Electricity: conductors and insulators – Conduits – cables or conductors – Single duct conduits
Reexamination Certificate
2002-06-14
2003-07-29
Reichard, Dean A. (Department: 2831)
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Conduits, cables or conductors
Single duct conduits
C174S1520GM, C174S15300A, C016S002100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06600105
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of Japanese Patent Application No. JP 2001-183972 filed on Jun. 18, 2001, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a grommet which is equipped with an inner sleeve made of a resin, and specifically relates to a grommet that is mounted on the penetration hole of a car body panel which is assembled on a wire harness and which is wired in an automobile. The inner sleeve made of a resin holds a connector and is internally fitted to the inside of the grommet main body that is made of elastic. The grommet is installed by being hooked in the penetration hole of a car body panel via a car body-hooking hook.
2. Description of Related Art
With this kind of grommet, when a door harness which is wired to a door side is hung in the penetration hole of a car body panel through the penetration hole of a door panel, for example, the grommet
1
as shown in
FIG. 8
is typically installed on a wire harness between the door panel and the car body panel. Located in the grommet
1
is an inner sleeve
3
that is made of a resin. The inner sleeve
3
stores and retains a connector
5
and is assembled into the inside of the enlarged tubular portion
2
a
which is provided at an end of the grommet main body
2
. The grommet main body
2
is made of a rubber or an elastomer. The grommet
1
is designed to be hooked into the penetrating hole H
1
of car body panel A with only one touch by inserting the locking hook
3
a
provided on the outer face of the inner sleeve
3
.
Specifically, the above-mentioned grommet
1
which is hooked in the penetration holes H
1
and H
2
provided on the car body panel A and on the door panel B, has enlarged tubular portion
2
c
which is mounted in the penetration hole H
2
of the door panel B and is located at one end of the bellows shaped small diameter tubular portion
2
b
of the grommet main body
2
. The grommet main body
2
is continuously formed with the above-mentioned enlarged tubular portions
2
a
and
2
c
and with bellows shaped small diameter tubular portion. A hooking groove
2
d
is located at an outer peripheral face of the enlarged tubular portion
2
c
. The hooking groove
2
d
is designed to be fitted in the peripheral rim of the penetration hole H
2
and to be mounted in a sealed condition.
The inner sleeve
3
is made of a resin and is hooked and/or internally fitted in the enlarged tubular portion
2
a
of the car body panel A side. Locking hooks
3
a
and
3
b
are used for hooking into the car body and are located at opposite positions on an outer face of the inner sleeve
3
. The inner sleeve
3
slightly protrudes from the edge opening of the enlarged tubular portion
2
a
. The locking hooks
3
a
and
3
b
are passed through the penetration hole H
1
and hooked on the peripheral rim of the inner face side of the penetration hole H
1
. In this way, the grommet
1
is fixed on the car body panel in a condition in which sealing is maintained, i.e., by adhering the seal lip
2
f
which was provided on the opening peripheral rim of the enlarged tubular portion
2
a
, on the peripheral rim of the outer face side of the penetration hole H
1
. The connector
5
is brought in contact with the end of the wire harness W/H (not shown) and the wire harness W/H is inserted and passed through the grommet main body
2
while the connector is assembled thereto by a locking connection which is located inside of the above-mentioned inner sleeve
3
. A fitting portion
5
a
of the connector
5
protrudes from the edge opening of the inner sleeve
3
and is fitted with the connector (not shown) via the car body side through the penetration hole H
1
of the car body panel A.
With the above-mentioned grommet, the work involved in installing the grommet into the penetration hole H
1
of the car body panel A in the assembly line of an automobile will now be described. A locking hook
3
a
located on one side of the inner sleeve
3
is a fixation locking hook which protrudes from the edge of the peripheral wall of the inner sleeve
3
. On the other hand, a locking hook
3
b
located on another side of the inner sleeve
3
is a movable locking hook and is provided at the edge outer face of the mobile piece
3
d
(see FIGS.
10
A and
10
B), i.e., between two side grooves which are notched in the peripheral wall. As shown in
FIG. 9
, when installing the grommet
1
in the penetration hole H
1
, the edges of the enlarged tubular portion
2
a
and the inner sleeve
3
are typically obliquely inserted into the penetration hole H
1
. In this way, the locking hook
3
a
is first firmly inserted into the penetration hole H
1
and then it is hooked. Thereafter, the movable locking hook
3
b
is inserted into the penetration hole H
1
by bending it, and then it is hooked.
When the grommet
1
is assembled on an automobile, the movable locking hook
3
b
of the inner sleeve
3
, which is inserted later into the penetration hole H
1
on the car body panel A, can easily be made flexible. Therefore, the lower the insertion force, the better the workability. In addition, it is preferable, in view of the lock retaining force and the lock feeling, that a hooking margin of the movable locking hook
3
b
be made as large as possible. However, the space in which the movable locking hook is bent should also be made large enough in order to accommodate this.
On the other hand, because it is preferable that the penetration hole H
1
of the car body panel be made as small as possible, it typically approaches the size of the fitting portion
5
a
of the connector
5
. As a result, as shown in
FIG. 10A
, the peripheral wall of the inner sleeve
3
, into which the connector
5
is inserted, is sized to the extent that it is close to the outer face of the connector
5
, but with a slight gap S
1
. Accordingly, when the mobile locking hook
3
b
is bent greatly, the movable piece
3
d
whose edge is provided with the movable locking hook
3
b
comes into contact with the outer face of the connector
5
, which gives rise to a problem that the movable locking hook
3
b
can only be bent by less than about 8°.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention was achieved considering the above-mentioned problems, and provides a space for adequately bending the movable locking hook of the inner sleeve without enlargement of the external shape of the inner sleeve, the enlarged tubular portion of the grommet main body which internally receives the inner sleeve, and the penetration hole H
1
of the car body panel.
In order to solve the above-mentioned subject, the present invention provides a grommet which can be installed on a wire harness inserted into a penetration hole that is provided on the car body panel of an automobile. An inner sleeve made of a resin stores and locks a connector and is firmly stored at an enlarged tubular portion of a grommet main body made of an elastomer and equipped with an enlarged tubular portion at the edge of a small diameter tubular portion through which electric wires are inserted. A locking hook for fastening to a car body protrudes at an opposite position on the peripheral wall of the above-mentioned inner sleeve and protrudes from the edge opening of the above-mentioned enlarged tubular portion. The locking hook is a fixation locking hook that protrudes from the outer face of the above-mentioned peripheral wall. Another locking hook is provided on another side of the inner sleeve. This locking hook has a mobile locking hook that is located on the edge outer face of a movable piece with the movable piece being between two side grooves that are notched on the above-mentioned peripheral wall. By shifting the position of the center of a connector housing that is firmly stored and/or retained in the above-mentioned inner sleeve and the center of the above-mentioned inner sleeve, and also by pushing aside the center of a connector housi
Hieda Takayuki
Morishita Yukinori
Nakata Hiroyuki
Wada Tetsuaki
Estrada Angel R.
Greenblum & Bernstein P.L.C.
Reichard Dean A.
Sumitomo Wiring Systems Ltd.
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