JP2017073940A - Wire housing protector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wire housing protector of novel structure, capable of ensuring a sufficient gap of a lid and the protector body in temporary locking state, without making unlock difficult.SOLUTION: A wire housing protector is constituted of an elastic interference part 30 where at least a part of the lower end of an engagement frame 22 projects inward of an engaging hole 24 and deformable flexibly to the outside of the engaging hole 24. When the elastic interference part 30 interferes with the projection end 40 of an engaging piece 32, a lid 16 is held in temporary locking state for the protector body 12.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric wire housing protector for inserting and holding a large number of electric wires arranged in an automobile or the like.

  Conventionally, in an electrical system such as an automobile, a large number of wires to be routed are inserted and held in an electric wire housing protector and fixed in place to protect the wires from external interference members or to route the wires. Regulations are being made.

  By the way, as described in JP-A-6-86426 (Patent Document 1) and the like, such an electric wire housing protector includes a bowl-shaped protector main body and a lid that covers the upper opening of the protector main body. It is configured to include. Then, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), after inserting a number of electric wires through the protector body, the tip of the engaging piece provided on the lid is engaged with an engaging frame provided on the protector body. A gap is formed between the lid body and the protector body by inserting into the stop hole and bringing the lower end portion of the engagement protrusion protruding from the engagement piece into contact with the upper opening of the locking frame. : S is defined as a temporarily locked state. In such a temporary locking state, it is confirmed whether or not the electric wire is caught through the gap S, and if the electric wire is caught, the lid is removed so that the electric wire is not caught. Make corrections. Then, in a state where no problem is found in the temporarily locked state, as shown in FIG. 3B, the engaging protrusion of the engaging piece is strongly pushed into the locking hole of the locking frame. Thus, the engagement protrusion of the engagement piece is engaged with the lower surface of the engagement frame to be in the final engagement state. Thereby, an electric wire accommodation protector can be easily mounted | worn so that the biting of an electric wire may not generate | occur | produce.

  However, with such a conventional lock mechanism, it is difficult to secure a sufficient vertical movement distance from the temporarily locked state shown in FIG. 3 (a) to the fully locked state shown in FIG. 3 (b). The problem was inherent. That is, it is difficult to ensure a sufficiently large gap: S between the lid body and the protector main body for confirming whether or not the electric wire is caught in the temporarily locked state. For example, in order to ensure this gap: S sufficiently large, it is conceivable to extend the engaging protrusions of the engaging pieces in the vertical direction. In this case, the engaging protrusions extend in the vertical direction. There was a risk that it would be difficult to release the lock. Therefore, there has been a demand for a lock mechanism that can sufficiently secure the gap S between the lid body and the protector body in the temporarily locked state without making unlocking difficult.

JP-A-6-86426

  The present invention has been made in the background of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its solution is to ensure a sufficient gap between the lid body and the protector body in the temporarily locked state without making unlocking difficult. An object of the present invention is to provide a wire housing protector having a novel structure.

  A first aspect of the present invention includes a protector main body extending in a bowl shape, a lid that covers the upper opening of the protector main body, a lock mechanism that holds the protector main body and the lid fixedly, A lock mechanism is provided on the side wall of the protector body, and the engagement piece is inserted between the engagement piece that is provided on the outer surface of the lid and protrudes from the lid. An electric wire housing protector in which the lid body is held by the protector body by engaging the engagement protrusion with a lower end portion of the engagement frame body. At least a part of the lower end portion of the engagement frame body is formed by an elastic interference portion that protrudes inward of the engagement hole and can be flexed and deformed outward of the engagement hole. When the interference portion interferes with the protruding end portion of the engagement piece, Kifutatai is characterized in that it is held in the provisionally-retained condition relative to the protector body.

  According to this aspect, at least a part of the lower end portion of the engagement frame is configured by the elastic interference portion that can be bent and deformed outward of the engagement hole, and the elastic interference portion is a protruding end of the engagement piece. The lid is held in a temporarily locked state with respect to the protector body by interfering with the part. In short, as soon as the protruding end portion of the engaging piece is inserted into the engaging hole, the protruding end portion of the engaging piece interferes with the elastic interference portion constituting the lower end portion of the engaging frame body, and the engaging piece Is inserted into the engagement hole. As a result, the lid can be held in a temporarily locked state with respect to the protector body.

