Abstract:
An instrument panel of a vehicle is attached on a reinforce which is fixed on a part of a vehicle body. A first connector is provided on at least one of both longitudinal end portions of the reinforce. The first connector is electrically connected to electric equipments provided with the instrument panel. A second connector is provided on the vehicle body such that electric connection is effected with the first connectors when the reinforce is fixed on the vehicle body.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a structure for connecting an instrument panel-side connector to a vehicle body-side connector, and more particularly to a connecting structure for connecting an panel-side harness, mounted on a reinforce, to a connector fixed to a vehicle body. 
     As shown in FIG. 3, a reinforce  65  for reinforcing purposes is mounted on an instrument panel  61  of a vehicle, and extends between right and left side walls  62  and  63  thereof. In addition, a wire harness  66  for connection to wire harnesses (mounted on a vehicle body) is mounted on and along the reinforce  65 . 
     For mounting the instrument panel  61  and the reinforce  65  on the vehicle body (not shown), first, the reinforce  65  is mounted on the instrument panel  61  to form a module  60 . Then, right and left end  65 A and  65 B of the reinforce  65  of this module  60  are fixedly secured to the vehicle body by bolts, thus mounting the module  60  on the vehicle body. 
     Then, when the vehicle body-side wire harnesses (not shown) are connected to the wire harness  66  on the reinforce  65 , the operation for mounting the instrument panel  61  and the reinforce  65  on the vehicle body is completed. 
     However, when the right and left ends  65 A and  65 B of the reinforce  65  are to be secured to the vehicle body by the bolts, the right and left side walls  62  and  63  of the instrument panel  61  conceal the right and left ends  65 A and  65 B of the reinforce  65 , respectively. 
     Therefore, in order to facilitate this mounting operation, it has been necessary to form holes (used for the bolting operation) respectively in the right and left side walls  62  and  63  of the instrument panel  61  or to divide the instrument panel  61  into two (upper and lower) sections. Thus, it has been necessary to form the working holes in the instrument panel  61  or to divide the instrument panel into the two (upper and lower) sections, and this has prevented the degree of freedom of the design from being enhanced. 
     In addition, after the right and left ends  65 A and  65 B of the reinforce  65  are secured to the vehicle body by the bolts, the wire harness  66  on the reinforce  65  need to be connected to the vehicle body-side wire harnesses, and therefore there has been encountered a problem that much time and labor are required for mounting the instrument panel  61  and the reinforce  65  on the vehicle body. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a structure for connecting an panel-side connector to a vehicle body-side connector, in which it is not necessary to form any working hole in an instrument panel and to divide the instrument panel into two sections, and the time and labor for connecting a wire harness on a reinforce to a vehicle body-side wire harness can be saved. 
     In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided an electric connection structure in a vehicle body, comprising: 
     a reinforce, on which an instrument panel of a vehicle is attached, the reinforce fixed on a part of the vehicle body; 
     a first connector, provided on at least one of both longitudinal end portions of the reinforce, the first connector electrically connected to electric equipments provided with the instrument panel; and 
     a second connector, provided on the vehicle body such that electric connection is effected with the first connectors when the reinforce is fixed on the vehicle body. 
     In this structure, the first (panel-side) connector can be connected to the second (body-side) connector by merely mounting the reinforce on the vehicle body. 
     Preferably, one of the first connector and the second connector includes a self-alignment member with respect to the other. 
     In this structure, the panel-side connector can be more positively connected to the second body-side connector when the reinforce is fixed on the vehicle body. 
     Preferably, the second connector is a connector included in an electric junction box provided in the vehicle body. 
     In this structure, there is no need a wire harness extended from the electric junction box. Therefore, a space required for wiring such a wire harness can be omitted. 
     Here, it is preferable that the structure further comprises a bracket for fixing the electric junction box on the vehicle body. The bracket serves as a retaining member which retains the reinforce on the vehicle body. 
     In this structure, a space, in which such an additional fixing bracket is disposed, does not need to be provided. 
     Here, it is preferable that the reinforce is formed with a flange portion, and the bracket is formed with a groove which receives the flange portion when the reinforce is fixed on the vehicle body. 
     In this structure, the reinforce can be mounted on the vehicle body by merely fitting the flange portion of the reinforce into the groove in the bracket. 
     In view of the above, in contrast with the related-art structure, it is not necessary to form working holes in the instrument panel or to divide the instrument panel into two sections, so that the operation for mounting the reinforce on the vehicle body can be carried out more easily. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail preferred exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a reinforce forming a structure for connecting an panel-side connector to a vehicle body-side connector, according to one embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an essential portion of the structure shown in FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded, perspective view showing a related-art vehicle module structure. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     One preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, a structure  10  of connecting panel-side connectors to body-side connectors comprises: an instrument panel (not shown) to be mounted at a front portion of a driving room of a vehicle; a reinforce  12  mounted on a reverse side of this instrument panel; an panel-side harness  14  mounted on and along the reinforce  12 ; panel-side connectors  16  and  17 , which are connected to the panel-side harness  14 , and are fixedly secured respectively to left and right ends of the reinforce  12 ; body-side connectors  24  and  26 , which are fixedly secured respectively to both side portions  20  and  22  of the vehicle body so as to oppose to the respective panel-side connectors  16  and  17 ; and body-side wire harnesses (not shown) connected respectively to the body-side connectors  24  and  26 . 
