BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to the field of wire harness fabrication, and in particular to the assembly of form boards for use in producing wire bundles of varying configurations.

Vehicles, such as large aircraft, have complex electrical and electromechanical systems distributed throughout the fuselage, hull, and other components of the vehicle. Such electrical and electromechanical systems require many bundles of wire, cables, connectors, and related fittings to connect the various electrical and electromechanical components of the vehicle. For example, a large aircraft may have over 1000 discrete wire bundles. Often these discrete wire bundles are grouped into assemblies known as wire bundle assembly groups, which may comprise as many as 40 wire bundles and 1000 wires. Wire bundles are typically assembled outside of the aircraft.

In accordance with a typical method for assembling wire bundles, form boards are used to stage a wire bundle into its installation configuration. Typically, these form boards are sheets of plywood, generally 4 ft×8 ft, that are made manually and stored for future use. Typically each wire bundle of a given configuration fabricated in a wire shop requires a customized form board for lay-up. The form board typically includes a plurality of fixed form board devices which together define the given wire bundle configuration. The fabrication of a respective form board for each wire bundle configuration involves high costs when many wire bundle configurations must be dealt with. The costs result from the need to create, maintain, store, and set-up these form boards prior to fabrication of a particular wire bundle configuration.

It would be desirable to quickly design and assemble a form board with devices fastened thereto without delays to production when the design of a wire bundle is changed. It would also be desirable to provide a method for fabricating form boards that do not need to be stored after use.

SUMMARY

The subject matter disclosed in some detail herein is directed to systems and methods for designing and assembling form boards for use in wire bundle assembly. In some embodiments, automation technology is employed for robotically assembling form boards, routing wires, applying plastic wire ties, and cutting branches to final length. Because of high variability in wiring, these automation systems need to be automatically responsive to release and changes in engineering data. The software disclosed herein automatically generates robot control files from engineering data.

In accordance with one embodiment, the method for assembling a form board comprises: (a) establishing a coordinate system of a form board having a multiplicity of holes; (b) using a computer system to determine locations of form board devices of different types with reference to the coordinate system of the form board based on engineering data specifying a wire bundle configuration; and (c) fastening form board devices of different types to respective holes of the form board having centers closest to respective locations determined in step (b). The form board devices may be inserted robotically or manually.

Creation of form boards for fabricating respective different wire bundle configurations involves generating different coordinate systems for the form boards and attached devices (e.g., wire routing devices, wire end holders and connector supports; hereinafter “form board devices”) and a method to align those coordinate systems. The solution proposed herein is capable of recognizing if the form board was used prior, or is totally empty, and which devices to displace or remove or add to the form board. The solution proposed herein is also capable of recognizing when multiple boards are needed and laying out the routing and support devices on the multiple boards.

Some embodiments disclosed in some detail below involve systems and methods for quickly designing and automatically assembling form boards for use in wire bundle assembly. The system for the assembly of form boards is designed to enable the form board to be reconfigured as needed, based on production and manufacturing requirements. The system comprises a form board, installed form board devices, installation tools (robots with end effectors or handheld devices), a vision system, and multiple background algorithms that generate the data required for system operation. The purpose of the system is to define, assemble, disassemble, and reassemble form boards as needed to meet production rates. The form boards fabricated using the methods disclosed herein do not need to be stored after use, thereby freeing up floor space for additional value-added work in the manufacturing environment.

Although various embodiments of systems and methods for designing and assembling form boards with attached wire routing devices for use in wire bundle assembly are described in some detail later herein, one or more of those embodiments may be characterized by one or more of the following aspects.

One aspect of the subject matter disclosed in detail below is a method for assembling a form board, the method comprising: (a) establishing a coordinate system of a form board having a multiplicity of holes; (b) using a computer system to determine locations of form board devices of different types with reference to the coordinate system of the form board based on engineering data specifying a wire bundle configuration; and (c) fastening form board devices of different types to respective holes of the form board having centers closest to respective locations determined in step (b). The form board devices may be inserted robotically or manually by a human operator.

In accordance with various embodiments of the method described in the immediately preceding paragraph, the method further comprises: determining a first sequence in which the form board devices should be installed in order to avoid a pick-and-place end effector colliding with installed form board devices, wherein the form board devices of different types are fastened to the form board in the first sequence; and removing the form board devices in a second sequence which is a reverse of the first sequence upon completion of a wire bundle assembly procedure. In addition, the method further comprises: comparing locations of form board devices attached to the form board to the locations determined in step (b); and removing form board devices having locations not included in locations determined in step (b).

Another aspect of the subject matter disclosed in detail below is a method for assembling a form board, the method comprising: flattening a three-dimensional model of a wire bundle into a two-dimensional map of an envelope of the wire bundle; determining the type and location of each form board device from a multiplicity of form board devices needed to form the wire bundle, avoiding positions corresponding to locations of other form board devices from the multiplicity of form board devices; generating a set of coordinates in a coordinate system of a form board and an associated device angle which digitally locate each form board device from the multiplicity of form board devices on the form board; and fastening the form board devices of different types to the form board at the determined locations. Flattening a three-dimensional model of a wire bundle into a two-dimensional map of the wire bundle comprises transforming first digital data representing the three-dimensional model of the wire bundle into second digital data representing the two-dimensional map of the envelope of the wire bundle. In accordance with some embodiments, the method further comprises: identifying tie locations, wherein determining the type and location of each form board device from the multiplicity of form board devices further comprises avoiding the tie locations.

