JP4269848B2 - Wire harness protector - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a wire harness protector that accommodates and protects a wire harness connected to a connection object attached to a vehicle body.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a wire harness disposed along a route that bends in a complicated manner inside a vehicle or the like is wired in a predetermined direction while being housed and protected by a protector.
FIG. 6 is a view showing the configuration of the wire harness connected to the acceleration sensor (G sensor) 30 and is a left side view of the vehicle body (viewed from the left side of the vehicle body).
The wire harness main line 10 branches into a plurality of wire harness branch lines (hereinafter simply referred to as wire harnesses) 11, and these wire harnesses 11 are omitted from various sensors (except for the G sensor 30) via a connector 12 attached to the tip. ).

  Among these wire harnesses 11, the wire harness 11 a is inserted through the protector 101 attached to the lower surface of the upper bar 22, and extends along the upper bar 22 to the G sensor 30 fixed to the radiator support 23. Laid. The wire harness 11a is separated from the upper bar 22 in the vicinity of the G sensor 30 and connected to the lower G sensor 30. The protector 101 is also attached to the wire harness so that the end on the G sensor 30 side is connected. Separated from the upper bar 22. Thus, by protecting the wire harness 11a by the protector 101 in the portion that is separated from the upper bar 22 and becomes free, the wire harness 11a collides with a component (not shown) in the vehicle body and is damaged. It is preventing.

  Here, when the vehicle has an offset collision, for example, from the left side of the vehicle body with respect to the radiator support 23 (that is, in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 6 and from the front side to the back side of the paper surface). ) When an impact is applied, the G sensor 30 supported by the radiator support 23 is displaced integrally with the radiator support 23. On the other hand, since the protector 101 is supported by the upper bar 22, the displacement in the offset collision is smaller than the displacement of the G sensor 30. Thus, the difference in displacement between the G sensor 30 and the protector 101 applies tension to the wire harness 11 a that is attached to the G sensor 30 and inserted through the protector 101.

  Here, since the protector 101 has a relatively high rigidity due to the property of protecting the wire harness 11 a, bending deformation does not occur so much in the offset collision. Therefore, the wire harness 11 a suddenly stops at the exit of the protector 101. The above-described tension is concentrated at the outlet of the protector 101 and acts on the wire harness 11a. In an extreme case, the wire harness 11a may be disconnected.

As a technique that can prevent the wire harness from being disconnected at the time of such a vehicle collision, for example, there is a technique disclosed in Patent Document 1. In this technology, the wire harness branch line and the satellite at the time of a vehicle collision are provided by providing the wire harness branch line with an extra length that can extend between the branch part of the wire harness trunk line and the wire harness branch line to the satellite sensor. The difference in displacement from the sensor is absorbed by the extra length of the wire harness branch line to prevent the wire harness branch line from being disconnected.
JP 2001-310692 A

  However, in the prior art of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, since the extra length portion is provided in the wire harness branch line, the amount of wire harness used for one sensor increases. Many sensors are attached to the vehicle, and if extra lengths are provided for these sensors, the increase in the number of wire harnesses for the entire vehicle will be considerable. There is a risk of increasing resistance.

  The present invention was devised in view of such problems, and provides a protector for a wire harness that can suppress disconnection of the wire harness in the protector at the time of a vehicle collision without increasing the amount of use of the wire harness. The purpose is to do.

Protector for a wire harness present invention is accommodated to protect the coated wire harness by the protective material, the protector for a wire harness, first the wire harness is fixed to the beam member is inserted through the wire forming the body second having a first external housing having a rigid to protect the harness, the rigidity is placed next to the connection object side of the first external housing are inserted through the wire harness to protect the wire harness By connecting the first exterior body and the second exterior body to each other and elastically deforming at the time of collision of the vehicle body, bending deformation at a steep angle of the wire harness that occurs at the time of the collision is alleviated. It is characterized by having a connecting member.
For example, the connection object is a beam member that forms a vehicle body, and is attached to a second beam member that is different from the first beam member.

Here, the connecting member is formed, for example, in a thin tongue shape (Claim 3), and is integrally formed with the first exterior body (Claim 4).
Further, the connection object is an acceleration sensor, and an air bag operation control device for operating various air bags at the time of a collision of the vehicle body is mounted on the vehicle body based on an output signal of the acceleration sensor. 5).

According to the protector for a wire harness present invention, at the time of vehicle collision, at the boundary between the second external housing having a rigid to protect the first external housing and the wire harness having a rigid protector to protect the wire harness Due to this elastic deformation, the tension caused by the difference in displacement generated between the part through which the first exterior body is inserted and the part connected to the connection object with respect to the wire harness in the protector. As this tension is absorbed and alleviated and this tension is prevented from acting on the wire harness abruptly, the wire harness protector is prevented from being disconnected in the event of a vehicle collision without providing an extra length in the wire harness protector. There is an advantage that it becomes possible (claim 1).

