Abstract:
A wiring harness device for instrument panels consists of an electrical component unit having a first connector; an instrument panel having a mount portion for the component unit, which mount opening is provided with a connector insertion opening; an air duct which has wires laid thereon and which is assembled to the instrument panel; and a support means which extends in a cantilever manner from the air duct and supports a second connector thereon. The wires extend on the support means to the second connector. The second connector is movable relative to the air duct and easily mountable in the connector insertion opening for mating with the first connector. The positional deviation of the second connector relative to the connector insertion opening is remedied.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a wiring harness device for vehicular instrument panels and, more particularly, to a wiring harness device which gives flexibility in positioning a unit-awaiting connector (connector kept in place for mating with a unit side connector) so as to facilitate assembling together an instrument panel and an air duct, connecting an electrical component unit to an instrument panel harness, and assembling the electrical component unit to the instrument panel. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     The present applicant has proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 8-121999 a wiring harness device for instrument panels as shown in FIGS. 9 to  12  for making an improvement in connecting an electrical component unit to an instrument panel harness at the instrument panel of an automobile. 
     FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of this wiring harness device; FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an air duct and an instrument panel harness as in FIG. 10; FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of a connector holder provided on the air duct; and FIG. 12 is a sectional view of a unit-awaiting connector mounted in the connector holder. 
     FIG. 9, denoted  111 ,  112  are a center cluster unit and a meter unit, respectively, as electrical component units. Each electrical component unit  111 ,  112  has a not-shown connector projecting at the back for electrical connection to a later-described unit-awaiting connector  140 B of an instrument panel harness  140 . 
     Denoted  120  is a large resin molded item of an instrument panel which is provided at the center and the right side on the drawing with mount portions  121 ,  122  for the electrical component units  111 ,  112  and at the left and right ends with air outlets  123 ,  124  with a flow rate adjusting fin for an air conditioner. 
     Denoted  130  is an air duct which is also a large resin molded item, and which is assembled to the instrument panel  120 . As shown in FIGS. 10 to  12 , the air duct  130  is integrally formed, at its portions corresponding to the mount portions  121 ,  122  of the instrument panel  120 , with a frame-like connector holder  130 A for holding therein the related unit-awaiting connector  140 B of the instrument panel harness  140 . 
     The connector holder  130 A, as best seen in FIGS. 11 and 12, has an inwardly stepped front wall and a connector mount opening  131  provided at the center of the front wall. Those parts of the front wall which laterally define the mount opening  131  are provided at their lower ends with an engagement claw  132  for holding the unit-awaiting connector  140 B. 
     On its upper wall with a circumferential flange, the connector holder  130 A has bosses  133  that fit in corresponding holes  125  provided on the underside of the instrument panel  120 . The air duct  130  is provided at the front with a harness placement groove  134 . 
     As shown in FIG. 9, the instrument panel harness  140  consists of a flexible printed circuit board  140 A with each end thereof, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, bent back and mounted in a housing  141  to provide the unit-awaiting connector  140 B for connecting to the electrical component unit  111 ,  112 . The housing  141  of the connector  140 B has a total of six integral spring pieces  142  at its upper, lower, left and right sides. 
     Each spring piece  142 , when the unit-awaiting connector  140 B is mounted in the connector mount opening  131 , resiliently contacts the innermost wall surface of the connector holder  130 A to support the connector  140 B in a vertically and horizontally movable manner. 
     In the wiring harness device as described above, the instrument panel harness  140  is first laid in the harness placement groove  134  on the air duct  130 , and the air duct is then assembled to the instrument panel  120 . 
     Thereafter, the electrical component unit  111 ,  112  is mounted in the mount portion  121 ,  122  of the instrument panel  120 , so that the connector on the unit&#39;s part mates with the unit-awaiting connector  140 B properly positioned by the connector holder  130 A of the air duct  130 . 
     If in this case a dimensional error exists in the large resin molded item of the air duct  130 , with the result that the connector holder  130 A is found slightly deviated from position, the unit-awaiting connector  140 B, owing to the spring pieces  142 , moves vertically and horizontally during its coupling with the unit side connector to absorb and remedy the positional deviation. 
     With the wiring harness device as mentioned above, however, because the positional deviation of the connector holder  130 A is remedied only through the movement of the connector  140 B inside the connector holder, there is a fear that, if the dimensional error of the air duct  130  and thus the positional deviation of the connector holder  130 A are large, such positional error will not be remedied only through the movement of the connector  140 B. 
