Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Door or window with specified vehicle feature
Reexamination Certificate
2002-06-26
2003-07-29
Patel, Kiran (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Door or window with specified vehicle feature
C219S203000, C439S034000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06598931
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a conductive wires protection case construction on a rear glass in a convertible top.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a convertible top vehicle has been known which is constructed such that a roof portion of a vehicle body can be opened to enhance the sense of openness felt by the driver and passengers. To be specific, a soft top is constructed to be freely folded, whereby the roof portion is closed by deploying the soft top where as the roof portion is opened by folding the soft top to the rear of the rear passenger seat.
Incidentally, in the convertible top vehicle, there has been proposed a construction in which a rear glass is incorporated in the soft top (for example, refer to JP-A-6-156086). The incorporation of the rear glass in the soft top can ensure the sufficient vision to the rear.
In general, while there are many cases where electric components such as hot wires, a wiper and a high mounted stop lamp are mounted on a rear glass of a vehicle, in order to feed the electric components so mounted with power, as shown in, for example, JP-A10-24782, there has been proposed a construction in which connectors for connecting the electric components and harnesses for feeding the electric components are provided on the rear glass in such a manner as to be exposed to the outside.
In addition, there has also been proposed a construction in which the harnesses for the electric components are wired on an interior surface of the rear glass along the circumference thereof using exterior members (refer to JP-A-10-236240).
However, in the construction in which the connectors are provided on the rear glass in such a manner as to be exposed to the outside, there occurs a problem that a countermeasures against water leakage is inevitable. On the contrary, in the construction in which the harnesses are wired on the interior surface of the rear glass along the circumference thereof, the exterior members are provided along the full length of the path along which the harnesses are wired, there is triggered a problem that the weight of the rear glass is increased.
Incidentally, in a case where the electric components are mounted on the rear glass in the convertible soft top, there is also contemplated a construction in which harnesses are wired in an exposed fashion on the interior surface of the rear glass which requires no countermeasures against water leakage using connectors or the like for the electric components instead of the exterior members, which would eliminate a risk of increasing the weight of the rear glass. However, in stowing the soft top, when the rear glass is received on an interior member such as a rear tray which is disposed to the rear of a seat in the body of the vehicle before the soft top has been completely stowed the connectors may be brought into collision with an upper face of the rear tray, leading to a cause for the failure of the electric components. To cope with this, a certain limit needs to be imposed to the soft top stowing position so that a certain space can be insured between the rear glass and the rear tray, whereby the connectors are prevented from being brought into collision with the rear tray when stowing the soft top.
However, where the certain space is insured between the rear glass and the rear tray as described above, the stopping position of the entirety of the soft top when stowed needs to be raised by an extent equal to the space, which results in a problem that the quality in terms of the external appearance when the soft top is stowed is deteriorated or the vision to the rear cannot be insured sufficiently.
In addition, in the event that the positioning of the harnesses is not implemented positively, the positions of the harnesses would be largely changed when they are moved, for example, at the time of cleaning the interior of the vehicle. As a result, an interference with the rear tray is triggered, leading to a risk that the harnesses are damaged by virtue of friction between the rear tray and themselves that would be generated by vibrations while the vehicle is running.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To cope with this, the invention provides a conductive wires protection case construction on a rear glass in a convertible soft top which can enhance the quality in external appearance and eliminate damages to the harnesses.
With a view to solving the problems, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a conductive wires protection case construction on a rear glass in a convertible top wherein a harness protection case (for example, a harness protection case
13
in an embodiment) having an overall height (for example, an overall height H in the embodiment) which is higher than a connector (for example, a connector
11
in the embodiment) is provided on a surface of the rear glass (for example, a passenger compartment-side interior surface of a rear glass
5
in the embodiment) at a position adjacent to the connector, the harness protection case being provided with a holding portion (for example, a holding portion
40
in the embodiment) for bundling up a plurality of harnesses (for example, harnesses
9
in the embodiment).
By constructing the protection case construction as described above, when the rear glass is stowed the harness protection case whose overall height is higher than the connector is brought into abutment with the interior member in the vehicle body, whereby the contact of the connectors with the interior member in the vehicle body can be prevented. In addition, since the rear glass can be stowed at a position as low as possible until the harness protection case comes into abutment with the interior member in the vehicle body, the stowing position of the entirety of the soft top can be kept lower by that extent. Then, the harness protection case can bundle up the harnesses with the holding portion thereof, whereby the interference of the harnesses with peripheral members can be prevented.
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Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Patel Kiran
LandOfFree
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