JP2009142125A - Protector for wire harness - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a protector for a wire harness, which can easily be removed from a vehicle body. <P>SOLUTION: The protector consists of a protector main body 10 of a U-shaped cross section, and a lid 20, and locking arms 25 extending downward are formed on four corners of the lid 20. Hooks 27 for fixing the lid which engage to an engaging frame 15 of the side wall outer surface of the protector main body are each formed on the upper part of each of the locking arms, and hooks 26 for fixing the protector main body which engage to the engaging hole 51 of the vehicle body panel 50 are provided downward on the lower end. U-shaped spring portions 13, 23 expandable in vertical direction are formed on a bottom wall 11 of the protector main body and a top wall 21 of the lid 20, and the forcing direction of each of the spring portions is set at a direction of engaging the hooks 26 for fixing the protector main body to the engaging hole of the vehicle body panel. Thus, the side wall 12 is pressed with a force F from right and left, so that the engagement of the hooks 26 can be released and the protector can be removed from the vehicle body panel. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a protector for a wire harness for automobiles.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of a conventional wire harness protector described in Patent Document 1.

  This protector includes a protector main body 110 having a U-shaped cross section with an upper surface opened to accommodate the wire harness W therein, and a lid 120 that closes the upper surface opening of the protector main body 110.

Lock portions 117 and 118 for fixing the protector main body 110 to the locking holes 151 of the vehicle body panel 150 are provided on the lower surface of the bottom wall of the protector main body 110. Further, the protector main body 110 and the lid body 120 are provided with a lock projection 115 and a lock frame 125 for locking the lid body 120 in a state where the upper surface opening of the protector main body 110 is closed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-41743

  By the way, many wire harnesses are used in the vehicle, and there is a demand to be able to easily remove the wire harness for recycling when the vehicle is disassembled.

  When removing the wire harness, for example, the protector fixing the wire harness to the vehicle body must be removed from the vehicle body. In the case of the above-described protector, the lock portions 117 and 118 of the protector body 110 are connected to the vehicle body panel 150. Therefore, it is difficult to easily remove the wire harness W because the wire harness W has to be pulled up with a strong force while damaging the lock portions 117 and 118.

  In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a protector for a wire harness that can be easily detached from a vehicle body only by applying a small force that does not act during normal mounting.

  A protector for a wire harness according to a first aspect of the invention has a bottom wall and left and right side walls, an open top surface, and a substantially U-shaped protector body capable of accommodating a wire harness therein, and an upper surface of the protector body A lid having a ceiling wall for closing the opening; lid locking means for fixing the lid to the protector body in a state where the upper surface opening of the protector body is closed; and a protector for fixing the protector body to the vehicle body panel In the protector for wire harness provided with the fixing means, as the protector fixing means, it extends downward on both sides in the left-right direction of the protector body, and the tip part is a locking hole of the vehicle body panel. Left and right lock pieces that can be inserted / removed with respect to the right and left lock pieces are provided, projecting sideways at the front end portions of the left and right lock pieces, and the front end portions of the respective lock pieces are disposed in front. A protector body fixing hook is provided to prevent the lock piece from coming off by engaging with a hole edge of the lock hole in a state of being inserted into the lock hole of the vehicle body panel, while the bottom wall of the protector body is provided. A first spring portion that allows the bottom wall to extend and contract in the left-right direction is provided at an intermediate position of the left and right lock pieces, and the biasing direction of the bottom wall by the first spring portion is the hook for fixing the protector body. Is set in a direction to engage with a hole edge of the locking hole.

  Invention of Claim 2 is the protector for wire harnesses of Claim 1, Comprising: While the said hook for a main body of a protector body is provided outward in the said left-right lock piece, the urging | biasing direction by the said 1st spring part is It is characterized by being set outward.

  The invention of claim 3 is the protector for wire harness according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the lock pieces are arranged at four corners of a rectangular bottom portion of the protector body.

  Invention of Claim 4 is a protector for wire harnesses of any one of Claims 1-3, Comprising: The 2nd spring which can expand-contract this ceiling wall to the left-right direction at the ceiling wall of the said cover body And the urging direction of the top wall by the second spring part is set in the same direction as the urging direction of the first spring part.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the protector for wire harness according to claim 4, wherein the first spring portion provided on the bottom wall of the protector body and the second spring portion provided on the top wall of the lid body. Both are configured by bending the bottom wall and the top wall in a U shape toward the inside of the protector.

