Electrical connectors – With vehicle structure
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-11
2001-07-10
Patel, Tulsidas (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
With vehicle structure
Reexamination Certificate
active
06257897
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a wiring harness device for vehicular instrument panels and, more particularly, to a wiring harness device which gives flexibility in positioning a unit-awaiting connector (connector kept in place for mating with a unit side connector) so as to facilitate assembling together an instrument panel and an air duct, connecting an electrical component unit to an instrument panel harness, and assembling the electrical component unit to the instrument panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present applicant has proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 8-121999 a wiring harness device for instrument panels as shown in
FIGS. 9
to
12
for making an improvement in connecting an electrical component unit to an instrument panel harness at the instrument panel of an automobile.
FIG. 9
is an exploded perspective view of this wiring harness device;
FIG. 10
is a perspective view of an air duct and an instrument panel harness as in
FIG. 10
;
FIG. 11
is an enlarged view of a connector holder provided on the air duct; and
FIG. 12
is a sectional view of a unit-awaiting connector mounted in the connector holder.
FIG. 9
, denoted
111
,
112
are a center cluster unit and a meter unit, respectively, as electrical component units. Each electrical component unit
111
,
112
has a not-shown connector projecting at the back for electrical connection to a later-described unit-awaiting connector
140
B of an instrument panel harness
140
.
Denoted
120
is a large resin molded item of an instrument panel which is provided at the center and the right side on the drawing with mount portions
121
,
122
for the electrical component units
111
,
112
and at the left and right ends with air outlets
123
,
124
with a flow rate adjusting fin for an air conditioner.
Denoted
130
is an air duct which is also a large resin molded item, and which is assembled to the instrument panel
120
. As shown in
FIGS. 10
to
12
, the air duct
130
is integrally formed, at its portions corresponding to the mount portions
121
,
122
of the instrument panel
120
, with a frame-like connector holder
130
A for holding therein the related unit-awaiting connector
140
B of the instrument panel harness
140
.
The connector holder
130
A, as best seen in
FIGS. 11 and 12
, has an inwardly stepped front wall and a connector mount opening
131
provided at the center of the front wall. Those parts of the front wall which laterally define the mount opening
131
are provided at their lower ends with an engagement claw
132
for holding the unit-awaiting connector
140
B.
On its upper wall with a circumferential flange, the connector holder
130
A has bosses
133
that fit in corresponding holes
125
provided on the underside of the instrument panel
120
. The air duct
130
is provided at the front with a harness placement groove
134
.
As shown in
FIG. 9
, the instrument panel harness
140
consists of a flexible printed circuit board
140
A with each end thereof, as shown in
FIGS. 11 and 12
, bent back and mounted in a housing
141
to provide the unit-awaiting connector
140
B for connecting to the electrical component unit
111
,
112
. The housing
141
of the connector
140
B has a total of six integral spring pieces
142
at its upper, lower, left and right sides.
Each spring piece
142
, when the unit-awaiting connector
140
B is mounted in the connector mount opening
131
, resiliently contacts the innermost wall surface of the connector holder
130
A to support the connector
140
B in a vertically and horizontally movable manner.
In the wiring harness device as described above, the instrument panel harness
140
is first laid in the harness placement groove
134
on the air duct
130
, and the air duct is then assembled to the instrument panel
120
.
Thereafter, the electrical component unit
111
,
112
is mounted in the mount portion
121
,
122
of the instrument panel
120
, so that the connector on the unit's part mates with the unit-awaiting connector
140
B properly positioned by the connector holder
130
A of the air duct
130
.
If in this case a dimensional error exists in the large resin molded item of the air duct
130
, with the result that the connector holder
130
A is found slightly deviated from position, the unit-awaiting connector
140
B, owing to the spring pieces
142
, moves vertically and horizontally during its coupling with the unit side connector to absorb and remedy the positional deviation.
With the wiring harness device as mentioned above, however, because the positional deviation of the connector holder
130
A is remedied only through the movement of the connector
140
B inside the connector holder, there is a fear that, if the dimensional error of the air duct
130
and thus the positional deviation of the connector holder
130
A are large, such positional error will not be remedied only through the movement of the connector
140
B.
Thus, with the air duct
130
with a dimensional error, difficulty has been encountered in assembling together the instrument panel
120
and the air duct
130
, connecting the electrical component unit
111
,
112
to the instrument panel harness
140
and assembling the electrical component unit
111
,
112
to the instrument panel
120
, and the need for an improvement in positioning the unit-awaiting connector
140
B accurately has arisen.
Further, because the air duct
130
and the instrument panel harness
140
are provided separately from each other, they need to be assembled together on an automobile assembly line, requiring not only many man-hours, but also additional exterior components such as wire protectors, tapes, clamps and the like for protecting the instrument panel harness
140
before and after its mounting in position.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention has been accomplished to overcome the above drawbacks and one of its objects is to provide a wiring harness device for instrument panels which improves the flexibility in positioning a unit-awaiting connector so as to facilitate assembling together an instrument panel and an air duct, connecting an electrical component unit to an instrument panel harness, and assembling the electrical component unit to the instrument panel.
It is another object of this invention to provide a wiring harness device for instrument panels which reduces the manhours required at an automobile assembly line for assembling an instrument panel harness, and which reduces the exterior components such as wire protectors and the like.
In order to attain the objects, according to this invention, there is provided a wiring harness device for instrument panels which comprises: an electrical component unit having a first connector; an instrument panel having a mount portion for the electrical component unit and a connector insertion opening formed in a wall thereof defining the mount portion through which a second connector mates with the first connector; an air duct having a wire placement groove on a surface thereof, which is assembled to the instrument panel; and instrument panel wires fixedly laid in the wire placement groove on the air duct, wherein the air duct has a support means which supports the second connector on a front end thereof, and the instrument panel wires have a portion extending on the support means to the second connector, the support means extending in a cantilever manner such that the second connector is movable relative to the air duct and easily mountable in the connector insertion opening for mating with the first connector when the electrical component unit is received in the mount portion of the instrument panel.
In the wiring harness device of the above construction, when the air duct is assembled to the instrument panel, the second connector is placed in the connector insertion opening provided at the mount portion of the instrument panel. The second connector is thus positioned in opposition to the first connector provided on the electrical component unit which is later installed
Armstrong Westerman Hattori McLeland & Naughton LLP
Patel Tulsidas
Peschel Charles J
Yazaki -Corporation
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