JP2003009357A - Grommet with resin inner sleeve - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce insertion force required for inserting and locking a locking claw for locking of a car body, formed on a resin inner sleeve housed in a grommet body, in an insertion hole in a car body panel. SOLUTION: The grommet body, made of an elastic body, comprises a small- diameter cylindrical portion for electric wire insertion and a large-diameter cylindrical portion, formed at the tip of the small-diameter cylindrical portion. A resin inner sleeve is housed and fixed in the large-diameter cylindrical portion, and the peripheral wall of the inner sleeve protruded from the opening at the end of the large-diameter cylindrical portion is provided between both side grooves, cut in the peripheral wall with a movable piece; and a movable locking claw is erected from the outer face of the tip of the movable piece, and a cutout portion is formed in the inner face of the movable piece, so that the movable locking claw is apt to bend.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a grommet provided with a resin inner sleeve, and more particularly, to a grommet which is attached to a wire harness to be installed in an automobile and mounted in a through hole of a vehicle body panel. The inner sleeve of the resin product is fitted inside the grommet body, and is attached by being locked in the through hole of the vehicle body panel by the vehicle body locking claw protruding from the outer surface of the inner sleeve.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a grommet of this type, when a door harness arranged on the door side is bridged through a through hole of a door panel to a through hole of a vehicle body panel, a wire harness between the door panel and the vehicle body panel, for example, as shown in FIG. The grommet 1 is attached as shown in FIG. The grommet 1 has a resin-made inner sleeve 3 mounted inside a large-diameter cylindrical portion 2a provided at the tip of a grommet body 2 made of rubber or elastomer, and lock claws 3a, 3b provided on the outer surface of the inner sleeve 3. Through hole H of body panel A
It is said that it can be locked with one touch just by inserting it in 1.

More specifically, the grommet 1 is engaged with through holes H1 and H2 provided in the vehicle body panel A and the door panel B.
Is a bellows-shaped small-diameter tubular portion 2b of the grommet main body 2 provided at one end with a large-diameter tubular portion 2c which is fitted and locked in the through hole H2 of the door panel B, and at the other end thereof is fitted into a through hole H1 of the vehicle body panel. The large-diameter cylindrical portion 2a is continuously provided. A locking groove 2d is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the one large-diameter cylindrical portion 2c, and the locking groove 2d is fitted in the peripheral edge of the through hole H2 and mounted in a sealed state.

On the other hand, the large-diameter cylindrical portion 2a on the side of the vehicle body panel A is fitted and locked with an inner sleeve 3 made of a resin.
Inner sleeve 3 slightly protruding from the tip opening of a
Lock claws 3a and 3b for locking the vehicle body are provided on the outer surface of the vehicle at opposing positions. The lock claws 3a and 3b are passed through the through hole H1 to be locked to the inner peripheral edge of the through hole H1, and the seal lip 2f provided on the peripheral edge of the opening of the large diameter cylindrical portion 2a is provided on the outer peripheral side of the through hole H1. The grommet 1 is fixed to the vehicle body panel in a state where it is brought into close contact with the peripheral edge and maintains the sealing property.

In the above-mentioned grommet, in consideration of workability of attaching the grommet to the through hole H1 of the vehicle body panel A in the automobile assembly line, the one lock claw 3a provided at the opposite position is provided on the peripheral wall of the inner sleeve 3. One of the fixed locking claws protruding from the tip and the other locking claw 3b
Is a movable lock claw provided on the outer surface of the tip of the movable piece 3d between the both side grooves 3c cut in the peripheral wall as shown in FIG. At the time of attaching the through hole H1, the tips of the large-diameter cylindrical portion 2a and the inner sleeve 3 are inclined with respect to the through hole H1, and the fixed lock claw 3a is inserted into the through hole H1 first as shown in FIG. Stop, then move the locking claw 3b
Is bent into the through hole H1 for insertion locking.

