D-shaped wire harness clip with ratchet lock

[0002] This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/126,355 filed Jul. 30, 1998, now abandoned.

[0003] The present invention is in the field of wire harness clips used for securing wire harnesses to surfaces such as vehicle body panels.

[0004] Wire harness clips are often used in the automotive industry for releasably securing wire harnesses to the interior surfaces of vehicle body panels as the harnesses are routed throughout the vehicle. Such known wire harness clips often include a Christmas tree type fastener adapted to be lockingly inserted into a hole in the vehicle panel, and a wire harness receiving portion provided with a ratchet-type lock adapted to clamp a portion of the wire harness in secure but releasable fashion. It is also known to secure a portion of the wire harness to the clip by means of taping provisions, usually in the form of rigid or semi-rigid tabs extending from the clip so that tape can be wrapped around the wire harness and the tab.

[0005] In certain vehicle wiring application it is desirable to form the wires in the harness into a D-shaped bundle, often using what is known in the art as D-shaped “scroll”, comprising a thin-walled plastic sleeve having a D-shaped cross section adapted to fit over the wire harness. D-shaped scroll is particularly useful where it is desirable to have a flat wire harness surface against a flat vehicle panel surface. In some cases fasteners such as Christmas tree clips are formed directly on the scroll to eliminate the need for an intermediate wire harness clip, but such an arrangement makes it difficult to de-mount the wire harness.

[0006] The present invention is a wire harness clip specifically designed to mount D-shaped scroll type wire harnesses to vehicle body panels. The inventive wire harness clip generally comprises a D-shaped wire harness trough closed by a flat-surfaced cover. The wire harness clip also includes a panel-mounting portion provided with a mechanism for attaching it to a vehicle body panel, for example a standard Christmas tree clip. The Christmas tree clip or other structure for connecting the clip to the vehicle panel is located on the same side of the clip as the trough and cover.

[0007] In a preferred embodiment, the cover is hinged at an outer edge of the trough, with a downwardly extending lock finger which engages an inner side of the trough, and further includes an extension of the cover beyond the trough and lock arm. In a further preferred embodiment, the trough is provided with a tape positioning tab extending from either side, such that the overall shape of the wire harness clip is that of a “T”. The D-shape of the trough prevents rotation of the scrolled wire harness; the locking cover prevents radial release of the wire harness; and the tape positioning tabs prevent motion of the wire harness longitudinally. Moreover, the releasable and reusable locking connection provided by the flat cover complements the disposable tape attachment of the wire harness to the tape positioning tabs in a manner which provides ease in initially positioning the clip on the wire harness, and then a positive mechanical connection between the clip and the harness.

[0008] The locking connection between the cover and trough is preferably self-guiding for blind assembly operations, using a guide member associated with the inner end of the trough

[0009] These and other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon further reading of the written specification and reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wire harness clip according to the present invention, connected to a D-shaped wire harness and showing a ratchet-locking flat cover in an open position in phantom lines;

[0011] FIG. 2 is a side view of the wire harness clip of FIG. 1; and

[0012] FIG. 3 shows the wire harness clip of FIG. 1 secured to a vehicle body panel having a stepped configuration.

[0013] Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, an example of a preferred embodiment of the inventive wire harness clip is generally denoted by reference numeral 10. In the illustrated example, wire harness clip 10 is integrally molded from a single piece of plastic material, by way of non-limiting example a nylon or polypropylene known by those skilled in the art to be useful in the manufacture of wire harness clips.

[0014] Wire harness clip 10 is designed to secure a wire harness 30 with a generally “D”-shaped cross section by a surrounding piece of D-shaped scroll 32, which is a relatively thin-walled piece of plastic tubing known to those skilled in the art for bundling wire harnesses for certain applications.

[0015] Wire harness clip 10 generally takes the shape of a bi-planar rectangular part with a D-shaped trough defined by a semi-cylindrical, open-face body 12 enclosed by a flat cover 14. The trough is shaped to conformingly receive the D-scrolled wire harness 30, 32, the wire harness being radially and rotationally locked in trough 12 by cover 14 connected to an outer edge of the trough by a living hinge 14a.Flat cover 14 is releasably and reusably locked to the outer surface of an inner end of trough 12 by a downwardly-depending toothed ratchet arm or finger 16 whose teeth 16amate with a set of teeth 12aon the trough portion. A resilient guide 17, illustrated as an upstanding finger or tab in FIGS. 1 and 2, is positioned adjacent teeth 12aon the trough for a yielding, sliding interference fit with the outside surface of the lock arm 16 as it engages the locking teeth 12aon the trough. In the illustrated embodiment, lock arm 16 shows a preferred curve corresponding to the curvature of trough 12 to provide a conforming, locking fit with the surface of the trough and, in the case of the ratchet-toothed locking structure example of the illustrated embodiment, maximize the locking surface area between the cover and the trough. The resilient nature of guide 17 maintains a constant pressure or bias on lock arm 16 as it initially engages the trough (phantom lines in FIG. 2) and continues downwardly to its fully closed, locked position (solid lines in FIG. 2).

[0016] FIGS. 1 and 2 also show a preferred form of flat cover 14 in which a finger-or tool-operable release tab 14bextends beyond resilient guide 17 to provide a convenient finger hold or prying point for opening cover 14 against the locking engagement of arm 16 and the trough.

