STACKABLE CLAMPING GROUP
The stackable clamp assembly addresses sealing and flexural strength issues in vehicle wire harnesses by using a flat second eye clamp body for compact mounting and easy sealing, ensuring efficient grounding with reduced height and minimal interference.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- DE102024116544
- Authority / Receiving Office
- DE · DE
- Patent Type
- Applications
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2023-06-15
- Filing Date
- 2024-06-12
- Publication Date
- 2024-12-19
AI Technical Summary
Existing wire harness grounding systems in vehicles face challenges in sealing and flexural strength, particularly with U-shaped harness eyelets that complicate sealing and require additional space.
A stackable clamp assembly with a first and second eye clamp body, where the second body is flat and lacks upright walls, allowing for compact mounting and easier sealing, while providing flexural strength through upright walls of the first body.
The solution enables efficient wire grounding with reduced overall height, minimal interference between harnesses, and easier sealing, maintaining desired flexural strength and a narrow footprint.
Smart Images
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Abstract
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to a stackable terminal assembly for electrical wires. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] When grounding wiring harnesses in vehicles, it is common practice to provide a seal for a wiring harness at a lug that has a U-shaped configuration (i.e., a pair of upright legs on either side of a flat surface). The U-shape for the wiring harness lug provides flex resistance but can make sealing the wiring harness more difficult than desired. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] One embodiment contemplates a stackable clamp assembly that is mounted to a structure and includes: a first eye clamp body having a base portion that is generally flat and configured to extend generally parallel to the structure, an upright wall extending from the base portion generally perpendicular to the base portion, and a mounting feature configured to permit securing of the first eye clamp body to the structure; and a second eye clamp body having a flat base that is generally flat and configured to extend generally parallel to the structure between the base portion and the structure, wherein a second mounting feature is configured to permit securing of the second eye clamp body between the structure and the first eye clamp body.
[0004] One embodiment contemplates a stackable clamp assembly mounted to a structure, the stackable clamp assembly including: a first eyelet clamp body having a base portion that is generally flat and configured to extend generally parallel to the structure, and a mounting feature configured to permit securing of the first eyelet clamp body to the structure; and a second eyelet clamp body having a flat base that is generally flat and configured to extend generally parallel to the structure between the base portion and the structure, a second mounting feature configured to permit securing of the second eyelet clamp body between the structure and the first eyelet clamp body;a first wire harness connected to the first eyelet terminal body without sealing the connection of the first eyelet terminal body; a second wire harness connected to the second eyelet terminal body; and a gasket surrounding and sealing the connection between the second wire harness and the second eyelet terminal body.
[0005] An advantage of an embodiment is that it allows wire grounding of multiple wire harnesses while minimizing the height of upright walls from the grounding surface (e.g., shorter overall height from the chassis to the distal end of upright walls). A shorter overall height of the upright walls allows for a more desirable package size while providing the desired bending strength of the terminal assembly. An advantage of an embodiment is that the second eyelet terminal body is configured to buckle around the first eyelet terminal body where the wire harnesses are connected, thereby avoiding interference between the two wire harnesses. An advantage of an embodiment is that the buckle in the second eyelet terminal body can buckle to the left, to the right, or in both directions. An advantage of an embodiment is that the stackable terminal assembly can be stacked at the location where it connects to the vehicle structure (e.g.,the chassis) provides an overall relatively narrow footprint (i.e., a relatively narrow and short size). An advantage of an embodiment is that the stackable terminal assembly may allow direct replacement (i.e., fit in the same footprint) for previous ground terminal designs. An advantage of an embodiment is that wire harnesses that do not require wire sealing may be attached to the first eyelet terminal body, and wire harnesses where wire sealing is desired may be attached to the second eyelet terminal body, which may be easier to seal because it does not include upstanding walls. Sealing the second eyelet terminal with adhesive or heat shrink may be easier without the upstanding walls.An advantage of an embodiment is that the stackable terminal assembly provides the separate second eyelet terminal body for attached circuits that are preferably sealed or insulated from other circuits that may be attached to the first eyelet terminal body. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a portion of a stackable clamp assembly and a portion of a structure of a vehicle. Fig. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a portion of a stackable clamp assembly and a portion of a structure of a vehicle. Fig. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a portion of a stackable terminal assembly. Fig. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a portion of a stackable terminal assembly. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0006] Fig. 1 illustrates an example of a stackable terminal assembly 20 configured to be mounted to a structure 22 (e.g., a vehicle structure such as a chassis) to provide grounding for wire harnesses (in Fig. 2-4) to the structure 22. The stackable terminal assembly 20 includes a first eyelet terminal body 24, a second eyelet terminal body 26, and a fastening element 28 (e.g., a grounding stud).