[0006]

When the grommet is assembled to an automobile, the workability is better as the inserting force of the movable lock claw 3b for inserting the inner sleeve 3 into the through hole H1 of the vehicle body panel is lower. Become. Therefore, as the means for lowering the insertion force, conventionally, the following four means for adjusting the dimensions of each part shown in FIG. 9 have been adopted. The engagement allowance L1) of the lock claw 3b is reduced. The width L2 of the lock claw is reduced. The length L3 of the movable piece 3d is increased. The crushing dimension L4 of the seal lip 2f is increased.

However, in the above case, the lock is easily released, and the reliability of fixing the grommet to the vehicle body panel is deteriorated. In addition, in the above cases, the rattling of the grommet becomes large, and similarly, the lock is easily released. Furthermore, in the above, the crushing margin of the seal lip is reduced, so the insertion force can be reduced, but since the sealing performance is reduced, water is likely to enter from the outside to the indoor side, and if the grommet becomes large, the seal The lip also becomes large and does not contribute to the decrease in insertion force.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is possible to improve the workability of attaching a grommet by reducing the insertion force of a movable lock claw while preventing the lock from coming off while not lowering the sealing property. It is an issue.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is, firstly, a grommet which is attached to a wire harness which is inserted into a through hole formed in a vehicle body panel of an automobile and which is used for inserting an electric wire. An inner sleeve made of resin is housed and fixed in the large-diameter cylindrical portion of the grommet main body made of an elastic body having a large-diameter cylindrical portion at the tip of the small-diameter cylindrical portion, and the inner protruding from the tip opening of the large-diameter cylindrical portion. A movable piece is provided between both side grooves cut into the peripheral wall at a position opposite to the peripheral wall of the sleeve, a movable lock pawl is provided on the outer surface of the distal end of the movable piece, and a lightening portion is provided on the inner surface of the movable piece. During the fixing work of inserting and locking the movable lock claw in the through hole,
There is provided a grommet including a resin inner sleeve that facilitates bending of the movable piece to reduce the insertion force.

In the resin inner sleeve of the grommet, both of the opposite lock claws are movable lock claws protruding from the outer surface of the distal end of the movable piece, and a lightening portion is provided on the inner surface of the movable piece to facilitate bending. Therefore, when inserted into the through hole of the vehicle body panel, the opposing movable piece bends inward, and the movable lock claw can be easily inserted into the through hole, so that the insertion force can be reduced.

Further, the movable piece has a thinned inner surface so as to be easily bent, but the width dimension is not reduced and is the same as the conventional one.
Since the width of the movable lock claw protrudingly provided in the entire width direction of the tip of the movable piece is not small, that is, the width L2 of the lock claw is not small, the locking force of the lock claw is not reduced. Therefore, after the movable piece bends and passes through the through hole, the movable lock claw returns and is locked to the peripheral edge of the through hole with a sufficient locking force. Further, the locking allowance L1 of the above-mentioned lock claw is not made small, and the length L3 of the movable piece is
Since it is not long, the lock does not easily come off, and rattling hardly occurs. Further, since the crushing dimension L4 of the seal lip is not increased, the sealing performance is not deteriorated.

Secondly, the present invention is a grommet which is attached to a wire harness which is inserted into a through hole formed in a vehicle body panel of an automobile, and which has a large-diameter cylindrical portion at the tip of a small-diameter cylindrical portion for inserting an electric wire. An inner sleeve made of resin is housed and fixed in the large-diameter cylindrical portion of the grommet body made of an elastic body,
On the peripheral wall of the inner sleeve projecting from the front end opening of the large-diameter cylindrical portion, a lock pawl for locking the vehicle body is provided at an opposing position, and one lock pawl is fixed from the outer surface of the peripheral wall. In addition to the lock claw, the other lock claw is a movable lock claw provided on the outer surface of the distal end of the movable piece between both side grooves cut in the peripheral wall, and a lightening portion is provided on the inner surface of the movable piece to provide the fixed lock. A resin inner sleeve that easily bends the movable piece to reduce the insertion force during a fixing operation in which the movable lock claw is inserted and locked in the through hole after the claw is inserted and locked in the through hole of the vehicle body panel. We provide grommets with.