  Invention of Claim 6 is a protector for wire harnesses of any one of Claims 1-5, Comprising: As said cover body locking means, it extends long in the both sides of the said cover body toward the downward direction. And a lock arm that can be inserted and removed in engagement holes of engagement frames provided on the left and right side walls of the protector body, and protrudes sideways at the top of the lock arm, and When the lock arm is inserted into the engagement hole of the engagement frame, it is engaged with the engagement frame to prevent the lock arm from coming off and to fix the lid to the protector body. When the hook is provided and the lid is locked to the protector body, the lower end of the lock arm extending downward from the bottom of the protector body also serves as a lock piece as the protector fixing means. Features and That.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the bottom wall of the protector body is deformed against the urging force of the first spring portion, the protector body fixing hook provided at the tip of the left and right lock pieces is Detach from the hole edge of the locking hole. Therefore, in this state, the protector body can be easily detached from the vehicle body by pulling out the lock piece from the locking hole. When the protector is attached to the vehicle body, when the tip of the left and right lock pieces is inserted into the locking hole of the vehicle body panel, the protector body fixing hook is locked by the urging force of the first spring part on the back side of the locking hole. Since the lock piece is prevented from coming off by engaging with the hole edge of the hole, the protector body can be fixed to the vehicle body. Therefore, the protector can be fixed to the vehicle body without using a tool.

  According to the invention of claim 2, it is possible to release the engagement between the protector body fixing hook and the locking hole of the vehicle body panel by simply pressing both side walls of the protector body from the left and right. Therefore, the protector can be easily removed.

  According to the invention of claim 3, since the four corners of the protector can be fixed, the protector can be firmly fixed to the vehicle body.

  According to the invention of claim 4, the lid body is also made to have a spring property in the same direction as the protector body, so that both the top wall of the lid body and the bottom wall of the protector body are resistant to the urging force of the spring part. By deforming the protector, the protector can be easily removed from the vehicle body without difficulty.

  According to the invention of claim 5, both the first spring part on the bottom wall of the protector body and the second spring part on the top wall of the lid body are curved in a U shape toward the inside of the protector. Since it is comprised, a partition can be formed in the interior space of a protector by an upper and lower spring part, and a wire harness can be accommodated separately in the protector inside right and left.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the lower end portion of the lock arm provided as the lid lock means also serves as the lock piece as the protector fixing means, the lock structure can be simplified. Further, since the entire protector is fixed to the vehicle body by directly fixing the lid to the vehicle body panel, the protector can be firmly fixed to the vehicle body.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of the protector for a wire harness according to the embodiment, and is a perspective view showing a state before the protector main body and the lid are assembled. FIG. 2 shows a state before the protector main body and the lid are assembled and attached to the vehicle body panel. 3 is a perspective view showing a state after being attached to the vehicle body panel, FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along arrow IV-IV in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a state in the middle of removing the protector from the state in FIG. It is sectional drawing shown.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the wire harness protector 1 is composed of a protector main body 10 and a lid body 20 both made of a resin molded product, and is configured to be attached and fixed to a vehicle body panel 50. Yes. The protector body 10 has a bottom wall 11 and left and right side walls 12, has an open top surface, and has a substantially U-shaped cross section that can accommodate the wire harness W therein. The lid body 20 is formed of the protector body 10. It has a top wall 21 that closes the upper surface opening.

  A first spring portion 13 is provided at the center of the bottom wall 11 of the protector body 10 in the left-right width direction so that the bottom wall 11 can be expanded and contracted in the left-right direction. Further, a second spring portion 23 is provided at the center of the top wall 21 of the lid 20 in the left-right width direction so that the top wall 21 can be expanded and contracted in the left-right direction. These first and second spring portions 13 and 23 are formed by bending the bottom wall 11 and the top wall 21 in a U shape toward the inside of the protector, respectively. As shown in FIG. It is set to generate an urging force toward the outer side in the left-right direction when attached to the panel 50.

  In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the distance H between the closest part of the U-shaped first spring part 13 on the protector body 10 side and the U-shaped second spring part 23 on the lid 20 side is stored. It is set so that it may become smaller than the diameter D of the two wire harnesses W by which the inside of the protector 1 is divided into two spaces.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, lid body locking means for fixing the lid body 20 to the protector body 10 at the four corners on both the left and right sides of the lid body 20 while closing the upper surface opening of the protector body 10. A lock arm 25 is provided. The front end portion (lower end portion) of each lock arm 25 also serves as a lock piece (protector fixing means) for fixing the protector body 10 to the vehicle body panel 50. The lock arm 25 uses the lid 20 for the protector. In a state where the main body 10 is locked, the lower end of the protector main body 10 is set to a length that protrudes downward from the bottom of the protector main body 10, and a portion protruding downward from the bottom of the protector main body 10 serves as a protector fixing means. It is configured to function as a locking piece.

  These lock arms 25 can be respectively inserted into and removed from the engagement holes penetrating in the vertical direction of the engagement frames 15 provided on the outer surfaces of the left and right side walls 12 of the protector body 10. When the lock arm 25 is inserted into the engagement hole of the engagement frame 15, the lock arm 25 is prevented from coming off by engaging with the engagement frame 15, and the lid 20 is fixed to the protector body 10. A lid fixing hook 27 is provided.