[0007] The first eyelet terminal body 24 includes a flat base portion 30 having a fastener hole 32 therethrough that receives the fastener 28. The fastener hole 32 is configured to align with a fastener hole 33 in the structure 22. The first eyelet terminal body 24 includes upright walls 34 extending from opposite sides of the flat base portion 30 around at least a portion of a perimeter of the flat base portion 30 and extending generally perpendicular to the flat base portion 30 and away from the structure 22. The upright walls 34 can provide increased flexural strength for the stackable terminal assembly 20. The first eyelet terminal body 24 includes a key 36 extending from the flat base portion 30 at one end 31 opposite a second end 44 that is used to secure a wire harness thereto.The key 36 includes an upright flange 38 extending from the flat base portion 30 toward the structure 22, and a retaining flange 40 extending from a distal end of the upright flange 38 in a direction generally parallel to and away from the flat base portion 30. The upright flange 38 and the retaining flange 40 are configured to be received within a key hole 42 (in . Fig. 2) within the structure 22 to generally orient the first eyelet clamp body 24 relative to the structure 22. The length of the upstanding flange 38 is sufficient to extend through the thickness of the second eyelet clamp body and the thickness of a portion 45 of the surface of the structure 22 at the key hole 42, thereby allowing the locking flange 40 to be nested on an opposite side of this surface portion 45 of the structure 22.
[0008] The second eye clamp body 26 includes a flat base 46 having a fastener hole 48 therethrough aligned with the fastener holes 32 and 33 and receiving the fastener 28 for securing the stackable clamp assembly 20 to the structure 22. The flat base 46 is mounted between the flat base portion 30 and the structure 22, and because the second eye clamp body 26 has no upstanding walls, the first and second eye clamp bodies 24, 26 can be flush-fitted together in a compact manner. Furthermore, the upstanding walls 34 of the first eye clamp body 24 provide increased flexural strength for the second eye clamp body 26 in addition to the first eye clamp body 24. The flat base 46 includes a slotted hole 50 that aligns with and thereby receives the securing flange 40 and the upright flange 38 to generally align the second eyelet clamp body 26 with the structure 22.The flat base 46 includes a first arm 52, a second arm 54, or both arms. The first arm 52 is angled laterally away from a longitudinal axis 56 defined by the center of the fastener hole 48 and the slotted hole 50; in this way, the wire harness connected to the first arm 52 does not interfere with the wire harness connected to the second end 44 of the first eyelet clamp body 24. The second arm 54, if used for the particular assembly, may be angled laterally away from the longitudinal axis 56 in an opposite lateral direction (i.e., extending to the left rather than the right) to the first arm 52.
[0009] Fig. Figure 2 illustrates an example of two of the first eyelet clamp bodies 24 mounted to the structure 22, without the second eyelet clamp body shown in this figure. The upright flange 38 is secured in the key hole 42, and the fastener 28 is secured in the fastener hole in the structure 22, as described with respect to Fig. 1. For each of the Fig. 2, a corresponding first wire harness 60 is connected to the corresponding second end 44 of the flat base portion 30 (e.g., by hot stamping ultrasonic welding). This provides grounding of the respective first wire harnesses 60. In the stackable terminal assembly 20, the second eyelet terminal body (or bodies) 26 (illustrated in Fig. 1 and 3-4) are mounted between the respective first eyelet terminal body 24 and the structure 22. The location at which the first wire harnesses 60 are connected to respective second ends 44 may or may not be sealed based on the specific application. In the stackable terminal assembly 20 illustrated herein, the first wire harnesses 60 may extend from the second end 44 to components 72 where sealing is not required, and thus the connection to the first eyelet terminal body is not sealed.
[0010] Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 illustrate examples of a second eyelet clamp body 26 connected to a second wiring harness 62. The second eyelet clamp body 26 includes the flat base 46, the fastener hole 48, the slotted hole 50, and the first arm 52, as described with respect to Fig. 1, however, the second arm is not illustrated. The second wiring harness 62 for the second eyelet terminal body 26 may extend from the first arm 52 to components 70 that are sealed. Fig. 3 illustrates the second eyelet clamp body 26 without sealing, while Fig. 4 illustrates the second eyelet terminal body 26 with a seal (e.g., a heat shrink sleeve) 64 added to prevent moisture from migrating up a wire in the second wiring harness 62 to the component(s) 70. The second eyelet terminal body 26, being substantially flat with no upstanding walls, allows for easier sealing of the wiring harness. The wires comprising the different wiring harnesses 60, 62 can be separated so that wires leading to components 72 that do not require sealing (unsealed components) are contained in the first wiring harness 60 connected to the first eyelet terminal body 24, and wires leading to components 70 where sealing is desired are contained in the second wiring harness 62, and the seal 64 is deployed on the first arm 52. The second eyelet terminal body 26, which is in Fig. 3-4 is arranged between a corresponding first eyelet clamp body 24 (illustrated in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2) and structure 22 (illustrated in Fig. 2) mounted.
