JP2000311750A - Connector fixing structure for wire harness - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To fit and stably fix a connector of a wire harness connected to a switch of an electric equipment or the like additionally equipped to an automobile in a proper position within an instrument panel. SOLUTION: A first connector holding part 7 is formed in response to a height dimension of single-stage terminal array connectors in an insertion- directional deep side of the connector in a connector holder 4 formed integrally in an opening cover 3 (base plate) for a switch, a second connector holding part 9 is formed in this side thereof in response to a height dimensional of two-stage terminal array connectors, and left and right regulating parts (protrusions 11, slits 13, protrusion streaks 17) for regulating lateral-directional movement of the connector, and fitting holes 15, 22 for latching a latching claw of the fitted connector are provided individually in the first and second connector holding parts 7, 9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wiring harness connector fixing structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a vehicle equipped with only standard equipment manufactured in a factory, electric equipment such as an audio, a fog lamp, a rear wiper, and the like are additionally provided as desired by a purchaser. It is necessary to be able to additionally install switches for electrical devices on the instrument panel.

For this reason, in the conventional instrument panel, mounting holes are previously formed at positions where switches of various additional electric equipment are to be arranged, and
The opening cover for the switch is fitted in the mounting hole so as to be closed.

When a switch is installed in the mounting hole later, a wire harness to be connected to the switch via a connector is previously arranged in an instrument panel, and the wire harness is taped. They had to be fixed in the proper place in the instrument panel.

[0005]

However, in such a conventional means, while the wire harness is fixed by taping, the connector itself is free to move without being fixed at all. As a result, there is a problem that the connector collides with the back surface of the instrument panel to cause abnormal noise or damage.

Further, since it takes time and effort to fix the wire harness with a tape at an appropriate place in the instrument panel, there is a situation in which it is desired to omit such taping work.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and a connector of a wire harness to be connected to a switch of electric equipment to be additionally mounted on an automobile is fitted to an appropriate place in an instrument panel. It is intended to be fixed stably.

[0008]

According to the present invention, a first connector holding portion corresponding to the height of a single-stage terminal arrayed connector is provided in a connector holder integrally formed on a base plate on the back side in the insertion direction of the connector. A second connector holding portion corresponding to the height dimension of the connector of the two-stage terminal arrangement is formed on the front side thereof, and the first and second connector holding portions are formed with respect to the left and right directions of the connector. The present invention relates to a fixing structure of a wire harness connector, wherein left and right regulating portions for regulating the movement and engaging holes for engaging the engaging claws of the fitted connector are separately provided.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the base plate is fixedly arranged at an appropriate place, and the connector of the wire harness is inserted into the connector holder integrally formed with the base plate to hold the first and second connector holders. When the connector is fitted into any of the portions, the left and right movements of the connector are regulated by the left and right regulating portions of the connector holding portion, and the latching claws of the connector are latched in the engagement holes, and the connector is moved from the connector holder. Since the connector is held so as not to be pulled out, the connector itself can be stably fixed without taping the wire harness.

When the connector of the wire harness is inserted and fitted into one of the first and second connector holders, if the connector is a connector holder having a single-stage terminal arrangement, the connector The first connector holding portion formed on the back side of the holder is fitted to the second connector holding portion formed on the front side of the connector holder when the connector is a connector holding portion of a two-stage terminal arrangement. Since the connectors need only be fitted, the terminal arrangement of the connector to be fixed can correspond to a single-stage type or a two-stage type.

Note that the right and left restricting portions provided separately for the first and second connector holding portions do not necessarily need to be formed as guide surfaces that slide along the left and right end surfaces of the connector. Utilizing ridges and grooves formed in the upper and lower end faces of the connector in the insertion direction of the connector as a countermeasure to prevent incorrect assembly, etc. Since it is sufficient to form them at the upper and lower positions of the two connector holding portions, it is possible to restrict the movement in the left and right direction for a plurality of types of connectors having different width dimensions.

Further, the engagement hole of the second connector holding portion is opened slightly larger immediately after the engagement hole of the first connector holding portion, so that the first connector holding portion on the back side can be opened. The work of releasing the hooking claw of the fitted connector can be easily performed from the engagement hole of the second connector holding portion on the near side.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the base plate is an opening cover for a switch. In this case, the connector and the wire harness can be immediately removed from the inside of the instrument panel simply by removing the opening cover for the switch from the indoor side. Since the wiring harness is pulled out, it is possible to easily connect the wire harness to switches of various additional electric devices.

