CLAMP AND WIRING HARNESS WITH CLAMP

Abstract

Terminal (15) comprising: a base plate (21) which is locked to an adhesive film (31) which covers and holds a lead wire (11), a shaft (23) protruding from the base plate (21) and inserted through a mounting hole (39) drilled through the adhesive film (31), an engaging portion (25) formed at the distal end of the shaft (23), inserted through the attachment hole (39) and engaged with an engaging hole (19) of an attachment body (13), and Fixing pieces (20) projecting from the base plate (21) such that they have a distance (L1) between projecting ends of the fixing pieces (20) that is greater than the maximum opening width (L2) of the mounting hole (39), and holding and fixing the edge of the mounting hole (39) with the base plate (21).

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Technical FieldThe present invention relates to a terminal and a wire harness having this terminal.2. Prior ArtDE 38 29 037 A1 relates to a flat harness fixing unit comprising a fixing plate having a clip vertically projecting therefrom which is inserted and fixed into a hole in an automobile, a base having a also vertically projecting catching member which engages with the clip, and a laminated sheet which can be integrally fixed to an insulating cover of a harness set and is clamped between the fixing plate and the base plate. The unit is characterized in that support shoulders provided in a catch hole of the clip are bridge-like and have a strength dimensioned such that in case of a forced pulling down of the catch member a forked claw provided on the catch member is not damaged even though the support shoulders are destroyed so that the cable harness can be repositioned and reused.DE 37 18 618 A1 relates to a flat cable harness fastening unit for attaching a flat cable harness to a vehicle body. The flat cable harness is composed of a plurality of wires covered with plastic insulation, which are bundled and joined by melting the plastic insulation into a flat integral structure. The harness fixing unit includes a clip portion and a fixing portion. The clip portion is provided for connection to a vehicle body side, while the fixing portion is made of a material which can be integrally joined by fusion with the resin insulation to be fixed to one of the surfaces of the flat harness. The clip portion may be integrally formed with or separated from the attachment portion.Document DE 10 2004 035 719 A1 relates to a locking structure for a clamp. The clamp is formed with a protrusion that can be fixed to a counterpart through a through hole by locking wings. A base plate portion is provided with a coupling step portion that can engage with the through hole and contact the entire inner circumferential surface of the through hole Pa. The locking structure can prevent the clamp from rotating by making the through hole of the counterpart elongate and making the base elliptical.3. BackgroundThere are proposed a bracket attached to an adhesive sheet surrounding a lead wire wired in a predetermined wiring manner and holding it on an attachment body such as a body panel or a door panel of a vehicle to attach the adhesive sheet to the attachment body, and a wire harness having the bracket (see Patent Document 1). As shown in FIG. 6, a clip (clamp) 502 of this type includes a body 507, insertion portions 518 that are disengaged from the body 507 and inserted into a mounting hole 535 that is drilled in an adhesive sheet 531 that is provided with an adhesive material on at least one surface and holds a lead wire when the surface adheres to itself, and an engagement portion 508 that is inserted through the mounting hole 535, engages with the insertion portion 518 and engages with an engagement hole drilled in a panel.The body 507 includes an elliptical portion 510 formed in a flat elliptical shape, a pair of locking portions 512 each extending from two longitudinal ends of the elliptical portion 510 and locked to the edge of the attachment hole 535 of the adhesive sheet 531, and two insertion portions 518 each rising from two lateral ends of the elliptical portion 510 and inserted into the attachment hole 535.When the engaging portion 508 engages with the engaging hole of the panel, the two locking portions 512 are locked to the edge of the attaching hole of the adhesive sheet. The two insertion portions 518 include engaging claws 528 provided on two opposing surfaces and locking claws 523 provided at the upper end portions.The engaging portion 508 includes engaging protrusions 520 inserted into and engaged with the two engaging portions 518, a hemispherical portion 522 provided at the base ends of the engaging protrusions 520, and