Abstract:
The present invention relates to a grommet for sealing a conduit to be passed through an opening against said opening. The grommet comprises a sealing body defining an opening therethrough for receiving the conduit as well as at least one sealing collar radially surrounding said sealing body in an unfolded state. The grommet further comprises a retaining means, which is configured for fixing said sealing collar in a folded state.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a grommet, which is adapted for sealing a conduit as for example a cable or tube to be passed through an opening against said opening, and which comprises a sealing body defining an opening therethrough for receiving the conduit as well as at least one sealing collar or sealing flange radially surrounding said sealing body in an unfolded state. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Such a grommet may be used for example for sealing a wire harness leading from the engine compartment of a vehicle into the passenger compartment of the vehicle against a opening in the form of a through hole formed in the body sheet between the engine compartment and the passenger compartment. Hereby, in particular the sealing collar of said grommet serves for the purpose of providing a sound-proof sealing between the two compartments so that the noise emitted by the engine is at least partially screened from the passenger compartment. Hence, said sealing collar represents some kind of a sound-proof flap which rests on a sound-proof matting surrounding the through hole in the body sheet between the two compartments. 
     When mounting said grommet into said through hole, it may be necessary that the assembler puts his hand into said through hole so as to push or pull the sealing collar through said through hole which is less in diameter than the sealing collar. However, since the edge of said through hole may be relatively sharp, there is a certain risk of injury when the assembler puts his hands into said through hole. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve said grommet to that effect that the risk of injury to the assembler&#39;s hands is at least reduced. 
     The object of the present invention may be met by a grommet that comprises a retaining means, which is configured for fixing said sealing collar in a folded state. 
     Hence, by means of said retaining means the sealing collar can be fixed in a folded state in which the radial extension of the sealing collar is less than the diameter of the through hole in the body sheet between the two compartments so that the grommet and in particular its sealing collar can be pushed through said through hole without the need for an insertion of the assembler&#39;s hands into the through hole. Thus, when mounting the grommet of the present invention into a through hole, the assembler need not insert his hands into said through hole so that the risk of injury to the assembler&#39;s hands is significantly reduced. 
     Advantageous embodiments of the grommet in accordance with the present invention will become apparent from the dependent claims, from the description and from the drawings. 
     According to a first preferred embodiment, the retaining means may be integrally formed with said sealing collar. In other words, the retaining means may be a part of the sealing collar, which proves to be advantageous to that effect, that the retaining means may not disengage from the sealing collar in the folded state of same, so that the folded state of the sealing collar may be reliably sustained in its folded state. Hence, there is no risk that the sealing collar starting from its folded state converts into its unfolded state due to an unwanted removal of the retaining means from the sealing collar. 
     According to a specific embodiment, the retaining means may comprise a belt, cord, strap or the like which is adapted for lacing together said sealing collar into its folded state. 
     Indeed, according to another embodiment, said retaining means could also comprise a button mechanism or the like, for example, which is adapted for fixing the sealing flange in a folded state by engaging one or more buttons with corresponding button holes. However, in contrast to this embodiment, the aforementioned embodiment wherein the retaining means comprises a belt, cord, strap or the like proves to be advantageous to that effect, that by means of a belt, cord or strap the conversion of the sealing collar from its unfolded state into its folded state is relatively simple, since by means of a belt, cord or strap the sealing collar can be drawn together in a very simple way. 
     In particular, in case that said belt should be flexible in its longitudinal direction as an elastic band or a rubber ring, for example, the folded state of the sealing collar can be achieved by pulling said rubber ring over the at least partially folded sealing collar so that the sealing collar will be completely laced or drawn together when the elastic rubber ring is released due to the elastic characteristics of the band. 
     According to a still further embodiment of the present invention the belt, cord or strap may comprise a free end, wherein an attachment means as for example a barb means is provided adjacent to the free end for securing said free end to a corresponding attachment means provided at the sealing collar (or at the belt itself). This embodiment may prove to be advantageous, when it is not possible or desired to pull a ring-shaped belt over the (partially) folded sealing collar due to the machinery necessary for folding said sealing collar, for example. In case that the retaining means comprises a belt having a free end, the band may be wrapped around the at least partially folded sealing collar and then fixed with its free end and in particular by means of its attachment means to the sealing collar or to the belt itself, so that the sealing collar may not deploy into its unfolded state. 
     According to a further specific embodiment the sealing collar may be provided with at least one eyelet which is adapted for securing a position of said retaining means relative to said sealing collar, at least in the folded state of said sealing collar. For example, a plurality of eyelets in the form of loops or lugs may be provided at the circumference of said sealing collar so that when being drawn or laced together by means of a belt extending through said eyelets, the sealing collar may be converted into a folded state in which the sealing collar comprises the shape of a folded walking-stick umbrella. Hence, by the provision of a plurality of equally spaced apart eyelets at the circumference of the sealing collar, the sealing collar may be folded in such a manner that the respective folds are substantially identical with respect to each other. 
     For the purpose of simplifying the threading of the belt though said eyelets, the free end of said belt may be provided with an elongate and stiff handle by means of which the free end of the belt may be simply inserted into the respective eyelets. 