  In particular, the first exterior body is attached to the first beam member that forms the vehicle body, and the connection object is a beam member that forms the vehicle body and is a second beam member that is different from the first beam member. In the case of being attached, in the wire harness at the time of the vehicle collision, a part inserted through the protector attached to the first exterior body, and a part connected to the connection object attached to the second exterior body There may be a relatively large displacement difference between the two, but at this time, the protector is elastically deformed at the boundary between the first exterior body and the second exterior body. The tension generated in the wire harness is absorbed and relaxed due to the difference between the tensions, and the tension is prevented from acting abruptly on the wire harness. There is an advantage that it becomes possible to suppress the breakage of the wire harness in the protector in collision (claim 2).

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
1 to 5 are views showing a protector for a wire harness according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a view showing the protector for a wire harness attached to a vehicle, and is a view taken in the direction of an arrow A in FIG. FIG. 3 is a side view showing the wire harness protector attached to the vehicle, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the wire harness protector, and FIG. 5 is a wire harness. FIG. 4 is a detailed view showing the protector, wherein (a) is a perspective view seen from obliquely above, (b) is a detailed view of part x of (a), (c) is a perspective view of the x part seen from obliquely below, (d ) Is a view of the x section as viewed from the side.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, in the vehicle, the wire harness trunk line 10 covered with a protective material is laid along the upper bar 22 and the front side member 24, and the wire harness trunk line 10 is protected from the wire harness trunk line 10. A plurality of wire harness branches 11 covered with the material are branched. A connector 12 is attached to the tip of the wire harness branch 11 and is connected to various sensors (not shown except for the G sensor 30) via the connector 12, and detection signals from these sensors are not shown. It is transmitted to other ECUs. In the ECU, for example, based on an output signal of the G sensor 30, various airbags are operated at the time of a vehicle collision. Reference numeral 21 denotes a front cross member.

  A wire harness protector (hereinafter simply referred to as a protector) as an embodiment of the present invention is inserted with a wire harness branch line 11a connected to the G sensor 30 fixed to the radiator support 23, and this wire harness branch line. 11a is protected. The protector 1 is attached to the upper bar 22 and has a curved shape that matches the shape of the upper bar 22.

  As shown in FIGS. 5A to 5D, the protector 1 includes a first exterior body 2 including a lid portion 2A attached to the lower surface of the upper bar 22 and a casing portion 2B assembled to the lid portion 2A. The two exterior bodies of the first exterior body 2 and the second exterior body (pipe) 3 (not shown in FIG. 5C) arranged adjacent to the first exterior body 2 on the G sensor 30 side. The lid portion 2A, the housing portion 2B, and the lip 4 are all made of an elastic material (for example, polypropylene (PP material)). .

  The lid 2A has a substantially U-shaped cross-sectional shape, and protrusions 2Ab are provided at predetermined locations outside the ceiling wall, and these protrusions 2Ab are the upper bars 22 (see FIGS. 1 to 4). ), And the lid 2A and thus the protector 1 are attached to the lower surface of the upper bar 22. A plurality of locking protrusions 2Aa are formed on the outer surface of the pair of side walls of the lid portion 2A along the longitudinal direction.

On the other hand, the housing part 2B has a substantially U-shaped cross section similar to the lid part 2A, and a plurality of locking holes 2Ba are formed in the pair of side walls along the longitudinal direction. .
The lid portion 2A and the housing portion 2B are assembled so that the U-shaped openings in the cross-section are opposed to each other and the side wall inner surface of the housing portion 2B is overlapped with the outer side wall of the lid portion 2A. The locking projection 2Aa of the lid portion 2A is fitted into the locking hole 2Ba of the housing portion 2B, and the locking projection 2Aa and the locking hole 2Ba are locked to each other. The body 2B is locked with each other. And the wire harness branch line 11a is penetrated by the space formed between the cover part 2A and the housing | casing part 2B.

The lid portion 2A is formed with a pair of slits 2Ac on both sides at predetermined positions in the longitudinal direction so that the lid portion 2A can bend in the vertical direction according to the shape of the upper bar 22.
Here, a thin-walled lip (tongue-like member) 4 narrower than the ceiling wall of the lid 2A is arranged at the end of the lid 2A so that the ceiling wall and the center in the width direction coincide with each other. It is formed of an elastic body integrally with the ceiling wall so as to extend in the longitudinal direction of the portion 2A. The pipe 3 is fixed to the lip 4 using, for example, an adhesive tape, and the first exterior body 2 composed of the lid portion 2A and the housing portion 2B and the pipe 3 as the second exterior body are provided. Are connected via the lip 4. Thus, the connecting member of this embodiment is constituted by the lip 4.