That is, when the lock claw is attached to the through hole of the vehicle body panel, in the grommet in which the fixed lock claw is inserted and locked in the through hole first and then the movable lock claw is inserted and locked in the through hole, Since the lightening portion is provided on the inner surface of the movable piece on the side and the lightening portion is provided on the inner surface of the movable piece opposite to the movable lock claw, the rigidity of the movable piece is reduced and the flexible piece can be easily bent. It is possible to reduce the insertion force of the movable lock claw.

In any of the above grommets, the lightening portion provided on the inner surface side of the movable piece of the inner sleeve is provided at the central portion in the width direction of the movable piece over the entire length in the height direction.
The plate thickness is thin. In this manner, the center portion of the movable piece in the width direction is lightened to facilitate bending, while both side portions are thickened without being lightened, so that the movable piece can be provided with required strength.

When the connector is housed and locked in the inner sleeve, the peripheral wall of the inner sleeve has a substantially rectangular frame shape, and the connector connected to the electric wire terminal inserted into the small diameter cylindrical portion of the grommet body is locked inside. The movable sleeve is housed, and the movable lock pawl is provided at both of the centers on the short side of the inner sleeve, or the fixed lock pawl is provided on one side and the movable lock pawl on the other side.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The grommet of the embodiment is attached to a door harness that passes through the through hole H2 of the vehicle body panel A after passing through the through hole H2 of the door panel B, and a connector that connects to the tip of the door harness is attached to the grommet inside the grommet as in the conventional example. It is fixed to.

1 to 4 show a grommet 10 according to a first embodiment, which comprises a grommet body 11 made of rubber or elastomer and an inner sleeve 20 made of resin. The grommet body 11 has a large-diameter cylindrical portion 13 at both ends of a bellows-shaped small-diameter cylindrical portion 12 for inserting an electric wire.
The inner sleeve 20 made of resin is housed inside one large-diameter cylindrical portion 13 continuously. A vehicle body locking groove 14a to be fitted into the through hole H2 of the door panel B is provided on the outer periphery of the large-diameter cylindrical portion 14.

The other large-diameter cylindrical portion 13 for accommodating the inner sleeve 20 has a substantially quadrangular cylindrical shape, and a seal lip 13b is projected outwardly at the peripheral edge of the tip opening 13a. An inner sleeve engaging portion 13c having a U-shaped cross section is provided at the peripheral edge portion of the opening continuous with the seal lip 13b. The locking flange portion 20b protruding from the peripheral wall 20a of the inner sleeve 20 is inserted and locked in the annular groove 13d that opens to the inner peripheral surface of the inner sleeve locking portion 13c, and both sides of the opposing long sides 13c-1 are locked. A pin hole 13e is bored from the bottom surface of the annular groove 13d, and a pin 20c protruding from the locking flange portion 20b of the inner sleeve is inserted.

The peripheral wall 20a of the inner sleeve 20 protruding from the front end opening 13a of the large-diameter cylindrical portion 13 is provided with a pair of both-side grooves 20e cut in the opposing short side wall 20a-1, and a movable piece is provided between them. 20f, and a movable lock claw 20h is provided on the outer surface of the front end thereof over the entire width direction. On the inner surface of the movable piece 20f, the lightening portion 20 is provided in the central portion in the width direction over the entire length direction (height direction).
i is provided to make the wall thin, and the movable piece 20f is easily bent.

The long side 20 of the peripheral wall of the inner sleeve
The lock part 2 that locks with the connector 30 on one side of a-2
0k is provided and is locked and coupled to a locked portion provided on the outer surface of the housing of the connector 30, and the connector 30 is fitted and fixed to the inner sleeve 20.

