JP2008271672A - Wiring harness protector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce an insertion force at coupling protectors, and to reduce clearance. <P>SOLUTION: Lock pieces 25 having slits 26 at both sides are arranged at the tip of the coupling side of a bottom wall 18 at a coupling part 18a of a second protector body 13, a pair of right and left lock craws 24 are arranged at both-side walls 18b, lock holes 19 for insertion-locking the lock pieces 25 to a bottom wall 17a are protrusively formed at a coupling part 17 of a first protector body 12, lock-craw locking frames 21 are arranged in positions nearer to coupling end sides than the lock holes 19 on both-side walls 17b, and the protectors are lock-coupled to one another at three points of the pair of right and left lock craws 24, lock-craw locking frames 21, the lock pieces 25 and the lock holes 19 in a coupling region A of the first and second protector bodies 12, 13. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a protector for a wire harness, and in particular, to improve a coupling structure in an up-and-down fitting type connection protector in which protectors divided in a length direction are fitted and joined in a vertical direction.

  In recent years, wire harnesses routed in automobiles have become larger and more complicated, and the amount of electric wires has been increasing. However, since there is a limit to the wiring harness wiring space in the vehicle, the wire harness is a body panel. In order to protect the wire harness from coming into contact with external interference materials, a protector made of a resin molded product is provided to cover the wire harness. There are many cases.

  The protector made of the resin molded product has a complicated bent shape, and when it cannot be molded at once, it is divided and molded as a separate body, and the divided protectors are connected to each other and assembled into one protector. .

FIG. 7 shows an example in which the divided protectors among the connection type protectors are slidably coupled in the length direction.
Specifically, in the coupling structure of the first protector 1 and the second protector 2 which are bowl-shaped with each other, a holding bottom piece 1c for inserting and holding the tip of the bottom wall 2a of the second protector 2 on the bottom wall 1a of the first protector 1 A holding side piece 1d for inserting and holding the tip ends of both side walls 2b of the second protector 2 is provided on both side walls 1b of the first protector 1, and the bottom wall 2a and both side walls 2b of the second protector 2 are connected to the first side. Polymerization is performed on the inner surfaces of the bottom wall 1a and both side walls 1b of the protector 1, and the ends of the bottom wall 2a and both side walls 2b of the second protector 2 are placed on the holding bottom piece 1c and holding side piece 1d of the first protector 1, respectively. The engaging protrusion 2c that is inserted and held and protrudes from the lower surface of the bottom wall 2a of the second protector 2 is fitted into an engaging recess 1e that is recessed in the upper surface of the bottom wall 1a of the first protector 1, 1st protector 1 and 2nd Attached a protector 2 (see JP-A-10-84613).

  However, the slide connection type protector can separate and regulate the connecting portion of the first and second protectors 1 and 2 in the vertical Y direction by the holding bottom piece 1c and the holding side piece 1d, but the length X direction Since the separation restriction is performed only by fitting the engagement protrusion 2c and the engagement recess 1e, the coupling force in the length X direction is weak, and when some load is applied to the coupling portion, There is a problem in that the connection between the first and second protectors 1 and 2 is released and the lengths are easily separated in the X direction.

  On the other hand, a protector that fits and connects protectors divided in the length direction in the vertical direction is also generally known. As shown in FIG. 8 (A), the upper and lower fitting type protector has the second protector 6 in the first protector 5 so that the connecting portion of the second protector 6 is fitted in the connecting portion of the first protector 5. Are engaged from above, and the first lock claws 6c formed on the both side walls 6b of the second protector 6 are engaged with the locked frames 5c formed on the both side walls 5b of the first protector 5, and the first lock is applied. The second lock claw 5d projecting from the bottom wall 5a of the first protector 5 is fitted into the lock hole 6d drilled in the bottom wall 6a of the second protector 6, and the second lock is applied. The second protectors 5 and 6 are connected.

  However, as shown in FIG. 9, the second lock claw 5d needs to be designed to have a low protrusion height h so as not to protrude from the upper surface of the bottom wall 6a of the second protector 6. Almost no deflection required at the time of fitting can be secured. Further, the lock hole 6d is not structured to expand when fitted to the second lock claw 5d. Therefore, there is a problem in that a large insertion force is required when fitting the second lock claw 5d into the lock hole 6d, the workability is poor, and half-fitting tends to occur.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 8B, since the first lock and the second lock are made at the same position in the length X direction, the first and second locks are centered on the first and second lock positions. The protectors 5 and 6 are easily displaced in the vertical rotation V direction. Further, since a clearance is provided between the lock hole 6d and the second lock claw 5d to facilitate the fitting operation, the first and second protectors 5 and 6 are arranged in the length X direction. There is also a problem in that there is a large amount of “play” in both the vertical rotation V direction and the length X direction.

