JP7210314B2 - Water stop device for wire harness, connector holder, and water stop structure for wire harness - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a water stop device for a wire harness, a connector holder provided with the water stop device, and a water stop structure for a wire harness provided with the connector holder.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, wire harnesses are installed in automobiles and the like. The wire harness is connected to various devices through connectors provided at terminals of electric wires. Various configurations have been developed to prevent water from entering such connectors (see Patent Document 1, for example).

Patent Literature 1 discloses a water shut-off device that is attached to a group of electric wires in front of a connector connection position of a terminal of a wire harness to prevent water from entering the connector. This water stop device comprises a frame having both side frame portions extending vertically from both left and right ends of an upper end connecting portion, and fiber hair-like brushes protruding from the inner surfaces of both side frame portions of the frame. I have it. In this water stop device, the upper end connecting portion of the frame is attached to the electric wire group, the electric wire group is inserted between the brushes on both sides, and water droplets adhering to the outer surface of the electric wire group and transmitted to the connector are separated from the frame and the brush. It is configured to block by contact and drop by its own weight.

JP 2016-67116 A

By the way, in the case of the water stop device described in Patent Document 1, there is a problem that the configuration of the water stop device becomes complicated because a fibrous brush is required.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a water stop device for a wire harness, a connector holder, and a water stop structure for a wire harness that can suppress water intrusion along electric wires into a connector with a simple configuration.

A water stop device for a wire harness for achieving the above object is applied to a wire harness having an electric wire extending upward from a connector provided at a terminal thereof, and suppresses water from entering the connector along the electric wire. a base member that covers a part of the electric wire from below and has a receiving portion that receives water falling along the electric wire; a fixing portion that fixes the electric wire to the base member; a lifting part that lifts the electric wire on the side opposite to the fixing part with the base member provided with a drain hole that opens into the receiving part and discharges water in the receiving part to the outside. It is

According to this configuration, the electric wire is fixed by the fixing portion above the receiving portion, and the electric wire is lifted by the lifting portion on the side opposite to the fixing portion across the receiving portion. For this reason, the water that moves along the electric wire due to its own weight cannot pass over the raised portion of the electric wire and falls from the electric wire into the receiving portion. Then, the liquid is discharged to the outside of the base member through a drain hole opened in the receiving portion. This prevents water from entering the connector along the wires.

Moreover, according to the above configuration, since a brush or the like is not required, the configuration of the water stop device can be simplified.
Therefore, it is possible to prevent water from entering the connector through the electric wires with a simple structure.

In the wire harness waterproofing device, it is preferable that the drain hole opens at the lowest position in the receiving portion.
According to this configuration, since the drain hole is open at the lowest position in the receiving portion, the water in the receiving portion can be discharged early, and the retention of water in the receiving portion can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the water in the receiving portion from overflowing.

In the wire harness waterproofing device described above, it is preferable that the fixing portion is a binding band that fastens the electric wire and the base member.
According to this configuration, the electric wire and the base member can be fixed by fastening them together with the binding band, so the structure of the fixing portion can be simplified.

In the wire harness waterproofing device described above, it is preferable that the lifting portion is formed integrally with the base member.
According to this configuration, the electric wire can be easily lifted simply by passing the electric wire along the lifting portion that is a part of the base member. Also, an increase in the number of parts of the water stop device can be suppressed.

In the water shutoff device for a wire harness, the receiving part has a bottom surface and a side surface surrounding the bottom surface, and the side surface has an inclination that slopes downward as it approaches the bottom surface. is preferably provided.

According to this configuration, the water that has fallen on the side surface of the receiving portion along the electric wire smoothly moves along the inclined portion toward the drain hole. Therefore, the water that has fallen from the electric wire into the receiving portion can be quickly drained.

A connector holder for achieving the above object includes the water stop device, and a holding portion for holding the connector is integrally formed below the receiving portion of the base member, and is attached to the base member. and a cover member covering the connector.

According to this configuration, the holding portion for holding the connector and the water stop are configured by one base member. Therefore, the number of parts can be reduced as compared with the case where a separate water stop device is provided.

Further, according to the above configuration, the connector is covered by attaching the cover member to the base member. Therefore, it is possible to prevent water from entering the connector through a route other than the water passing along the electric wire.

In the above connector holder, it is preferable that an outlet of the drain hole faces a side opposite to an insertion opening into which the connector is inserted in the holding portion.
According to this configuration, the water from the drain hole is discharged toward the side opposite to the insertion port of the connector. Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent the water discharged through the drain hole from entering the connector.

A waterproof structure for a wire harness to achieve the above object includes the connector holder, and the wire harness having the electric wire extending upward from the terminal connected to the connector.