  Such a temporary locking state is not realized by the engagement protrusion provided at the central portion of the engagement piece as in the prior art, so in the insertion direction of the engagement piece into the engagement hole, It is possible to ensure a sufficiently large gap S between the lid body and the protector body in the locked state. Preferably, the engagement protrusion is provided so as to be largely separated from the protruding end portion of the engagement piece toward the base end portion side, so that the clearance S between the lid body and the protector body in the temporarily locked state is further increased. It is possible to secure a large amount.

  The elastic interference portion may be provided at any of the lower end portions of the engagement frame body, or may be provided on the outer wall portion that is arranged opposite to the protector body with a gap and extends in parallel. You may provide in the connection wall part which connects the both ends of an outer wall part to the side wall of a protector main body.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the one described in the first aspect, the engagement frame body includes an outer wall portion that is disposed to face the protector body with a gap therebetween. While the lower end portion is constituted by the elastic interference portion, the plate thickness size at the protruding end portion of the engagement piece is made larger than the minimum gap size between the side wall of the protector body and the elastic interference portion. It is what.

  According to this aspect, since the elastic interference part is provided on the outer wall part of the engagement frame body, the elastic interference part can be provided in a relatively wide region, and the durability of the elastic interference part is advantageously ensured. Can do. In addition, by adjusting the plate thickness dimension of the protruding end portion of the engaging piece and the gap dimension between the side wall and the elastic interference portion, a temporarily locked state can be secured, so that the protruding end portion of the engaging piece is A large degree of freedom in designing the insertion force to be inserted from the upper opening of the engagement hole can be ensured.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the plate thickness dimension of the protruding end portion of the engagement piece is smaller than the upper opening dimension of the engagement hole. Is.

  According to this aspect, the plate thickness dimension at the protruding end of the engagement piece is smaller than the upper opening dimension of the engagement hole. A gap can be formed between the openings. Therefore, even after the main locking, a minus driver or the like can be inserted through the gap, so that the lock can be easily released. Moreover, since the upper opening dimension of the engagement hole is formed larger than the lower opening dimension, the protruding end of the engagement piece can be easily inserted from the upper opening of the engagement hole. .

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the one according to any one of the first to third aspects, the temporary locking in which the protruding end portion of the engagement piece is in contact with the elastic interference portion. In the state, the engagement protrusion is provided above the upper opening of the engagement hole.

  According to this aspect, the engagement protrusion is provided above the upper opening portion of the engagement hole in the temporarily locked state where the protruding end portion of the engagement piece is in contact with the elastic interference portion. Thereby, compared with the conventional structure in which the engagement protrusion is temporarily locked in the upper opening of the engagement hole, the lid body and the protector body in the temporarily locked state in the insertion direction of the engagement piece into the engagement hole It is possible to secure a large gap S between the two.

  According to the present invention, at least a part of the lower end portion of the engagement frame is configured by the elastic interference portion that can be bent and deformed outward of the engagement hole, and the elastic interference portion is a protruding end of the engagement piece. The lid is held in a temporarily locked state with respect to the protector body by interfering with the part. That is, since the protruding end portion of the engagement piece interferes with the elastic interference portion constituting the lower end portion of the engagement frame body, the insertion of the engagement piece into the engagement hole is hindered. On the other hand, it can be held in a temporarily locked state. Since the temporarily locked state is not due to the engaging protrusion provided at the center portion of the engaging piece as in the prior art, the gap S between the lid body and the protector body in the temporarily locked state is sufficiently large. It can be secured.

The perspective view which shows the temporary latching state of the electric wire accommodation protector as one Embodiment of this invention. The side view of the electric wire accommodation protector shown in FIG. The III-III cross-sectional enlarged view of FIG. The perspective view which shows the main latching state of the electric wire accommodation protector of this embodiment. The VV cross-sectional enlarged view of FIG.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  First, the electric wire accommodation protector 10 as one Embodiment of this invention is shown by FIGS. The wire housing protector 10 includes a protector main body 12 extending in a bowl shape and a lid 16 that covers the upper opening 14 of the protector main body 12. The electric wire housing protector 10 is used by housing a wire harness (not shown) in the protector body 12 in an inserted state. In the following description, “upper” means the upper side in FIG. 2, “lower” means the lower side in FIG. 2, “front” means the left side in FIG. 2, and “rear” means the right side in FIG. And