     Moreover, both the threading operation and the regularity of the respective folds may be positively affected, when any of said eyelets is formed by a lug or loop extending in a radial direction from the circumference of said sealing collar in the unfolded state of same. This embodiment facilitates easy access to the eyelets for threading the free end of the belt through the openings formed by the eyelet loops. 
     According to a still further specific embodiment of the invention each member of the group of members consisting of said eyelets and said belt are spaced apart at regular intervals along the circumference of said sealing collar. Hereby, the belt is affixed to a certain extent to the circumference of the sealing collar which again proves to be advantageous with respect to the regularity of the folding pattern. 
     In another aspect, the present invention relates to a method for compressing a grommet comprising a sealing body, a substantially funnel-shaped sealing collar radially surrounding said sealing collar in an unfolded state and a retaining means, as it is disclosed in any of the preceding passages. The method comprises the steps of everting the funnel-shape of said sealing collar; deforming said everted sealing collar into a folded state; and fixing said sealing collar in said folded state by means of said retaining means. 
     For the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned that any method-like features disclosed in the preceding paragraphs may be analogously applied to the method of compressing a grommet. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of an exemplary grommet in an unfolded state; 
         FIG. 2  shows a sectional view of the grommet of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  shows a side-view of the grommet of  FIG. 1  folded in accordance with the method of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 4  shows a front view of the grommet depicted in  FIG. 3 . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The exemplary grommet  10  depicted in  FIGS. 1 and 2  comprises a sealing body  12  as well as two sealing flanges  14 ,  16  being spaced apart with respect to each other in an axial direction of the sealing body  12 . The sealing body  12  defines an opening  18  therethrough which is adapted for receiving a conduit as for example a wire harness  20 , as depicted in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . The sealing body  12  is provided with two sealing lips  22 ,  24  which are spaced apart and extend in a radially inward direction from the sealing body  12 . Hence, the sealing lips  22 ,  24  are adapted for sealing the wire harness  20  against the main body  12 . 
     As will become apparent from  FIG. 2 , the first flange  14  is substantially funnel-shaped and represents a sealing collar  14  which provides a soundproof flap resting along its outer circumference  26  against a sound proof matting (not shown) secured to a body sheet separating an engine compartment from a passenger compartment of a vehicle. Since said sealing collar  14  rests on the sound matting and therefore exerts a pressure force onto said sound matting, the second flange  16  serves as an abutment member withstanding the pressure forces exerted by the sealing collar  14 . 
     The sealing collar  14  is provided with three integrally formed eyelets  28  in the form of three loops  28 , which extend in a radial direction from the circumference  26  of the sealing collar  14  in the unfolded state depicted in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . Moreover, the circumference  26  of the sealing collar  14  is integrally formed with a retaining means in the form of an elastic belt  30  also extending in a radial direction from the circumference  26  of said sealing collar  14  in its unfolded state. As will become apparent from  FIG. 1 , the eyelets  28  and the belt  30  are spaced apart at regular intervals along the circumference  26  of the sealing collar  14  which allows a regular umbrella-shaped folding pattern of the sealing collar (cf.  FIG. 4 ). 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , belt  30  at its free end  36  is provided with a barb means  32  in the form of a tap surrounding the belt  30 . Moreover, the belt  30  may be extended by an elongate stiff handle  34  having a reduced cross-section compared to the belt  30 . 
     In order to convert the sealing collar  14  starting from its unfolded state depicted in  FIGS. 1 and 2  into its folded state having an umbrella-shaped pattern, as it is depicted in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the funnel-shaped sealing collar  14  is first everted as shown by arrow A in  FIG. 2 . Subsequently, the sealing collar  14  everted in this manner is deformed into its folded umbrella-shaped state by threading handle  34  of belt  30  successively through each of the openings formed by the eyelets  28 . For example, the belt  30  may be first threaded through the eyelet  28  at the 12 o&#39;clock position (cf.  FIG. 1 ), then through the eyelet  28  at the 9 o&#39;clock position and then through the eyelet  28  in the 6 o&#39;clock position. During this threading process the flexible belt  30  may be expanded in its longitudinal direction, so as to pass through each of the eyelets  28 . 
     When the belt  30  after said threading process is released, the belt  30  will contract in its longitudinal direction so that the positions of the circumference  26  of the sealing collar  14  provided with the eyelets  28  and belt  30 , respectively, are pulled in a radially inward direction, so that the sealing collar  14  achieves its specific umbrella-shaped folding pattern, as it is depicted in  FIG. 4 . Hereby, the barb means  32  provided at the free end  36  of the belt  30  rests against the eyelet  28  at the 6 o&#39;clock position so that the belt  30  may not slide out of any of the eyelets  28 . 
     Hence, the umbrella-shaped folded state of the sealing collar  14  is fixed by means of said belt  30  so that grommet  10  can be pushed through a through hole in a body sheet separating an engine compartment from a passenger compartment, wherein the folded circumference  26  of the sealing collar  14  can be pushed through said through hole without the need of an assembler inserting his hands through the through hole so as to pull the sealing collar  14  through said through hole. Thus, since the assembler need not insert his hands into said through hole during mounting said grommet into said through hole, the risk of injury to the assembler&#39;s hands is significantly reduced.