According to this structure, since the same function as that of any one of the wire harness waterproofing devices or the same function as that of any one of the above connector holders can be achieved, the wires can be inserted into the connector with a simple structure. It can control the inundation that spreads.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the ingress of the electric wire into a connector can be suppressed with a simple structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of a connector holder having a waterproof structure for wire harnesses; FIG. 3 is an exploded side view showing the wire harness, base member, cover member, and binding band separated from each other;

An embodiment of a water stop device for wire harnesses, a connector holder, and a water stop structure for wire harnesses will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 .
First, the wire harness 40 will be explained.

<Wire harness 40>
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the wire harness 40 is wired to a vehicle and has an electric wire group 41 made up of a plurality of electric wires. Note that FIG. 1 shows part of the wire harness 40 in a state of being routed in the vehicle. Further, the vertical direction in FIG. 1 is the vertical direction. Hereinafter, the vertical direction will be referred to as the up-down direction, and the vertical direction upward and downward will simply be referred to as upward and downward.

The electric wire group 41 includes a main line 44 and branch lines 45 a and 45 b collectively covered with a covering member 42 . Moreover, the covering member 42 is not provided in the lower part of the electric wire group 41, and the main line 44 and the branch lines 45a and 45b are exposed.

Connectors 46a and 46b are provided at terminals of the respective branch lines 45a and 45b.
The wire harness 40 of this embodiment is routed such that two branch lines 45a and 45b extend upward from each connector 46a and 46b.

Next, the connector holder 10 that holds the connectors 46a and 46b will be described.
<Connector holder 10>
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the connector holder 10 includes a base member 20 and a fixing portion that fixes a portion of the wire group 41 covered by a covering member 42 (hereinafter referred to as a covering portion 43) to the base member 20. and a cover member 50 attached to the base member 20 and covering the connectors 46a and 46b. Both the base member 20 and the cover member 50 are made of, for example, a hard synthetic resin material.

<Base member 20 and binding band 35>
As shown in FIG. 1, a holding portion 21 for holding the connectors 46a and 46b is provided at the bottom of the base member 20. As shown in FIG.

Insertion openings 22a and 22b into which the respective connectors 46a and 46b are inserted are vertically aligned and opened in the side surface of the holding portion 21 .
Insertion openings 23a and 23b into which connectors 61a and 61b electrically connected to the respective connectors 46a and 46b are inserted are provided on the side surface of the holding portion 21 opposite to the surface on which the insertion openings 22a and 22b are opened. The openings are aligned vertically.

In the following description, the front and rear sides of the connectors 46a and 46b in the insertion direction (horizontal direction in FIGS. 1 and 2) are simply referred to as front and rear sides.
Above the holding portion 21 of the base member 20, a path restricting portion 24 that restricts the path of the covering portion 43 of the wire group 41 is provided integrally.

The path restricting portion 24 is connected to the bottom wall 25, the front side of the bottom wall 25, and is connected to the rear side of the bottom wall 25 and the front inclined wall 26, which is inclined so as to be positioned upward toward the front side, and is positioned upward toward the rear side. It has a rear sloping wall 27 that is slanted in such a way as to form a straight line, and a lifting portion 28 that extends in the front-rear direction from the rear side of the rear sloping wall 27 . The rear end of the lifting portion 28 is located on the same plane as the side surface of the base member 20 where the insertion openings 22a and 22b are opened.

The path restricting portion 24 has a front wall 29 that extends upward along the vertical direction and continues to the upper side of the front inclined wall 26 , and a ceiling wall 30 that is positioned above the bottom wall 25 and faces the bottom wall 25 . are doing. The ceiling wall 30 is located above the front inclined wall 26 and below the upper end of the front wall 29 .

A pair of side walls 31 are provided on both sides of the path restricting portion 24 in the width direction (direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing). Note that only one side wall 31 is shown in FIG.
Between the front end of the ceiling wall 30 and the front wall 29, an introduction port 32 for introducing the wire group 41 into the base member 20 is open. Between the rear end of the ceiling wall 30 and the lifting portion 28, a lead-out port 33 for leading out the wire group 41 from the base member 20 is open.

As shown in FIG. 2, the front inclined wall 26 has a pair of through holes 34 spaced apart in the width direction. In this embodiment, a pair of through holes 34 are provided below the upper surface of the lifting portion 28 .

In such a base member 20, the wire group 41 is introduced from the connector 46a, 46b side into the base member 20 through the introduction port 32, pulled out from the outlet port 33, and the connectors 46a, 46b are inserted into the insertion ports 22a, 22b. . Thereby, the connectors 46 a and 46 b are held by the holding portion 21 .