  As described above, the wire harness branch line 11 a is connected to the G sensor 30 fixed to the radiator support 23 and is inserted into the protector 1 fixed to the upper bar 22. In other words, since the beams are fixed to two different beam members 22 and 23, when the collision force is biased to one of the beam members as in the case of an offset collision, the portion fixed to the radiator support 23 and the upper bar There is a large difference in displacement at the time of collision between the portion fixed to 22. For this reason, the boundary between the first exterior body (the lid portion 2A and the housing portion 2B) 2 and the second exterior body (pipe) 3 is set at a location where the force acts greatly due to such a difference in displacement. In addition, the first exterior body 2 and the second exterior body 3 are connected by a lip 4 so that the protector 1 is elastically deformed in the lip 4 at the time of the collision.

  The wire harness branch line 11a is bent and deformed due to the difference in displacement between the radiator support 23 and the upper bar 22 at the time of the collision, but the protector 1 is elastically deformed together with the wire harness branch line 11a. 6 is relaxed compared to the prior art as shown in FIG. 6 described above, and the elasticity of the lip 4 prevents the protector 1 and thus the wire harness branch line 11a from being bent suddenly, thereby preventing the wire harness branch line 11a from being disconnected. It has come to be.

Here, since the G sensor 30 side is expected to be bent in the vertical direction at the time of a vehicle collision, the bending at a rapid angle and a rapid speed is mitigated with respect to such a vertical bending. The lip 4 connects the lid 2A and the pipe 3 at the top so that they can be made.
Note that the ECU side end (not shown) of the protector is configured in the same manner as the end on the G sensor 30 side, and the pipe 3 is arranged next to the first exterior body 2 and the ceiling surface of the lid 2A. The first exterior body 2 and the pipe 3 are connected to each other by a lip 4 formed so that a part thereof extends in the longitudinal direction of the protector.

  Since the wire harness protector as one embodiment of the present invention is configured in this manner, the wire harness protector is allowed to bend and deform suddenly at the time of a vehicle collision by the elasticity of the wire harness protector as described above. Since the bending deformation is suppressed, the wire harness branch line 11a inserted through the protector 1 is disconnected without providing an extra length portion in the wire harness as in the prior art (without increasing the amount of wire harness used). As a result, the output signal of the G sensor 30 is stably output to the ECU at the time of a vehicle collision, and various airbag operations are stably performed based on the output signal of the G sensor 30. It comes to be.

The protector for a wire harness of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, in the above embodiment, the example in which the connecting member is integrally formed with the first exterior body 2 (lid portion 2A) has been described. However, the connection member is separated from the first exterior body 2 and the second exterior body 3. It may be configured as a member, or may be configured integrally with the second exterior body 3.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the example which used the protector for wire harnesses of this invention for protection of the wire harness which uses G sensor 30 as a connection destination (connection object), a connection destination is limited to G sensor 30. It is not something.

It is the A arrow line view of FIG. 2 shown in the state which attached the protector for wire harnesses of this invention to the vehicle. It is the perspective view seen from the diagonal upper direction of the vehicle in which the protector for wire harnesses of this invention is attached. It is a side view shown in the state where the protector for wire harnesses of the present invention was attached to the vehicle. It is a typical perspective view which shows the protector for wire harnesses of this invention. It is detail drawing which shows the protector for wire harnesses of this invention, (a) is the perspective view seen from diagonally upward, (b) is the x section detailed drawing of (a), (c) is the said x section seen from diagonally downward. A perspective view, (d) is a view of the x section from the side. It is a side view shown in the state where the protector for conventional wire harnesses was attached to the vehicle.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Protector for wire harnesses 2 1st exterior body 2A Cover part 2B Housing | casing part 3 Pipe (2nd exterior body)
4 Lips (tongue pieces)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Wire harness trunk line 11, 11a Wire harness branch line 22 Upper bar (1st beam member)
23 Radiator support (second beam member)
30 G sensor (object to be connected)

Claims (5)

In a wire harness protector that accommodates and protects a wire harness that is connected to a connection object attached to a vehicle body and covered with a protective material,
A first exterior body that is fixed to the first beam member forming the vehicle body and has rigidity to allow the wire harness to be inserted and protect the wire harness ;
A second exterior body that is arranged adjacent to the connection object side of the first exterior body and has rigidity to protect the wire harness through insertion of the wire harness ;
A connecting member for connecting the first exterior body and the second exterior body and elastically deforming at the time of the collision of the vehicle body to alleviate bending deformation at a steep angle of the wire harness generated at the time of the collision ; wherein the Ru <br/> that includes, protector for a wire harness. The protector for a wire harness according to claim 1, wherein the object to be connected is a beam member forming the vehicle body and is attached to a second beam member different from the first beam member. The protector for a wire harness according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the connecting member is formed in a thin tongue shape. The protector for a wire harness according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first exterior body and the connecting member are integrally formed of an elastic body. The connection object is an acceleration sensor,
The air bag operation control device for operating various air bags at the time of a collision of the vehicle body based on an output signal of the acceleration sensor is mounted on the vehicle body. The protector for wire harnesses as described in the item.

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