Clamp

Details Clamp Clamp

2003-06-05

2004-06-08

Patel, Dhiru (Department: 2831)

Electricity: conductors and insulators

Conduits, cables or conductors

C174S068300, C174S135000, C174S0720TR, C248S073000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06747209

ABSTRACT:

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-179046, filed Jun. 19, 2002, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-264685, filed Sep. 10, 2002, which applications are herein expressly incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a clamp and, more particularly, to a clamp wound around a wire harness arranged in an automobile vehicle and locked in a through-hole in a car body panel.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
For convenience of explanation, a conventional clamp will be described below.
FIGS. 30A through 30C
are front elevation views of a conventional band type clamp. The figures illustrate operations to attach the clamp to the wire harness and lock the clamp on the car body panel.
FIGS. 31A through 31C
are front elevation views of a conventional base plate type clamp. These figures illustrate operations to attach the clamp to the wire harness and lock the clamp on the car body panel.
Heretofore, such a kind of clamp is broadly divided into a band type clamp shown in
FIG. 30 and a
base plate type clamp shown in FIG.
31
.
A band type clamp
1
shown in
FIG. 30
includes a box-like body
1
a
having a through-hole
1
c
. A band
1
b
extends from an end of the box-like body
1
a
. After the band
1
b
is wound around a wire harness W/H, the band
1
b
is inserted into the through-hole
1
c
in the box-like body
1
a
. A handgun type fastening-tool
6
clamps a latching piece
1
d
, provided in the through-hole
1
c
, so that the latching piece
1
d
engages one of the latching grooves
1
e
in the band
1
b
. Then, the band
1
b
fastens the wire harness W/H. A car body engagement section
1
f
stands up on an upper surface of the box-like body
1
a.
A base plate type clamp
2
shown in
FIG. 31
includes a base plate
2
a
, and a car body engagement section
2
b
that stands up on the base plate
2
a
. The base plate
2
a
is attached to the wire harness W/H by winding a tape T around the base plate
2
a
and the wire harness W/H.
The car body engagement sections
1
f
and
2
b
of the band type clamp
1
and base plate type clamp
2
include wing portions
1
h
and
2
d
bent down from distal ends of axle portions
1
g
and
2
c
. Stepped latching portions
1
i
and
2
e
are provided on distal ends of the wing portions
1
h
and
2
d.
When the clamps
1
and
2
are locked on the car body, the wing portions
1
h
and
2
d
of the car body latching sections
1
f
and
2
b
are inserted into a through-hole
5
a
in a car body panel
5
while the wing portions
1
h
and
2
d
are narrowed. After inserting the wing portions
1
h
and
2
d
into the through-hole
5
a
, the wing portions
1
h
and
2
d
are widened to the original positions and the stepped latching portions
1
i
and
2
e
engage a periphery of the through-hole
5
a
in the car body panel
5
.
In the band type clamp
1
, after winding the band
1
b
around the wire harness W/H, the band
1
b
is inserted into the through-hole
1
c
in the box-like body
1
a
. The handgun type fastening-tool
6
clamps the band
1
b
to lock the band
1
b
in the body
1
a
. A cutter
7
cuts off an excessive end of the band
1
b
extending from the box-like body
1
a
. Accordingly, the band type clamp
1
requires the fastening tool
6
and cutter
7
. Also, the steps of fastening the band
1
b
by using the tool
6
and cutting the band
1
b
by using the cutter
7
are necessary. The excessive end of the band
1
b
cut off by the cutter
7
is wasted. In the case where the wire harness W/H is a small size in diameter, a length of the band
1
b
to be cut off is increased. This will increase the waste of the band.
Furthermore, if a relative position between the clamp
1
and the through-hole
5
a
in the car body panel
5
is shifted, the clamp cannot be displaced with respect to the wire harness to correct the shifted position. This is due to the strength in which the band
1
b
fastens to the wire harness W/H. Consequently, a length of the wire harness W/H between the clamps
1
is set to be slightly longer than an allowable tolerance. This will increase the entire length of the wire harness and cause waste in the wire harness.
In the base plate type clamp
2
, when the clamp
2
is attached to the wire harness W/H, the tape T is wound around the opposite ends of base plate
2
a
and the wire harness W/H. This requires tape and the step of winding the tape around the base plate and wire harness. Consequently, working steps are increased and different kinds of tapes must be prepared for the steps.
The attaching positions of the clamps
2
on the wire harness W/H are fixed, since the clamps
2
are attached to the wire harness by winding the tape T around the clamps and wire harness. In the event the relative position between the clamp
2
and the through-hole
5
a
in the car body panel
5
is shifted, as in the case with the band type clamp
1
, the length of the wire harness must be longer than an allowable tolerance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention is to provide a novel clamp that is different from the conventional band type clamp or base plate type clamp mentioned above. The novel clamp does not require any tape winding or band cutting steps. The novel clamp can be attached to the wire harness manually. The novel clamp can adjust an attaching position of the clamp on the wire harness. The novel clamp eliminates waste in the wire harness since the entire length of the wire harness may now be properly sized.
The present invention provides a clamp that is attached to a wire harness and inserted into and locked in a through-hole in a car body panel. The clamp comprises an arcuate annular strap section that enclose an interior space and defines an opening between opposite ends of the strap. A pair of insertion engagement sections are connected together with the opposite ends of the strap. The pair of insertion engagement sections oppose each other at opposite ends of the opening and stand outwardly. Each of the insertion engagement sections includes an axle plate portion projecting from an end of the opening. A wing portion is bent down from a distal end of the axle plate portion. A stepped latching portion is formed on a distal end of the wing portion. A dimension of the opening is set to be narrower than a diameter of the wire harness to be contained in the interior space. The annular strap section is elastically bent outwardly to widen the opening to receive and contain the wire harness in the interior space. After containment of the wire harness in the interior space, the annular strap section returns to its original position by an elastically recovery to narrow the opening thereby holding the wire harness in the interior space. The pair of insertion engagement sections are inserted into the through-hole in the car body panel. After insertion of the sections into the through-hole, the stepped latching portions engage a periphery of the through-hole, thereby locking the wire harness on a car body.
In the above clamp, when the wire harness is inserted into the opening enclosed by the annular strap section, the wire harness widens the opening and enters the interior space. A worker may widen the opening and then insert the wire harness into the interior space.
Since the annular strap section is formed into an arcuate configuration (C-shaped configuration), it is subject to an elastic recovery in a reduction direction in diameter. Even if an external force widens the opening, the annular strap section elastically returns to the original position when the external force is removed. Accordingly, since the annular strap section elastically returns to the original position to narrow the opening, the wire harness does not come out from the interior space enclosed by the annular strap section. It is possible to maintain the wire harness in the interior space enclosed by the annular strap section regardless of a diameter size of the wire harness, unless the wire harness is drawn out from the openin

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