     As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the reinforce  12  is formed, for example, so as to have an H-shaped cross-section. The panel-side harness  14  (that is, a flat wire harness) is installed along a base portion  12 A of the reinforce  12 . Both ends of the panel-side harness  14  are connected respectively to the panel-side connectors  16  and  17 . 
     An electrical equipment  30  such as a multi-media type electrical equipment is mounted on an almost central portion of the reinforce  12 . 
     The body-side connectors  24  and  26  are mounted on fixing brackets  23  and  25 , respectively. The fixing brackets  23  and  25  are fixedly secured respectively to the vehicle body portions  20  and  22  by bolts  27  (see FIG. 2) or the like. 
     Each of electric junction boxes  28  and  29  has a circuit-branching function and a control function achieved by an electronic circuit such as an ECU. 
     The vehicle body-side connectors  24  and  26  are connectors of the electric junction boxes  28  and  29 , respectively. Therefore, it is not necessary to extend a wire harness from each of the electric junction boxes  28  and  29 , and spaces, in which such wire harnesses, extending respectively from the electric junction boxes  28  and  29 , are installed, respectively, do not need to be provided, and therefore a space-saving construction can be achieved. 
     The fixing brackets  23  and  25  of the electric junction boxes  28  and  29  serve also to retain the reinforce  12 . Therefore, it is not necessary to provide additional fixing brackets for the reinforce  12 . Therefore, spaces, in which such additional fixing brackets are disposed, respectively, do not need to be provided, so that a space-saving construction can be achieved. 
     Each of the fixing brackets  23  and  25  of the electric junction boxes  28  and  29  has fitting grooves  23 A,  25 A into which upper and lower horizontal walls  12 B of the reinforce  12  can be fitted, respectively. When the horizontal walls  12 B of the reinforce  12  are fitted respectively into the fitting grooves  23 A,  25 A in each of the fixing brackets  23 ,  25 , the both ends of the reinforce  12  are fixed respectively to the fixing brackets  23  and  25  of the electric junction boxes  28  and  29 . 
     Thus, merely by fitting the horizontal walls  12 B of the reinforce  12  respectively into the fitting grooves  23 A,  25 A in each of the fixing brackets  23  and  25 , the reinforce  12  can be mounted on the vehicle body portions  20  and  22 . Therefore, the operation for mounting the reinforce  12  on the vehicle body can be easily carried out. 
     Next, the procedure of assembling the structure  10  will be described. 
     For mounting the instrument panel and the reinforce  12  on the vehicle body portions  20  and  22 , first, the electrical equipment  30  is mounted on the reinforce  12 , and the reinforce  12  in this condition is mounted on the instrument panel to form a vehicle module assembly. 
     Then, the fixing brackets  23  and  25  are fixedly secured respectively to the vehicle body portions  20  and  22  by the bolts  27  or the like. Then, the left ends of the horizontal walls  12 B of the reinforce  12  of the module are fitted respectively into the fitting grooves  23 A in the left fixing bracket  23  while the right ends of the horizontal walls  12 B are fitted respectively into the fitting grooves  25 A in the right fixing bracket  25 . As a result, the both ends of the reinforce  12  are fixed respectively to the fixing brackets  23  and  25  of the electric junction boxes  28  and  29 . 
     When the both ends of the reinforce  12  are thus fixed respectively to the fixing brackets  23  and  25 , the panel-side connectors  16  and  17 , mounted respectively at the both ends of the reinforce  12 , are automatically connected to the body-side connectors  24  and  26 , respectively. 
     Thus, the operation for mounting the instrument panel and the reinforce  12  on the vehicle body portions  20  and  22  is completed. 
     In this structure  10  of connecting the panel-side connectors to the body-side connectors, merely by mounting the reinforce  12  on the vehicle body, the panel-side connectors  16  and  17  can be connected to the body-side connectors  24  and  26 , respectively. 
     Therefore, the time and labor for connecting the panel-side connectors  16  and  17  to the body-side connectors  24  and  26  are saved, and the operation for mounting the reinforce  12  on the vehicle body portions  20  and  22  can be easily effected. 
     At least either the panel-side connectors  16  and  17  or the body-side connectors  24  and  26  are of the automatic self-aligning type having such a configuration as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publications Nos. 10-92522A and 10-129299A. 
     Therefore, when mounting the reinforce  12  on the vehicle body portions  20  and  22 , the panel-side connectors  16  and  17  can be more positively connected to the body-side connectors  24  and  26 , respectively. 
     Therefore, the time and labor for connecting the panel-side connectors  16  and  17  respectively to the body-side connectors  24  and  26  are saved, and the operation for mounting the reinforce  12  on the vehicle body portions  20  and  22  can be carried out more easily. 
     In the above embodiment, although the reinforce  12  has the H-shaped cross-section, the reinforce  12  is not limited to this shape, but can be formed, for example, into a roughly U-shaped cross-section. 
     The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but suitable modifications and improvements can be made, and the material, shape, dimensions, number, mounting positions, thickness and so on of each of the instrument panel, the reinforce  12 , the fixing brackets  23  and  25  and so on are arbitrary, and are not limited in so far as the invention can be achieved.