JP-A-10-84613

    The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in a protector for a wire harness in which protectors divided in the lengthwise direction are fitted and connected in the vertical direction, the insertion force required when connecting the protectors is reduced. At the same time, it is a subject to reduce the play of the connecting portion.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention is to fit a first protector main body and a second protector main body, which are made of a separate resin molded product, on one end side in the length direction. Combined
The coupling portion of the first protector body is provided with a lock hole in the bottom wall, and a pair of left and right lock claw locking frames provided on both side walls on the distal end side of the coupling portion with respect to the lock hole. ,
The bottom wall and both side walls of the coupling portion of the second protector body are sized to fit into the bottom wall and both side walls of the coupling portion of the first protector body, and the lock hole is formed at the tip of the bottom wall. The lock piece to be inserted and locked is provided with slits on both sides, and the lock claw that is locked to the lock claw locking frame is provided on both side walls,
The wire harness protector is characterized in that the joint portion of the first and second protector bodies is lock-coupled at three locations of the side walls and the bottom wall.

  Since the protector having the above-described structure has slits on both sides of the lock piece provided at the tip of the bottom wall of the second protector body, the lock piece is easily bent and warps when inserted and locked into the lock hole of the first protector body. Can be secured sufficiently. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the insertion force required when the protectors are joined together, to prevent half-fitting, and to improve workability.

  In addition, the coupling portion of the first and second protector bodies is separated in both the length direction (connection direction) and the vertical direction at the lock coupling portion between the lock claw and the lock claw locking frame provided on both side walls. In addition to being restricted, it is separated and restricted in the vertical direction by the lock coupling between the lock piece and the lock hole at a location different from the lock coupling location in the length direction. That is, since the vertical separation is restricted at two places different in the length direction, it is possible to suppress the vertical movement of the first and second protector bodies in the vertical rotation direction around the lock coupling place.

The bottom wall of the coupling portion of the first protector body is provided with the lock hole extending in the width direction at the center portion in the width direction orthogonal to the length direction, and positioning holes on the left and right sides thereof. While
The bottom wall of the coupling portion of the second protector body is provided with positioning ribs that fit into the positioning holes at both outer positions located via slits on both sides of the lock piece,
Further, the lock piece to be locked to the lock hole is L-shaped with a lower end bent portion provided at the front end of the vertical frame portion, and the lower end bent portion is locked to the lower surface of the periphery of the lock hole. It is preferable that the length of the lock hole is larger than the thickness of the vertical frame portion to provide a bending gap.

In this way, by inserting the lower end bent portion of the lock piece of the second protector body into the lock hole of the bottom wall of the first protector body and engaging the lock hole periphery on the lower surface side of the bottom wall of the first protector body. Unlike conventional lock pieces that are inserted and locked from below so as not to protrude from the upper surface of the bottom wall provided with a lock hole, the lock piece can be designed to have a longer protrusion amount than the lock piece. It becomes easy to bend.
Further, since the lock hole is made larger than the thickness of the vertical frame portion of the lock piece, a bending space of the lock piece can be secured, and from this point, the lock piece is easily bent.
From the above, since the insertion force of the lock piece into the lock hole is further relaxed, the first and second protectors can be coupled with a low insertion force.
On the other hand, as described above, if a gap in the length direction is provided between the lock piece and the lock hole, play is likely to occur. However, by fitting a positioning rib into the positioning hole, The shift movement can be suppressed.
In particular, by adopting a fitting structure in which the positioning rib is simply inserted into the positioning hole, unlike the locking claw structure, the clearance between the positioning rib and the positioning hole can be minimized. It can be minimized.

  As described above, the protector having the above-described configuration can reduce play in the vertical direction, the vertical rotation direction, and the length direction, so that deformation of the coupling portion can be prevented, and the protector, the wire harness, and peripheral components can be prevented from being deformed. Interference and damage resulting therefrom can be prevented.

It is preferable that the first and second protector main bodies each include a lid that is lock-coupled.
In particular, the coupling portion of the first protector body is provided with a locked portion for locking the lock portions of both the lids of the first and second protectors, and the coupling portions of the first and second protector bodies are coupled to each other. Thus, by locking the lock portions of both lids to the locked portion, the first protector main body and the second protector main body are also lock-coupled via the lid, thereby further increasing the connection strength. be able to.