     Thus, with the air duct  130  with a dimensional error, difficulty has been encountered in assembling together the instrument panel  120  and the air duct  130 , connecting the electrical component unit  111 ,  112  to the instrument panel harness  140  and assembling the electrical component unit  111 ,  112  to the instrument panel  120 , and the need for an improvement in positioning the unit-awaiting connector  140 B accurately has arisen. 
     Further, because the air duct  130  and the instrument panel harness  140  are provided separately from each other, they need to be assembled together on an automobile assembly line, requiring not only many man-hours, but also additional exterior components such as wire protectors, tapes, clamps and the like for protecting the instrument panel harness  140  before and after its mounting in position. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention has been accomplished to overcome the above drawbacks and one of its objects is to provide a wiring harness device for instrument panels which improves the flexibility in positioning a unit-awaiting connector so as to facilitate assembling together an instrument panel and an air duct, connecting an electrical component unit to an instrument panel harness, and assembling the electrical component unit to the instrument panel. 
     It is another object of this invention to provide a wiring harness device for instrument panels which reduces the manhours required at an automobile assembly line for assembling an instrument panel harness, and which reduces the exterior components such as wire protectors and the like. 
     In order to attain the objects, according to this invention, there is provided a wiring harness device for instrument panels which comprises: an electrical component unit having a first connector; an instrument panel having a mount portion for the electrical component unit and a connector insertion opening formed in a wall thereof defining the mount portion through which a second connector mates with the first connector; an air duct having a wire placement groove on a surface thereof, which is assembled to the instrument panel; and instrument panel wires fixedly laid in the wire placement groove on the air duct, wherein the air duct has a support means which supports the second connector on a front end thereof, and the instrument panel wires have a portion extending on the support means to the second connector, the support means extending in a cantilever manner such that the second connector is movable relative to the air duct and easily mountable in the connector insertion opening for mating with the first connector when the electrical component unit is received in the mount portion of the instrument panel. 
     In the wiring harness device of the above construction, when the air duct is assembled to the instrument panel, the second connector is placed in the connector insertion opening provided at the mount portion of the instrument panel. The second connector is thus positioned in opposition to the first connector provided on the electrical component unit which is later installed in the mount portion of the instrument panel, leading to an easy registration of the second connector with the first connector. 
     If there exists a large dimensional error in the large resin molded item of the instrument panel or the air duct, the second connector, due to the flexible support means, is movable relative to the air duct, thereby making it possible to absorb and remedy the positional deviation of the second connector relative to the connector insertion opening to a great extent and place the second connector in position for insertion into the connector insertion opening. 
     Further, because the positional deviation of the second connector can be remedied to a great extent, it is facilitated to assemble together the instrument panel and the air duct, connect the electrical component unit to instrument panel wires, and assemble the electrical component unit to the instrument panel. 
     Preferably, the support means comprises a plurality of support plates linked end-to-end to one another, and the second connector is located on a foremost one of the support plates. 
     Preferably, the support means comprises a first support plate projecting integrally from the air duct, a second support plate linked end-to-end through a hinge to the first support plate, and a third support plate linked end-to-end through a hinge to the second support plate, and the second connector is located on the third support plate. 
     In the wiring harness device as mentioned above, the third support plate and thus the second connector are displaceable at least in two steps, through the hinge linking together the first and second support plates and through the hinge linking together the second and third support plates. Consequently, an improved flexibility is obtained in positioning the second connector. 
     Preferably, the instrument panel wires are fixed in the wire placement groove on the air duct by means of a locking device fitted in the wire placement groove. 
     The instrument panel wires can be easily fixed in and removed from the wire placement groove through attachment and detachment of the locking device. 
     Advantageously, the locking device has corrugations which fit on the instrument panel wires laid in the wire placement groove. 
     Advantageously, the wire placement groove formed on the air duct has a branch groove extending perpendicularly therefrom to guide the portion of the instrument panel wires to the support means. 
     The wire placement groove provided with such branch groove enables not only the trunk portion, but also a branch portion of the instrument panel wires to be automatically laid on the air duct such that almost all parts of the wires are confined in the grooves, leading to an improved one-piece design of the air duct and the wires. 
