Fastening device for cable harnesses, method for manufacture thereof and use of the fastening device

Abstract: A fastening device for the attachment of a cable harness or other collected supply lines to holes of a support structure, in particular of a vehicle frame. A plurality of clips having a shank adapted to be accommodated by a hole is provided, with a flexible joining element extending between the clips.

Description: The invention refers to the fastening of cable harnesses or similar collected supply lines to holes of a supporting structure. In particular the invention refers to the attachment of cable harnesses to holes in frames of vehicles or electric devices. Up to now cable clips are pre-assembled at the vehicle in the automotive industry for the attachment of a cable harness, whereafter the cable harness is placed in respective accommodation means of the clips which thereafter are closed. This makes the assembly expensive. Known constructions can be assembled more easily wherein the clips are part of the cable harness. As to this, it is necessary that the clips are positioned on the cable harness such that they conform to the holes formed in the frame. For this reason the attachment of the clips with tapes or the like is expensive and sometimes not applicable due to the missing accuracy. Furthermore, clips for the attachment of a cable harness are known including a cable band injection-molded thereto. These clips can be relatively easily assembled at predetermined positions of the cable harness. However, it is disadvantageous that through the cutting of protruding parts of the cable band a sharp edge is generated which may hurt the operator when installing the cable harness. DE 43 24 466 discloses a cable harness provided with a reinforced element to which lines are attached. The reinforced element is fastened to a supporting structure with the help of clips. The clips are inserted into holes of the reinforced element. It is an object of the invention to provide an improved attachment means for a cable harness, a simple method for the manufacture thereof and an advantageous use for such attachment means. Solutions of the problem are recited in patent claims 1, 14 and 18. Advantageous developments thereof are recited in subclaims. In the fastening device according to the invention the clips are located on a flexible joining element. The clips may be displaceable, fixedly attached or attached at the predetermined positions to the joining element. Preferably, the clips are injection-molded to the flexible joining element. The flexible joining element may have approximately the length of the cable harness. It is integrated in the cable harness like an electric cable. In this embodiment the clips with their snapping shanks are positioned on the outer side of the cable harness at the mentioned positions which are associated with holes in the supporting structure. The clips are provided with an elongated head which can be aligned with the extension of the cable. The clips can be positioned on the flexible joining element such that a simple integration thereof results in the desired positions of the clips on the cable harness. The attachment technique according to the invention has the advantage that it simplifies the manufacture of a cable harness with pre-assembled clips. It facilitates the positioning of the clips on the cable harness within narrow tolerances, with the spaces between the clips may vary. This in turn simplifies the assembly because the pre-assembled cable harnesses can be easily attached to holes of the supporting structure. For the compensation of remaining tolerances the flexibility of the cable harness can be used or in another embodiment the holes are provided with an oblong shape. The invention further results in a standardization in that the same clips can be used for cable harnesses having a small number of cables or for those having a large number of cables, respectively. No sharp edges occur which may hurt the operator. Two embodiment examples are subsequently described in some detail along accompanying drawings. In the drawings Fig. 1 shows a side view of an embodiment of the invention with conical clips and Fig. 2 shows a second embodiment according to the invention in a side view with eagle clips. Both Figures show merely a portion 1, 1' of a fastening device having a plurality of identical clips 2, 2' at a flexile ribbon 3, 3'. According to Fig. 1 the clips 2 have a shank 4 including a conical portion 5 which is axially slotted in the medium portion in order to promote a radial flexibility upon penetration into a hole. Above the conical portion 5 shank 4 has a flange 6 which is supported on the outer side of the structure having the hole. A groove 7 is provided between the conical portion 5 and flange 6 for the accommodation of a sheet wherein holes are provided. A tube-like element 8 extends transverse to shank 4 above flange 6. The ribbon 3 is extended through the tubular elements 8 of adjacent clips. Ribbon 3 can be made of synthetic material, e.g. of polyamide. The clips 2 can be made of a thermoplastic material and fixed to ribbon 3 by injection-molding at predetermined spaces. The ribbon 3 including the tubular elements 8 of fastening device 1 can be integrated in a cable harness like a cable. The integration has to be carried out such that the conical portions 5 project outwardly from the cable harness at a predetermined position so that they can be attached to the holes of a supporting structure. The projection is promoted by the length of the shanks 4 of the clips 2. The snapping performance of the clips can be achieved by known constructions of the prior art. For example, so-called "eagle clips" can be used. In such an embodiment barb-like elements 5' are provided on shank 4' as shown in Fig. 2. By the way, the construction of Fig. 2 essentially corresponds to that of Fig. 1 which is indicated by respective reference numbers including a hyphen.

Claims: Fastening device for fastening a cable harness or other collected supply lines to holes in a supporting structure especially in a vehicle chassis, comprising a flexible joining element (3; 3') and several clips (2; 2') each of said clips having a shank (4; 4') which can be snapped into one of said holes and being provided with a head on the top of said shank, characterized in that said head comprises an elongated element (8; 8') which can be aligned with the extension of said cable, said elongated element extends transverse to said shank and in that said joining element is attached to said heads of said clips. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that said heads are rod-shaped and extend perpendicularly to said shanks of said clips. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that said heads are connected to said flexible joining element at their outer circumference. The device according to claim 3, characterized in that said heads are tubular and extend perpendicularly to said shanks of said clips and in that said flexible joining element is extended through said heads. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that said clips are displaceable along said flexible joining element. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that said clips are fixed to said flexible joining element at predetermined spaced intervals. The device according to claim 6, characterized in that said clips are attached to said flexible joining element by heat sealing. The device according to claim 6, characterized in that said clips are attached to said flexible joining element by injection molding. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that said clips and/or said flexible joining element is made from plastics. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that said flexible joining element is a band. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that said flexible joining element is a cord. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that said flexible joining element is solid in cross section. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that said flexible joining element is a braid of twisted or flexible elements. A method for the production of a device according to claim 1, characterized in that said flexible joining element is transported step by step through a casting mold of an injection molding device, the extend of a stepwidth corresponding to predetermined spaces between said clips on said joining element and in that in the time interval between said transporting steps said clip is injection molded to said flexible joining element. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that said flexible joining element is severed after a predetermined number of steps. The method according to claim 14 and 15, characterized in that a plurality of parallel said flexible joining elements are transported step by step through a plurality of parallel molds of said injection molding device. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that said parallel flexible elements each are transported with equal width of said steps. An application of the device according to claim 1, for fixing a cable harness to holes of a supporting structure, said flexible joining element being included in said cable harness like said cable. The application according to claim 18, characterized in that said clips are arranged in defined positions on the outer side of said cable harness. The application according to claim 17 or 18, characterized in that said holes are oblong for the compensation for tolerances.

Inventors: JONATZKE VOLKER, JONATZKE, VOLKER
Applicants: ITW ATECO GMBH, ITW-ATECO GMBH
Application year: 1997
Main classification: H02G3
IPC codes: F16L3, H02G3, F16B21