two engaging pieces 524 extending from the hemispherical portion 522 to the engaging protrusions 520 and engaged with the engaging hole of the panel. When the engaging protrusions 520 are engaged with the inserting portions 518, the locking claws 523 of the inserting portions 518 are disposed between a plurality of locking claws 521 disposed along the longitudinal direction of the hemispherical portion 522.The above-described bracket 502 can hold the adhesive sheet 531 between the body 507 and the engaging portion 508. Thus, the adhesive sheet 531 holding the lead wire can be fixed to the panel by being held with the bracket 502. Therefore, a harness tape wound around the lead wire and the bracket or the like is omitted, and the cost can be reduced.However, since the above-described bracket 502 is divided into two members, or the body 507 and the engaging portion 508, the member cost increases. Further, in a process of assembling the wire harness, in addition to a step of inserting the insertion portions 518 of the body 507 into the attachment hole 535 of the adhesive sheet 531, a step of engaging the engagement projections 520 of the engagement portion 508 with the insertion portions 518 of the body 507 becomes necessary. Thus, production efficiency may decrease and production cost may increase.The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide a terminal that can be easily attached to an adhesive sheet holding a wire harness and a wire harness including the terminal without increasing the number of components.Overview of the InventionThe above object of the present invention is achieved by the following embodiments.(1) According to an aspect of the invention, the clamp includes a base plate attached to an adhesive sheet covering and holding a lead wire, a shaft protruding from the base plate and inserted through an attachment hole drilled through the adhesive sheet, an engagement portion formed at the distal end of the shaft, inserted through the attachment hole and engaged with an engagement hole of an attachment body, and fixing pieces protruding from the base plate so as to have a distance between protruding ends of the fixing pieces larger than the maximum opening width of the attachment hole, and holding and fixing the edge of the attachment hole to the base plate.According to the clamp of the above embodiment (1), when the fixing pieces following the engaging portion are inserted into the attachment hole of the adhesive sheet, the edge of the attachment hole contacting the fixing pieces having a distance between the protruding ends larger than the maximum opening width of the attachment hole is elastically deformed and expanded. Thus, the attachment hole of the adhesive layer can pass the fixing pieces in which the distance between the protruding ends is larger than the maximum opening width of the attachment hole. The edge of the attachment hole, which is elastically deformed when the fixing pieces pass through it, is recovered after the fixing pieces pass through it, and is sandwiched between the base plate and the fixing pieces. That is, when the edge of the attachment hole is sandwiched between the base plate and the fixing pieces, the clamp is fixed and does not accidentally fall out of the attachment hole of the adhesive sheet. Therefore, the terminal can be easily attached to the adhesive sheet holding the lead wire without increasing the number of components.(2) In the clamp of the above embodiment (1), the shaft has a pressing portion that holds the edge of the engaging hole of the attachment body with the engaging portion so that the attachment body is sandwiched between the pressing portion and the engaging portion.According to the clamp of the above embodiment (2), the attached body can be sandwiched between the engaging portion inserted through the engaging hole of the attached body to engage with the edge of the engaging hole from the front side of the insertion direction and the pressing portion engaged with the edge from the back side of the insertion direction.Thus, the terminal can stably fix the lead wire to the mounting body even when the terminal is subjected to vibration or the like.Further, since the pressing portion is provided with a sealing member on the side of the engaging portion, when the engaging portion is fixed to the engaging hole of the mounting body, the sealing member is sandwiched between the mounting body and the pressing portion. Thus, the sealing member sandwiched between the pressing portion of the terminal and the attachment body can watertightly seal the terminal and the attachment body by close contact therewith.