The door harness W / H is inserted through the grommet main body 11 having the above-mentioned structure, the connector 30 connected to the tip of the door harness W / H is fixed in the inner sleeve 20, and the inner sleeve 20 is fixed to the large-diameter cylindrical portion. When the grommet 10 accommodated and held in 13 is assembled in the automobile assembly line, the lock claw of the inner sleeve 20 is inserted and locked into the through hole H1 of the vehicle body panel A through the through hole H2 of the door panel B.

At that time, as shown in FIG. 4, the front end surface of the inner sleeve 20 is set substantially parallel to the through hole H1.
The movable lock claws 20h on both sides are inserted and locked in the through hole H1. When the movable lock claw 20h passes through the through hole H1, the movable lock claw 20h returns to its original position and is locked in the through hole H1.

When the movable lock claw 20h is inserted and locked,
Since the lightening portion 20i is provided on the inner surface of the movable piece 20f, the movable piece 20f is easily bent, the insertion force is reduced, and the workability can be improved. Also, the movable lock claw 20h
Since the width L2 of the movable lock claw 20h is not reduced in a state where the inner sleeve 20 is inserted and locked in the through hole H1, a required locking force is obtained, and the inner sleeve 20 is fixed to the vehicle body panel A.
Can be securely fixed to.

Further, since the lock claws provided facing the inner sleeve 20 are both movable lock claws 20h, compared with the case where one is a fixed lock claw and the other is a movable lock claw, the body panel is penetrated. When inserting into the hole, it is not necessary to insert the fixed lock claw side first. Therefore, since the insertion order of the inner sleeve 20 is not specified, the operator does not have to pay attention to the insertion order, and the workability can be improved.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show the second embodiment. The difference from the grommet of the first embodiment is that one of the locking pawls for locking the vehicle body, which is provided so as to face the inner sleeve 20 'made of resin, is fixed. The point is that the lock claw 20d 'is used and the other is the movable lock claw 20h'. That is, the fixed lock claw 20d 'is provided on the outer surface of one end of the short side wall 20a-1' of the peripheral wall 20a 'of the inner sleeve 20'. A movable piece 20f 'between the pair of cut grooves is provided on the short side 20a-1' of the facing peripheral wall 20a ', and the movable piece 2f is provided.
A movable lock claw 20h 'is provided on the outer surface of the front end of 0f' so as to extend over the entire width direction, and a lightening portion 20i 'is provided on the inner surface of the movable piece 20f'. The fixed lock claw 20
The width of d'is the same as the width of the movable lock claw 20h '.

In the grommet having the above-described structure, as shown in FIG. 6, the tip end surface of the inner sleeve 20 'is tilted with respect to the through hole H1, and first, the fixed locking claw 20d' is inserted and locked in the through hole H1. To do. Then, the movable lock claw 20h ′ is inserted into the through hole H1 while bending the movable piece 20f ′ inward, and the movable lock claw 20h ′ is passed through the through hole H1.
Returns to the original position and is locked in the through hole H1.

When the movable lock 20h 'is inserted and locked,
Since the lightening portion 20i 'is provided on the inner surface of the movable piece 20f', the movable piece 20f 'easily bends, the insertion force is reduced, and the workability can be improved. Further, in the state where the movable lock claw 20h ′ is inserted and locked in the through hole H1, since the width of the movable lock claw 20h ′ is not reduced, a required locking force is obtained, and the inner sleeve 20 ′ is fixed to the vehicle body panel. Can be securely fixed to A.

The above embodiment is a grommet in which the connector is housed and fixed in the inner sleeve, but it goes without saying that it can be applied to the case where the connector is not fixed in the inner sleeve.

[0029]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the inner sleeve is housed in the grommet body, and the movable lock claw for locking the vehicle body provided on the inner sleeve is provided on the outer surface of the distal end. Since the lightening portion is provided on the inner surface, the movable lock claw can be easily bent, the insertion force can be reduced, and the workability of attaching the grommet to the vehicle body can be improved.

