WO2003005519A1

WO2003005519A1 - Wiring harness clamp

Info

Publication number: WO2003005519A1
Application number: PCT/JP2002/006818
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hiroaki Arai
Original assignee: Yazaki Corp
Current assignee: Yazaki Corp
Priority date: 2001-07-05
Filing date: 2002-07-04
Publication date: 2003-01-16
Anticipated expiration: 2004-01-05
Also published as: JP2003023722A

Abstract

The wiring harness clamp is provided with a main body, a locking projection protruded from the main body including a hook portion and a pair of resilient latch arms extending from both sides of a top surface of the locking projection directed to the main body. Each of the resilient latch arms includes a latch portion and a guiding projection at a distal end portion thereof. The guiding projections elastically bend the resilient latch arms so that the distal ends thereof are engaged with the hook portion when pressing the guiding projections to the distal end portions of the resilient latch arms.

Description

DESCRIPTION

WIRING HARNESS CLAMP

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a wiring harness clamp with which the wiring harness is installed to an automobile body and such, and more particularly to a wiring harness clamp which is easy to be uninstalled when the automobile is scrapped for recycling.

BACKGROUND ART

A clamp provided with a main body and a locking projection for fixing to a panel of an automobile body, which is projected from the main body, is proposed as such a wiring harness clamp. The locking projection is provided with a pair of resilient latch arms .

A wiring harness and the main body are wound together with a tape so that the wiring harness is fixed to the main body. When the locking projection is inserted to a mounting hole of a panel, the resilient latch arms are elastically bent so that the locking projection can pass through the mounting hole. Thereby latch portions of the resilient latch arms are engaged with a peripheral border of the mounting hole. According to such an operation, the wiring harness is fixed to the panel and is prevented from displacing.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

In view of natural resource conservation, a design intended for easy recycling is preferred for many kinds of products. For recycling, a product must be disintegrated and sorted according to types of materials. In a case of the proposed wiring harness clamp, though the wiring harness may be recycled by cutting the tape which fixes the wiring harness to the clamp, the clamp is left on the panel. It is necessary to further disintegrate the clamp and the panel for recycling. There is a problem that the proposed clamp is not easy to separate from the panel. The present invention is accomplished in view of the problem described above and the object is to provide a wiring harness clamp which is easy to be installed and uninstalled.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the wiring harness clamp is provided with a main body, a locking projection protruded from the main body including a hook portion and a pair of resilient latch arms extending from both sides of a top surface of the locking projection directed to the main body. Each of the resilient latch arms includes a latch portion and a guiding projection at a distal end portion thereof. The guiding projections elastically bend the resilient latch arms so that the distal ends thereof are engaged with the hook portion when pressing the guiding projections to the distal end portions of the resilient latch arms . The latch portions are forced outward by the resilient latch arms so that the engagement of the latch portions and the peripheral border of the mounting hole is hardly cancelled when the wiring harness clamp is pulled in a direction vertical to the panel. When the wiringharness clamp is pushed directed to the panel , the guiding projections abut the peripheral border of the mounting hole so that the resilient latch arms are elastically bent. The distal end portions of the resilient latch arms are engaged with the hook portion so that the latching projections can pass through the mounting hole. Thereby the engagement of the latch portions and the peripheral border of the mounting hole is easily cancelled. The wiring harness clamp is ensured to be installed to the panel and is easily uninstalled with such a simple procedure.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the wiring harness clamp has the constitution as the first aspect described above, and is further constituted as follows. Each of the guiding projections is tapered so that an edge thereof opposed to the latch portion is slanted to the main body and the hook portion further comprises a housing recess to house the distal end portions of the resilient latch arms. When the distal end portions of the resilient latch arms are engaged with the hook portion, the distal end portions are respectively housed in the housing recesses. According to the second aspect of the present invention. the wiring harness clamp is further easily uninstalled from the panel because the housing recesses respectively house the distal end potions so that the engagement of the distal end portions and the hook portion is hardly cancelled.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a partially sectional view of the wiring harness clamp installed to a panel according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a partially sectional view of the wiring harness clamp showing an uninstallation process thereof;

Fig. 3 is a partially sectional view of the wiring harness clamp showing an uninstalled state;

Fig. 4A is a partially sectional view of the wiring harness clamp installed to a panel;

Fig. 4B is a partially sectional view of the wiring harness clamp showing a state just before an uninstallation thereof;

Fig. 4C is a partially sectional view of the wiring harness clamp showing an uninstallation process thereof.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

A wiring harness clamp 10 is provided with a main body 11 and a locking projection 13 integrally formed on the substantial center thereof as shown in Fig. 1. The locking projection 13 is provided with a pair of resilient latch arms 16 on the both sides thereof and the resilient latch arms 16 are respectively extended from the top surface of the locking projection 13 directed to the main body 11. Each of the resilient latch arms 16 includes a latch portion 18 in a protruded manner therefrom so as to be installed to a panel 9.

The main body 11 is a substantially rectangular plate-shape having the same width as a wiring harness 7. A pair of tape stoppers 12 are integrally projected from both ends of the main body 11 on a rear side 11a which is opposed to the panel 9. The wiring harness 7 is closely attached to a front side lib which is counter to the tape stoppers 12 and the wiring harness 7 and the main body 11 are wound together with a tape 8 so as to be fixed. The locking projection 13 is like a rectangular prism and integrally provided with a hook portion 15 along a peripheral surface 13a of a proximal end thereof. A pair of housing recesses

14 corresponding to the pair of the resilient latch arms 16 is provided at an inner periphery of the hook portion 15.

