Abstract:
The present invention is directed to a connector holder for holding a connector during wiring of the connector which facilitates accurate positioning of protection material about wires of a cable. The connector holder includes a support member such as a pillar for mounting the invention to the wiring board. The connector holder includes a holder portion which houses a connector in an insertable and removable manner in such a condition that the wires can be connected thereto, and a positioning member is integrally provided with the holder portion and assists in the positioning of protection material about cable wires connected to the connector. The positioning member may also include an adjustable pin capable of positioning protection material arranged around the periphery of a cable in such a condition that the plurality of wires of the cable connected with a connector is arranged on both sides of the positioning member. Additionally, the holder portion may adjustably hold a connector between a connector-regulating member and a resilient member, which resiliently presses the connector against the connector-regulating member. The present invention may further provide for the adjustment of the thickness of the connector regulating member.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a connector holder, and more particularly, to a connector holder for use in the process of assembling a wiring harness, and a subassembly (hereinafter generally referred to as a “wire assembly”). 
     2. Description of Background Information 
     In general, a wire assembly consists of a circuit having a cable constructed of a plurality of wires, several connectors connected to the wires, the wires surrounded by protection material such as flexible tubes, corrugated tubes, and the like. Normally, the wire assembly is arranged in a tree configuration containing a trunk line and branch wires branching from the trunk line, wherein a terminal connector is connected to a respective branch wire. In such a wire assembly manufacturing process, several connector holders are vertically mounted on a work bench, called a wiring board, then the wires are arranged on the wiring board in a predetermined configuration by connecting a wire with a respective connector mounted on the connector holder. Protection material such as flexible tubing is then mounted onto a predetermined area about the wires of the cable and fastened to the cable by means of taping or the like. 
     Recently, the dimensional accuracy required for the construction of wire assemblies has become extremely high. High dimensional accuracy is also required for areas of wires contacting connectors, as well as for the mounting position of the protection materials with respect to the wires (particularly, the distance between the termination of the protection material and the connector). 
     However, protection materials are usually visually and manually installed, i.e., the installer positions the material solely by intuition, which causes variations that result in positioning error, thereby making it difficult to meet the recently-required positioning accuracy of wire assemblies. 
     The present invention solves the above problems, and the subject of the present invention is to provide a connector holder capable of increasing the positioning accuracy of protection material when manufacturing wire assemblies. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a connector holder for use in conjunction with a wiring board when assembling wire assemblies. The wiring board has at least one cable to be connected with a connector, each cable comprising one or more wires. The wiring board additionally has protection material such as flexible tubing for arrangement about the wires of the cable, and a support member such as a pillar is provided for mounting the invention to the wiring board. The invention includes a holder portion which houses a connector in an insertable and removable manner in such a condition that the wires can be connected thereto, and a positioning member which is integrally provided with the holder portion and assists in the positioning of protection material about cable wires connected to the connector. 
     In the present invention, a connector to be connected with cable wires is positioned by insertion into the holder portion. Additionally, the present invention enables protection material to be accurately positioned about the cable at a predetermined distance from the positioned connector. 
     According to one aspect of the invention, that the positioning member may be adjustably fastened to the holder portion and is changeable according to the direction of the cable wire connected with the connector. The vertical mounting of the connector holder of the present invention to a wiring board more easily facilitates the manufacture of the connector holder and wire assembly, because the positioning member allows change in accordance with the direction onto which a wire connected with the connector is arranged. It is thus easier to use the connector holder of the present invention for a wide variety of wire assembly tasks. 
     In another aspect of the invention, the positioning member may be a pin capable of positioning protection material arranged around the periphery of a cable in such a condition that at least two wires of the cable connected with a connector is arranged on both sides of the positioning member. Since the wires are arranged on both sides of the pin, protection materials may be more easily and accurately positioned on the cable, even when the protection material is constructed of soft material. Additionally, interference between the cable wires connected with the connector and the pin is more readily avoided, thereby reducing the possibility of wiring failures. 
     In an additional aspect of the invention, the holder portion may hold a connector with a connector-regulating member which positions the side of a connector where the cable is to be inserted therein, so that the cable connected with the connector is disengageable. According to further aspects of the invention, a resilient member, such as a regulating tool, which resiliently presses the connector against the connector-regulating member may be provided, and may further include a base portion which is integrally provided with the connector-regulating member and holds the lower surface of the connector to be mounted. 