     Preferably, the second connector comprises the foremost support plate, a row of terminal placement grooves formed on one surface of the foremost support plate, each provided with a throughhole on a bottom thereof which communicates to an opposite surface of the foremost support plate, and pressure welding terminals, each including a base plate, an electrical contact portion formed at one end of the base plate and a pressure welding piece with a slot upstanding at an opposite end of the base plate, and wherein the pressure welding terminals are placed in the respective terminal placement grooves, with their pressure welding pieces forced through the throughholes, and the wires are pressure-welded via the respective slots to the pressure welding terminals. 
     Owing to the construction as mentioned above, the second connector can be easily formed by fixing the pressure welding terminals in position on the foremost support plate and press-fitting the wires into the slots of the respective pressure welding terminals. Besides, the foremost support plate being molded integral with the air duct, an easy and reliable integration between the second connector and the air duct can be attained. 
     Advantageously, the second connector further comprises a cover which covers pressure-welded portions between the pressure welding pieces and the respective wires. 
     Preferably, the wiring harness device further comprises a pair of longitudinally spaced flanges provided at a rear end of the foremost support plate, each with a cutout formed at a center thereof for passing that portion of the instrument panel wires extending on the support means, the spaced flanges holding therebetween the wall of the instrument panel defining the connector insertion opening to position the second connector in the mount portion for the electrical component unit. 
     The above and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an instrument panel to which one embodiment of a wiring harness device according to this invention is applied; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an air duct with an instrument panel harness wired thereon, which is assembled to the instrument panel of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a partial enlarged view of the instrument panel harness of FIG. 2 fixed on the air duct; 
     FIG. 4 is a partial enlarged view, taken from below, of a branch portion of the instrument panel harness of FIG. 2, with a unit-awaiting connector shown exploded; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the unit-awaiting connector of FIG. 4, with its components shown separated; 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the unit-awaiting connector of FIG. 4, shown assembled; 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the unit-awaiting connector placed in a connector insertion opening provided on the instrument panel of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the instrument panel of FIG. 1, with the electrical component unit assembled and connected; 
     FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a wiring harness device for instrument panels proposed earlier by the present applicant; 
     FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an air duct and an instrument panel harness wired on the air duct, both as in FIG. 
     FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of a connector holder provided on the air duct of FIG. 10; and 
     FIG. 12 is a sectional view of a unit-awaiting connector mounted in the connector holder of FIG.  11 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     One embodiment of this invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings. 
     In FIG. 1, denoted  10  is a large molded item of an instrument panel which is provided at the center and the right side with mount portions  11 ,  12  for not-shown electrical components and at the left and right ends with air outlets  13 ,  14  for an air conditioner. The innermost wall of each mount portion  11 ,  12  is provided with an insertion opening  15  at which a later-described unit-awaiting connector  40  of an instrument panel harness  20  is mounted. 
     In FIG. 2, the instrument panel harness  20  includes a trunk portion  20 A having a plurality of wires  21  (FIG. 3) gathered in one and branch portions  20 B, each having wires  21  tied together and branched from the trunk portion  20 A. The branch portion  20 B is provided at the end with the unit-awaiting connector  40  as mentioned above. 
     An air duct  30 , like the instrument panel  10 , is a large resin molded item and integrally molded by injection molding with a slide core. The air duct  30  is made at the center and the right side to correspond to the respective mount portions  11 ,  12  for the electrical component unit (not shown), provided on the instrument panel  10  and has a rectangular hood  31  at both ends which connects to the respective air outlet  13 ,  14 . 
     On the underside  30   a  (FIGS. 3,  4 ) of the air duct  30  are formed a harness placement groove  32  for the trunk portion  20 A of the instrument panel harness  20  and branch grooves  32   a  for the respective branch portions  20 B, the branch grooves  32   a  being contiguous to the harness placement groove  32  at intermediate portions and both ends of the latter and extending toward the front ( 30   b ) of the air duct  30  (FIG.  4 ). 
     The plurality of wires  21  are automatically laid in the harness placement groove  32  and its branch grooves  32   a  by using, for example, a X-Y axis travelling wiring head (not shown, refer to Japanese Patent Specification No. 2505924). A corrugated locking device  33  (FIG. 3) is fitted in the harness placement groove  32  from above to fix the wires  21  and thus the instrument panel harness  20  in the groove  32 . 
