Description:Complete Specification:
The following specification describes and ascertains the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

Field of the invention
[0001] The present disclosure relates to a circuit arrangements or systems for electrical/electronic connections. In particular, the invention discloses a wiring harness and a corresponding system for protecting wires in a machine.

Background of the invention
[0002] Intrusion, damage, and theft of critical wiring infrastructure is a widespread issues in automobiles, buildings, industrial facilities etc. Rodents as well as other small animals can crawl up inside the automobiles, buildings, machinery of the industrial facility and chew up the electrical wiring. In the case of automobiles such as passenger vehicles incidents of wiring sabotage in the engine bay area and other critical accessible areas are widely reported. Often, the damage of electrical wiring results in malfunctioning of the critical components. It can also contributed to health hazards for example contamination of air filter unit by harmful bacteria. Hence, this is a safety, financial and health hazard which needs to be addressed seriously.

[0003] State of the art solution of above-described problem can be broadly categorized in three categories. However, all of them have their inherent limitations. Vibration detection via rope is difficult when space is constrained in engine bay and having a rope running through all the areas is not feasible. More importantly, small rodents will not always necessarily climb and make contact with the placed rope, thus avoiding detection. Ultrasonic waves-based solution emits ultrasonic waves which can disturb other pets in the vicinity. Further such a system is continuously powered on to keep the repellant active and can cause severe battery drain when the car is kept in unused state for 2-3days. Chemical/coating-based solution are not very effective over long term due to heat stress and dust build up. Further these coatings can be poisonous and harmful especially near the AC vents.

[0004] Chinese utility model “CN203601182U” titled “ Device for detecting animals entering automobile engine compartment” discloses a device for detecting animals entering an automobile engine compartment. The device comprises a central processing unit, a vibration sensor, a sound alarm, a display module, a rope, a positioning column, multiple hooks and automobile door state detection modules arranged on automobile doors. The vibration sensor, the sound alarm, the positioning column and the hooks are disposed in spare spaces in the engine compartment. The two ends of the rope are fixedly connected with the vibration sensor and the positioning column respectively, the middle of the rope sequentially penetrates through the hooks, the display module is arranged on an automobile console, and the central processing unit is respectively and electrically connected with the vibration sensor, the sound alarm, the display module, the automobile door state detection modules and an engine ECU. The device can automatically detect whether the animals enter the automobile engine compartment, the animals are driven away through sound when entering the automobile engine compartment, meanwhile, a user is reminded to drive the animals away manually to prevent the animals from being hurt, and safe start of an automobile is guaranteed. The present disclosure proposes a protective wiring harness and corresponding system that utilizes piezo electric effect.

Brief description of the accompanying drawings
[0005] An embodiment of the invention is described with reference to the following accompanying drawings:
[0006] Figure 1 depicts a wiring harness (100);
[0007] Figure 2 depicts a system (200) for protecting wires;
[0008] Figure 3 illustrates method steps (300) for protecting wires of a machine.

Detailed description of the drawings
[0009] Figure 1 depicts a wiring harness (100). The wiring harness (100) comprises a longitudinal conduit (101) encompassing one or more wires. These one or more wires are configured to enable electrical connection between components of a machine. The wiring harness (100) can be used in any industrial facility employing machinery having critical electrical or electronic connection facilitated by physical wires (103). However, the exemplary embodiments in this invention are explained with respect to an automobile, more specifically the engine bay of the automobile.

[0010] The most important non-limiting feature of the wiring harness (100) is a plurality of piezoelectric segments (102) placed beside each other on the external surface of the conduit (101) along the longitudinal axis of the wiring harness (100). Each of the piezoelectric segment has an output port. Collectively the plurality of output ports (120) emanate from at least one end of the conduit (101). Each of these segments have a flexible or a non-flexible piezo sheet. Each segment has its own independent piezo sheet which is not in contact with the other segment. Piezoelectric materials produce an electric voltage when they are placed under stress. This may be a result of bending, stretching, or a variety of other means including when they are subjected to vibrations. Hence the pressure variations (if any due to the movement of an animal on the wiring harness (100)) along the external surface of the conduit (101) induce an electric voltage in the piezoelectric segments (102). From each of these piezo materials output wires are available along with the wire wrap on the inner surface. This wires are the output port that carry the voltage variations induced due to the pressure difference.

