Abstract:
A first bracket has a first connector and a plurality of engagement members. The engagement members guide engagement protrusions mentioned later inside to engage with them. A second bracket has a second connector and a plurality of engagement protrusions to be fitted into the engagement members and having a height greater than that of the second connector. The second bracket supports an auxiliary component. During interconnection of the brackets, the engagement protrusions are inserted into the engagement members before the connectors are fitted to one another. The guiding and engagement of the engagement protrusions into and with the engagement members lead to fitting of the connectors to one another and interconnection of the brackets, resulting in the auxiliary component fixed to the first bracket.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    This invention relates to an interconnection structure in which two brackets are interconnected to fix an auxiliary component held by one bracket to the other bracket. More particularly, this invention relates to a structure for interconnection between a bracket having a connector for a sunvisor and a bracket having a connector for a wiring harness from a vehicle body.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    In a vehicle interior, sunvisors for a driver and a passenger seat occupant are provided above a front window. Some sorts of sunvisors are provided with vanity mirrors and/or illumination lamps for nighttime.  
           [0005]    [0005]FIG. 1 shows such a sunvisor with a lamp provided with a bracket at the distal end of a fixing shaft for fixing the sunvisor to the interior of a vehicle. The bracket is screwed to an inner panel in the vehicle interior.  
           [0006]    With reference to FIGS.  1  to  4 , a conventional connection structure for fixing a sunvisor to an inner panel will be described. An inner panel has a hole provided above a front window, through which a wiring harness is drawn out into the interior of a vehicle. A connector attached to the front end of the harness is mated with a connector attached to the front end of a wire drawn out from the bracket. The mating of those two connectors requires manual work by a skilled person.  
           [0007]    Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the mated connectors and the wiring harness are inserted through the hole formed in the inner panel into a space between the inner panel and an outer panel so as to mount the sunvisor. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, with the mated connectors and the harness accommodated in the space, a grommet screw formed in the bracket is inserted into a bracket mounting hole formed in the inner panel as shown in FIG. 3, thereby to push the bracket into the inner panel.  
           [0008]    Then, as shown in FIG. 4, a screw is inserted into a central hole of the grommet screw in a cylindrical shape for fastening. The grommet screw has slits at the front end so that it is pushed and expanded by the screw inserted. A plurality of expanded portions of the grommet screw is pressed against an opening periphery of the bracket mounting hole, whereby the bracket is fixed to the inner panel.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    In the above conventional fixing structure, however, it can inadvertently occur that the sunvisor is fixed to the inner panel with incomplete engagement between the connector for the wiring harness and the connector for the sunvisor unnoted. Further, it is necessary to confirm that connection terminals not shown are properly fitted into the respective connectors. Incomplete fitting of the terminals prevents power supply to the lamp. If that is the case, all parts mounted should be demounted and checked to repeat a series of mounting steps. This significantly reduces work efficiency.  
           [0010]    The conventional fixing structure further requires a guiding structure for each connector to facilitate mating of the connectors. Thus the connectors cannot be disadvantageously made smaller. Furthermore, it is necessary to form hoods of the connectors with relatively large thickness to give enough strength to the connectors for secure fixation therebetween. In short, the conventional fixing structure prevents reduction in size and weight of connectors, and thus preventing reduction in cost.  
           [0011]    It is an object of this invention to provide a bracket interconnection structure which enables reduction in size and weight of connectors and provides reliable engagement between the connectors.  
           [0012]    According to a first aspect of this invention, there is provided a bracket interconnection structure for an auxiliary component, which comprises a first bracket comprising a first connector and a plurality of engagement members, and a second bracket comprising a second connector and a plurality of engagement protrusions fitted into the engagement members and having a height greater than that of the second connector. The engagement members guide the engagement protrusions inside to engage with them, whereby the first connector and the second connector are fitted to one another, and thus the first bracket and the second bracket are connected to one another. As a result, the auxiliary component supported by the second bracket is fixed to an object to which the first bracket is fixed.  
           [0013]    In the above structure, in the interconnecting operation of the first and second brackets, the engagement protrusions on the second bracket are guided and inserted into the engagement parts before the second connector is fitted into the first connector because of their greater height than that of the second connector. This prevents wires led out from the auxiliary component to the second bracket or the second connector from contacting the first bracket during the connecting operation. The wires led out from the auxiliary component and the second connector are thus prevented from being damaged. Further, since the engagement members guide the engagement protrusions, thereby to appropriately position the both brackets for connection, the connectors can be fitted to one another without receiving undue force. This eliminates the need for producing the connectors with great strength, allowing the connectors to be reduced in size, and thus allowing the brackets to be reduced in weight.  