  As shown in FIG. 1, the protector body 12 includes a bottom wall 18 and a pair of side walls 20, 20 rising from both sides of the bottom wall 18 and extends in a bowl shape. ), A synthetic resin such as polyamide (PA), and the like, which are integrally formed by injection molding or the like. In addition, an engagement frame body 22 having a substantially square bracket shape in a plan view protruding outward is provided above the outer surface of the side wall 20 of the protector body 12, and the engagement frame body 22 and the side wall 20 are provided. An engagement hole 24 into which an engagement piece 32 of the lid body 16 to be described later is inserted is defined between the outer surface and the outer surface of the cover body 16 in the vertical direction. More specifically, the engagement frame body 22 has an outer wall portion 26 that is substantially rectangular in a side view and is opposed to the side wall 20 of the protector body 12 with a gap therebetween, and both ends of the outer wall portion 26 are connected to the protector body 12. A connecting wall portion 28 having a substantially rectangular shape in front view connected to the side wall 20 is included. And the lower end part of the outer wall part 26 is formed by the elastic interference part 30 projected in the shape of a cantilever from the upper end part of the outer wall part 26 toward the inside of the engagement hole 24, and the elastic interference part 30. Is bent outwardly of the engagement hole 24 and can be deformed. In the present embodiment, two engagement frame bodies 22 are provided for each of the pair of side walls 20, 20. However, the engagement frame bodies 22 are separated in the longitudinal direction, and an arbitrary number is provided as necessary. May be.

  On the other hand, the lid body 16 is formed so that a plurality of substantially rectangular engaging pieces 32 can be bent and deformed in the plate thickness direction in a side view protruding toward the protector body 12 at the outer peripheral edge thereof. . Further, an engagement protrusion 34 having a substantially triangular cross-sectional shape in a front view protruding outward in the thickness direction is provided on the outer surface of the substantially central portion in the protruding direction of the engagement piece 32. In the present embodiment, the engagement pieces 32 are formed at four locations corresponding to the engagement frame body 22 described above. Similarly to the protector main body 12, the lid 16 is integrally formed of synthetic resin such as polypropylene (PP) or polyamide (PA) by injection molding or the like, while being separate from the protector main body 12. .

  Then, a plurality of engagement pieces 32 of the corresponding lid body 16 are inserted into the engagement holes 24 of the plurality of engagement frame bodies 22 of the protector body 12 to engage with the lower ends of the engagement frame bodies 22. By engaging the engagement protrusion 34 of the piece 32, the lid body 16 is fixedly held with respect to the protector body 12, as shown in FIGS. Thus, in this embodiment, the lock mechanism is comprised by the engagement frame 22 and the engagement piece 32. FIG.

  Next, details of the lock mechanism will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 5. First, as shown in FIG. 3, the protruding end portion 40 of the engagement piece 32 of the lid body 16 is inserted into the engagement hole 24 of the engagement frame body 22. Here, the plate thickness dimension L1 of the protruding end 40 of the engagement piece 32 is formed to be smaller than the upper opening dimension L2 of the upper opening 42 of the engagement hole 24. Thereby, the protruding end portion 40 of the engagement piece 32 can be easily inserted from the upper opening portion 42 of the engagement hole 24. The plate thickness dimension L1 at the protruding end 40 of the engagement piece 32 is larger than the minimum clearance dimension L3 between the side wall 20 of the protector body 12 and the elastic interference part 30 of the engagement frame body 22. Is formed. As a result, the protruding end 40 of the engagement piece 32 inserted into the engagement hole 24 interferes with the elastic interference portion 30 constituting the lower end portion of the engagement frame body 22, and the engagement hole 24 of the engagement piece 32. Further insertion into is prevented. As a result, the lid body 16 can be held in a temporarily locked state with respect to the protector main body 12.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the engagement protrusion 34 of the engagement piece 32 is engaged when the protruding end portion 40 of the engagement piece 32 is in contact with the elastic interference portion 30. It is formed so as to be above the upper opening 42 of the hole 24. Therefore, the gap between the lid body 16 and the protector body 12 in the temporarily locked state is compared with the case where the engaging protrusion of the engaging piece is temporarily locked in the upper opening of the engaging hole as in the prior art. Dimension: S can be secured large. In short, since the temporarily locked state is not due to the engaging protrusion provided at the central portion of the engaging piece as in the prior art, the gap between the lid body 16 and the protector body 12 in the temporarily locked state: It becomes possible to secure S sufficiently large. Therefore, the cover 16 and the protector main body 12 in the temporarily locked state are provided by providing the engagement protrusions 34 of the engagement piece 32 so as to be largely separated from the protruding end portion 40 of the engagement piece 32 toward the base end side. It is possible to ensure a larger gap S between the two.