(3) In the clamp of the above (1) or (2), the protruding ends of the fixing pieces are formed substantially arc-shaped.In the clamp according to the above mode (3), when the fixing pieces are inserted through the attachment hole of the adhesive sheet formed in an ellipse, the protruding ends of the fixing pieces formed in a substantially arc shape are hardly caught by the edge of the attachment hole, and an insertion operation can be smoothly performed.(4) A wire harness includes at least a lead wire, an adhesive sheet covering and holding the lead wire, and a terminal whose base plate is locked to the adhesive sheet. The terminal is a terminal according to any one of the embodiments (1) to (3).According to the wire harness of the above embodiment (4), since the above-described terminal is provided, the holding force of the adhesive sheet and the terminal can be improved without using a wire harness tape or the like.According to the terminal and the wire harness including the terminal of the present invention, the terminal that can be easily attached to the adhesive sheet holding the wire harness and the wire harness including the terminal can be specified without increasing the number of components.The present invention has been briefly described above. Further details of the invention will be more fully understood by studying the embodiments of the invention described below (hereinafter referred to as "embodiments") with reference to the accompanying drawings.Brief Description of the DrawingsFIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a terminal and a wire harness including the terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of main parts of the terminal and an adhesive sheet shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3A is a longitudinal sectional view of the clamp of FIG. 2. FIG. 3B is an A-A cross-sectional view of FIG. 3A. FIGS. 4A-4C are illustrative drawings for illustrating a process of attaching the terminal shown in FIG. 2 to an attachment hole of the adhesive sheet. FIG. 4A is a sectional view before the clip is attached to the adhesive sheet, FIG. 4B is a sectional view when the clip is attached to the adhesive sheet, and FIG. 4C is a sectional view after the clip is attached to the adhesive sheet. FIG. 5A is a longitudinal sectional view of the wire harness before the adhesive sheet to which the terminal is attached covers the lead wire. FIG. 5B is a longitudinal sectional view of the wire harness in which the adhesive sheet covers the lead wire. FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional clamp.DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTSHereinafter, an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a wire harness 51 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a lead wire 11, a one-side self-adhesive sheet 31 which is an adhesive sheet covering and holding the lead wire 11, and a terminal 15 having a base plate 21 locked to the one-side self-adhesive sheet 31 as main members.An attachment body 13 may be, for example, a vehicle body panel or a door panel. An engaging hole 19 of circular or elliptical shape for mounting the clamp 15 is bored through the mounting body 13.The terminal 15 according to the present invention includes, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the base plate 21 of an elliptical shape locked to the one-side self-adhering sheet 31 covering and holding the lead wire 11, a shaft 23 projecting from the base plate 21 and inserted through an attachment hole 39 of an elliptical shape opened by the one-side self-adhering sheet 31, two locking claws (engaging portion) 25 formed at the distal end of the shaft 23, inserted through the attachment hole 39 and engaged with the engaging hole 19 of the attachment body 13, and two fixing pieces 20 projecting from the base plate 21 so as to have a distance L 1 between projecting ends larger than an elongated width (maximum opening width) L 2 of the attachment hole 39, 39, and sandwiching and fixing the edge of the mounting hole 39 with the base plate 21.The locking portion of the clamp 15 according to the present embodiment is formed by the two locking claws 25 widening toward the base plate 21. The locking claws 25 are elastically deformable in a direction in which the distal ends of the two locking claws 25 approach each other. The extending ends of the two locking claws 25 are formed to have an outer diameter larger than the inner diameter of the engaging hole 19. When the locking claws 25 pass through the engaging hole 19, the locking claws open by an elastic restoring force, and locking steps 27 provided at the extending ends are locked to the engaging hole 19 so as to prevent the clip 15 from dropping in a direction opposite to the inserting direction. The locking