Further, as compared with a case where a connector holder is integrally formed on the back surface of the instrument panel using the base plate as an instrument panel, the mold structure is small and simple, so that the manufacturing cost can be reduced. It becomes possible.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 13 show an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, they are fitted into mounting holes 2 (see FIG. 1) opened in an instrument panel 1. FIG. A box-shaped connector holder 4 having an open back surface is integrally formed on the back surface of the switch opening cover 3 thus obtained, and is formed in the left-right direction (the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 1) of the connector holder 4. On both sides,
A bulging portion 5 for fitting and fixing the switch opening cover 3 in the mounting hole 2 is separated from the left and right end surfaces of the connector holder 4 at peripheral edges (see FIG. 2) except for a base end thereof. It is provided so that it can be elastically displaced inward as appropriate.

Inside the connector holder 4, a wire harness 6 'having a single-stage terminal arrangement as shown in FIG.
A first connector holding portion 7 corresponding to the height dimension x of the connector 6 is formed on the back side in the insertion direction of the connector 6 (the direction indicated by the arrow B in FIG. 1), and FIG.
The second connector holding portion 9 corresponding to the height dimension y of the connector 8 for the wire harness 8 'having a two-stage terminal arrangement as shown in FIG. 1 is inserted in the insertion direction of the connector 8 (the direction indicated by the arrow B in FIG. 1). It is formed on the near side.

More specifically, the required range of the upper and lower surfaces on the back side of the connector holder 4 is depressed in a rectangular shape, and this portion is the height dimension x of the connector 6 in the single-stage terminal arrangement.
The sub-sidewalls 10 are formed on both the left and right sides of the narrowed portion with a width slightly larger than the width of the connector 6. The first connector holding portion 7 is formed.

The inner surface of each of the sub-sidewalls 10
A ridge 11 extending in the insertion direction of the connector 6 is formed as a left and right restricting portion for restricting the horizontal movement of the connector 6 having the single-stage terminal arrangement.
Thus, the left and right sides of the connector 6 are clamped (see FIG. 10).

Further, in the illustrated example, erroneous assembly is prevented on both sides of the first connector holding portion 7 in the vertical direction (the direction indicated by the arrow C in FIG. 3) on both sides of the upper surface of the connector 6 having the single-stage terminal arrangement. A slit 13 (especially, see FIG. 1) is formed so as to guide the ridge 12 provided for the purpose of performing the operation, and this slit 13 also functions as a left and right regulating portion.

Engagement holes 15 for engaging the engaging claws 14 of the fitted single-stage terminal arrayed connectors 6 are provided at positions between the slits 13 on the upper and lower surfaces of the first connector holding portion 7. (See especially FIG. 1).

Here, a single-stage terminal arrangement connector 6
As shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 11, the latching claw 14 is formed in the middle of a lever portion 16 that can be tilted by elastic displacement on the rear end side with the front end side of the connector 6 as a base point. The free end of the lever portion 16 is pushed down with the tip of a screwdriver or the like so that the hook 14 can be released from the engaging hole 15.

The right and left restricting portions may be set by appropriately setting the sub-side wall 10 other than the protrusion 11 and the slit 13 as a guide surface.

In front of the first connector holding portion 7, a second connector holding portion 9 is formed by recessing a required range of upper and lower surfaces shallower than both upper and lower surfaces of the first connector holding portion 7. Is formed, and the height from one of the upper and lower surfaces to the other surface of the connector holding portion 9 is substantially equal to the height y of the connector 8 having the two-stage terminal arrangement.

A ridge 17 is provided on at least one of the upper and lower surfaces. The ridge 17 is provided in the left-right direction of the two-stage terminal arrangement connector 8 fitted to the second connector holding portion 9. The left and right restricting portions for restricting the movement are formed as a pair of front and rear surfaces on the upper and lower surfaces of the connector holding portion 9, and a groove 18 formed on the upper surface of the connector 8 is engaged with each of the ridges 17. Are to be combined.

That is, as shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 13, the hook 19 of the connector 8 of the two-stage terminal arrangement also has the starting point on the front end side of the connector 8 similarly to the connector 6 of the single-stage terminal arrangement. Since the rear end side is formed in the middle of the lever portion 20 which can be tilted by elastic displacement, the one groove 18 which separates the lever portion 20 so as to be tiltable is formed with respect to each of the protrusions 17. To be engaged.

