Grommet Rigid Body Portion for Sealing and Fixation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing grommets face challenges in water stopping performance, fixation to counterpart members, and versatility due to central clamp placement and lack of reinforcing members, leading to inconsistent sealing and adaptation issues across different vehicle models.
Innovation Solution
A grommet design featuring an elastic body with a lip portion and a rigid body portion, where the lip portion is pressed against a water stopped surface by an outer component, ensuring wide-area pressure distribution and fixation, and incorporating a protector with higher rigidity to enhance sealing and adaptability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If the clamp is disposed in the center of the grommet base portion, then the structure is simple, but the water stopping performance deteriorates due to insufficient pressing force at the ends of the water stopping lip
Solution Approach 1:
The grommet base portion is divided into multiple clamp engagement regions: a central clamp engagement portion and end clamp engagement portions. This segmentation allows clamps to be positioned at both the center and ends of the grommet base portion, ensuring adequate pressing force is applied to the water stopping lip throughout its entire length, thereby improving water stopping performance while maintaining structural simplicity
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the grommet base portion are designed with different engagement characteristics. The end clamp engagement portions are specifically designed to receive clamps that apply pressing force to the end portions of the water stopping lip, while the central region maintains its original clamp engagement function. This local differentiation ensures optimal pressing force distribution across the entire water stopping lip
2Adaptability or versatility
If the grommet overall shape is changed to adapt to different vehicle models, then versatility improves, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The grommet base portion is designed with a standardized overall shape and multiple clamp engagement portions that can accommodate different clamp configurations. The end clamp engagement portions are designed to work with various clamp types and positions, allowing the same grommet design to be used across different vehicle models without requiring shape modifications, thereby maintaining manufacturing simplicity while improving versatility
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design improves water stopping performance by ensuring consistent pressure distribution and enhances fixation and versatility by allowing adaptation to different vehicle models without altering the grommet's overall configuration.
Implementation Method 1
a grommet body formed of an elastic body and including a lip portion, wherein in a state in which an electric wire of a wire harness is passed inside the grommet body and the grommet body is attached to an accommodation recess portion formed on an attachment panel, the lip portion contacts a water stopped surface defining the accommodation recess portion to stop water between the grommet body and the water stopped surface
Implementation Method 2
a rigid body portion which is formed of a rigid body having rigidity higher than that of the lip portion, and which is interposed between the outer and the lip portion with respect to a pressing direction of the outer
Data Source
AI summary
A grommet includes: a grommet body including a lip portion which contacts a water stopped surface defining an accommodation recess portion in a state in which the grommet body is attached to the accommodation recess portion; an outer which presses the lip portion toward the water stopped surface in a state in which the grommet body is sandwiched between the outer and the water stopped surface; and a rigid body portion which is interposed between the outer and the lip portion with respect to a pressing direction of the outer and which has rigidity higher than that of the lip portion. At least a part of the lip portion is placed in a pressed region pressed by the outer.