  The first protector and the second protector are most preferably used when they are bent and connected via the coupling portion. However, when the protector is enlarged, the protector is not limited to the bent portion but also to the straight portion. You may divide | segment into 1 and a 2nd protector, and provide the said connection part and couple | bond. Furthermore, the protector is not limited to the combination of the first and second protectors. When there are many bent portions or when the length is increased, the protector is divided into three, fourth, etc. It is preferable to couple | bond at a coupling | bond part.

  As described above, according to the present invention, since the slit is provided on both sides of the lock piece provided at the tip of the bottom wall of the second protector body, the lock piece is easily bent and is fitted into the lock hole of the first protector body. In addition to reducing the insertion force required when doing this, half-fitting can also be prevented and workability is improved.

In addition, since the coupling portions of the first and second protector bodies are separated and restricted in the vertical direction at two places different in the length direction, the lock coupling position between the lock claw and the lock claw locking frame provided on both side walls is provided. It is possible to reduce play in the vertical rotation direction around the center.
Furthermore, the play in the length direction can be reduced by fitting the positioning rib and the positioning hole.

  Thus, by reducing the play in the vertical direction, the vertical rotation direction, and the length direction, deformation of the coupling portion of the first and second protector bodies can be prevented, and interference with the wire harness and peripheral parts can also be prevented. be able to.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 to 6 show a wire harness protector 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
The protector 10 is externally mounted on a wire harness (not shown) routed along the vehicle body panel of the vehicle, and has a bent shape along the route of the wire harness as shown in FIG.
The protector 10 is formed by connecting a first protector 10-1 and a second protector main body 10-2 made of separate resin molded products in a bent shape via a coupling portion A and integrating them.

The first protector 10-1 includes a bowl-shaped first protector body 12 having a bottom wall 12a and both side walls 12b, and a first lid 15 that covers the upper surface opening.
The second protector 10-2 includes a bowl-shaped second protector body 13 having a bottom wall 13a and both side walls 13b, and a second lid 16 that covers the upper surface opening.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the first protector main body 12 and the second protector main body 13 are formed with coupling portions 17 and 18 on one end side in the length direction, and the coupling portions 17 and 18 are fitted to each other. 1 is formed.

  As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the coupling portion 17 of the first protector body 12 includes a bottom wall 17a and both side walls 17b continuous with the bottom wall 12a and both side walls 12b of the first protector body 12. It has a U-shaped cross section.

The bottom wall 17a is formed with a horizontally long lock hole 19 extending in the width direction at a center portion in the width direction orthogonal to the length direction, and positioning described later is provided on both sides of the lock hole 19 in the width direction. A positioning hole 20 for fitting the rib 27 is formed.
A pair of left and right lock claw locking frames 21 are provided on the outer surface of the both side walls 17b at a position closer to the coupling end than the lock hole 19 and the positioning hole 20.

  As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the connecting portion 18 of the second protector body 13 includes a bottom wall 18a and both side walls 18b continuous with the bottom wall 13a and both side walls 13b of the protector body 13. It has a U shape and is sized to be fitted to the inner surface of the coupling portion 17 of the first protector body 12.

A laterally long locking piece 25 is projected downward from the center of the width direction orthogonal to the length direction of the bottom wall 18a of the coupling portion 18 so as to be inserted into the lock hole 19. It is supposed to stop.
On both sides in the width direction of the lock piece 25, slits 26 in the length X direction with the coupling-side tip of the bottom wall 18a opened are inserted, and the positioning holes 20 are inserted into both positioning positions via the slits 26 on both sides. The fitting positioning ribs 27 project downward.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the lock piece 25 includes a vertical frame portion 25a in which the tip of the bottom wall 18a of the coupling portion 18 is bent and suspended downward, and the lower end of the vertical frame portion 25a is L-shaped. The locking portion 25b is bent into a shape and protrudes in the length X direction. The upper surface of the locking portion 25b is a locking surface 25c substantially parallel to the bottom wall 18a, and the lower surface side is a guide surface 25d inclined toward the upper surface side.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the dimension W1 in the length X direction of the lock hole 19 is larger than the thickness width W2 of the vertical frame portion 25a of the lock piece 25. 4A and 4C, the protrusion height H1 from the lower surface of the bottom wall 18a of the coupling portion 18 to the locking surface 25c of the lock piece 25 is the coupling portion of the first protector body 12. In the coupled state of the first and second protector main bodies 12 and 13, the locking surface 25 c of the lock piece 25 has the same dimension as the thickness T 1 of the bottom wall 17 a of FIG. It is set to contact the lower surface of 17a.