Here, in the example shown in FIGS. 9 and 12, the other groove 21 of the connector 8 having the two-stage terminal arrangement is used.
Does not penetrate to the front surface of the connector 8, but this is a shape adopted for the purpose of distinguishing it from another type in which both the grooves 18 and 21 penetrate to the front surface of the connector 8, In each case, if each ridge 17 is formed so as to be engaged with the groove 18 which always penetrates to the front surface of the connector 8 as shown in the illustrated example, both types of connectors 8 can be supported. It is possible to

Engaging holes 22 (see especially FIG. 1) are provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the second connector holding portion 9 for engaging the engaging claws 19 of the fitted connector 8 in the two-stage terminal arrangement.
If the engagement hole 22 is made larger as shown in the figure, the operation of releasing the hook 14 of the connector 6 fitted to the first connector holding portion 7 on the back side can be performed. This can be easily performed by inserting a screwdriver through the engagement hole 22 of the second connector holding portion 9 on the front side and pushing down the free end of the lever portion 16.

On the other hand, when releasing the hooking claws 19 of the connector 8 of the two-stage terminal arrangement from the engagement holes 22, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, if the rear portion of the connector 8 projects rearward from the back of the connector holder 4, the lever 2
It is possible to directly grab the free end of the zero and push it down easily.

The right and left regulating portions may be set by appropriately setting the sub-side wall 23 as a guide surface.

The first and second connector holding portions 7 and 9 have a symmetrical shape so that they have the same shape even when rotated 180 ° about the center line O of the connector holder 4 as an axis. By doing so, even if the connectors 6 and 8 are upside down, they can be fitted to the first and second connector holding portions 7 and 9 without any trouble.

When the connector 6 having a single-stage terminal arrangement is inserted into the connector holder 4 on the back surface of the switch opening cover 3 fitted and fixed in the mounting hole 2 of the instrument panel 1, the connector 6 is moved to the back. The connector 6 is fitted into the first connector holding portion 7 on both sides, and both side surfaces of the connector 6 are clamped by the ridges 11 of each sub-side wall 10 of the connector holding portion 7, while the upper surface of the connector holding portion 7 The respective protrusions 12 on both sides of the upper surface of the connector 6 are guided by the respective slits 13 to restrict the left and right movement of the connector 6, and the engaging claws 14 of the connector 6
And the connector 6 is held so as not to come out of the connector holder 4.

When a connector 8 having a two-stage terminal arrangement is inserted into the connector holder 4, the connector 8 becomes a rear end of each sub-side wall 10 and a rear end of both upper and lower surfaces of the first connector holding portion 7. Is inserted to the position where it abuts on the step formed by the connector, and is fitted to the second connector holding portion 9 on the near side. The connector 20 is engaged with one of the grooves 18 which is formed so as to be tiltable and separated, so that the left and right movements of the connector 8 are restricted, and the engaging claws 19 of the connector 8 are engaged with the engaging holes 22. Thus, the connector 8 is held so as not to come out of the connector holder 4.

That is, when the connectors 6 and 8 of the wire harnesses 6 ′ and 8 ′ are inserted and fitted into one of the first and second connector holding portions 7 and 9, the connectors are arranged in a single-stage terminal arrangement. In the case of the connector 6, the first connector holding portion 7 formed on the back side of the connector holder 4 is fitted. It is only necessary to fit the second connector holding portion 9 formed on the front side, so that the terminal arrangement of the connector to be fixed can correspond to a single-stage type or a two-stage type.

In the example shown in the figure, according to the configuration in which the projecting ridges 11 of each sub-side wall 10 of the first connector holding portion 7 hold both side surfaces of the connector 6 having the single-stage terminal arrangement, Since both side surfaces of the connector 6 can be guided and pinched by line contact, the connector 6 can be inserted more easily than, for example, when the left and right end surfaces of the connector 6 are guide surfaces that slide along the sub-side wall 10. There is an advantage that accuracy control during production is eased.

Further, a pair of front and rear ridges 17 on the upper surface (or lower surface) of the second connector holding portion 9 are engaged with one groove 18 on the upper surface of the connector 8 having the two-stage terminal arrangement. For example, when the left and right end surfaces of the connector 8 are slid along the sub-side wall 23, only one connector is held, whereas the left and right movements are performed irrespective of the width of the connector 8. Since the restriction can be performed, there is an advantage that it is possible to cope with a plurality of types having different width dimensions in the connector 8 having the two-stage terminal arrangement.