     As shown in FIG. 4, the instrument panel harness branch portion  20 B laid in the branch groove  32   a  extends on a series of support plates  34 ,  35  and  44 , which are formed integrally with the air duct  30 , to the unit-awaiting connector  40  provided on the foremost support plate (terminal fixing plate)  44 . 
     More specifically, the first support plate  34  projects at the front side  30   b  of the air duct  30  and is contiguous to the branch groove  32   a , and the second support plate  35  is linked at one end, through a hinge  37     1   , to the front end of the first support plate  35  and at the other end, through a hinge  37     2   , to the third support plate or terminal fixing plate  44  constituting the unit-awaiting connector  40 . The first and second support plates  34  and  35  are provided on their upper surfaces with respective pairs of opposed wire guide pieces  34   a ,  34   a  and  35   a ,  35   a . Preferably, the hinges  37     1   ,  37     2   have a sufficiently large dimension, especially length so as to allow the support plates  34 ,  35  and  44  to be bent, folded or twisted relative to one another. 
     Thus, the wires  21  of the branch portion  20 B laid in the branch groove  32   a  are guided and extend between the wire guide pieces  34   a ,  34   a  and between the wire guide pieces  35   a ,  35   a  on the first and second support plates  34 ,  35  to reach the terminal fixing plate  44 , whereat their free ends connect to pressure welding terminals  41  constituting the unit-awaiting connector  40 . 
     In other words, the connector  40  is comprised of the pressure welding terminals  41  to which, as mentioned above, the wire free ends connect, the terminal fixing plate  44  which fixes the pressure welding terminals  41  thereon, and a cover  48 . 
     The pressure welding terminal  41  includes a base plate  41   a , a tab-like electrical contact portion  42  formed at one end of the base plate, and a pair of longitudinally spaced pressure welding pieces  43  upstanding at the other end of the base plate, the pressure welding pieces  43  each having a wire press-in slot  43   a.    
     The terminal fixing plate  44 , as shown in FIG. 5, has a row of terminal placement grooves  44   a  formed on its upper surface, each having longitudinally spaced throughholes  44   b  at the bottom and, as shown in FIG. 4, has a row of wire placement grooves  44   d  corresponding to the row of terminal placement grooves  44   a , partitioned by a partition wall  44   c  upstanding between neighboring wire placement grooves  44   d . Locking holes  45 ,  45  are provided on opposite sides of the terminal placement grooves  44   a , and pairs of longitudinally-spaced vertically extending flanges  46 ,  46 ′ are provided at the rear end of the terminal fixing plate  44 . Each flange  46 ,  46 ′ has, between outer edges thereof, a width corresponding to a later-described large width portion  16  (FIG. 7) of the insertion opening  15  and has a cutout  46   a ,  46   a ′ at the center for passing the wires  21 . A suitable clearance D is provided between the longitudinally spaced flanges  46  and  46 ′. 
     In order to assemble the unit-awaiting connector  40 , each pressure welding terminal  41 , as shown in FIG. 5, is first fixed in the respective terminal placement groove  44   a  on the terminal fixing plate  44 , with its pressure welding pieces  43  force-fitted into the related throughholes  44   b  so that their tip ends project to the wire placement groove  44   d  side. 
     The free ends of the wires  21  wired with the wiring head, as shown in FIG. 4, are then positioned above the slots  43   a  of the respective pressure welding terminals  41 , followed by individually or by one operation force fitting these ends into the slots  43   a  with a not-shown pressure welding tool. 
     Thereafter, the cover  48  is placed on the thus pressure welded wires  21 , with resilient locking pieces  48   a  provided at its opposite sides inserted into the locking holes  45  until their front-end locking claws  48   b  lockingly engage with the upper surface (FIG. 5) of terminal fixing plate  44 , at which time each wire holder  48   c  formed internally of the cover  48  (FIG. 5) presses on and securely fixes the respective wire  21 . The assembly is thus completed. 
     The relationship between the unit-awaiting connector  40  and the air duct  30  in respects of their mutual spacing and postures can be varied to a great extent. 
     More specifically, the second and third support plates  35  and  44  are bendable and foldable relative to the first support plate  34  through the interposed hinges  37     1   ,  37     2   . Likewise, the first and second support plates  34  and  35  as well as the second and third support plates  35  and  44  are twistable relative to each other. The first, second and third support plates  34 ,  35  and  44  can thus be subjected to variations in spacing and posture relative to one another and to the air duct  30 , with the result that the unit-awaiting connector  40  integral with the third support plate  44  is likewise subjectable to such variations. 
