Miscellaneous hardware (e.g. – bushing – carpet fastener – caster – Bushing – Providing strain relief
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-11
2004-03-23
Knight, Anthony (Department: 3676)
Miscellaneous hardware (e.g., bushing, carpet fastener, caster,
Bushing
Providing strain relief
C016S002100, C016S002200, C174S15300A
Reexamination Certificate
active
06708366
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a grommet, and more particularly to a grommet which enables an elongate member (e.g. a wire harness) to be positively and easily passed through and held on a mounting plate such as a vehicle body panel.
2. Related Art
There have heretofore been proposed various grommets for mounting a wire harness on a vehicle body panel of an automobile in such a manner that the wire harness passes through the vehicle body panel.
In a conventional art of JP-A-8-212857, a grommet includes a smaller-diameter tubular portion for fitting on a wire harness, a larger-diameter tubular portion for fitting in a mounting hole in a vehicle body panel, a tapering tubular portion interconnecting the smaller-diameter tubular portion and the larger-diameter tubular portion, a fitting groove formed in an outer peripheral surface of the larger-diameter tubular portion, and holding piece portions formed on the outer peripheral surface of the larger-diameter tubular portion.
In this conventional construction, first, the wire harness is fitted in the smaller-diameter tubular portion, and in this condition that portion of the grommet, including the tapering tubular portion and the larger-diameter portion, is reversed or turned (in one longitudinal direction) inside out at a smaller-diameter end of the tapering tubular portion, and is fitted on the smaller-diameter tubular portion, so that the holding piece portions are disposed radially inwardly of the fitting groove.
Then, the wire harness is pushed to be passed through the mounting hole in the panel, so that distal end portions of the holding piece portions are inserted into the mounting hole in the panel, with the reversed larger-diameter tubular portion held against a surface of that portion of the panel disposed around the peripheral edge of the mounting hole. Then, the wire harness is further pushed in the one direction so as to cause the grommet to produce its own restoring force, so that the tapering tubular portion and the larger-diameter tubular portion are restored into their respective initial shapes, and at the same time the fitting groove is fitted on the peripheral edge of the mounting hole.
Further, in this conventional construction, the wire harness can be mounted in the mounting hole in a panel according to the following procedure. First, the smaller-diameter tubular portion is fitted on the outer periphery of the wire harness, and in this condition that portion of the grommet, including the tapering tubular portion and the larger-diameter portion, is reversed or turned (in one longitudinal direction of the wire harness) inside out, and is fitted on the smaller-diameter tubular portion, so that the holding piece portions are disposed radially inwardly of the fitting groove, and also the fitting groove and the holding piece portions are directed toward one side portion of the wire harness. Then, that portion of the wire harness, extending from the grommet in the one direction, is passed through the mounting hole in the panel, and is pulled, thereby inserting the distal end portions of the holding piece portions into the mounting hole, so that the reversed larger-diameter tubular portion is abutted against a surface of that portion of the panel disposed around the peripheral edge of the mounting hole. Then, the wire harness is further pulled in the one direction so as to cause the grommet to produce its own restoring force, so that the tapering tubular portion and the larger-diameter tubular portion are restored into their respective proper initial shapes, and at the same time the holding piece portions are turned in sliding contact with the peripheral edge of the mounting hole, so that the fitting groove is fitted on the peripheral edge of the mounting hole by this guiding action of the holding piece portions. Therefore, the wire harness can be easily and positively mounted in the mounting hole through the grommet with a small force.
In the above conventional construction, the reversed portion must be restored into the initial shape by further pushing the wire harness through the mounting hole until the restoring force is produced after the larger-diameter portion abuts against the panel surface.
In the above conventional construction, however, the tapering tubular portion and the larger-diameter tubular portion are turned inside out at the smaller-diameter end (i.e., proximal end) of the tapering tubular portion, and therefore there has been encountered a problem that the restoring action into the initial shape is large, so that it is difficult to smoothly fit the grommet in the mounting hole.
With respect to grommets of the ordinary type which are not reversed before mounting on the panel, there have been proposed the type of grommets having additional passage hole or holes for passing cables or hoses other than a wire harness.
With respect to the grommet of the above-mentioned type designed to be reversed before mounting on the panel, the larger-diameter portion is reversed, and therefore there has not heretofore been provided such grommet capable of passing a cable, a hose or the like in addition to the wire harness.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
This invention has been made in view of the above problem, and an object of the invention is to provide a grommet which enables an elongate member (e.g. a wire harness) to be easily and positively mounted on a mounting plate, such as a vehicle body panel, in such a manner that the elongate member passes through the mounting plate.
Another object of the invention is to provide a reversal-type grommet capable of additionally passing a cable, a hose or the like other than a wire harness.
The above object has been achieved by a grommet for enabling an elongate member to be passed through and held relative to a mounting hole formed in a mounting plate, including a first cylindrical portion for passing the elongate member therethrough, a generally-conical, annular connecting portion formed on an outer peripheral surface of the first cylindrical portion, a second cylindrical portion connected to the first cylindrical portion through the connecting portion, a groove formed in an outer peripheral surface of the second cylindrical portion, and a flange portion formed on that portion of the outer peripheral surface of the second cylindrical portion lying between the groove and the connecting portion; wherein the second cylindrical portion is turned inside out, with an inner peripheral surface thereof exposed outwardly, and a peripheral edge of the flange portion is inserted into the mounting hole, and subsequently the second cylindrical portion is restored into its initial shape, thereby passing the first cylindrical portion through the mounting hole, and also fitting the groove on a peripheral edge of the mounting hole; provided in that a rib is formed along a generatrix of the connecting portion, and extends continuously from a smaller-diameter end of the connecting portion toward a larger-diameter end thereof to a predetermined position.
The first cylindrical portion has the inner diameter corresponding to the outer diameter of the elongate member (such as a wire harness), or may have the slightly-smaller inner diameter so that the elongate member can be press-fitted into the first cylindrical portion. This first cylindrical portion does not need to have the uniform inner diameter or the uniform outer diameter throughout the length thereof, but may have a stepped cylindrical shape or a tapering cylindrical shape.
The second cylindrical portion has the outer diameter corresponding to the inner diameter of the mounting hole, and is connected at its proximal end to the peripheral edge of the connecting portion.
Therefore, the first and second cylindrical portions may be arranged, for example, in a telescopic manner, or may be connected together along the axis through the connecting portion.
The first cylindrical portion, the connecting portion and the second cylindrical portion may be formed integrally with one another, using a synthetic resin havi
Goto Hiroki
Ono Shuji
Sakai Masao
Knight Anthony
Kyle Michael J.
Yazaki -Corporation
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