  Further, the lower end portion of the lock arm 25 functioning as a lock piece for fixing the protector is configured so as to be detachable with respect to the locking hole 51 of the vehicle body panel 50. A protector main body fixing hook 26 protruding toward is provided. These protector fixing hooks 26 are engaged with the hole edges of the locking holes 51 in a state where the lower ends of the lock arms 25 are inserted into the locking holes 51 of the vehicle body panel 50, thereby The protector 1 is fixed to the vehicle body panel 50 by preventing it from coming off.

  In this case, the protector body fixing hook 26 protrudes outward from the lock arm 25, and the urging force of the first and second spring portions 13 and 23 causes the edge of the locking hole 51 (outside hole). End).

  The lateral width S of the locking hole 51 of the vehicle body panel 50 is set to be slightly larger than the sum of the engagement margin β of the protector body fixing hook 26 and the thickness t of the lock arm 25 (S> β + t). When the hook 26 is removed, if the lock arm 25 is moved until it hits the inner end of the locking hole 51, the hook 26 can be easily removed from the locking hole 51. Accordingly, the movement allowance α of the lock arm 25 on one side in this case is a value obtained by subtracting the wall thickness t of the lock arm 25 from the width S of the locking hole 51 (α = S−t).

  Next, the operation will be described.

  When the wire harness W is fixed to the vehicle body panel 50 using the wire harness protector 1, first, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the wire harness W is accommodated inside the protector main body 10, and the lid body. 20 is placed on the protector body 10. Then, the front end (lower end) of the lock arm 25 is passed from the top to the bottom through the engagement hole of the engagement frame 15 provided on the outer surface of the side wall 12 of the protector body 10 and locked to the position of the lid fixing hook 27. The arm 25 is passed through the engagement frame 15. Then, the lid fixing hook 27 is engaged with the engagement frame 15 and the lid 20 and the protector main body 10 are locked. In this state, the lower end portion of the lock arm 25 protrudes downward from the bottom portion of the protector body 10.

  Next, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the lower end portion of the lock arm 25 is inserted into the locking holes 51 of the vehicle body panel 50 from above. Then, since the left and right lock arms 25 are biased outward by the biasing force of the first and second spring portions 13 and 23, the outward protector body fixing hook provided at the lower end of the lock arm 25 26 engages with the hole edge outside the locking hole 51 of the vehicle body panel 50, the lock arm 25 is prevented from being detached from the vehicle body panel 50, and the protector 1 is fixed to the vehicle body.

  In this case, since the protector 1 can be fixed at the four corners by the four lock arms 25, the protector 1 can be firmly fixed to the vehicle body.

  Further, in this attached state, the first spring portion 13 on the bottom wall 11 of the protector body 10 and the second spring portion 23 on the top wall 21 of the lid body 20 partition left and right into the internal space of the protector 1, so that 2 The wire harness W of the book can be stably housed in the protector 1 divided into left and right.

  Next, when it is necessary to remove the wire harness W from the vehicle body at the time of vehicle disassembly, as shown in FIG. 4, the protector main body has a force F that overcomes the urging force of the first and second spring portions 13 and 23. The spring portions 13 and 23 are compressed by pushing the ten side walls 12 from the left and right. Then, the distance L between the lock arms 25 is reduced to L-2α until the left and right lock arms 25 come into contact with the inner ends of the locking holes 51.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the protector body fixing hooks 26 provided at the tips (lower ends) of the left and right lock arms 25 are disengaged from the hole edges of the locking holes 51 of the vehicle body panel 50. Accordingly, in this state, the protector 1 can be easily detached from the vehicle body by pulling out the tip of the lock arm 25 from the locking hole 51. Therefore, the wire harness W can be easily disassembled.

  In this case, since the engagement between the protector body fixing hook 26 and the locking hole 51 can be released simply by pushing the both side walls 12 of the protector body 10 from the left and right, the removal operation of the protector 1 can be easily performed.

  In addition to the protector main body 10, the lid body 20 is provided with a second spring portion 23 that exerts an urging force in the same direction as the protector main body 10, so that the protector main body fixing hook 26 is engaged with the vehicle body panel 50. Since the resultant force can be increased, and elasticity can be imparted to both the top wall 21 of the lid 20 and the bottom wall 11 of the protector body 10, the protector 1 can be easily detached from the vehicle body panel 50 without difficulty.

  Further, in this embodiment, since the lower end portion of the lock arm 25 provided as the lid lock means also serves as the lock piece as the protector fixing means, the lock structure can be simplified, and the lid body Since 20 can be directly fixed to the vehicle body panel 50, the entire protector 1 can be firmly fixed to the vehicle body.