portion according to the present invention is not limited to the two locking claws 25 in this embodiment, but various types may be used as long as the locking portion can be engaged with the engaging hole 19 of the mounting body 13.The two fixing pieces 20 of the clamp 15 according to the present embodiment project from the base plate 21 near the distal end of the shaft 23 toward the longitudinal ends of the base plate 21, respectively, and the projecting ends of the two fixing pieces 20 are formed in a substantially arc shape. The two fixing pieces 20 have the distance L1 between the protruding ends which is larger than the elongated width L2 of the attachment hole 39 as described above, and have a width W1 equal to the slightly larger than a lateral width W2 of the attachment hole 39.Further, as shown in FIG. 3A, the fixing piece bases 22 between the base plate 21 and the fixing pieces 20 sandwiching the edge of the attachment hole 39 of the one-side self-adhesive sheet 31 are formed substantially arc-shaped along the edge of the attachment hole 39 of the one-side self-adhesive sheet 31.The shaft 23 of the clamp 15 according to the present embodiment has a pressing portion 29 that clamps the edge of the engagement hole 19 of the attachment body 13 with the two locking claws 25 so as to engage with the edge from the rear side of the insertion direction (see FIG. 1 ). The pressing portion 29 is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, formed in a flat disc-like shape having an ellipse shape slightly larger than the one-side self-adhesive sheet attaching hole 39 and significantly larger than the engaging hole 19 of the attaching body 13 and opening upward, and has a shape becoming thinner toward the distal end (opening edge).Further, one side of the pressing portion 29 closer to the locking claws 25 is provided with an elliptical ring-like member 17, the sealing member 17 being sandwiched between the mounting body 13 and the pressing portion 29 when the two locking claws 25 of the clamp 15 are fixed to the engaging hole 19 of the mounting body 13. When the clamp 15 is attached to the attachment body 13, the seal member 17 is compressed and elastically deformed.When the edge of the attachment hole 39 is sandwiched between the base plate 21 and the fixing pieces 20, the clamp 15 is fixed and does not accidentally fall out of the attachment hole 39 of the one-side self-adhesive sheet 31.The one-side self-adhering sheet 31 according to the present invention covers and adheres to the base plate 21 of the terminal 15 and the lead wire 11. A plurality of the attachment holes 39 into which the shaft 23 of the clamp 15 is inserted, the distal end of which is formed with the two locking claws 25, are bored through the one-side self-adhering sheet 31. The single-sided self-adhesive sheet 31 used in the present invention, as shown in Fig. 1 with an enlarged section, is a self-adhesive sheet which can adhere to itself by combining only two parts of its own adhesive surface (inner surface) with each other. That is, the self-adhesive sheet can be easily adhered by simply combining two parts of the adhesive surface (inner surface) without an adhesive or an adhesive tape. In addition, a special adhesive layer (adhesive layer) 33 of the one-side self-adhesive sheet 31 does not stick to the lead wires 11 or fingers of an operator, thereby not interfering with the operation of attachment. In the one-side self-adhesive sheet 31, a surface material 37 is laminated on the outer surface of a sheet base material 35 composed of PP (polypropylene) foams, with a specific adhesive layer 33 laminated on the inner surface. The single-side self-adhesive sheet 31 has elasticity such that the single-side self-adhesive sheet 31 can be stretched when an external force is applied. Kraft paper, corrugated cardboard, a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) film, a PP film, a nonwoven fabric, or the like can be used for the surface material 37. The one-side self-adhesive sheet 31 has properties that the tensile strength in the longitudinal direction is 49 N / cm width and the tensile strength in the transverse direction is 23 N / cm width (according to JISK-6767), the tear strength in the longitudinal direction is 7.8 N, and the tear strength in the transverse direction is 6.8 N (according to JISK-6767), the water vapor permeability is 0.0052 g / cm 2 · 24 h (FS-101B), and the initial adhesion is 2.5 N / cm width (T-type peeling test). For example, Cronel (registered trademark) manufactured by American Blackwell Company may be used as the single-side self-adhesive film 31. The adhesive sheet of the present invention is not limited to the above-described