Another aspect is a method for assembling a form board, the method comprising: (a) flattening a three-dimensional model of a wire bundle into a two-dimensional map of an envelope of the wire bundle; (b) calculating diameters of every branch in the wire bundle; (c) placing a virtual starting wire connector on the map; (d) placing routing recipes on the map; (e) snapping all form board devices to their nearest form board hole locations; (f) simplifying adjacent routing recipes; (g) reducing routing feature conflicts; (h) checking for collisions between a device placement end effector and the form board devices; (i) calculating the envelope of the wire bundle as routed through the form board devices; (j) calculating a preliminary tool center point path for a routing end effector; (k) checking for collisions between the routing end effector and the form board devices; (l) checking for collisions between the routing end effector and the wire bundle envelope; (m) writing a form board layout control file based on results of at least steps (a) through (l); and (n) fastening form board devices to respective holes of the form board in accordance with the form board layout control file using the device placement end effector.

A further aspect of the subject matter disclosed in detail below is a wire routing device comprising: a frame having upper and lower arms which are mutually parallel, the lower arm having a hole; a temporary fastener fastened to the hole in the lower arm; and a routing clip comprising a base in contact with the upper arm of the frame, the base comprising first and second mounting flanges fastened to the upper arm of the frame. The routing clip further comprises first and second flexible clip arms configured to bend resiliently away from each other, and first and second hooks respectively connected to or integrally formed with the first and second flexible clip arms, each of the first and second hooks having a respective outer inclined surface and a respective inner inclined surface. Optionally, there may be a “spacer” between the upper arm and the routing clip. The spacer enables all of the various routing clips to have the same height (z-axis) off the form board. The spacer is only required for the shorter routing clips; effectively making them the same height as the tallest routing clip.

In accordance with some embodiments of the wire routing device described in the immediately preceding paragraph, the temporary fastener comprises a cylindrical housing having an external annular flange, a plunger which is slidably coupled to the cylindrical housing, first and second locking pins having respective proximal ends connected to the plunger and respective distal ends latched to an underside of the lower arm of the frame, and a spacer affixed to the cylindrical housing and disposed between respective portions of the first and second locking pins; and the frame comprises a fastener retaining block having an arc-shaped groove in which a portion of the annular flange of the temporary fastener is seated.

Yet another aspect of the subject matter disclosed in detail below is a wire routing device comprising: a frame having upper and lower arms which are mutually parallel, the lower arm having a hole; a temporary fastener fastened to the hole in the lower arm; and a first post having one end fastened to the upper arm of the frame. In accordance with some embodiments, the wire routing device further comprises a second post having one end fastened to the upper arm of the frame, wherein the first and second posts are mutually parallel and separated by a gap.

Another aspect of the subject matter disclosed in detail below is a wire end holder comprising: a frame having upper and lower arms which are mutually parallel, wherein the lower arm of the frame has a hole; a temporary fastener fastened to the hole in the lower arm of the frame; and a wire clip fastened to the upper arm of the frame.

A further aspect of the subject matter disclosed in detail below is a form board assembly comprising a form board and a multiplicity of form board devices fastened to the form board, wherein the form board comprises a perforated plate having a multiplicity of holes, and the multiplicity of form board devices comprises a multiplicity of wire routing devices, wherein each wire routing device from the multiplicity of wire routing devices comprises a frame having upper and lower arms which are mutually parallel, the lower arm having a hole, and a temporary fastener fastened to the hole in the lower arm. A first wire routing device from the multiplicity of wire routing devices further comprises a routing clip attached to the upper arm of the frame of the first wire routing device which is fastened to a first hole of the multiplicity of holes in the perforated plate by the temporary fastener of the first wire routing device. A second wire routing device from the multiplicity of wire routing devices further comprises a post having one end attached to the upper arm of the frame of the second wire routing device which is fastened to a second hole of the multiplicity of holes in the perforated plate by the temporary fastener of the second wire routing device.

Yet another aspect is a form board assembly comprising a form board and a first wire routing device fastened to the form board, wherein the form board comprises a perforated plate having a multiplicity of holes, and wherein the first wire routing device comprises: a first frame having upper and lower arms which are mutually parallel, wherein the lower arm of the first frame has a hole; a first temporary fastener fastened to the hole in the lower arm of the first frame and to a first hole in the form board; a first post having a shaft with a lower end fastened to the first frame; and a second post having a shaft with a lower end fastened to the first frame, wherein the shafts of the first and second posts extend upward in parallel with a first gap therebetween with axes of the shafts being separated by a first distance.

A further aspect of the subject matter disclosed in detail below is a wire connector support device comprising: a frame comprising a base plate having a hole and a vertical plate connected to or integrally formed with the base plate; a first temporary fastener fastened to the hole in the base plate; and a detent pin installed on the vertical plate, wherein the detent pin is a quick-release alignment pin with a solid shank and spring-loaded locking balls. In accordance with one embodiment, the wire connector support device further comprises a notched projection connected to or integrally formed with and extending vertically upward from the vertical plate; a horizontal platform connected to or integrally formed with and extending horizontally from the vertical plate in a first direction opposite to a second direction in which the base plate is projecting; and a routing clip attached to the horizontal platform.

Other aspects of systems and methods for designing and assembling form boards with attached wire routing devices for use in wire bundle assembly are disclosed below.