Also, by inserting the binding band 35 through the pair of through holes 34 , the wire group 41 and the front inclined wall 26 of the base member 20 are fastened. A portion of the wire group 41 is placed on the lifting portion 28 . As a result, the wire group 41 is lifted by the lifting portion 28 on the side opposite to the fixed portion formed by the binding band 35 with the receiving portion 36 interposed therebetween.

In this embodiment, one of the wires 41 is composed of the bottom surface which is the top surface of the bottom wall 25, the inner surface of the front inclined wall 26, the inner surface of the rear inclined wall 27, and the inner surface of the side wall 31, and the side surfaces surrounding the bottom surface. A receiving portion 36 is configured to cover the portion from below and receive water falling along the wire group 41 . The inner surface of the front inclined wall 26 and the inner surface of the rear inclined wall 27 correspond to the inclined portion according to the present invention.

A drain hole 37 for discharging the water in the receiving portion 36 to the outside of the base member 20 is opened in the bottom surface, which is the upper surface of the bottom wall 25 . The drain hole 37 opens at the lowest position within the receiving portion 36 . The drain hole 37 is composed of a vertical hole portion 37a extending along the vertical direction, and a horizontal hole portion 37b extending forward from the lower end of the vertical hole portion 37a and forming the outlet of the drain hole 37, It has an L-shaped cross section. Therefore, the outlet of the drain hole 37 faces the opposite side of the holding portion 21 from the insertion openings 22a and 22b.

<Cover member 50>
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the cover member 50 is attached to the base member 20 from the rear side, thereby covering the entire portion of the wire group 41 located behind the cover member 50 . The cover member 50 is fixed to the base member 20 with screws (not shown).

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the electric wire group 41 is fixed by the fixing portion composed of the binding band 35 above the receiving portion 36, and the electric wires are lifted by the lifting portion 28 on the opposite side of the fixing portion with the receiving portion 36 therebetween. Group 41 is lifted. For this reason, the water moving along the wire group 41 due to its own weight cannot pass over the lifted portion of the wire group 41 and falls from the wire group 41 into the receiving portion 36 . Then, as indicated by the one-dot chain line in FIG.

Next, the effects of this embodiment will be described.
(1) The water stop device is applied to a wire harness 40 having a group of wires 41 extending upward from connectors 46a and 46b provided at the ends, and prevents water from entering the connectors 46a and 46b along the group of wires 41. Suppress. The water stop device includes a base member 20 having a receiving portion 36 that covers a portion of the wire group 41 from below and receives water falling along the wire group 41, and a binding that fixes the wire group 41 to the base member 20. It has a fixing part made of a band 35 and a lifting part 28 for lifting the electric wire group 41 on the side opposite to the fixing part with the receiving part 36 therebetween. The base member 20 is provided with a drain hole 37 that opens into the receiving portion 36 and discharges water in the receiving portion 36 to the outside.

According to such a configuration, by exerting the effect described above, the ingress of water along the wire group 41 into the connectors 46a and 46b is suppressed. Moreover, according to the above configuration, since a brush or the like is not required, the configuration of the water stop device can be simplified. Therefore, it is possible to prevent water from entering the connectors 46a and 46b along the wire group 41 with a simple configuration.

(2) The drain hole 37 opens at the lowest position within the receiving portion 36 .
According to such a configuration, since the drain hole 37 opens at the lowest position in the receiving portion 36, the water in the receiving portion 36 can be discharged early, and the water stays in the receiving portion 36. can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the water in the receiving portion 36 from overflowing.

(3) The fixed part is the binding band 35 that fastens the wire group 41 and the base member 20 .
According to such a configuration, the wire group 41 and the base member 20 can be fixed by fastening them together with the binding band 35, so that the structure of the fixing portion can be simplified.

(4) The lifting portion 28 is formed integrally with the base member 20 .
According to such a configuration, the wire group 41 can be easily lifted simply by making the wire group 41 along the lifting portion 28 that is a part of the base member 20 . Also, an increase in the number of parts of the water stop device can be suppressed.

(5) The receiving portion 36 has a bottom surface, which is the top surface of the bottom wall 25, and side surfaces surrounding the bottom surface, which are composed of the inner surface of the front inclined wall 26, the inner surface of the rear inclined wall 27, and the inner surface of the side wall 31. there is The side surfaces are provided with slanted walls 26 and 27 having inner surfaces that are slanted downward as they approach the bottom surface.

With such a configuration, water that has fallen onto the side surface of the receiving portion 36 along the wire group 41 smoothly moves along the inner surfaces of the inclined walls 26 and 27 toward the drain hole 37 . Therefore, the water that has fallen from the wire group 41 into the receiving portion 36 can be quickly drained.