     In other aspects of the present invention, the side of a connector where the cable is to be inserted may be positioned by a connector regulating member. The connector may be pressed against the connector regulating member by a resilient member so that the lower surface of connector is further retained by a base portion. The connector may also be detached from the holder so that the connector is wholly disengaged therefrom. In addition, the resilient member may have an aperture for providing the adjustment of the distance between the pressing area of the resilient member and the connector-regulating member, thereby allowing the invention to accommodate connectors of varying size. 
     In a further aspect of the invention, the above-mentioned positioning member and a holder may be configured in such a manner that the interval between the front-end face and the back face (referred to as “protection material regulating dimension”) of the positioning member is relatively adjustable, thereby providing the invention with increased flexibility and versatility when mounting protection material. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 depicts a perspective view of a connector holder according to a first embodiment of the present invention, shown being used in conjunction with a wire assembly, and with certain details of the wire assembly shown in broken lines; 
     FIG. 2 depicts a sectional partial schematic view of the connector holder of FIG. 1 shown being used in conjunction with a wire assembly; 
     FIG. 3 depicts a perspective view of the connector holder according to a second embodiment of the present invention, shown being used in conjunction with a wire assembly; 
     FIG. 4 depicts an exploded perspective view of the connector holder of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 depicts a partial sectional side schematic view of the connector holder in FIG. 3, shown being used in conjunction with a wire assembly; 
     FIG. 6 depicts a perspective view of the connector holder relating to the embodiment of FIG. 3, showing the varied positions of the pin; 
     FIG. 7 depicts a perspective view of a connector holder relating to a third embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 8 depicts a side schematic view showing the major part of the connector holder in FIG. 7, showing certain internal details in phantom lines; 
     FIG. 9 depicts a perspective view of the connector holder relating to fourth embodiment of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 10 depicts a side schematic view showing the major area of the connector holder in FIG. 9, showing certain internal details in phantom lines. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to the drawings wherein like numerals represent like elements, FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a connector holder  10  according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a partial sectional schematic view of the connector holder  10  in FIG.  1 . 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the connector holder  10  in this embodiment has a support member such as a pillar  11  provided in a wiring board (not illustrated herein), and a holder portion  12  formed on the upper side of the pillar  11 . The pillar  11  is ideally a metallic round-bar member, although it may be formed of other materials in alternative embodiments. The pillar  11  is fastened to the wiring board by known means (for instance, by screw thread or the like). 
     The holder portion  12  has a box configuration and is preferably formed of a resin. At the bottom of the holder portion  12   a  screw hole  12   a  is provided for engaging with a screw thread  11   a  provided on the upper end area of the pillar  11 . The holder portion  12  is secured to the pillar  11  by fastening the bottom face of the holder portion  12  by a nut lib engaged with the screw thread  11   a.    
     The holder portion  12  is provided with a housing recessed area  13  which is sectioned for housing a connector  1 . The housing recessed area  13  is set so that a predetermined specific connector  1  having an irregular form (as seen in FIG. 1) and dimension may be inserted and extracted in a downward or upward direction only. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the connector  1  is inserted into the housing recessed area  13  so that the side of the connector that is to be connected to the cable can be oriented towards a slit  14  which allows insertion/extraction of cable W integrally with the connector  1 . Additionally, the slit  14  is in open communication with the housing recessed area  13 . 
     The connector  1  shown is of the water-proof type, and a boss  1 a which houses a rubber cap (not illustrated herein) adhered to a cable W is provided. The boss  1 a is housed in the housing recessed area  13  and is embedded in the above-mentioned slit  14  and then held by a holder portion  12 . It will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that a standard, non-waterproof type of connector  1  may also be used in with the present invention  10 . 
     A positioning member such as a pin  15  is provided inside the slit  14 , the pin  15  serving to assist in the positioning of protection material on a cable W which is in turn connected with a connector  1 . As shown in FIG. 1., the edge face of the protection material  2  is fastened at the opening area of the slit  14 , thereby positioning the protection material when taping the material to the cable W. 
     In order to mount the pin  15 , a pin screw hole  16  is provided at the bottom of the opening area of slit  14  in the example as shown here, and is engaged with a larger diameter screw  15   a  provided at the end of pin  15 . Therefore, with the example as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the height may be made adjustable according to the dimension of the connector. 
