1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wire holding bracket used to route a wire for power supply arranged between a supporting body and a movable body displaceably mounted relative to the supporting body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an automotive vehicle includes many movable bodies such as a back door and a rear window displaceably mounted relative to a supporting body such as a vehicle body and free to open and close. In the case of mounting an electrical device such as a hot wire in the movable body, power is supplied to the electrical device by routing a wire for power supply between the supporting body and the movable body.
Such a wire routed between the supporting body and the movable body needs to be routed, taking into account a movable range of the movable body. For example, an example of wire routing for installing a spool obtained by reeling a strip-like flexible cable for power supply on a fixed window as a supporting body and connecting an end of the flexible cable drawn out from the spool to a hot wire laid in a movable window as a movable body in a rear window system of an automotive vehicle which is laterally slid to be opened and closed is disclosed in the specification of US patent publication No. 2013/0047513 (see FIGS. 14 to 17, etc. of US Patent Publication No. 2013/0047513).
However, in the wire routing disclosed in US Patent Publication No. 2013/0047513), it is necessary to install the large-size spool and a longitudinal accommodation rail for guiding the flexible cable to avoid interference with other members on the fixed window, thereby presenting a problem that the enlargement of an installation space for the wire and the like is unavoidable.
Further, a rear window system of an automotive vehicle which is vertically slid to be opened and closed is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-253866, but a complicated driving mechanism is arranged between a movable body and a supporting body. Specifically, to realize a smooth sliding movement of the movable body relative to the supporting body, a movement of the movable body relative to the supporting body is guided by mounting a guide rail extending in a sliding direction of the movable body on the supporting body and slidably engaging a slide bracket coupled to the movable body with this guide rail. Since it is important to route a wire for power supply without interference with other members in such a part, good countermeasures have been desired.
The present invention was developed against the above situation and aims to provide a wire holding bracket with a novel structure capable of space-efficiently and safely routing a wire for power supply on a movable body slidably mounted relative to a supporting body.
A first aspect of the present invention is directed to a wire holding bracket used to route a wire for power supply toward a movable body slidably mounted relative to a supporting body in an extending direction of a guide rail fixed to the supporting body by slidably engaging a slide bracket coupled to the movable body with the guide rail. The wire holding bracket includes a mounting portion to be mounted on the slide bracket. A wire main body holding portion projects from the mounting portion toward one side in a transverse direction of the guide rail. A wire end holding portion projects from the mounting portion toward the other side in the transverse direction of the guide rail and extends toward a power supply unit of the movable body. A wire accommodating recess extends from the wire main body holding portion to the wire end holding portion through the mounting portion, and the mounting portion is held slidably relative to the guide rail together with the slide bracket by being mounted on the slide bracket. Accordingly, the wire for power supply can be routed and held from one side toward the other side across the guide rail in the transverse direction. Thus, the wire for power supply to an electrical device provided in the movable body can be secured space-efficiently, skillfully using a space originally provided around the guide rail for a smooth movement of the movable body. In addition, it is possible to provide the wire holding bracket capable of following a sliding movement of the movable body by a simple structure of only mounting the mounting portion on the slide bracket.
In addition, the wire accommodating recess extends from the wire main body holding portion of the wire holding bracket to the wire end holding portion through the mounting portion. This enables the wire for power supply to be routed safely in a movable area by preventing the interference of the guide rail, surrounding other members such as a driving mechanism and the wire. Thus, the wire for power supply can be routed safely routed by space-efficiently preventing interference with other members by using the wire holding bracket even if the movable area where the wire holding bracket is slidable relative to the guide rail together with the slide bracket is a narrow area between the supporting body and the movable body.
A wire holding rib for holding the wire by the engagement of an engaging protrusion may be provided on a tip part with the wire and may be provided to project at each of a plurality of positions separated from each other in an extending direction of the wire accommodating recess in the wire accommodating recess. Accordingly, the wire accommodated and held on the wire holding bracket that slidingly moves relative to the guide rail can be held reliably by a simple structure of providing the projecting wire holding ribs in the wire accommodating recess. Further, by arranging the plurality of wire holding ribs in a manner separated from each other, the wire holding ribs can be easily deflected and a fitting operation can be performed easily in fitting the wire into the wire holding ribs.
The wire holding rib may include a flat plate portion projecting from a bottom surface of the wire accommodating recess toward an upper opening and extending along the extending direction of the wire accommodating recess. The engaging protrusion may project from a tip part of the flat plate portion toward one widthwise side. Accordingly to this aspect, the wire accommodated and held on the wire holding bracket that slidingly moves relative to the guide rail can be held reliably by a simple structure of providing the projecting wire holding ribs having an inversed L-shaped cross-sectional shape as a whole in the wire accommodating recess.