The resilient latch arms are integrally extended from the top surface 16a of the locking projection 13 and a cross section thereof looks like an inverted V-shaped as shown Fig. 1. Each of the resilient latch arms 16 is integrally provided with a guiding projection 19 between the latch portion 18 and the distal endportion 17 thereof . The resilient latch arms 16 are elasticallybent toward each other when the guiding projections 19 are pressed by the mounting hole 9a of the panel 9. The pair of resilient latch arms 16 are respectively opposed to the pair of tape stoppers 12. The distal end portions 17 of the resilient latch arms 16 are tapered to be engaged with the hook portion 15 and respectively housed in the housing recesses 14. Each recess between the latch portion 18 and the guiding projection 19 receives the peripheral border of the mounting hole 9a of the panel 9 so as to be engaged therewith. The guiding projections 19 of the resilient latch arms 16 are respectively tapered and underhung out of an outer periphery of the latch portion.

The mounting hole 9a of the panel 9 to which the wiring harness clamp 10 is installed is formed to be a rectangular shape so as to encompass the locking projection 13.

A method of installing the wiring harness 7 and the wiring harness clamp 10 to the panel 9 is described hereinafter according to the embodiment of the present invention. After the wiring harness 7 is fixed to the wiring harness clamp 10 with the tape 8, the top surface 16a of the pair of resilient latch arms 16 is inserted to the mounting hole 9a of the panel 9. When further pressing the pair of resilient latch arms 16 into the mounting hole 9a of the panel 9, the pair of resilient latch arms 16 are elastically bent and get close to each other so as to pass through the mounting hole 9a. Subsequently the latch portions 18 are engaged with the peripheral border of the mounting hole 9a. The resilient latch arms 16 force the latch portion 18 toward the peripheral border of the mounting hole 9a so that the wiring harness clamp 10 is assured to be fixed to the panel 9 and prevented from displacing.

The wiring harness clamp 10 according to the embodiment is installed to the panel 9 in an easy procedure as described above.

The wiring harness clamp 10 is uninstalled from the panel

9 according to a procedure as described hereinafter. The main body 11 and the wiring harness 7 are pressed in a direction indicated by an arrow M shown in Fig. 2 so that the guiding projections 19 are pressed by the peripheral border of the mounting hole 9a. The pair of resilient latch arms 16 are elastically bent to get close to each other. The distal end portions 17 respectively get over the hook portions 15 to be engaged therewith and are housed in the housing recesses 14. A width of the pair of latch portions 18 is restricted so that the latch portions pass through the mounting hole 9a . Thereby the wiring harness clamp 10 and the wiring harness 7 are easily uninstalled from the panel 9.

As described above, the wiring harness clamp 10 is easily uninstalled from the panel 9 simply by pressing the wiring harness 7 to the panel 9. The wiring harness clamp 10 may be easily uninstalled and recycled.

One side of the wiring harness 7 fixed to the main body 11 is pulled away from the panel 9 in a direction indicated by an arrow P shown in Fig. 4B so that another side of the wiring harness 7 is pivotally moved around a vicinity of the locking projection 13 in a direction indicated by an arrow Q. Subsequently one of the resilient latch arms 16 is pressed by the peripheral border of the mounting hole 9a so as to be elastically bent and engaged with the hook portion 15 as shown in Fig. 4B. The latch portion 18 of another arm 16 may pass through the mounting hole 9a as shown in Fig. 4C. Thereby the wiring harness clamp 10 and the wiring harness 7 are uninstalled from the panel 9.

As described above, the wiring harness clamp 10 is easily uninstalled from the panel 9 simply by pulling one side of the wiring harness 7 away from the panel 9. The wiring harness clamp

10 may be easily uninstalled and recycled.

Although the invention has been described above by reference to certain embodiments of the invention, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. Modifications and variations of the embodiments described above will occur to those skilled in the art, in light of the above teachings. For example, though installation of the wiring harness clamp 10 to the panel 9 of automobile is exemplified in the above description, objects of installation are not limited to an automobile.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY According to the wiring harness clamp of the first aspect of the present invention, the latch portions are forced outward by the resilient latching arms so that the engagement of the latch portions and the mounting hole are hardly cancelled when the wiring harness clamp is pulled vertically to the panel. The resilient latch arms further comprise the guiding projections so that the engagement is easily cancelled when the wiring harness clamp is pressed to the panel. The wiring harness is assured to be fixed to the panel and easily uninstalled therefrom.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the wiring harness clamp further comprises a pair of housing recesses corresponding to the resilient latch arms. The housing recesses respectivelyhouse the distal endportions of the resilient latch arms so that the engagement of the distal end portions and the hook portion is hardly cancelled. The wiring harness is easily uninstalled.

Claims

1. A wiring harness clamp comprising: a main body; a locking projection protruded from the main body, including a hook portion; and a pair of resilient latch arms extending from both sides of a top surface of the locking projection directed to the main body, each of the resilient latch arms including a latch portion and a guiding projection at a distal end portion thereof; wherein the guiding projections elastically bend the resilient latch arms so that the distal ends thereof are engaged with the hook portion when pressing the guiding projections to the distal end portions of the resilient latch arms.

2. The wiring harness clamp according to claim 1, wherein: each of the guiding projections is tapered so that an edge thereof opposed to the latch portion is slanted to the main body; and the hook portion further comprises housing recess to house the distal end portions of the resilient latch arms.