Abstract:
A wire harness assembly comprises a wire harness ( 22 ) and rotatable support ( 48 ) retaining the wire harness ( 22 ). (FIG.  2 ). The rotatable support ( 48 ) allows for the rotation of the wire harness ( 22 ) about at least one axis and may employ a clip ( 18 ) to permit its placement on a flange. (FIG.  2 ). The rotatable support is further connected to a vehicle component.

Description:
[0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/276,326 filed Mar. 16, 2001. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    This invention relates to a rotatable support for a wire harness that permits a wire bundle to rotate in relation to a vehicle component.  
           [0003]    Wires are used in a vehicle to provide electrical power to various vehicle systems and to allow for the communication of electrical signals between these systems. The wire harness serves to support the numerous wire bundles in a vehicle. Frequently, due to the confined space of a vehicle, such wire harnesses should have the flexibility to wrap around various vehicle components.  
           [0004]    Current wire harnesses employ rigid retainers that provide little flexibility for a harness assembler to direct wire around the contours of a vehicle component. These retainers merely lock the wire harness in the particular orientation in which they are inserted. Such retainers may require a manufacturer to design a great variety of retainers to accommodate the various orientations encountered in the harnessing of wire. Moreover, they require the assembler to painstakingly and correctly orient the retainer on the vehicle component.  
           [0005]    A need therefore exists for a more convenient and flexible approach to harnessing wire in a vehicle.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    The present invention provides a flexible support for a wire harness on a vehicle component. The retainer comprises a rotating support that allows rotation of the retained wire harness about an axis of rotation on a vehicle component. In this way, the wire harness and support may be placed on a vehicle component with greater freedom in the orientation of wire harness through the vehicle. Moreover, the rotating support permits an assembler to easily direct the wire harness along a variety of paths both before and after insertion of the retainer on the component.  
           [0007]    A disclosed wire harness employs a rotating support that permits rotation of a wire bundle on one or more axes by using a clip to connect the support to a vehicle component. The wire harness may rotate within a plane (i.e., along one axis as well as another axis perpendicular to the first).  
           [0008]    The clip may comprise a first leg and a second leg such that the legs embrace, like a paper clip, a flange of the vehicle component. Such a feature permits the clip to be placed on any such surface of the component and avoids the necessity of forming a component feature, such as a hole, to accommodate a particular support. Accordingly, not only does the rotating support permit rotation of a wire harness about the clip but also provides the freedom of placing the clip on any flange of the vehicle component. The clip may have a barb to ensure that the clip remains on the flange after clipping the legs to the flange.  
           [0009]    In addition, the rotating support may have a swivel base that permits rotation of the wire bundle along a first axis. The support may also allow rotation of the wire bundle along an axis transverse to the first axis. Accordingly, the clip may provide for two degrees of freedom in the adjustment of the wire bundle.  
           [0010]    To selectively lock the position of the support following rotation of the wire bundle, the rotating support may comprise a first portion with a first set of teeth and a second portion with a second set of teeth to engage the first set of teeth. The first portion may have an opening to permit the snap fit of the second portion into the first portion. Thus, the teeth may be engaged selectively to maintain the desired orientation of the bundle.  
           [0011]    Hence, a wire harness is mounted on a rotatable support and drawn and directed around the vehicle component. The retainer may be selectively locked in place so as to prevent undesired rotation of the wire harness following installation and during vehicle operation. As a consequence of this invention, an assembler may quickly and easily install a wire harness around a vehicle component without having to design specific supports for orienting the wire harness with respect to the component. The invention further permits greater flexibility directing wire around the vehicle component. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    The various features and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the currently preferred embodiment. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 shows a prior art wire retainer used for a wire harness.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 illustrates the invention, including wire, rotatable support, and a clip.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 illustrates the invention of FIG. 1 prior to the insertion of the clip into the rotatable support.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4A illustrates the insertion of the clip into the rotatable support  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 4B shows the locked position.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 5 shows the adjustment of the clip within the rotatable support following insertion.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 6 shows the swivel base of the rotatable support. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0020]    [0020]FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art wire retainer  10 , comprising clip  18 , rigid support  14 , and wire harness  22 , such as a wire bundle. As shown in this figure, clip  18  is fixed to support  14 , and straddles flange  26 , employing tension between legs  30  and  34  to hold clip  18  on flange  26 . Clip  18  is installed on flange  26  by moving in the direction of arrow K. As known, barb  38  digs into flange  26  to lock clip  18  on flange  26  and prevent its removal in a direction opposite arrow K. Tape  40  retains wire harness  22  on rigid support  14 . Flange  26  may be a vehicle component, such as a flange on an engine block or a flange in the engine compartment. Because clip  18  will mount to any flange of appropriate thickness, clip  18  offers a wide variety of areas within a vehicle to mount wire harness  22 . Typically, the rigid support  14  is molded plastic while clip  18  is metal mounted to the rigid support  14 . Notably, from this figure, it is apparent that rigid support  14  does not allow adjustment of the wire harness  22  and only allows it to extend along one axis, such as the x-axis as shown. Thus, a variety of wire retainers are required to direct and support wire harness  22  along different axes.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the invention. Like prior art wire retainer  10 , the invention  44  employs clip  18  having legs  30  and  34  to hold clip  18  on flange  26 . In contrast to the inflexible wire retainer  10 , however, invention  44  employs rotatable support  48  to provide a wide range of motion for the direction and support of wire harness  22 , such as a bundle of wires. Rotatable support  48  may rotate about y-axis in either direction of arrow A or arrow B or may pivot in relation to the x-axis in either direction of arrow C or arrow D. The x-axis is transverse to the y-axis as shown. Thus, rotatable support  48  provides greater flexibility in altering the orientation of wire harness  22  about flange  26  of a vehicle component.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 3 illustrates the pivoting and rotating features of rotatable support  48 . As shown, rotatable support comprises first portion  56  and second portion  60 . First portion comprises socket  64  while second portion comprises ball  60  that rotates within socket  64 . Ball  60  is sized to fit within socket  64  and allow rotation of ball  60 . Thus, socket  64  has width G, which may be slightly greater than width of ball  60 , which is H. Socket  64  also has a depth I, which may be slightly greater height of ball J.  