           [0014]    According to a second aspect of this invention, the engagement protrusions have upper portions formed in a circular cone shape or a quadrangular prism shape with diameters gradually reduced to the top ends, and the engagement members are in a tubular shape. When the engagement protrusions are inserted into the engagement members, the front portions with reduced diameters of the protrusions guide the protrusions to their normal positions. This eliminates the need for providing guiding mechanism to the first and second connectors, resulting in a simplified connecting structure.  
           [0015]    According to a third aspect of this invention, the engagement members have respective locking arms, and the engagement protrusions have respective grooves, the locking arms being engaged with the respective grooves.  
           [0016]    The engagement of the locking arms with the grooves makes the brackets in a preliminarily fixed state. The brackets can thus be retained in the interconnected state before being further fixed with grommet screws or the like, for example. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1 shows a bracket and an inner panel according to a conventional connection structure;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a step of connecting the bracket to the inner panel according to the conventional connection structure;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a step of connecting the bracket to the inner panel according to the conventional connection structure;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a step of connecting the bracket to the inner panel according to the conventional connection structure;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a bracket interconnection structure for an auxiliary component according to an embodiment of this invention;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a second bracket and a second connector according to the embodiment of this invention;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 7 is a plan view of the second bracket according to the embodiment of this invention;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 8 is a front view of a connector housing of the second connector according to the embodiment of this invention;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 9 is a plan view of the connector housing of the second connector according to the embodiment of this invention;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 10 is a side view of the connector housing of the second connector according to the embodiment of this invention;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an interconnected state of a first bracket and the second bracket according to the embodiment of this invention; and  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 12 is a perspective view illustrating the interconnected state of the first bracket and the second bracket with an inner panel and a trim omitted, according to the embodiment of this invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0029]    A preferred embodiment of this invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.  5  to  12 . In this embodiment, the invention is applied to a bracket interconnection structure for fixing a sunvisor as an auxiliary component to an inner panel fixed above a front window in front of a driver seat or a passenger seat.  
         [0030]    As shown in FIG. 5, a bracket  1  to be mounted to a vehicle body according to the embodiment is a device for fixing a sunvisor  3  to an inner panel  2  of a vehicle, attached to the front end of a fixing shaft  4  supporting the sunvisor  3 . The bracket  1  includes a first bracket  5  and a second bracket  6 .  
         [0031]    First Bracket  
         [0032]    The first bracket  5  to be mounted to the inner panel of the vehicle is provided with a first connector  7  as shown in FIG. 5. The first connector  7  is formed in an upwardly protruding manner on the first bracket  5  and is provided at its bottom with a connection opening (not shown) for receiving a second connector  19  to be described later. A first connection terminal  9  fitted onto an end of a wiring harness  8  from a vehicle body as shown in FIG. 5 is housed and fixed in the first connector  7 . A cover  7 B is attached to the first connector  7  via a hinge  7 A. With the cover  7 B put over the first connector  7  for engagement, the first terminal  9  is retained inside.  
         [0033]    The first bracket  5  is further provided with a pair of tubular engagement members  11  for engagement with a pair of engagement protrusions  10  provided to a second bracket  6  described later. Each engagement member  11  has at its bottom an opening for receiving the engagement protrusion  10 . An insertion hole  5 A for insertion of a shaft holding member  14  of the second bracket  6  to be described later is provided between the engagement members  11 .  
         [0034]    Each engagement member  11  has a flexible locking arm  11 A. The first bracket  5  is further provided with a pair of mounting holes  12  for insertion of grommet screws not shown.  
         [0035]    Inner Panel  
         [0036]    The first bracket  5  is fixed to the inner panel  2 . The inner panel  2  has an opening  2 A provided for insertion of the protruded first connector  7  and the pair of engagement members  11 . The inner panel  2  further has a pair of mounting holes  2 B positioned correspondingly to the mounting holes  12  of the first bracket  5 .  
         [0037]    Second Bracket  
         [0038]    The second bracket  6  is, as shown in FIG. 5, fixed to the first bracket  5  with a trim  13  to be fixed to the inner panel  2  for interior decoration interposed therebetween. The second bracket  6  has the shaft holding member  14  for holding the front end of the fixing shaft  4 . The shaft holding member  14  has in the center a substantially cylindrical shaft holding hole  15  for receiving the fixing shaft  4 .  
         [0039]    The second bracket  6  has, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a connector fixing section  17  with two opposite slots  16  extending in a parallel relationship in the plane direction of the bracket. Each slot  16  has a locking recess  18  formed in the middle. The second connector  19  is slid laterally into the fixing section  17  as shown in FIG. 5.  