The wire holding rib may include a flat plate portion projecting from a bottom surface of the wire accommodating recess toward an upper opening and extending along the extending direction of the wire accommodating recess. Additionally, the engaging protrusion may project from a tip part of the flat plate portion toward both widthwise sides. Accordingly, the wire accommodated and held on the wire holding bracket that slidingly moves relative to the guide rail can be held reliably by a simple structure of providing the projecting wire holding ribs having a T-shaped cross-sectional shape as a whole in the wire accommodating recess. In addition, since the engaging protrusion is provided at opposite sides of the tip part of the flat plate portion, wires can be supported more stably along the opposite side surfaces of the flat plate portion.
The slide bracket may include an extending plate portion arranged to face one side surface of the guide rail, whereas the mounting portion may include a flat main body portion to be placed on an outer surface of the extending plate portion and an engaging claw portion projecting from a peripheral edge part of the flat main body portion toward the extending plate portion and configured to press the flat main body portion into contact with the outer surface by being engaged with the extending plate portion. Accordingly, the wire holding bracket can be mounted stably on the slide bracket merely by a simple operation of placing the flat main body portion on the extending plate portion of the slide bracket arranged to face the one side surface of the guide rail and engaging the engaging claw portion with the extending plate portion. In addition, the mounting portion can be configured into a flat shape composed of the flat main body portion and the engaging claw portion. Thus, the mounting portion advantageously can be mounted with a stable holding force of the mounting portion on the slide bracket ensured even in a narrow area between the supporting body and the movable body.
The wire for power supply is formed of a curl cord including a spiral portion routed expandably and contractibly in the extending direction of the guide rail, and the wire main body holding portion is provided on the tip of an extending portion extending from the mounting portion in an expanding direction of the spiral portion of the curl cord. Accordingly, a separate device such as a spool is not necessary unlike in a conventional structure and the wire for power supply having a length capable of covering a movable range of the movable body can be routed in a space-saving manner. Further, the wire main body holding portion of the wire holding bracket is provided on the tip of the extending portion extending in the expanding direction of the spiral portion of the curl cord. Thus, a length of the curl cord routed along the extending direction of the guide rail can be advantageously ensured by holding the end part of the spiral portion of the curl cord in the expanding direction on the wire main body holding portion. Note that an extending length of the extending portion can be adjusted easily to various movable bodies having different movement amounts by being appropriately changed in accordance with a length of the spiral portion of the curl cord that changes depending on the movement amount of the movable body.
An end part of the spiral portion of the curl cord may be fixed to the wire main body holding portion, whereas an inner wire obtained by removing a coating of the curl cord is accommodated and arranged in the wire accommodating recess. Accordingly, the wire for power supply can be routed advantageously even if an area around the guide rail is narrow.
The wire accommodating recess may include a bent portion in which an extending direction changes. Additionally, a cover configured to cover an upper opening of the wire accommodating recess may be mounted near the bent portion. There is a high possibility that the wire for power supply bent in the bent portion is detached easily and interferes with other members. However, mounting the cover to cover the upper opening of the wire accommodating recess near such a bent portion can reliably prevent having the wire protrude and interfere with other members.
The wire holding bracket of the present invention includes the wire main body holding portion and the wire end holding portion respectively projecting from the mounting portion to be mounted on the slide bracket toward the one and the other sides in the transverse direction of the guide rail. This enables the wire for power supply to be routed from the one side toward the other side across the guide rail in the transverse direction. Thus, the wire for power supply can be secured space-efficiently, skillfully using the space originally provided around the guide rail. In addition, by providing the wire accommodating recess, the wire for power supply can be routed safely in the movable area by preventing the interference of the guide rail, surrounding other members such as the driving mechanism and the wire. Therefore, the wire for power supply can be routed safely by space-efficiently preventing interference with other members even in a narrow clearance between the supporting body and the movable body.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to the drawings.
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On the other hand, the wire end holding portion 66 projecting from the mounting portion 58 toward the other side (left side in
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As just described, by a simple structure of providing the projecting wire holding ribs 80 having an inverted L-shaped cross-sectional shape and wire holding ribs 82 having a T-shaped cross-sectional shape in the wire accommodating recess 70, the inner wires 74 accommodated and held on the wire holding bracket 10 that slidingly moves relative to the guide rail 20 can be reliably held. In addition, by arranging the plurality of wire holding ribs 80, 82 in a manner separated from each other, the wire holding ribs 80, 82 can be easily deflected and a fitting operation can be easily performed in fitting the inner wires 74 into the wire holding ribs 80, 82.