     By fastening the holder portion  12  to a pillar  11  vertically mounted on the wiring board, accurate positioning of the connector  1  is attained by mounting the connector  1  on this holder portion  12 . With a pin  15  integrally fastened (vertically mounted) to the holder portion  12 , accurate positioning of the protection material  2  on the cable W can be made at a normal position spaced apart from the positioned connector  1  by a predetermined dimension (protection material regulated dimension) L, as shown in FIG.  2 . 
     Additionally, the pin  15  allows arrangement of the cable W on both sides thereof. The protection material  2  may be accurately positioned even if the protection material  2  is constructed of soft material. Interference between the cable W connected with the connector  1  and the pin  15  is eliminated, therefore reducing the possibility of failure in wiring work. 
     FIGS. 3-6 show a connector holder  210  according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. The holder portion  20  holds a connector  1  in such a condition that the side of the connector  1  that is to be connected to the cable is positioned upright, and is devoid of a slit which is formed on the holder portion  12  of the first preferred embodiment. A pin  15  is vertically mounted by first providing a mounting plate  21  between a holder portion  20  and a pillar  11  in a cantilever-type manner, and engaging a screw thread  15   a  of a pin  15  with a screw hole  21   a  provided near the distal end of the mounting plate  21 . 
     As shown in FIG. 4, the proximal end of the mounting plate  21  has a section for a flat oval hole  22  which permits penetration of a screw thread  11 a that is located on the upper end of the pillar  11 . The pillar  11  is fastened to the holder portion  20  in such a manner that the distance between the holder portion  20  and the pin  15  may be adjusted by screwing the nut lib over the screw thread  11   a  which is then inserted into the flat oval hole  22  when fastening the holder portion  20  onto the pillar by engaging the holder portion  20  with the screw thread  11   a.    
     FIG. 6 shows the variable mounting positions of the mounting plate  21  of the second embodiment. Because the position of the pin  15  may be changed in relation to the longitudinal axis of the pillar  11 , the position of the pin  15  allows changes in accordance with a direction D of a cable W. In FIG. 6, four directions D are shown along each of an outer side of the four-sided connector  1 . Therefore, the connector holder  210  may be mounted to a wiring board without any restrictions as to the mounting position and the type of wire assembly to be assembled, which makes the present invention extremely versatile. 
     In the first two embodiments  10 ,  210  respectively mentioned above, the pin  15  allows the protection material  2  to be positioned from the connector  1  by a precise protection material-regulated dimension L. Dimensional accuracy is therefore increased when mounting protection material  2  to a cable W during manufacture of a wire assembly. 
     Both of the above-described embodiments of the present invention show only preferred embodiments. Therefore the present invention as mentioned above is not limited to the scope of the above-described preferred embodiments. For example, the pin  15  may be omitted in the example shown in FIG. 1, which permits positioning of a protection material  2  by an open-ended portion  12   b  of slit  14 . However, it is preferable to use a pin  15 , since accurate positioning of protection material  2  may still be accomplished even when the protection material  2  is made of soft material such as vinyl resin. 
     Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, a third embodiment of the connector holder  310  is shown, FIG. 7 representing a perspective view and FIG. 8 representing a side schematic view. The third embodiment includes a holder portion  12  having a resin mold that is integrally provided with a base portion  30 , a connector regulating member in the form of a “U”-shaped wall portion  31  which is vertically mounted on the base portion, and an “L”-shaped regulating portion  38 . The base portion  30  has a substantially cuboidal form, and a pin  15  is provided on the upper area of the base portion, at the base of the “U”-shaped wall portion. 
     The “U”-shaped wall portion  31  regulates a side  1   b  of a connector  1  where the cable is to be inserted  1   b . The “U”-shaped wall portion  31  has an insertion recessed portion  31   a  generally having a U-shape which forms the bilateral symmetry of the “U”- shaped wall portion  31 , the wall portion  31  having the pin  15  as its symmetrical axis. Front end-face  31   b  of the wall portion  31  is flush with edge of the pin  15 , shown in FIG.  8 . Furthermore, back face  31   c  of the “U”-shaped wall portion  31  makes contact with the side of the connector  1  where the cable is to be inserted. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the interval between the front end-face  31   b  and a back face  31   c  determines a protection material regulating dimension L. 