one-side self-adhesive sheet 31, but various adhesive sheets such as well-known adhesive sheets in which the adhesive is applied to at least a part or all of one surface of the sheet base material 35 may be used.The one-side self-adhering sheet 31 holds and covers the lead wire 11, for example, the one-side self-adhering sheet 31 is formed as a piece of a rectangular shape along the straight line part of the lead wire 11 and has two edges along the lead wire 11, Before the one-side adhering sheet 31 holds and covers the lead wire 11, the specific adhesive layer 33 is located on the upper side, and the lead wire 11 is disposed on the upper half of the one-side adhering sheet 31 of the rectangular shape. When the lead wire 11 is placed on the upper half of the one-side self-adhesive sheet 31, the lower half of the one-side self-adhesive sheet 31 is folded upward along the lead wire 11 with a fold line in the central portion as a boundary, so that the specific adhesive layer 33 adheres to itself. That is, the one-side self-adhering sheet 31 holding and covering the lead wire 11 is halved in the up-and-down direction as compared with the extended rectangular shape. Of course, it is also possible that two pieces of the one-side self-adhering sheet 31 adhere to each other to hold the lead wire 11.Next, a function of the terminal 15 having the above-described configuration and the wire harness 51 including the terminal 15 will be described.First, when the clip 15 according to the present embodiment is attached to the attachment hole 39 of the one-side self-adhesive sheet 31, as shown in FIG. 4A, the one-side self-adhesive sheet 31 is disposed such that the attachment hole 39 is located above the shaft 23 of the clip 15 whose distal end is formed with the two lock clips 25, and the one-side self-adhesive sheet 31 is moved only downward. Then, the edge of the mounting hole 39 contacting the pressing portion 29 is elastically deformed and expanded to pass the pressing portion 29.Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the one-side self-adhering sheet 31 is further moved downward, the edge of the attachment hole 39 contacting the two fixing pieces 20 in which the distance L between the protruding ends is larger than the longitudinal width L2 of the attachment hole 39 is elastically deformed and expanded. Thus, the attachment hole 39 of the one-side self-adhesive sheet 31 can pass the two fixing pieces 20 in which the distance L between the protruding ends is larger than the longitudinal width L2 of the attachment hole 39.The edge of the attachment hole 39 elastically deformed when the two fixing pieces 20 pass is recovered after the two fixing pieces 20 pass therethrough, and as shown in FIG. 4C, while the edge of the attachment hole 39 is sandwiched between the base plate 21 and the fixing pieces 20, the inner surface of the attachment hole 39 contacts the fixing piece bases 22 between the base plate 21 and the fixing piece bases 22. When the edge of the attachment hole 39 is sandwiched between the base plate 21 and the two fixing pieces 20, the clamp 15 is fixed and does not inadvertently fall out of the attachment hole 39 of the single-side self-adhesive sheet 31.That is, since the one-side self-adhesive sheet 31 that can be bonded to itself by only combining its own adhesive surfaces cannot fix a clip to the attachment hole 39 of the one-side self-adhesive sheet 31 by only inserting the two locking claws 25 on the clip not including the two fixing pieces 20 through the attachment hole 39, the one-side self-adhesive sheet 31 cannot be adhered to the base plate 21. In contrast, the clip 15 according to the present embodiment does not accidentally fall out of the attachment hole 39 of the one-side self-adhesive sheet 31 because the edge of the attachment hole 39 is fixed by being sandwiched between the base plate 21 and the two fixing pieces 20. Of course, the terminal 15 according to the present embodiment is effective not only for the one-side self-adhesive sheet 31, but also for well-known adhesive sheets in which the adhesive is applied to a part of a surface of the sheet base material but is not applied to the part corresponding to the base plate 21.Therefore, according to the terminal 15 and the wire harness 51 including the terminal 15 according to the present invention, the terminal 15 can be easily attached to the one-side self-adhering sheet 31 holding the lead wire 11 without increasing the number of components.According to the clamp 15 of the present embodiment, the shaft 23 has the pressing portion 29 that clamps the edge of the engaging hole 19 with the two locking claws 25 to engage with the edge from the back side of the insertion