Therefore, according to the above embodiment, the connectors 6, 8 of the wiring harnesses 6 ', 8' to be connected to the switches of the electric equipment additionally mounted on the automobile are arranged in a single-stage terminal arrangement. In either of the two stages, the switch opening cover 3 fitted in the mounting hole 2 of the instrument panel 1 can be fitted and stably fixed to the connector holder 4 on the back surface of the switch. It is possible to avoid the possibility that the noises or damage may occur due to the collision of the panels 6 and 8 with the back surface of the instrument panel 1.

In addition, since the troublesome work of taping the wire harnesses 6 ', 8' can be omitted and the work can be completed only by fitting the connectors 6, 8 to the connector holder 4, the assembling can be completed. The labor burden on the worker at the time can be greatly reduced.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, in particular, the connectors 6, 8 and the wire harnesses 6 ', 8' can be immediately pulled out from the instrument panel 1 by simply removing the switch opening cover 3 from the indoor side. The wire harnesses 6 ', 8' can be easily connected to switches of various kinds of electric equipment to be additionally provided, so that workability can be greatly improved.

Further, as compared with the case where the base plate of the connector holder 4 is used as the instrument panel 1 and the connector holder 4 is integrally formed on the back surface of the instrument panel 1, the opening of the base plate for the switch as in the present embodiment is used. When the cover 3 is used, the mold structure is small and simple, so that the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

The fixing structure of the connector for a wire harness according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and the connector holder may be integrally formed on the back surface of the instrument panel using the base plate as an instrument panel. It is also possible to add a third connector holding portion corresponding to the height dimension of the connector of three or more terminal arrangements if necessary, and the other points of the present invention. Of course, various changes can be made without departing from the scope.

[0042]

According to the above-described structure for fixing a connector for a wire harness of the present invention, the following various excellent effects can be obtained.

(I) According to the first aspect of the present invention, the connector of the wiring harness to be connected to the switch of the electric equipment additionally mounted on the automobile has a single-stage terminal arrangement. Either of the two stages can be fitted and fixed stably in the appropriate place in the instrument panel, so that the connector collides with the back of the instrument panel due to the vibration of the car, causing abnormal noise or damage The fear can be avoided beforehand.

(II) According to the first aspect of the present invention, the troublesome work of taping the wire harness is omitted, and the work is completed only by fitting the connector to the connector holder. So you can
The labor burden on the workers during assembly can be greatly reduced.

(III) According to the second aspect of the present invention, the connector and the wire harness can be pulled out of the instrument panel immediately by simply removing the opening cover for the switch from the indoor side. The wiring harness can be easily connected to the switches of the electric equipment to be additionally provided, and the workability can be greatly improved.

(IV) According to the second aspect of the present invention, the mold structure is smaller than in the case where the base plate is used as the instrument panel and the connector holder is integrally formed on the back surface of the instrument panel. In addition, since it is simple, the production cost can be kept low.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating an example of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view taken along the line II-II in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a rear view as viewed in the direction of arrows III-III in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line VV of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 2;

7 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an example of a connector having a single-stage terminal arrangement.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an example of a connector having a two-stage terminal arrangement.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a connector of a single-stage terminal arrangement is fitted to the first connector holding portion of FIG. 6;

11 is a sectional view taken along the line XI-XI in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a connector having a two-stage terminal arrangement is fitted to the second connector holding portion of FIG. 6;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken along the line XIII-XIII in FIG. 12;

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 3 Opening cover for switch (base plate) 4 Connector holder 6 Single-stage terminal array connector 6 'Wire harness 7 First connector holding unit 8 Double-stage terminal array connector 8' Wire harness 9 Second connector holding unit 11 Protrusion (Right and left regulating part) 13 Slit (left and right regulating part) 14 Hook claw 15 Engagement hole 17 Ridge (left and right regulating part) 19 Hook claw 22 Engagement hole

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A first connector holding portion corresponding to the height of a connector having a single-stage terminal arrangement is formed in a connector holder integrally formed on a base plate at the back side in the insertion direction of the connector, and at the front side thereof. Forming a second connector holding portion corresponding to the height dimension of the connector of the two-stage terminal arrangement, for each of these first and second connector holding portions, a left and right regulating portion for regulating the movement of the connector in the left and right direction. And an engaging hole for engaging the engaging claw of the fitted connector. 2. The fixing structure for a wire harness connector according to claim 1, wherein the base plate is an opening cover for a switch.