[0011] Although certain embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, various alternative designs and embodiments for practicing the invention as defined by the following claims will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains.
Claims
[1] A stackable terminal assembly configured to be mounted to a structure, the stackable terminal assembly comprising: a first eyelet clamp body having a base portion that is generally flat and configured to extend generally parallel to the structure, an upright wall extending from the base portion generally perpendicular to the base portion, and a mounting feature configured to permit securing of the first eyelet clamp body to the structure; and a second eyelet clamp body having a flat base that is generally flat and configured to extend generally parallel to the structure between the base portion and the structure, wherein a second mounting feature is configured to permit securing of the second eyelet clamp body between the structure and the first eyelet clamp body. [2] The stackable terminal assembly of claim 1, further including a sealed wire harness connected to the second eyelet terminal body and a gasket surrounding and sealing the connection of the sealed wire harness to the second eyelet terminal body. [3] The stackable terminal assembly of claim 2, further comprising an unsealed wire harness connected to the first eyelet terminal body, wherein the connection between the unsealed wire harness and the first eyelet terminal body is not sealed against moisture. [4] The stackable clamp assembly of claim 1, wherein the mounting feature is a fastener hole, the second mounting feature is a second fastener hole aligned with the fastener hole, and a fastener is configured to extend through the fastener hole and the second fastener hole and be secured to the structure. [5] The stackable terminal assembly of claim 4, wherein the second mounting feature further includes a key hole and the mounting feature further includes a key configured to extend through the key hole and the structure to orient the stackable terminal assembly relative to the structure. [6] The stackable terminal assembly of claim 1, wherein the second mounting feature includes a keyhole and the mounting feature includes a key configured to extend through the keyhole and a portion of the structure. [7] The stackable terminal assembly of claim 1, wherein the second eyelet terminal body includes a first arm extending from the flat base so as to be laterally offset from an end of the first eyelet terminal body at which the first eyelet terminal body is connected to a wire harness. [8] The stackable terminal assembly of claim 7, wherein the second eyelet terminal body includes a second arm extending from the flat base so as to be laterally offset from the end of the first eyelet terminal body and an end of the first arm at which the first arm is connected to a second wire harness. [9] The stackable clamp assembly of claim 1, wherein the first eyelet clamp body includes a second upright wall spaced from the upright wall and extending from the base portion generally perpendicular to the base portion. [10] A stackable terminal assembly configured to be mounted to a structure, the stackable terminal assembly comprising: a first eyelet clamp body having a base portion that is generally flat and configured to extend generally parallel to the structure, and a mounting feature configured to permit securing of the first eyelet clamp body to the structure; a second eyelet clamp body having a flat base that is generally flat and configured to extend generally parallel to the structure between the base portion and the structure, a second mounting feature configured to allow securing of the second eyelet clamp body between the structure and the first eyelet clamp body; a first wire harness connected to the first eyelet terminal body without sealing the connection of the first eyelet terminal body; a second wire harness connected to the second eyelet terminal body; and a seal that surrounds and seals the connection of the second wiring harness to the second eyelet terminal body. [11] The stackable terminal assembly of claim 10, wherein the second eyelet terminal body includes a first arm extending from the flat base so as to be laterally offset from a location at which the first eyelet terminal body is connected to the first wire harness. [12] The stackable terminal assembly of claim 11, wherein the second eyelet terminal body includes a second arm extending from the flat base so as to be laterally offset from both the location at which the first eyelet terminal body is connected to the first wire harness and a second location at which the first arm is connected to the second wire harness. [13] The stackable clamp assembly of claim 10, wherein the first eyelet clamp body includes an upright wall extending from the base portion generally perpendicular to the base portion. [14] The stackable terminal assembly of claim 10, wherein the second mounting feature includes a keyhole and the mounting feature includes a key configured to extend through the keyhole and a portion of the structure. [15] The stackable clamp assembly of claim 10, wherein the mounting feature is a fastener hole, the second mounting feature is a second fastener hole aligned with the fastener hole, and a fastener is configured to extend through the fastener hole and the second fastener hole and be secured to the structure.