direction. Thus, the attachment body 13 can be sandwiched between the two locking claws 25 inserted through the engagement hole 19 of the attachment body 13 to engage with the edge of the engagement hole 19 from the front side of the insertion direction and the pressing portion 29 engaging with the edge from the back side of the insertion direction. Therefore, the terminal 15 can reliably fix the lead wire 11 to the mounting body 13 even when the terminal 15 is subjected to vibration or the like.Further, since the pressing portion 29 is provided with the sealing member 17 on the side of the two locking claws 25, when the two locking claws 25 of the clamp 15 are fixed to the engaging hole 19 of the attachment body 13, the sealing member 17 is sandwiched between the attachment body 13 and the pressing portion 29. Thus, the sealing member 17 sandwiched between the pressing portion 29 of the terminal 15 and the attachment body 13 can watertightly seal the terminal 15 and the attachment body 13 by close contact therewith.According to the clamp 15 of the present invention, the protruding ends of the two fixing pieces 20 are formed substantially arc-shaped. When the two fixing pieces 20 are inserted through the elliptical attachment hole 39 of the one-side self-adhering sheet 31, the protruding ends of the fixing pieces 20 formed substantially in an arc shape hardly contact the edge of the attachment hole 39, whereby an insertion operation can be smoothly performed.As shown in FIG. 5A, after a plurality of terminals 15 are attached to the attachment holes 39 of the one-side self-adhesive sheet 31 at predetermined intervals, the one-side self-adhesive sheet is folded along the lead wire 11 with a fold line at the central portion as a boundary and covers the lead wire 11.As shown in FIG. 5B, the wire harness 51 according to the present embodiment is configured such that the one-side self-adhering sheet 31 whose specific adhesive layer 33 adheres and is bonded to itself covers the base plate 21 of the terminal 15 and the lead wire 11, and the two locking claws 25 and the pressing portion 29 in the terminal 15 protrude from the attachment hole 39.Thus, according to the wire harness 51 of the present embodiment, since the above-described terminal 15 is provided, the holding force of the one-side self-adhering sheet 31 and the terminal 15 can be improved without using a harness tape or the like.Thus, according to the terminal 15 and the wire harness 51 including the terminal 15 of the present embodiment described above, the terminal 15 that can be easily attached to the one-side self-adhesive sheet 31 holding the wire harness 51 and the wire harness 51 including the terminal 15 can be specified without increasing the number of components.The terminal and the wire harness including the terminal according to the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiment, and appropriate modifications, improvements, and the like can be made. Moreover, the materials, shapes, dimensions, numbers, installation locations, etc. of the components in the above embodiment are arbitrarily set as long as the invention can be embodied, and not particularly limited.

Claims

A clamp (15) comprising: a base plate (21) locked to an adhesive sheet (31) covering and holding a lead wire (11); a shaft (23) protruding from the base plate (21) and inserted through a mounting hole (39) drilled through the adhesive sheet (31); an engaging portion (25) formed at the distal end of the shaft (23), inserted through the mounting hole (39) and engaging with an engaging hole (19) of a mounting body (13); and fixing pieces (20) protruding from the base plate (21) so as to have a distance (L1) between protruding ends of the fixing pieces (20) larger than the maximum opening width (L2) of the mounting hole (39), and hold and fix the edge of the mounting hole (39) with the base plate (21).The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the shaft (23) has a pressing portion (29) that holds the edge of the engaging hole (19) of the attachment body (13) with the engaging portion (25) so that the attachment body (13) is sandwiched between the pressing portion (29) and the engaging portion (25).The clamp (15) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the protruding ends of the fixation pieces (20) are formed substantially arc-shaped.A wire harness (51) comprising at least one lead wire (11), an adhesive sheet (31) covering and holding the lead wire (11), and a terminal whose base plate (21) is locked to the adhesive sheet (31), wherein the terminal is a terminal (15) according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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