(6) As shown in FIG. 2, the ABS sensor cable 11 and the parking brake cable 12 branch apart at an end portion S1 of the sheath S.

(7) As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the ABS sensor cable 11 is formed by two signal lines 11a. Each of the signal lines 11a are conductors sheathed in an insulating body. The ABS sensor cable 11 is attached to an ABS sensor at an end thereof.

(8) The parking brake cable 12 is used as an electrical conduction path through which a current flows, which mainly results from a pressing operation being performed on a predetermined button after a vehicle has been parked, the current causing a mechanism (electronic parking brake (EPB)) that is for suppressing rotation of vehicle wheels, to function. The parking brake cable 12 is for electrically connecting an EPB control unit (omitted from the drawings) and an EPB mechanism. For this reason, the parking brake cable 12 has two power-source lines 12a. Also, examples of the EPB mechanism include types where wires in a conventional parking brake mechanism are pulled by an actuator, and types where a dedicated electronic actuator is mounted to a hydraulic brake caliper.

(9) As described above, the sheath S of the cable harness 10 of the present embodiment is configured by a so-called four-core electrical line, with the two signal lines 11a constituting the ABS sensor cable 11 and the two power-source lines 12a constituting the parking break cable 12 being accommodated therein.

(10) Also, the cable harness 10 of the present embodiment is provided with a molded portion 20, which is a urethane resin member, at the end portion S1 of the sheath S. The molded portion 20 is a member in which a water-sealing portion 21 and a bracket attachment portion 22 are molded in one piece using urethane molding.

(11) The water-sealing portion 21 is formed to cover the region where the end portion S1 of the sheath S, the ABS sensor cable 11, and the parking brake cable 12 branch apart. The ABS sensor cable 11 is drawn out along the longitudinal direction of the sheath S, and the parking brake cable 12 is drawn out so as to be orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the sheath S and is covered by the water-sealing portion 21.

(12) The bracket attachment portion 22 is molded in one piece with the water-sealing portion 21, on a base end side relative to the end portion S1 of the sheath S, i.e. on a side opposite the region where the ABS sensor cable 11 and the parking brake cable 12 branch apart. The bracket attachment portion 22 has an approximately columnar shape, and a bracket B is crimped and fixed to the bracket attachment portion 22. Note that the bracket B can have a through-hole B1 for attachment. The bracket B and the cable harness 10 can be fixed to a vehicle by using the through-hole B1 and a fastening member such as a bolt.

(13) Next, effects of the present embodiment will be described.

(14) Signals detected by the ABS sensor are transmitted through the cable harness 10 of the present embodiment using the signal lines 11a of the ABS sensor cable 11. Furthermore, power is supplied to the EPB mechanism by the power-source lines 12a of the parking brake cable 12.

(15) Here, the cable harness 10 can suppress the infiltration of water into the sheath S via the end portion S1 thereof because the water-sealing portion 21 covers the region where the end portion 51 of the sheath S, the ABS sensor cable 11, and the parking brake cable 12 branch apart. Also, because the water-sealing portion 21 is formed in one piece with the bracket attachment portion 22 for attaching the bracket B to an unshown vehicle, an increase in the number of parts is suppressed.

(16) Next, the effects of the present embodiment will be described.

(17) (1) Because the water-sealing portion 21 and the bracket attachment portion 22 are molded in one piece and the water-sealing portion 21 also seals the end portion 51 of the sheath S from water, an increase in the number of parts can be prevented.

(18) (2) Compared with the case where a configuration is employed in which the bracket attachment portion and the water-sealing portion are separate members, there is no particular need to provide a gap between the bracket attachment portion 22 and the water sealing portion 21 as they are molded in one piece, and therefore the size of the sheath S of the molded portion 20 can be suppressed in the longitudinal direction thereof.

(19) (3) The directions in which the cables 11 and 12 are drawn out can be fixed by the molded water-sealing portion 21. For example, the molded portion 20 can include a first terminal 23a that is terminated on the sheath S, a second terminal 23b that is terminated on the ABS sensor cable 11, and a third terminal 23c that is terminated on the parking brake cable 12. The second terminal 23b and the third terminal 23c can have different angles with respect to the longitudinal axis of the sheath S (e.g. 00 and 90).

(20) (4) The molded portion 20 may be a part that is made of a synthetic resin and has no joints. With this configuration, the water-sealing properties of the molded portion 20 can be improved.

(21) (5) The end portion S1 of the sheath S, a portion of the ABS sensor cable 11, and a portion of the parking brake cable 12 are embedded in the molded portion 20. With this configuration, the water-sealing properties of the molded portion 20 can be improved.

(22) (6) It is preferable that the bracket attachment portion 22 covers the sheath S. With such a configuration, stress on the cables 11 and 12 exposed from the sheath S can be mitigated.

(23) (7) It is preferable that the bracket attachment portion 22 includes at least one positioning stopper 22a. With this configuration, positional shifting of the bracket B can be mitigated. In another aspect, the bracket attachment portion 22 may include a recessed portion 22b provided on at least a portion of an outer peripheral surface of the bracket attachment portion 22.

(24) Note that changes such as the following may be made to the above-described embodiment.

(25) In the above-described embodiment, a configuration is employed where the bracket B is crimped and fixed to the bracket attachment portion 22, but there is no limit to this.

(26) In the above-described embodiment, the cable harness 10 is configured by a so-called four-core electrical line, but there is no limit to this. For example, a configuration may be employed using a six-core electrical line that has six electrical lines (cables) in the sheath S of the cable harness 10. An example of a six-core electrical line includes an electrical line where two active suspension electrical lines are passed through the sheath S of the cable harness 10 in addition to the above-described four-core electrical line.

(27) In the above-described embodiment, it is preferable that the material of the molded portion 20 that has the water-sealing portion 21 and the bracket attachment portion 22 is urethane resin, but a synthetic resin other than urethane resin can be used.

(28) The above-described embodiment and variations thereof may be appropriately combined.

(29) The present disclosure is not limited to that illustrated. For example, illustrated features are not to be interpreted as being essential to the present disclosure, and the subject matter of the present disclosure may exist with fewer features than all of those of the specified embodiment thus disclosed.