[0017] Trough 12, cover 14 and locking structure 16, 17 are all formed on a first end 20dof the generally rectangular mounting arm 20, which supports panel-mounting structure such as a Christmas tree clip 22 at its second, opposite end 20c.While a Christmas tree type clip 22 is shown in the illustrated embodiment and is currently preferred, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other types of panel-mounting studs, clips and other known equivalents can be used.

[0018] While Christmas tree clip 22 is located on the first end 20dof mounting arm 20 opposite trough 12, it is preferably located on the upper side or surface 20afor a purpose described below. The lower side of the mounting arm is labeled with reference numeral 20b.

[0019] Still referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, trough 12 also preferably includes a pair of tape positioning tabs 18 extending from each side of the trough in longitudinal alignment with wire harness 30 and its axis 32a,such that wire harness clip 10 has a generally T-shape in plan view. Tape positioning tabs 18 are designed to engage portions of the wire harness 30 on each side of the trough, and in known fashion tape T can be wound around the outside of the wire harness and tabs 18 to initially position the wire harness on clip 10, and to longitudinally lock the wile harness and clip to one another. Tape positioning tabs 18 additionally provide a convenient place to secure wire harness 30 to clip 10 should hinged cover 14 somehow fail.

[0020] From the foregoing it will be clear that the inventive wire harness clip 10 can be used to securely mount a D-shaped wire harness 30 to a panel while limiting wire harness motion longitudinally, rotationally and radially relative to the trough.

[0021] FIG. 3 illustrates one possible and preferred mounting application for the wire harness clip 10 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. A step-surfaced vehicle panel 40 is illustrated with a first mounting surface 40a,a recessed step 40band a recessed surface 40c.Such stepped surfaces have in the past presented problems for mounting wire harnesses where it is desired to have the clip connection with the panel in a first plane (surface 40a), and to locate the wire harness in a different plane or recessed location (40c). While D-shaped scroll may have in part helped in such mounting arrangements, the present invention provides a more secure and more easily released and re-locked structure for mounting, such D-scrolled wire harness, with improved access to the harness for repair, adjustment or replacement.

[0022] The bi-planar nature of inventive clip 10, with the upper mounting surface or side 20aof mounting arm 20 and the spaced plane of cover 14, can be designed to fit almost any stepped or recessed panel-mounting application merely by adjusting the spacing of cover 14 (in its closed position) from mounting arm 20 and the relative angle of the surfaces of cover 14 and mounting arm 20. It will be noticed in the illustrated embodiment that the outer surface of cover 14 is not exactly parallel to surface 20aof mounting arm 20, but is inclined at a slight angle toward Christmas tree clip 22. The angle of cover 14 will vary somewhat, depending on how closely the particular wire harness 30 mates with trough 12 and how far cover 14 can accordingly be depressed into its locking position; the angle of any recessed surface such as 40cwhich clip 10 is designed to accommodate; and other known factors.

[0023] It may be desirable in some applications to form clip 10 and especially mounting arm 20 so as to be significantly bendable or resilient, for example in the case where it is desired to bend the trough end 20aaway from a recessed surface such as 40cto release cover 14 from the trough body 12.

[0024] Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the curved lock arm 16 and resilient guide 17 allow clip 10 to perform a self-guiding and self-locking function which is useful for recessed panel arrangements where the depth or spacing of recessed surface 40cfrom mounting surface 40aapproximates the depth of trough 12 and the spacing of cover 14 from mounting arm 20. By way of example, wire harness 30 can first be taped to clip 10 using tape positioning tabs 18, with cover 14 disengaged from the trough. With the wire harness pre-mounted by tape in this fashion, clip 10 can simply be clipped into mounting surface 40aby inserting Christmas tree clip 22 through a hole 41 in the panel; while the clip 22 is being inserted, the open, disengaged cover 14 is progressively forced into locking engagement with trough 12 by panel surface 40cto the closed, locked position shown in FIG. 3. This is particularly useful for “blind” assembly operations where the installer cannot clearly see or rain free access to finger-operable extension 14band the locking structure of cover 14.

[0025] Another advantage of the present invention as illustrated in FIG. 3 is the spacing between stepped surface 40band the trough, occupied by finger extension 14b,which allows an installer access to the trough locking structure with a finger or tool to disengage cover 14 from trough 12. In this case a mounting arm 20 with significant bending ability is useful in order to fully disengage trough 12 and lock arm 16. For this purpose it is useful to form mounting arm 20 with a relatively thin cross section, in some cases adding a central rib 21 on lower side 20bof mounting arm 20 to strengthen it without significantly interfering with its ability to bend for opening and closing operations.

[0026] While a preferred example of the invention for a specific application has been illustrated above, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the inventive wire harness clip is subject to various modifications to adapt it to differences in wire harness size, differences in panel-mounting locations, and different mounting and locking requirements. For example, while a toothed, ratchet-type lock arm 16 is illustrated, it is possible to use other types of locking structure between lock arm 16 and trough 12. As noted above, the relative spacing and angle of cover 14 and mounting arm 20 will vary depending on the thickness of the wire harness and the panel surfaces which must be accommodated. While the inventive clip 10 is preferably formed from a single piece of plastic material, multi-piece and composite material arrangements can be used without departing from the scope of the invention. While cover 14 is shown with a preferably flat outer surface, the geometry of its outer surface may vary depending on the nature of any adjacent panel surface 40cwhich it is designed to accommodate. These and other possible modifications and known equivalents will be apparent to those skilled in the art.