         [0023]    Socket  64  also has opening  62  of dimension K to receive ball  60 . Dimension K is preferably slightly smaller than dimension H. Defining opening  62  is lip  68 , which may flex by pivoting outwardly. During assembly, ball  60  contacts lip  68  and generally causes a tip of lip  68  to pivot inwardly and thus increase the size of opening  62  of socket  64  to receive ball  60 . Lip  68  may also pivot outwardly from an inner point, also expanding the size of opening  62  of socket  64 . Once ball  60  moves completely into socket  64 , then lip  68  returns to its unflexed position and serves to retain ball  60  within socket  64 . In this way, ball  60  snaps into socket  64 . Individuals skill in the art will appreciate other ways to obtain a ball and socket fit.  
         [0024]    As shown in FIG. 3, first portion  56  may also have teeth  76  and second portion ball  60 , may also have teeth  80 . Teeth  76  mate with spaces between teeth  80  to lock the location of ball  60  in socket  64  once ball  60  has been rotated to its desired orientation. This particular design may allow the pivoting of clip  18  to about 45° in relation to the x-axis. One of ordinary skill can modify the design to provide more or less pivoting of clip  18 . FIGS. 4 and 5 show that ball  60  may be inserted into the desired locked orientation or, alternatively, inserted and then adjusted into the desired locked position. The teeth are shown such that there is an unequal number of teeth on the two components. This will facilitate the pivoting of the position of the two components relative to each other, as can be best understood from FIGS. 4 and 5. As seen in FIG. 4A, ball  60  may be inserted along a direction shown by arrow M and causing lip  68  to flex along the direction of arrow YY. Teeth  76  will then mate with spaces between teeth  80  to lock in the desired orientation with respect to the X-axis and Y-axis once lip  68  flexes back to hold the ball as shown in FIG. 4B.  
         [0025]    Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5, following insertion of ball  60  into socket  64 , ball  60  may be moved in direction of arrow YYY, causing tip  67  of lip  68  to flex in the same direction. Teeth  76  will move sufficiently out of spaces between teeth  80  so as to allow relocation of the orientation of ball  60  along a direction as shown by arrow N without causing ball  60  to leave socket  64  entirely. Accordingly, ball  60  may be pivoted within socket  64  and locked into place following insertion. One of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate other structure to accomplish this pivoting action as well.  
         [0026]    While the teeth are shown as being fully received within each other in figures as such FIG. 1, it should be appreciated that there may be spaces, etc., between the teeth dependent on the particular relative positions. Again, what is generally required is merely some holding structure for holding the two components once the lip  68  flexes to hold the ball within the socket  64 .  
         [0027]    In addition to the pivoting action described above, as shown in FIG. 6, rotatable support  48  may swivel with respect to wire support  92  in direction of arrow A or B. FIG. 5 shows post  80  inserted in wire support  92  to permit such swiveling movement. Flanges  84  and  88  of rotatable support  48  and within wire support  92  retain rotatable support  48  with wire support  92 . The fit of rotatable support  48  within wire support  92  may be tight enough so as to limit swiveling due to rotational friction between rotatable support  48  and wire support  92 . Thus, as described above, rotational movement may be supported along two different axes of rotation, such as the x-axis and the y-axis.  
         [0028]    The aforementioned description is exemplary rather than limiting. Many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teaching. The preferred embodiments of this invention have been disclosed. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this invention. Hence, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. For this reason, the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this invention.