Electricity: conductors and insulators – Conduits – cables or conductors – Accessories
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-31
2002-04-30
Reichard, Dean A. (Department: 2831)
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Conduits, cables or conductors
Accessories
C174S095000, C174S097000, C191S02200C, C191S030000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06380488
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable protector which protects pipes including a washer hose, electric wires and cables, and combined wires, namely, wire harnesses especially wired in a car (which are generically called cables hereinafter) against wear due to friction with respect to the body of the car.
2. Related Art
FIG. 5
is a partially sectional side view of a conventional cable protector which holds therein different kinds of cables
3
,
5
differing in uses and diameter sizes, and
FIG. 6
is a perspective view of a protector main body
1
itself employed in the conventional cable protector.
The protector main body
1
includes a gutter-shaped main portion
2
which has a U-shaped section and has two side walls
1
a
on the two side thereof and, in the main portion
2
, there is held a cable
3
which has a relatively large diameter size and is shown by a virtual line in FIG.
5
. Also, on the outer surface of one side wall
1
a
of the main portion
2
, there is disposed a hold stay
1
b
having an L-shaped section; and, a space defined by the side surface wall
1
a
and hold stay
1
b
is used as an auxiliary portion
4
into which a plurality of (in this case, two) cables
5
each having a relatively small diameter size can be packed one by one from above and held side by side in the vertical direction.
In the adjacent portions of the cable storing opening that is located at the upper end of the auxiliary portion
4
, more specifically, on the two inside portions of the cable storing opening, there are opposingly disposed two semicylindrical-shaped removal preventive projections
6
each having a semicircular section; that is, the cable
5
stored in the upper stage is pressed from above by these removal preventive projections
6
to thereby prevent the cables
5
from being removed from the cable storing opening.
By the way, in the conventional cable protector shown in
FIGS. 5 and 6
, in case where a given number of cables
5
, namely, two cables
5
are held in the auxiliary portion
4
, the two removal preventive projections
6
are surely able to press against the cable
5
held at an upper stage. Therefore, the conventional cable protector is effective in preventing the cables
5
against removal.
However, as shown in
FIG. 7
, in case where the number of cables
5
stored is small, that is, only one cable
5
is held in the auxiliary portion
4
, there is produced a vacant space in the interior portion of the auxiliary portion
4
and thus the single cable
5
is easy to play, so that the removal preventive projections
6
do not operate effectively. Due to this, there is produced an inconvenience that the single cable
5
can thrash about in the auxiliary portion
4
, resulting in the generation of a strange sound.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention aims at eliminating the drawbacks found in the above-mentioned conventional cable protector. Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a cable protector which holds electric wires cables as well as wire harnesses especially wired in a car to protect them against wear caused by friction with respect to the car body, provided in that the electric wires and cables can be prevented from thrashing about in the protector main body to thereby be able to prevent the generation of a strange sound.
In attaining the above object, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a cable protector comprising a protector main body composed of a main portion for holding a first cable and an auxiliary portion formed adjacently to the main portion for holding a plurality of second cables side by side in the vertical direction, wherein the auxiliary portion is formed so as to have a storing width and a storing depth allowing the second cables to be packed one by one from a storing opening thereof and also to be held side by side in the vertical direction, and, in the direction of the storing depth, there are disposed a plurality of removal preventive projections at a stage pitch that permits the second cables to be held one by one therebetween.
Due to the above structure, in the auxiliary portion as well, which is formed adjacently to the main portion of the cable protector, the plurality of second cables are held. Since the removal preventive projections are provided at such a stage pitch that allows the second cables to be packed and held one by one, even in case where the number of second cables to be stored is only one, the only one second cable can be prevented from thrashing about in the auxiliary portion while it is held there, which makes it possible to prevent a strange sound from being produced.
Also, according to a second aspect of the invention, in a cable protector as set forth in the first aspect of the invention, a plurality of hold stays each having an L-shaped section are arranged at proper intervals on the outer portion of a side wall of the main portion so as to extend along the longitudinal direction of the protector main body, whereby the auxiliary portion is composed of the plurality of hold stays constitute, and, in the auxiliary portion, on the outer surface of the side wall, the plurality of removal preventive projections are arranged at a cross-stitch stage pitch between the plurality of hold stays.
According to the above structure, by providing the removal preventive projections at a cross-stitch stage pitch between the plurality of hold stays forming the auxiliary portion, a single second cable can be held between the hold stays in a three-point support manner or in a bolt manner, which can provide a hold force effective in preventing the thrashing motion of the second cable in the auxiliary portion. Also, in this case, in case where the auxiliary portion is composed of a plurality of continually arranged hold stays each having an L-shaped section, when compared with a case where the auxiliary portion is composed of a single hold stay along the main portion, the protector main body can be reduced in weight accordingly.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3622686 (1971-11-01), Neirinck
patent: 4744010 (1988-05-01), Witte
patent: 5205635 (1993-04-01), Van Order et al.
patent: 5668351 (1997-09-01), Hanlon et al.
patent: 5739470 (1998-04-01), Takeda
patent: 5952616 (1999-09-01), Morrow
patent: 6229091 (2001-05-01), Ogawa et al.
patent: 6268566 (2001-07-01), Takiguchi et al.
Takeda Ikuo
Yamazaki Kenji
Morgan & Lewis & Bockius, LLP
Nino Adolfo
Reichard Dean A.
Yazaki -Corporation
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