(6) The connector holder 10 is provided with the above-described water stop, and a holding portion 21 for holding the connectors 46a and 46b is integrally formed below the receiving portion 36 of the base member 20, and attached to the base member 20. A cover member 50 is provided to cover the connectors 46a and 46b.

According to such a configuration, the holding portion 21 holding the connectors 46a and 46b and the water stop device are configured by one base member 20. As shown in FIG. Therefore, the number of parts can be reduced as compared with the case where a separate water stop device is provided.

Further, according to the above configuration, the ends of the wire group 41 are covered by attaching the cover member 50 to the base member 20 . Therefore, it is possible to suppress water intrusion into the connectors 46a and 46b through paths other than the water intrusion along the wire group 41. FIG.

(7) The outlet of the drain hole 37 faces the side opposite to the terminal side of the wire group 41 in the holding portion 21 .
According to such a configuration, the water from the drain hole 37 is discharged toward the side opposite to the terminal side of the wire group 41 . Therefore, water discharged through the drain hole 37 can be prevented from entering the connectors 46a and 46b.

(8) The water stop structure for the wire harness 40 includes the connector holder 10 and the wire harness 40 having a wire group 41 extending upward from terminals connected to the connectors 46a and 46b.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to obtain the same effects as (1) to (7) above.
<Change example>
The above embodiment can also be modified, for example, as follows. The above embodiments and the following modifications can be combined with each other within a technically consistent range.

- The inner surface of the side wall 31 can also be inclined so that it is positioned downward as it approaches the bottom surface of the receiving portion 36, like the inner surface of the front inclined wall 26 and the inner surface of the rear inclined wall 27.
- At least one of the front side inclined wall 26 and the rear side inclined wall 27 can be changed to a wall extending along the vertical direction like the front wall 29 .

- The lifting portion 28 may be configured separately from the base member 20 .
- Instead of the binding band 35, the wire group 41 can be fixed to the base member 20 using a tape.

- The drain hole 37 is not limited to opening at the lowest position in the receiving portion 36 . For example, the drain holes 37 may be provided in the front inclined wall 26 or the like.
- The drain hole 37 is not limited to having an L-shaped cross section. Alternatively, for example, a drainage hole consisting of only the vertical hole portion 37a may be used. In this case, the outlet of the drain hole points downwards.

- The base member of the water stop device according to the present invention is not limited to one formed integrally with the holding portion 21 that constitutes the connector holder 10 . The base member may be separate from the connector holder. Also, instead of the connector holder, the water stop device according to the present invention can be applied above an ECU (Electric Control Unit) box, for example.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Connector holder 20... Base member 21... Holding part 22a, 22b... Insertion opening 23a, 23b... Insertion opening 24... Path control part 25... Bottom wall 26... Front inclined wall 27... Rear side Inclined wall 28 Lifting portion 29 Front wall 30 Ceiling wall 31 Side wall 32 Inlet 33 Outlet 34 Through hole 35 Binding band (fixing portion) 36 Receiving portion , 37 Drainage hole 37a Vertical hole 37b Horizontal hole 40 Wire harness 41 Wire group 42 Coating member 43 Covering portion 44 Trunk line 45a, 45b Branch line 46a, 46b... Connector, 50... Cover member, 61a, 61b... Connector.

Claims (8)

A water stop device that is applied to a wire harness having an electric wire extending upward from a connector provided at a terminal and suppresses water from entering the connector along the electric wire,
a base member having a receiving portion that covers a portion of the electric wire from below and receives water falling along the electric wire above the connector ;
a fixing portion that fixes the electric wire to the base member;
a lifting portion that lifts the electric wire on the side opposite to the fixing portion across the receiving portion;
The base member is provided with a drain hole that opens into the receiving portion and discharges water in the receiving portion to the outside,
A water stop for wire harnesses. The drain hole opens at the lowest position in the receiving part,
A water stop device for a wire harness according to claim 1. The fixing part is a binding band that fastens the electric wire and the base member,
The water shut-off device for wire harnesses according to claim 1 or 2. The lifting portion is integrally formed with the base member,
A water stop device for a wire harness according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The receiving portion has a bottom surface and a side surface surrounding the bottom surface,
The side surface is provided with an inclined portion that is inclined downward as it approaches the bottom surface.
A water stop device for a wire harness according to any one of claims 1 to 4. Equipped with the water stop device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A holding portion for holding the connector is integrally formed below the receiving portion of the base member,
A cover member attached to the base member and covering the connector,
connector holder. the outlet of the drain hole faces the side opposite to the insertion opening into which the connector is inserted in the holding part;
The connector holder according to claim 6. A connector holder according to claim 6 or claim 7;
the wire harness having the electric wire extending upward from the terminal connected to the connector;
Waterproof structure of wire harness.

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