  The positioning rib 27 is not provided with a projection such as a locking claw at the lower end, and is a protruding portion that is simply inserted and fitted into the positioning hole 20 of the first protector body 12 as shown in FIG. Further, the clearance between the positioning rib 27 and the positioning hole 20 is not provided in the length X direction, and the front and rear surfaces 27a and 27b of the positioning rib 27 are designed to contact the inner surface of the positioning hole 20 when fitted. Yes.

  On the outer surface of both side walls 18b of the coupling portion 18, a pair of left and right lock claws 24 that are inserted and locked into the lock claw lock frame 21 of the first protector main body 12 from above are projected downward. .

At one end in the length direction of the upper wall 15a covering the upper surface opening of the first protector main body 12, as shown in FIG. 3, a lock portion 30 is projected downward from the both sides in the width direction.
Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of lock portions 31 are provided on both sides of the upper wall 15a in the width direction so as to protrude downward with a required interval in the length direction.

At one end in the length direction of the upper wall 16a covering the upper surface opening of the second protector body 13, as shown in FIG. 3, a lock portion 32 is projected downward from the both sides in the width direction.
Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of lock portions 33 project downward from the both sides in the width direction of the upper wall 16a with a required interval in the length direction.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the first protector main body 12 has an outer surface adjacent to the main body side (opposite to the coupling end side) of the first claw locking frame 21, as shown in FIG. 3. Two locked portions 34a and 34b for inserting and locking the lock portions 30 and 32 of the lid 15 and the second lid 16 are provided side by side.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of locked portions 35 for inserting and locking the lock portion 31 of the first lid 15 are provided at a plurality of positions on the outer surface of the both side walls 12b of the first protector main body at predetermined intervals. ing.
Similarly, on the outer surface side of both side walls 13b of the second protector body 13, locked portions 36 for inserting and locking the lock portions 33 of the second lid 16 are provided at a plurality of positions with a required interval.

Next, an assembling procedure of the protector 10 having the above configuration will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 2A, the connecting portion 18 of the second protector body 13 is fitted into the connecting portion 17 of the first protector body 12 from above, and as shown in FIG. The locking claw 24 of the first protector body 12 is inserted into and locked to the locking claw locking frame 21 of the first protector body 12 and locked, and the coupling portion 18 of the second protector body 13 is fitted into the coupling portion 17 of the first protector body 12. Let
At this time, as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C, the lock piece 25 of the second protector main body 13 is inserted into the lock hole 19 of the first protector main body 12 from above, and the locking portion of the lock piece 25 is inserted. 25b is engaged with the lower surface side periphery of the lock hole 19, and the positioning rib 27 of the second protector body 13 is inserted and fitted into the positioning hole 20 of the first protector body 12, as shown in FIG.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the first lid 15 and the second lid 16 are put on the upper surfaces of the first protector main body 12 and the second protector main body 13 in the above-mentioned combined state, and locked.
At this time, the first lid 15 is placed on the upper surface of the first protector body 12, and as shown in FIG. 1, the lock portion 31 is inserted and locked into the locked portion 35 of the protector body 12, and the lock on the coupling end side is also provided. The portion 30 is inserted and locked into the locked portion 34 a of the first protector body 12. Further, the second lid 16 covers the upper surface of the first protector body 12 from the second protector body 13 to the first protector body 12 through the coupling portion A, and inserts and locks the lock portion 33 to the locked portion 36 of the protector body 13 and is coupled. The lock part 32 on the end side is inserted and locked to the locked part 34 b of the first protector body 12.

  Thus, when the protector 10 having the above-described configuration is coupled to the first and second protector bodies 12 and 13, the pair of left and right lock claws 24 and the lock claw locking frame 21, and the lock pieces 25 and the lock holes 19 are provided. A total of three lock couplings and one positioning by fitting the positioning rib 27 and the positioning hole 20 are performed.