  Then, the elastic interference part 30 which comprises the lower end part of the engagement frame body 22 is further pushed by pushing the protrusion end part 40 of the engagement piece 32 of the cover body 16 toward the protector main body 12 from such a temporary locking state. The minimum clearance dimension L3 between the side wall 20 of the protector body 12 and the elastic interference part 30 of the engagement frame body 22 is pushed and deformed by being bent outwardly from the engagement hole 24. As a result, further pressing of the engaging piece 32 in the direction of the protector body 12 is allowed, and the engaging protrusion 34 formed at the substantially central portion of the engaging piece 32 constitutes the lower end portion of the engaging frame body 22. As shown in FIG. 5, when the elastic interference part 30 is pushed in until it exceeds the elastic interference part 30, the elastic interference part 30 is elastically restored so that the engagement protrusion 34 comes into contact with the lower end part of the engagement frame body 22. It becomes. As a result, the engagement protrusion 34 of the engagement piece 32 is engaged with the elastic interference portion 30 constituting the lower end portion of the engagement frame body 22 so that the lid body 16 is fixedly held to the protector body 12. It becomes.

  According to the wire housing protector 10 of this embodiment having such a structure, since the elastic interference part 30 is provided on the outer wall part 26 of the engagement frame body 22, the elastic interference part 30 is provided in a relatively wide area. Therefore, the durability of the elastic interference part 30 can be advantageously ensured. In addition, the provisional locking state can be secured only by setting the plate thickness dimension L1 of the protruding end 40 of the engagement piece 32 to be larger than the gap dimension L3 between the side wall 20 and the elastic interference part 30. A large degree of freedom in designing the insertion force of the engagement piece 32 into the engagement hole 24 can be ensured.

  In addition, since the plate thickness dimension L1 of the protruding end 40 of the engagement piece 32 is smaller than the upper opening dimension L2 of the engagement hole 24, the engagement hole 32 is positioned above the engagement hole 24 in the fully locked state. A gap 44 can be provided between the opening 42 and the engagement piece 32 (see FIG. 5). Therefore, even after the main locking, a minus driver or the like can be inserted through the gap 44, so that the locking mechanism can be easily released.

  As mentioned above, although several embodiment of this invention was explained in full detail, this invention is not limited by these specific description. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the elastic interference portion 30 is provided over substantially the entire outer wall portion 26 of the engagement frame body 22, but the outer wall portion 26 and the connection wall portion 28 of the engagement frame body 22 are approximately. It may be provided over the whole, or may be provided only in a part of them.

10: Electric wire housing protector, 12: Protector body, 14: Upper opening, 16: Lid, 20: Side wall, 22: Engagement frame (lock mechanism), 24: Engagement hole, 26: Outer wall, 30: Elastic interference part 32: Engagement piece (lock mechanism) 34: Engagement protrusion 40: Projection end part 42: Upper opening part

Claims (4)

A protector main body extending in a bowl shape, a lid that covers the upper opening of the protector main body, and a lock mechanism that holds the protector main body and the lid fixedly,
The locking mechanism is provided between the engagement piece protruding from the lid and having an engagement protrusion on the outer surface and the side wall of the protector body, and the engagement piece is inserted between the side wall and the engagement piece. An electric wire housing protector in which the lid is held on the protector body by engaging the engagement protrusion with a lower end portion of the engagement frame body. ,
At least a part of the lower end portion of the engagement frame body is configured by an elastic interference portion that protrudes inward of the engagement hole and can be bent and deformed outward of the engagement hole,
The wire receiving protector, wherein the elastic interference part interferes with the protruding end of the engagement piece, so that the lid body is held in a temporarily locked state with respect to the protector body. .   The engagement frame body includes an outer wall portion disposed opposite to the protector body with a gap, and a lower end portion of the outer wall portion is configured by the elastic interference portion, while the engagement piece The wire accommodating protector according to claim 1, wherein a plate thickness dimension at the projecting end part is larger than a minimum gap dimension between the side wall of the protector body and the elastic interference part.   The wire accommodating protector according to claim 2, wherein the plate thickness dimension of the protruding end portion of the engagement piece is smaller than the upper opening dimension of the engagement hole.   The engagement protrusion is provided above an upper opening portion of the engagement hole in the temporary locking state in which the protruding end portion of the engagement piece is in contact with the elastic interference portion. Electric wire accommodation protector given in any 1 paragraph of ~ 3.

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