Clamp for plural wire harnesses

Abstract

A clamp including a panel fixing portion and a wire harness holding portion. The wire harness holding portion includes a holding portion main unit with a U-shaped groove with an open upper portion and a cover portion. A plurality of protruding ribs are formed on the inner wall surface on the bottom surface side of the holding portion main unit and extend lengthwise with respect to the wire harnesses from the mid-height position of the U-shaped groove, the open portion upward from the mid-height position of the U-shaped groove being wide enough to accommodate more wire harnesses above the mid-height position. The cover portion is formed with an elastic harness pressing tab for elastically pressing down on the upper portion of the wire harnesses, so that the entire outer periphery of the wire harnesses are elastically pressed down upon when covered.

1 . A clamp comprising:
 a wire harness holding portion for holding a plurality of wire harnesses, wherein the wire harness holding portion includes a rigid holding portion main unit having a U-shaped groove with an open upper portion and a space accommodating a plurality of wire harnesses, and a cover portion for closing the open upper portion of the holding portion main unit, wherein a plurality of protruding ribs are formed on the inner wall surface on a bottom surface side of the holding portion main unit and extend lengthwise with respect to the wire harnesses from a mid-height position of the U-shaped groove to align the wire harnesses so as to be stacked from the bottom surface,   wherein the open portion above the mid-height position of the U-shaped groove is wide enough to accommodate more wire harnesses above the mid-height position, wherein the cover is formed with elastic wire harness pressing tabs for elastically pressing down on the upper portion of the wire harnesses when the cover portion is closed and the open portion of the U-shaped groove is closed, and   wherein the entire outer periphery of the wire harnesses accommodated in the U-shaped groove is surrounded by the inner wall surface of the U-shaped groove and the harness pressing tabs to keep the wire harnesses from sliding in the axial direction and moving in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction.   
   
   
       2 . The clamp of  claim 1 , wherein a hinge is connected to one end of the cover portion and one end of the holding portion main unit, and wherein the cover portion turns on the hinge to close the open portion of the holding portion main unit. 
   
   
       3 . The clamp of  claim 2 , wherein the cover portion has a lock portion formed in an end opposite the hinge, and the holding portion main unit has an engagement portion formed at the end opposite the hinge to engage the lock portion, and
 wherein the lock portion engages the engagement portion to keep the open portion closed when the cover portion turns on the hinge and closes the open portion of the holding portion main unit.   
   
   
       4 . The clamp of  claim 3 , wherein the lock portion has a first locking claw and a second locking claw to engage the engagement portion, wherein the first locking claw is positioned to engage the engagement portion with the cover portion keeping the space above the space accommodating the wire harnesses in the holding portion main unit somewhat wider, and
 wherein the second locking claw is positioned to engage the engagement portion with the cover portion keeping the space above the space accommodating the wire harnesses in the holding portion main unit narrower.   
   
   
       5 . The clamp of  claim 4 , wherein four protruding ribs are arranged to position one wire harness at the bottom of the U-shaped groove and to form a shaped space to stack two more wire harnesses on top of this wire harness, the three stacked wire harnesses forming an upside-down triangle. 
   
   
       6 . The clamp of  claim 5 , wherein the width of the U-shaped groove on the inner wall surface from the mid-height position of the U-shaped groove to the open portion facing upward becomes larger from the mid-height position to allow three more wire harnesses to be stacked on top of the two wire harnesses at the mid-height position and form an upside-down triangle with six wire harnesses. 
   
   
       7 . The clamp of  claim 6 , wherein the harness pressing tabs have a tip elastically pressing down on the upper surface of the wire harnesses accommodated inside the U-shaped groove, and the horizontal cross-section of the tip has a curved shape to press down firmly on the middle portion of the upper surface of the wire harnesses in the lengthwise direction. 
   
   
       8 . The clamp of  claim 5 , wherein a panel fixing portion is integrated with the wire harness holding portion main unit to be fixed to a workpiece such as a panel. 
   
   
       9 . The clamp of  claim 8 , wherein the panel fixing portion comprises a main portion integrated with the wire harness holding portion and a metal holding tab connected to hold the main portion, wherein a pair of elastic engagement tabs is formed in the holding tab, and wherein the pair of elastic engagement tabs interpose a plate-shaped mounting portion standing erect from the panel. 
   
   
       10 . A clamp comprising:
 a wire harness holding portion, the wire harness holding portion including a main unit and a cover portion;   wherein the main unit comprises a generally U-shaped groove comprising a space for retaining wire harnesses with an open upper end and further comprises a plurality of protruding ribs formed on an inner wall surface of the U-shaped groove;   wherein the cover portion is configured to move between a closed position of closing the open upper end of the U-shaped groove and an open position, the cover portion comprising a locking portion and a harness pressing tab; and   wherein, when the cover portion is in closed position the locking portion engages an engagement portion of the main unit to retain the cover portion in the closed position and the harness pressing tab closes the open upper end of the U-shaped groove.   
   
   
       11 . The clamp of  claim 10 , wherein the harness pressing tab is configured such that when the cover portion is in the closed position the harness pressing tab presses against wire harnesses retained in the space. 
   
   
       12 . The clamp of  claim 11 , wherein the space is configured to receive wire harnesses in an upside-down pyramid arrangement. 
   
   
       13 . The clamp of  claim 12 , wherein the space is configured to receive only a single wire harness at a bottom location 
   
   
       14 . The clamp of  claim 13 , wherein the space is configured to receive exactly two wire harnesses in a row directly above the single wire harness. 
   
   
       15 . The clamp of  claim 10 , wherein the clamp further comprises a panel fixing portion attached to the main unit, the panel fixing portion including a main unit and a metal holding tab, the metal holding tab including engagement tabs for engaging a mounting portion of a panel. 
   
   
       16 . The clamp of  claim 10 , wherein the locking portion comprises a first locking claw and a second locking claw, and
 wherein when the first locking claw engages the engagement portion, the cover portion is retained in a first closed position and wherein when the second locking claw engages the engagement portion, the cover portion is retained in a second closed position.