The lock piece 25 has slits 26 on both sides, and protrudes through the lock hole 19 to be engaged with the lower surface side peripheral edge. Therefore, the lock piece 25 has a higher projection height H1 than the conventional one, and the length X of the lock hole 19 Since the dimension W1 in the direction is larger than the thickness W2 of the vertical frame portion 25a of the lock piece 25, a gap is generated. Therefore, the lock piece 25 is easy to bend as shown in FIG. 4B and can secure a warp required when fitted into the lock hole 19, so that the lock piece 25 can be easily lock-coupled even with a low insertion force.
On the other hand, since the positioning rib 27 has a structure that is simply inserted and fitted into the positioning hole 20, the positioning rib 27 does not need to be bent.
Therefore, in any of the fitting operations, the fitting can be easily and surely performed with a low insertion force, the workability is improved, and the occurrence of a defect due to the half-fitting can be prevented.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the coupling portion A of the protector 10 having the above-described configuration is such that the lock claw 24 is locked to the lock claw locking frame 21 and positioned in the length X direction and the vertical Y direction. Even at a position on the first protector side at a distance from the lock coupling position R, the locking surface 25c of the lock piece 25 of the second protector main body 13 is fixed to the first protector main body 12 as shown in FIG. By abutting and engaging with the lower surface of the bottom wall 17a of the coupling portion 17, positioning is performed in the vertical Y direction. That is, since the first and second protector bodies 12 and 13 are positioned in the vertical Y direction at two different points in the length X direction, the first and second rotations in the vertical V direction around the lock coupling position R are performed. It can suppress effectively that the protector main bodies 12 and 13 move.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, the positioning rib 27 of the second protector body 13 is inserted into the positioning hole 20 of the first protector body 12, and the front and rear surfaces 27 a and 27 b of the positioning rib 27 are positioned. The first and second protector bodies 12 and 13 are accurately positioned in the length X direction by contacting the inner surface of the hole 20.

  Accordingly, the protector main body 10 having the above-described structure reduces play in any of the length X direction, the vertical Y direction, and the vertical rotation V direction in the binding site A, so that deformation of the binding site A can be prevented. Interference with the wire harness and other peripheral parts can be prevented.

It is a principal part perspective view of the protector which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. The coupling | bond part of the 1st protector main body and 2nd protector main body before coupling | bonding is shown, (A) is a perspective view, (B) is a top view. It is a perspective view of the joint part of the 1st protector body and the 2nd protector body of a joint state. (A) (B) (C) is sectional drawing which shows the process of inserting and locking the lock piece of a 2nd protector main body in the lock hole of a 1st protector main body. It is sectional drawing explaining the fitting process of a positioning rib and a positioning hole. It is a perspective view which shows the state which carried out the lock | rock coupling | bonding to the protector main body shown in FIG. It is a figure of a prior art example. It is a figure of another prior art example. It is the IX-IX sectional view taken on the line of FIG. 8 (B).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Protector 12 1st protector main body 13 2nd protector main body 17 Connection part of 1st protector main body 18 Connection part of 2nd protector main body 19 Lock hole 20 Positioning hole 21 Lock claw latching frame 25 Lock piece 26 Slit 27 Positioning rib X Length Direction Y Vertical direction V Vertical rotation direction A Binding site

Claims (4)

The first protector main body and the second protector main body, which are formed into a bowl shape made of a separate resin molded product, are connected by fitting the connecting portions formed on one end side in the length direction,
The coupling portion of the first protector body is provided with a lock hole in the bottom wall, and a pair of left and right lock claw locking frames provided on both side walls on the distal end side of the coupling portion with respect to the lock hole. ,
The bottom wall and both side walls of the coupling portion of the second protector body are sized to fit into the bottom wall and both side walls of the coupling portion of the first protector body, and the lock hole is formed at the tip of the bottom wall. The lock piece to be inserted and locked is provided with slits on both sides, and the lock claw that is locked to the lock claw locking frame is provided on both side walls,
The wire harness protector according to claim 1, wherein the joint portion of the first and second protector bodies is lock-coupled at three locations of the side walls and the bottom wall. While the lock hole extends in the width direction at the center portion of the bottom wall of the coupling portion of the first protector body, the positioning holes are provided on the left and right sides thereof,
The bottom wall of the coupling portion of the second protector body is provided with positioning ribs that fit into the positioning holes at both outer positions located via slits on both sides of the lock piece,
Further, the lock piece to be locked to the lock hole is L-shaped with a lower end bent portion provided at the front end of the vertical frame portion, and the lower end bent portion is locked to the lower surface of the periphery of the lock hole. The wire harness protector according to claim 1, wherein a bending gap is provided with a length direction of the lock hole being larger than a thickness of the vertical frame portion.   The wire harness protector according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each of the first and second protector bodies includes a lid that is locked and coupled.   The protector for wire harnesses according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first protector and the second protector are bent and connected via the coupling portion.

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