Further, as shown in
By placing a flat main body portion 96 of the mounting portion 58 on the outer surface of the extending plate portion 34 of the slide bracket 22 arranged on one side surface of the guide rail 20 using the thus structured wire holding bracket 10, four hook-like engaging claw portions 98 projecting toward the extending plate portion 34 from a peripheral edge part of the flat man body portion 96 are engaged with unillustrated engaging portions of the extending plate portion 34, whereby the flat main body portion 96 is pressed and held in contact with the outer surface of the extending plate portion 34. As a result, the mounting portion 58 is mounted on the slide bracket 22 and the wire holding bracket 10 is held slidably relative to the guide rail 20 together with the slide bracket 22.
Here, since the mounting portion 58 is composed of the flat main body portion 96 and the engaging claw portions 98 projecting on the peripheral edge part of the flat main body portion 96, the flat main body portion 96 can be stably mounted in a state placed on the extending plate portion 34 of the slide bracket 22 arranged on the one side surface of the guide rail 20. In addition, since the mounting portion 58 can be configured into a flat shape, the mounting portion 58 can be advantageously mounted even in a narrow space between the vehicle 12 and the slide bracket 22 with a stable holding force of the mounting portion 58 on the slide bracket 22 ensured. Further, since the inner wires 74 obtained by removing the coating 72 of the curl cord 16 are routed through a space around the slide bracket 22, which is a narrow space, the wire for power supply can be advantageously routed also in the space around the slide bracket 22.
Further, according to the wire holding bracket 10 of this embodiment, the wire main body holding portion 48 is caused to project toward one side in the transverse direction of the guide rail 20 and the wire end holding portion 66 extending toward the power supply unit 68 of the rear window 14 is caused to project toward the other side from the mounting portion 58 to be mounted on the slide bracket 22. This enables the inner wires 74 for power supply to be routed and held from one side toward the other side across the guide rail 20 in the transverse direction. Specifically, the inner wires 74 for power supply to the hot wire for defogging can be space-efficiently ensured, skillfully using the space originally provided around the guide rail 20. In addition, it is possible to provide the wire holding bracket 10 capable of following a sliding movement of the rear window 14 by a simple structure of only mounting the mounting portion 58 on the slide bracket 22.
Further, by providing the wire accommodating recess 70 from the wire main body holding portion 48 to the wire end holding portion 66 of the wire holding bracket 10, the inner wires 74 can be safely routed to the power supply unit 68 of the rear window 14 by preventing the interference of the guide rail 20, surrounding other members such as a driving mechanism and the inner wires 74. Specifically, even in narrow spaces around the guide rail 20 and the slide bracket 22 where a movable range of a movable component is narrow, interference with other members can be space-efficiently prevented and the wires for power supply can be safely routed by using the wire holding bracket 10 of this embodiment.
Furthermore, since the wires for power supply are formed of the curl cord 16, a separate device such as a spool is not required unlike in a conventional structure and the wires for power supply having a length capable of covering the movable range of the rear window 14 can be routed in a space-saving manner. Further, the wire main body holding portion 48 of the wire holding bracket 10 is provided on the tip of the extending portion 60 extending in the expanding direction of the spiral portion 40 of the curl cord 16. Thus, a length of the curl cord 16 routed along the extending direction of the guide rail 20 can be advantageously ensured by holding the end part of the spiral portion 40 of the curl cord 16 in the expanding direction on the wire main body holding portion 48.
Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the specific description of the embodiment. For example, although the wire accommodating recess 70 is arranged to have a substantially crank shape as a whole in a plan view viewed in a direction perpendicular to the plane of
10: wire holding bracket, 12: vehicle (supporting body), 14: rear window (movable body), 16: curl cord (wire for power supply), 20: guide rail, 22: slide bracket, 34: extending plate portion, 40: spiral portion, 48: wire main body holding portion, 58: mounting portion, 60: extending portion, 66: wire end holding portion, 68: power supply unit, 70: wire accommodating recess, 72: coating, 74: inner wire (wire), 80, 82: wire holding rib, 81, 83: flat plate portion, 84: bottom surface, 86: upper opening, 88: engaging protrusion, 90: engaging protrusion, 92: cover, 96: flat main body portion, 98: engaging claw portion
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2013-163990 | Aug 2013 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/JP2014/069179 | 7/18/2014 | WO | 00 |