     Description will now be made of the assembly of the wiring harness device and the connection between the unit-awaiting connector  40  and the electrical component unit. 
     The assembling together of the instrument panel  10  and the air duct  30  with the instrument panel harness  20  wired thereon is done in the same conventional manner as in FIG. 12, and its detailed description will be omitted. 
     Prior to fixing the air duct  30  to the instrument panel  10 , the unit-awaiting connector  40 , as shown in FIG. 7, is temporarily extracted through the insertion opening  15  provided in the inner wall of the mount portion  11 ,  12  of the instrument panel  10  into the mount portion, i.e., to the front side where the electrical component unit is mounted. 
     In other words, the insertion opening  15  consists of a lower large width portion  16  and an upper small width portion  17  contiguous to each other. The large width portion  16  has a size slightly larger than that of the flange  46 ,  46 ′ of the unit-awaiting connector  40 . The connector  40  is passed through the lower large width portion  16  to the front side. 
     Incidentally, the small width portion  17  has a width smaller than that between the outer edges of the flange  46 ,  46 ′ so that the side edges  17   a  defining the small width portion  17  may enter the clearance D between the flanges  46  and  46 ′. The side edges  17   a  are provided at their lower ends with a wedge-like detent that becomes thinner toward the lower tip end. 
     Then, after the instrument panel  10  and the air duct  30  are fixed together, the unit-awaiting connector  40  is moved back to the insertion opening  15  and mounted in the upper small width portion  17 . In other words, the clearance D between the flanges  46  and  46 ′ is registered with the side edges  17   a  defining the small width portion  17 , followed by pushing the connector  40  and thus the flanges  46  and  46 ′ upwardly against the detents  18  until the flanges  46  and  46 ′ ride over the detents  18 , hold the side edges  17   a  therebetween and are locked by the detents  18 . As will be apparent from FIG. 7, the unit-awaiting connector  40 , when mounted in the small width portion  17 , is, due to the flanges  46  and  46 ′ that hold the side edges  17   a  therebetween, movable in horizontal and vertical directions as indicated by arrows X and Y within the small width portion  17 , with the electrical contact pieces  42  of the pressure welding terminals  41  exposed on its upper surface. 
     Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8, if the electrical component unit  50  is inserted into the mount portion  11 ,  12  of the instrument panel  10 , the unit-awaiting connector  40  comes into the mating connector, which is of a surface-to-surface contact type, provided on the back of the unit  50 , so that the exposed electrical contact pieces  42  contact surface to surface with respective resilient terminal tongues  53  provided inside the mating connector  51  to make an electrical connection between the connectors  40  and  51 . 
     Because the third support plate (terminal fixing plate)  44  has inserting chamfers  44   e  at both sides of its front end, the unit-awaiting connector  40  comes smoothly into the mating connector  51  during its coupling with the latter. Further, because the unit-awaiting connector  40  is mounted in the small width portion  17  of the insertion opening  15  to be movable in the directions of the arrows X and Y, it can follow the mating connector  51 , if the latter is displaced, to be easily fitted therein. 
     While the above description concerns an example in which the instrument panel harness  20  consists of normal insulatingly covered wires  21  laid automatically in the harness placement groove  32  with the wiring head and fixed therein with the locking device  33  (FIG.  3 ), it is also possible to employ, for example, a separate wiring harness, flat wiring harness or resilient printed circuit board of a wires-gathered type prepared in advance in agreement with the harness placement groove  32  and its branch grooves  32 . It is also possible to fix the harness in the harness placement groove  32  with an adhesive or integrally in the air duct  30  by insert molding. 
     While in the above example, the unit-awaiting connector  40  is shown to be of a surface contact type having pressure welding terminals  41  for that purpose, it is also possible to employ a connector of a normal insertion type which adopts male or female terminals. In that case, a housing (not shown) will be employed in place of the terminal fixing plate  44 , which housing has terminal receiving cavities formed therein for the male or female terminals. 
     Further, instead of providing the terminal fixing plate  44  integrally with the second support plate  35 , it is also possible to make a separation at between the flanges  46  and  46 ′ and screw the thus separated parts to each other with a spacer interposed therebetween for maintaining the clearance D. 
     Having now fully described the invention, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that many changes and modifications can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention as set forth herein.