[0011] Figure 2 depicts a system (200) for protecting wires. The system comprises a wiring harness (100) and at least a controller (201). The wiring harness (100) has been explained in accordance with figure 1. For the purposes of clarity it is reiterated that the wiring harness (100) comprises a longitudinal conduit (101) encompassing one or more wires. Thes wires provide electrical connection between components of a machine. A plurality of piezoelectric segments (102) are placed beside each other on the external surface of the conduit (101) along the longitudinal axis of the wiring harness (100). Each of the piezoelectric segment has an output port, said plurality of output ports (120) emanate from at least one end of the conduit (101) and are in communication with the controller (201).

[0012] The controller (201) is a logic circuitry that respond to and processes logical instructions to get a meaningful result. A hardware controller (201) may be implemented in the system (200) as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, state machines, logic circuitries, one or more microchips or integrated circuits interconnected using a parent board, hardwired logic, software stored by a memory device and executed by a microprocessor, firmware, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and/or a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and/or any component that operates on signals based on operational instructions. The controller (201) could be an intrinsic part of the machine or separate. For example, when the machine is an automobile, the controller (201) could be a part of the vehicle Electronic Control Unit (ECU) or provided separately.

[0013] The controller (201) is configured to receive signals from each of the piezoelectric segments (102). The idea is that pressure variations are created along the external surface of the conduit (101) when there is an animal intrusion i.e. due to the movement of the animals. This induces an electric voltage in the piezoelectric segments (102). The controller (201) is adapted to process signals received from the plurality of output ports (120) and trigger one or more actuators (202).

[0014] The actuators (202) trigger a response to animal intrusion detection. The response mechanism could either be an alert or a repulsion mechanism. One of the actuators is an audio-visual warning lamp . (204). Another actuator is a repellent spray. This repellent spray produces a non–inflammable spray which drives the rodent away. The triggering mechanism may employ a solenoid to turn on the spray for a calibrated timed interval. Furthermore, the controller (201) could trigger a telematics unit in the vehicle to notify a user of the vehicle via SMS/Wireless communication (206). Alternatively, HMI alert can be displayed during startup when the user is about to start the vehicle. In an alternate embodiment, wherein the system (200) is employed in an industrial facility, controller (201) could notify the user of the vehicle using a GSM module.

[0015] In case of an automobile, the system (200) is activated only once the vehicle is parked/engine off after a stipulated amount of time (20-30mins). When the vehicle is running the system is deactivated. The system is powered by the vehicle battery 208. The controller (201) is awakened only when the pressure variations persist beyond a pre-defined time duration and specific voltage pattern/level.

[0016] It should be understood at the outset that, although exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the figures and described below, the present disclosure should in no way be limited to the exemplary implementations and techniques illustrated in the drawings and described below.

[0017] Figure 3 illustrates method steps for protecting wires of a machine. The method steps (300) uses the system (200) elucidated in accordance with figure 2 and the wiring harness (100) elucidated in accordance with figure 1.

[0018] Method step 301 comprises receiving signals from each of a plurality of piezoelectric segments (102) of the wiring harness (100). When an animal such as a rodent moves along the external surface of the wiring harness (100), it creates pressure variations. The pressure variations along the external surface of a conduit (101) of the wiring harness (100) induce an electric voltage in the piezoelectric segments (102). This translates to potential difference i.e. voltage observed across plurality of output ports (120) of the piezo-electric segment. The voltage communicated to the controller (201) as signal.

[0019] Method step 302 comprises processing signals of the piezoelectric segments (102) to detect an animal intrusion in the machine. Processing the signals will monitor the change in voltages received from different segments [say 1, 2, 3] and accordingly evaluate using algorithms to determine if a rodent intrusion or an attempt at theft has occurred. The algorithms employ machine learning or pattern matching technique to identify voltage patterns from the piezoelectric segments (102) that are unique to animal movement.

[0020] Method step 303 comprises triggering one or more actuators (202) based on the processed signal by means of the controller (201). The actuators (202) trigger a response to animal intrusion detection. The response mechanism could either be an alert or a repulsion mechanism. One of the actuators is an audio-visual warning lamp (204). For example, an LED which can be attached to the wiring harness (100) ends which will also repel the rodent with flashes of bright light.

