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
06600104
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a grommet with a resin inner sleeve, and specifically relates to a grommet in which a connector installed on a wire harness is fixed to the grommet by internally fitting the connector on the inner sleeve located in the inside of the grommet main body. The grommet is installed in the penetration hole of a car body panel such that a car body hooking hook protrudes from the outer face of the inner sleeve.
The present invention also relates to a grommet equipped with a resin inner sleeve, and specifically relates to a grommet which is assembled on a wire harness that is wired in an automobile. The grommet is mounted in the penetration hole of a car body panel. The inner sleeve is internally fitted inside of the grommet main body made of an elastomer. The grommet is installed in the penetration hole of a car body panel with a car body hooking hook protruding from the outer face of the inner sleeve.
2. Discussion of Background Information
A first type of grommet shown in
FIGS. 8-10
. A grommet
1
is used with 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. The grommet
1
is conventionally installed on a wire harness between the door panel and the car body panel. An inner sleeve
3
made of a resin is assembled inside of an enlarged tubular portion
2
a
of the grommet
1
. The enlarged tubular portion
2
a
is located at one 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 a penetrating hole H
2
of a car body panel P
2
by inserting the locking hook
3
a
, which is located at the outer face of the inner sleeve
3
.
Specifically, the grommet
1
shown in
FIGS. 8 and 9
is hooked in both the penetration hole H
2
, which is located on the car body panel P
2
, and in the penetration hole H
1
, which is located on the door panel P
1
. The grommet
1
includes another enlarged tubular portion
2
c
which is mounted, i.e., hooked, in the penetration hole H
1
of the door panel P
1
. The enlarged tubular portion
2
c
is located at one end of a bellows shape small diameter tubular portion
2
b
of the grommet main body
2
. Both the enlarged tubular portion
2
a
and the enlarged tubular portion
2
c
are continuously formed with the above-mentioned bellows shape small diameter tubular portion
2
b
. A hooking groove
2
d
is provided at the outer peripheral face of enlarged tubular portion
2
c
. This hooking groove
2
d
is fitted in the peripheral rim of the penetration hole H
2
and allows the grommet
1
to be mounted in a sealed condition in opening H
1
.
With reference to
FIG. 8
, the inner sleeve
3
is made of a resin and is hooked into the grommet
1
by being internally fitted on the enlarged tubular portion
2
a
of the car body panel P
2
side of the grommet
1
. A locking hook
3
a
is used for a car body hooking is provided at the outer face
3
b
of the inner sleeve
3
. The outer face
3
b
and hooks
3
a
protrude past an edge opening of the enlarged tubular portion
2
a
. The locking hook
3
a
passes through the penetration hole H
2
and is hooked at the peripheral rim of the inner face side of the penetration hole H
2
. A seal lip
2
f
which is provided at the opening peripheral rim of the enlarged tubular portion
2
a
, is adhered on the peripheral rim of the outer face side of the penetration hole H
2
. The grommet
1
is fixed on the car body panel P
2
in a condition in which sealing is retained.
With reference to
FIG. 9
, a connector
4
is fixed by locking on the locking portion
3
d
is fixed to the grommet
1
by being internally fitted inside of the above-mentioned inner sleeve
3
. However, because such connectors ideally have many square shape terminal-storing chambers, the external shape of the connector
4
is typically made square or rectangular. As a result, the inner sleeve
3
to which the connector
4
is externally fitted is also made with an approximately and/or near-square or rectangular shape. Because of this, a radius of curvatures R
1
(which is, for example, approximately 5 mm) of the four corner portions
3
c
of the peripheral wall of the inner sleeve
3
must be small. This means that the penetration hole H
2
, which is drilled in the car body panel P
2
, becomes a near-square or rectangular hole that has square corners with small radius of curvatures. However, holes which are shaped in this way allow a concentrated shear stress to be generated at each of the four corner portions, and this results in a decrease in the strength of the car body panel P
2
.
On the other hand, in order to improve the strength of the car body panel, the penetrating hole can be made with a shape that is closer to a circle, i.e., the closer the hole is to a circle the better it is.
FIG. 10
illustrates one such shape. As can be seen, it is better to make the radius of curvatures R
2
(which is, for example, approximately 10 mm) of four corners
3
c
′ of the inner sleeve
3
′ large. However, since the external shape of the connector
4
′, which is stored inside the inner sleeve
3
′ is square or rectangular shaped, for the reason indicated above, the connector-storing space located inside of the inner sleeve
3
′ necessarily decreases as the radius R
2
increases. As a result, such inner sleeves
3
′ cannot receive relatively large connectors, i.e., connectors which have many poles or terminals cannot be used.
A second type grommet shown in
FIGS. 15A-17
. The grommet
1
is used with a door harness which is wired to a door side and is hung in the penetration hole of a car body panel through the penetration hole of a door panel. As can be seen in
FIGS. 15A and 15B
, the grommet
1
has been conventionally installed on a wire harness between the door panel and the car body panel. An inner sleeve
3
made of a resin is assembled inside of a enlarged tubular portion
2
a
of the grommet
1
. The enlarged tubular portion
2
a
is located at one end of a grommet main body
2
. The grommet main body is made of a rubber or an elastomer. The grommet
1
is designed to be hooked into a penetration hole H
1
of the car body panel A via the inserting of locking hooks
3
a
and
3
b
, which are provided at the outer face of the inner sleeve
3
.
Specifically, as can be seen in
FIG. 15A
, the grommet
1
is hooked in both penetration holes H
1
and H
2
which were provided on the car body panel A and the door panel B. The grommet
1
includes another enlarged tubular
2
c
and this enlarged tubular portion
2
c
is mounted in the penetration hole H
2
of the door panel B. The enlarged tubular portion
2
c
is located at one end of a bellows shaped small diameter tubular portion
2
b
of the grommet main body
2
. The bellows shaped small diameter tubular portion is continuously formed with the above-mentioned enlarged tubular portions
2
a
and
2
c
. A hooking groove
2
d
is provided at the outer peripheral face of the enlarged tubular portion
2
c
. The hooking groove
2
d
is configured to be fitted in the peripheral rim of the penetration hole H
2
and allows the grommet
1
to be mounted in opening H
2
in a sealed condition.
With reference to
FIG. 15A
, the inner sleeve
3
is made of a resin and is hooked into the grommet
1
by being internally fitted inside the enlarged tubular portion
2
a
of the car body panel A side of the grommet
1
. Locking hooks
3
a
and
3
b
are used for hooking the grommet
1
to the car body. These are provided at opposite locations on the outer face of the peripheral wall
3
e
of the inner sleeve
3
. The outer face and hooks
3
a
and
3
b
slightly protrude from or past the edge opening of the enlarged tubular portion
2
a
. The locking hooks
3
a
and
3
b
pass through the penetration hole H
1
and hook at the peripheral rim of the inner face side of the penetration hole H
1
. A seal lip
2
f
is provided at the ope
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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