A cable harness, or wire harness, assembles electrical cables that carry electrical power or signals. The assemblies are typically grouped together by a tough exterior material, like conduit, vinyl, rubber or an extruded-string weave.
The Benefits of a Cable Harness
A cable harness assembly, commonly used in construction machinery or cars, provides a number of advantages over loose cables. The gathered wires protect against displacement and disconnection in vehicles like cars, aircraft or spacecraft where even miles of loose wire would be susceptible to vibration, moisture or abrasion. A flame-retarding casing can also guard against electrical fires.
Cable Harness Construction
The design of a cable harness assembly is typically informed by the electrical and geometric demands of the use case. Wires can be cut or printed to size with exposed ends connected to terminals. The components are then grouped together by the protective sleeves.
Because of the specific aspects of each cable harness design, especially in small production runs with little specific infrastructure, manual assembly remains the most direct and cost-effective approach. Assembly processes can include:
- Wire or subassembly-routing through appropriate sleeves
- Installation of wires on assembly boards
- Wrap, tape or tie application
- Terminal to wire crimping in connections
Testing
Testing for cable harnesses typically takes place on a pre-programmed test board, which tests discrete aspects of the completed harness.
For a production cable harnesses or rapid prototyping by an industry leader offering such value-added services as in-house design, engineering and product evelopment, call Molded Devices Inc. at 800-852-1472 or via
https://www.moldeddevices.com/ today.