         [0040]    The two engagement protrusions  10  are formed in an upwardly protruding manner on opposite sides of the shaft holding member  14 . The protrusions  10  extend to a higher level than the second connector  19 . Thus, in connecting the second bracket  6  to the first bracket  5 , the engagement protrusions  10  are inserted into the respective engagement members  11  of the first bracket  5  before the second connector  19  is fitted into the first connector  7 . Each engagement protrusion  10  is formed with a groove  10 A in an upper side surface for engagement with a free end of the locking arm  11 A. The upper portion of the engagement protrusion  10  is in a quadrangular prism or circular cone shape. The upper portion in such a shape guides the protrusion  10  into the engagement member  11  during insertion. This allows reliable connecting operation of the first and second brackets  5  and  6 .  
         [0041]    The second bracket  6  also has a mounting hole  6 A provided on each side of the inserted position of the second connector  19 . The mounting hole  6 A corresponds in position to the mounting hole  12  of the first bracket  5  and the mounting hole  2 B of the inner panel  2 .  
         [0042]    Second Connector  
         [0043]    The second connector  19  has, as shown in FIG. 6, a connector housing  20  and a pair of second connection terminals  21  housed in the housing  20 . The second terminals  21  are connected to ends of a pair of wires  22  from the sunvisor, led out from the end of the fixing shaft  4  inserted into the shaft holding member  14  of the second bracket  6 .  
         [0044]    The connector housing  20  consists, as shown in FIG. 6 and FIGS.  8  to  10 , of an upper member  24  as a body having a second connector hood  23  for insertion of the second terminals  21  from the bottom, and a lower member  26  attached to the upper member  24  via a hinge  25 . The lower member  26  is turned on the hinge  25  to cover the bottom of the upper member  24 .  
         [0045]    The upper member  24  has, at its opposed sidewalls, a pair of rails  27  to be inserted into the slots  16  of the second bracket  6 . Each rail  27  is a flexible arm and is fixed at the opposite ends to the sidewall of the upper member  24 . A locking protrusion  27 A extending laterally outward of the upper member  24  is formed substantially in the middle of each rail  27 .  
         [0046]    The upper member  24  also has, at its opposite sidewalls, engagement protrusions  28 . The lower member  26  has engagement parts  29  positioned correspondingly to the engagement protrusions  28 . The engagement parts  29  engage with the respective engagement protrusions  28  when the lower member  26  is turned on the hinge  25  to be laid on the bottom of the upper member  24 .  
         [0047]    Effects  
         [0048]    In the connector housing  20  of the above-described structure, the second connection terminals  21  are inserted from below and held in the connector hood  23 , and the lower member  26  is turned on the hinge  25  onto the upper member  24  so as to engage the engagement parts  29  with the engagement protrusions  28 , whereby the second terminals  21  are guided to and fixed in the appropriate positions inside the connector hood  23 .  
         [0049]    With the upper member  24  and the lower member  26  engaged with one another, the rails  27  are inserted into the slots  16  of the second bracket  6 . That is, the connector housing  20  cannot be fixed to the second bracket  6  until the second terminals  21  are housed appropriately in the connector hood  23 . Once the second connector  19  is fixed to the second bracket  6 , the lower member  26  never opens, which eliminates the possibility of erroneous pulling out of the second terminals  21  or disengagement of the lower member  26 .  
         [0050]    In the course of fitting the second bracket  6  to the first bracket  5 , the first bracket  5  is interposed between the inner panel  2  and the trim  13  with the first connector  7  and the engagement parts  11  protruded outside of the opening  2 A of the inner panel  2 , and the second connector  19 , the engagement protrusions  10  and the shaft holding member  14  on the second bracket  6  are opposed through an opening  13 A of the trim  13  to the first bracket  5  for assemblage. Since the upper portion of the engagement protrusion  10  is in a quadrangular prism shape, the protrusion  10  is appropriately guided into the opening provided at the bottom of the engagement member  11  of the first bracket  5 , and is fitted into the member  11 .  
         [0051]    With a greater height than that of the second connector  19 , the engagement protrusions  10  are inserted into the respective engagement members  11  of the first bracket  5  before the second connector  19  is fitted into the first connector  7  in the course of connecting the second bracket  6  to the first bracket  5 . The top ends of the locking arms  11 A of the engagement members  11  are engaged with the grooves  10 A formed in the side surfaces of the engagement protrusions  10 , thereby bringing the brackets  5  and  6  into preliminary engagement.  
         [0052]    Finally, a bracket case not shown is attached from below the second bracket  6 , completing the fixing of the sunvisor  3  as an auxiliary component to the inner panel  2 . The bracket case has screw grommets to be inserted into the mounting holes  6 A,  12  and  2 B.  
         [0053]    The preferred embodiment of this invention has been described above, which is not intended to limit this invention to the above embodiment. The above disclosure enables those of ordinary skill in the art to perform this invention through modifications or variations of the embodiment. For example, this invention can be applied to a device such as a room lamp as well as a sunvisor as illustrated in the above embodiment.