  In the above embodiment, the lower end portion of the lock arm 25 that fixes the lid 20 to the protector body 10 is also used as a lock piece that fixes the protector 1 to the vehicle body, but may be provided separately. That is, the lid locking means for fixing the lid 20 and the protector fixing means for fixing the protector 1 may be provided independently of each other.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the spring parts 13 and 23 are comprised by curving the bottom wall 11 and the top wall 21 in U shape, you may provide the spring part of the structure of other than that.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the case where the spring parts 13 and 23 are provided in both the protector main body 10 and the cover body 20 is shown, the spring part 13 is provided in the bottom wall 11 of the protector main body 10 at least. For example, the interval between the lock arms 25 can be reduced to release the lock.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the case where the lock arm 25 was provided in the four corners of the protector 1 is shown, in the case of a protector with a short length, as long as the lock arm 25 is provided in the left and right pair, Similar effects can be obtained.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the case where the direction of the protector main body fixing hook 26 and the direction of the urging force of the first and second springs 13 and 23 were set outward was shown, it is set inward. It is also possible.

It is a block diagram of the protector for wire harnesses of embodiment of this invention, and is a perspective view which shows the state before assembling a protector main body and a cover body. It is a perspective view which shows the state before assembling the said protector main body and a cover body and attaching to a vehicle body panel. It is a perspective view which shows the state which assembled the said protector main body and the cover body, and was attached to the vehicle body panel. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along arrows IV-IV in FIG. 3. It is sectional drawing which shows the state in the middle of removing a protector from the state of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the conventional protector.

Explanation of symbols

W wire harness 1 wire harness protector 10 protector body 11 bottom wall 12 side wall 13 first spring part 15 locking frame 20 lid body 21 top wall 23 second spring part 25 lock arm (lid body locking means, lock piece)
26 Hook for securing the protector body (Protector securing means)
27 Hook for fixing lid (lid lock means)
50 Body panel 51 Locking hole

Claims (6)

A protector body having a bottom wall and left and right side walls, an upper surface being open and having a substantially U-shaped cross section capable of accommodating a wire harness therein, and a lid having a ceiling wall that closes the upper surface opening of the protector body; A wire harness protector comprising: a lid locking means for fixing the lid body to a protector body in a state where an upper surface opening of the protector body is closed; and a protector fixing means for fixing the protector body to a vehicle body panel. ,
As the protector fixing means, left and right lock pieces extending downward and having a distal end portion that can be inserted into and removed from the locking hole of the vehicle body panel are provided on both sides of the protector body in the left-right direction. , Projecting sideways at the respective front end portions of the left and right lock pieces, and being engaged with the hole edges of the lock holes in a state where the front end portions of the lock pieces are inserted into the lock holes of the vehicle body panel. By joining, a protector body fixing hook is provided to prevent the lock piece from coming off, while the bottom wall can be expanded and contracted in the left-right direction at an intermediate position of the left and right lock pieces of the bottom wall of the protector body. A first spring portion is provided, and an urging direction of the bottom wall by the first spring portion is set to a direction in which the protector body fixing hook is engaged with a hole edge of the locking hole. Wire harness prote Data. It is a protector for wire harnesses of Claim 1, Comprising:
The protector for a wire harness, wherein the protector body fixing hook is provided outwardly on the left and right lock pieces, and the urging direction of the first spring portion is set outward. It is a protector for wire harnesses of Claim 1 or 2, Comprising:
The protector for a wire harness, wherein the lock pieces are arranged at four corners of a rectangular bottom portion of the protector body. It is a protector for wire harnesses of any one of Claims 1-3,
The top wall of the lid is provided with a second spring part that allows the top wall to extend and contract in the left-right direction, and the biasing direction of the top wall by the second spring part is the biasing of the first spring part. A protector for a wire harness, characterized by being set in the same direction as the direction. It is a protector for wire harnesses of Claim 4, Comprising:
The first spring portion provided on the bottom wall of the protector body and the second spring portion provided on the top wall of the lid body are both U-shaped with the bottom wall and the top wall facing the inside of the protector. A protector for a wire harness, characterized by being bent. It is a protector for wire harnesses of any one of Claims 1-5,
As the lid lock means, a lock that extends long downwards on both left and right sides of the lid and is detachable into engagement holes of engagement frames provided on the left and right side walls of the protector body. An arm is provided, protrudes laterally at the top of the lock arm, and engages the engagement frame when the lock arm is inserted into the engagement hole of the engagement frame. And a lid fixing hook for preventing the lock arm from coming off and fixing the lid body to the protector body, and in a state where the lid body is locked to the protector body, from the bottom of the protector body of the lock arm. A wire harness protector, wherein a lower end portion extending downward also serves as a lock piece as the protector fixing means.

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