     The regulating tool  33  is an integrally-formed generally “L”-shaped resin mold and includes a generally planar mounting portion  33   a  and a pressing portion  33   b . A base portion  30  is secured to the mounting portion  33   a  by a nut  11   b  of a pillar  11 , and has a front end-face  31   b  , a back face  31   c , and a generally “U”- shaped wall portion  31  which extends upward from a longitudinal back end-portion of the mounting portion  33   a . While the regulating tool  33  is ideally constructed of resin, it may be constructed of other materials such as metal in alternative embodiments. 
     The pressing portion  33   b  has a generally “&lt;”-shaped bent portion  33   d  at the middle area thereof, and the bent portion  33   d  protrudes towards the “U”-shaped wall portion  31 . When pressing the connector  1 , this bent portion  33   d  may be dimensionally configured so as to press the bent portion  33   d  against the connector  1 , and the connector may be below the bent portion  33   d , as discussed in the fourth embodiment below and shown in FIG.  10 . 
     The regulating tool  33  secures the connector  1  in cooperation with the “U”- shaped wall portion  31  by resiliently urging the connector  1  towards the back-face  31   c  of the “U”- shaped wall portion  31  by the spring-function of the pressing portion  33   b . The base portion  30 , the “U”-shaped wall portion  31 , and the regulating tool  33  enable complete detachment of the connector  1  from the holder portion  12 . Therefore, this embodiment  310  facilitates easy detaching of the connector  1 , reducing the possibility of wiring failures between the connector  1  and the cable W. 
     As shown in FIG. 8, an oval flat hole  33   c  is present along the longitudinal direction on the mounting portion  33   a  of the regulating tool  33 . The pillar  11  penetrates the oval flat hole  33   c  and is threadedly inserted into the base portion  30 , which is integrally formed with the “U”-shaped wall portion  31  and the pin  15 . The oval flat hole  33   c  provides for the sliding adjustment of the pressing portion  33   b  of the regulating tool  33 , which can either increase or decrease the distance between the pressing portion  33   b  of the regulating tool  33 , thereby enabling the present invention to a accommodate connectors  1  of varying size. 
     FIGS. 9 and 10 represent a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 9 showing a perspective view showing the connector holder  410 , and FIG. 10 showing a side schematic view. The holder portion  12  of the fourth embodiment  410  is split along the length of the “U”-shaped wall  31 , to create a front portion  131  and a back portion  132 , the front portion having a front end face  31   b  and the back portion having a back face  31   c . The front portion  131  and the rear portion are held together by a connecting screw  133 , and a pair of guide bars  134  located on either side of the screw prevent axial displacement of the front portion. The front end face  31   b  and the back face  31   c  define a protection material regulating dimension L, shown in FIG.  10 . The protection material regulating dimension L may be increased or decreased by turning the connecting screw  133 . 
     The guide bars  134  are fastened to the front portion  131 , and slidingly penetrate the back portion  132 . Although not shown, an anti-slip mechanism for each guide bar  134  is provided on the back portion  132 . Each guide bar  134  is configured to slidingly withdraw from the back portion  132  within a predetermined range regulated by the anti-slip mechanism. In addition, the connecting screw  133  is threadedly engaged with the back portion  132 , and rotates freely within the front portion  131 . A retaining member  135  is fixed to the screw  133  and is rotatable therewith. The retaining member  135  may be formed as a washer, or any suitable element, fixed to the screw  133  such that rotation of the screw  133  in one direction causes the front portion  131  to move toward the back portion  132 , and rotation in the opposite direction causes the front portion  131  to move away from the back portion. Thus, by rotating the connecting screw  133 , the distance between both portions  131  and  132  may be changed, thereby allowing for adjustment of the protection material regulating dimension L. 
     In the fourth embodiment  410 , a plate spring  140  having a top and a bottom end is adopted as a regulating tool, and the bottom end thereof is fastened to the base portion  30  by a pair of plate screws  141 , only one of which is shown in FIG. 10. A head portion  142  of each plate screw  141  is set apart in an axial direction against the plate spring  140 . A coil spring  143  having opposed ends is axially arranged about the periphery of the small screw  141 , with washers  144  on both ends of the coil spring functioning as a spring sheet. The force of the plate spring  140  can be adjusted by turning the plate screws  141  each have a coil spring  143 , thereby making it easier to select the force applied to a connector  1  by the plate spring  140 . 
     It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims. 
     The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in Japanese Utility Model Application No. JP 9-346606 filed Dec. 16, 1997, and Japanese Utility Model Application No. JP 10-200772 filed Jul. 15, 1998, both of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.