[0021] Another actuator is a repellent spray. This repellent spray produces a non–inflammable spray which drives the rodent away. The triggering mechanism may employ a solenoid to turn on the spray for a calibrated timed interval. Another actuator could be a device that applies a reverse voltage signal on the piezoelectric sheets (202). This voltage will cause the piezo material to emit waves in the audio spectrum or vibrations which disturbs the animal and repels it.

[0022] Furthermore, the controller (201) could trigger a telematics unit in the vehicle to notify a user of the vehicle via SMS/Wireless communication. Alternatively, HMI alert can be displayed during startup when the user is about to start the vehicle. In an alternate embodiment, wherein the system is employed in an industrial facility, controller (201) could notify the user of the vehicle using a GSM module.

[0023] A person skilled in the art will appreciate that while these method steps describes only a series of steps to accomplish the objectives (i.e. to protect wires from animal intrusion), these methodologies may be implemented with modifications and customizations of the system described in figure 2.

[0024] This idea to develop a wiring harness (100), a system for protecting wires and corresponding method steps for protecting wires of a machine aim to provide a smart and effective solution for protecting critical wiring infrastructure in automobiles, buildings and other industrial facilities. The solution proposed by means of the system and the wiring harness (100) disclosed in the present invention is safe and free from the limitation of the state-of-art solutions spelt out in the background.

[0025] It must be understood that the embodiments explained in the above detailed description are only illustrative and do not limit the scope of this invention. Any modification to the wiring harness (100), the system for protecting wires and the corresponding method steps for protecting wires of a machine are envisaged and form a part of this invention. The scope of this invention is limited only by the claims.
, Claims:We Claim:
1. A wiring harness (100), said wiring harness (100) comprising a longitudinal conduit (101) encompassing one or more wires, said one or more wires configured to enable electrical connection between components of a machine, characterized in that wiring harness (100):
a plurality of piezoelectric segments (102) placed beside each other on the external surface of the conduit (101) along the longitudinal axis of the wiring harness (100).

2. The wiring harness (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the piezoelectric segment has an output port, said plurality of output ports (120) emanate from at least one end of the conduit (101).

3. The wiring harness (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein pressure variations along the external surface of the conduit (101) induce an electric voltage in the piezoelectric segments (102).

4. A system (200) for protecting wires, said system comprising a wiring harness (100) and at least a controller (201), said wiring harness (100) comprising a longitudinal conduit (101) encompassing one or more wires, said one or more wires configured to enable electrical connection components of a machine, characterized in that system:
a plurality of piezoelectric segments (102) placed beside each other on the external surface of the conduit (101) along the longitudinal axis of the wiring harness (100);
the controller (201) configured to receive signals from each of the piezoelectric segments (102).

5. The system (200) for protecting wires as claimed in claim 4, wherein each of the piezoelectric segment has an output port, said plurality of output ports (120) emanate from at least one end of the conduit (101) and are in communication with the controller (201).

6. The system (200) for protecting wires as claimed in claim 4, wherein pressure variations along the external surface of the conduit (101) induce an electric voltage in the piezoelectric segments (102).

7. The system (200) for protecting wires as claimed in claim 4, wherein the controller (201) is adapted to process signals received from the plurality of output ports (120) and trigger one or more actuators (202).

8. A method (300) for protecting wires of a machine, the method performed on a system comprising a wiring harness (100) and at least a controller (201), said controller (201) in communication with one or more actuators (202), the method comprising:

receiving signals from each of a plurality of piezoelectric segments (102) of the wiring harness (100) ;
processing signals of the piezoelectric segments (102) to detect an animal intrusion in the machine;
triggering by means of the controller (201) one or more actuators (202) based on the processed signal.

9. The method (300) for protecting wires of a machine as claimed in claim 8, wherein pressure variations along the external surface of a conduit (101) of the wiring harness (100) induce an electric voltage in the piezoelectric segments (102).

10. The method (300) for protecting wires of a machine as claimed in claim 8, wherein the actuators (202) trigger a response to animal intrusion detection.