Furthermore, since the thickness of the seal lip of the grommet body surrounding the lock claw of the inner sleeve is not small, the required sealability can be obtained and
Since the width of the movable locking claw and the hanging amount (projection amount) are not reduced, it is possible to maintain the function of reliably locking the vehicle body without rattling.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 shows a first embodiment of the grommet of the present invention,
(A) is a front view, (B) is a plan view, (C) is a side view,
(D) is a drawing showing a vehicle body mounted state.

2 shows the inner sleeve of FIG. 1, (A) is a plan view, (B) is a sectional view taken along line BB of (A), and (C) is A-.
A line sectional view, (D) is a principal part perspective view.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which an electric wire with a connector is passed through a grommet.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a work of locking to a vehicle body panel.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a grommet according to a second embodiment.

6 (A) and 6 (B) are drawings showing an operation for locking to a vehicle body panel.

FIG. 7A is a front view of a conventional grommet.

FIG. 8 is a drawing showing a vehicle body mounting operation.

9A is a sectional view of an inner sleeve, FIG. 9B
FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Grommet 11 Grommet body 12 Small diameter tube 13, 14 Large diameter cylinder 13a tip opening 13b seal lip 20 Inner sleeve 20a peripheral wall 20b Locking collar part 20d fixed lock claw 20e both sides groove 20f movable piece 20h movable lock claw 20i meat removal section 30 connectors A body panel B door panel H1, H2 through hole

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Tetsuaki Wada             Sumitomo Den 1-14 Nishi-Suehiro-cho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie Prefecture             Sozo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takayuki Hinagata             Sumitomo Den 1-14 Nishi-Suehiro-cho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie Prefecture             Sozo Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5G333 AA07 AA09 AB16 AB22 AB28                       CB19 DA03 EA02                 5G357 DA02 DB03 DC12 DD01 DD05                       DD10 DE08                 5G363 AA01 BA02 CB08 DC03

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A grommet to be attached to a wire harness which is inserted into a through hole formed in a vehicle body panel of an automobile, the grommet main body comprising an elastic body having a large-diameter tubular portion at a tip of a small-diameter tubular portion for inserting an electric wire. An inner sleeve made of resin is housed and fixed in the large-diameter cylindrical portion of, and a movable piece is provided between both side grooves cut into the peripheral wall at a position opposite to the peripheral wall of the inner sleeve protruding from the tip opening of the large-diameter cylindrical portion. The movable piece is provided with a movable lock claw protruding from the outer surface of the distal end of the movable piece, and a lightening portion is provided on the inner surface of the movable piece. Grommet with a resin inner sleeve that facilitates bending and reduces insertion force. 2. A grommet to be attached to a wire harness which is inserted into a through hole formed in a vehicle body panel of an automobile, and which is an elastic body having a large-diameter tubular portion at the end of a small-diameter tubular portion for inserting an electric wire. An inner sleeve made of resin is housed and fixed in the large-diameter cylindrical portion of the inner sleeve, and a locking claw for locking the vehicle body is provided at an opposing position on the peripheral wall of the inner sleeve protruding from the front end opening of the large-diameter cylindrical portion. One of the lock claws is a fixed lock claw protruding from the outer surface of the peripheral wall, and the other lock claw is a movable lock provided on the outer surface of the tip of the movable piece between both side grooves cut into the peripheral wall. When the fixing work is performed by inserting the movable lock claw into the through hole after the movable lock piece is inserted into the through hole of the vehicle body panel, the movable lock claw is provided with a lightening portion on the inner surface of the movable piece. The movable piece Grommet with a resin inner sleeve that bends easily and reduces insertion force. 3. The resin inner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the lightening portion is provided in the center portion in the width direction on the inner surface side of the movable piece over the entire length in the height direction to reduce the plate thickness. Grommet with sleeve. 4. A peripheral wall of the inner sleeve has a substantially rectangular frame shape, and accommodates therein a connector connected to an electric wire terminal which is inserted into a small-diameter tubular portion of the grommet main body, and a short side of the inner sleeve. The grommet provided with the resin inner sleeve according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the lock claws are provided in the center of the so as to face each other.