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 140B 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 130A for holding therein the related unit-awaiting connector 140B of the instrument panel harness 140.
The connector holder 130A, 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 140B.
On its upper wall with a circumferential flange, the connector holder 130A 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 140A 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 140B for connecting to the electrical component unit 111, 112. The housing 141 of the connector 140B 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 140B is mounted in the connector mount opening 131, resiliently contacts the innermost wall surface of the connector holder 130A to support the connector 140B 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's part mates with the unit-awaiting connector 140B properly positioned by the connector holder 130A 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 130A is found slightly deviated from position, the unit-awaiting connector 140B, 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 130A is remedied only through the movement of the connector 140B 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 130A are large, such positional error will not be remedied only through the movement of the connector 140B.
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 140B 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.