Electrical wire protective cover
View Patent ↗An electrical wire protective cover is assembled to a connector to cover an electrical wire pulled out of the connector. The electrical wire protective cover includes: a cover body configured to receive the electrical wire and having a wire receiving channel with an opening along a wire extending direction of the electrical wire; and a temporary wire retaining piece protruding from the cover body in a direction narrowing the opening of the wire receiving channel, and configured to allow the electrical wire to be inserted by a bending deformation of the temporary wire retaining piece into an inside of the wire receiving channel and prevent a movement of the electrical wire received in the wire receiving channel to an outside of the wire receiving channel.
1. An electrical wire protective cover to be assembled to a connector to cover an electrical wire pulled out of the connector, the electrical wire protective cover comprising:
a cover body having a wire receiving channel with an opening along a wire extending direction of the electrical wire and opening toward a direction orthogonal to the wire extending direction and an axis of the electrical wire, the electrical wire insertable through the opening of the wire receiving channel into the wire receiving channel and accommodated therein; and
a temporary wire retaining piece protruding from the cover body in a direction narrowing the opening of the wire receiving channel such that, in an undeformed state, the temporary wire retaining piece narrows the opening of the wire receiving channel to a dimension smaller than a width of the electrical wire, the temporary wire retaining piece being deformable between a first position and a second position, the first position where a bending deformation of the temporary wire retaining piece into an inside of the wire receiving channel allows the electrical wire to be inserted into the wire receiving channel, the second position where the temporary wire retaining piece narrows the opening of the wire receiving channel to the dimension smaller than the width of the electrical wire to prevent a movement of the electrical wire received in the wire receiving channel to an outside of the wire receiving channel in the direction orthogonal to the wire extending direction.
2. The electrical wire protective cover according to claim 1 , wherein a pair of the temporary wire retaining pieces are provided on the cover body.
3. The electrical wire protective cover according to claim 2 , wherein the pair of the temporary wire retaining pieces interfere with each other in a bending deformation to the outside of the wire receiving channel from the wire receiving channel.
4. The electrical wire protective cover according to claim 3 , wherein the pair of the temporary wire retaining pieces have respective engagement portions at distal ends of the pair of the temporary wire retaining pieces and are configured to interfere with each other due to an engagement between the engagement portions in the bending deformation to the outside of the wire receiving channel from the wire receiving channel.
5. The electrical wire protective cover according to claim 1 , wherein the temporary wire retaining piece is provided on one side of the cover body.
6. The electrical wire protective cover according to claim 5 , wherein the single temporary wire retaining piece is configured to interfere with the cover body in a bending deformation to the outside of the wire receiving channel from the wire receiving channel.
7. The electrical wire protective cover according to claim 1 , wherein the temporary wire retaining piece slopes in a direction entering an inside of the wire receiving channel.
8. The electrical wire protective cover according to claim 1 , wherein the temporary wire retaining piece has a tapered surface where an end portion of the temporary wire retaining piece in the wire extending direction of the electrical wire gradually expands an opening toward a tip of the temporary wire retaining piece.
9. The electrical wire protective cover according to claim 1 , wherein the cover comprises a connector assembling portion having a plurality of engagement holes to engage the connector.
10. The electrical wire protective cover according to claim 1 , wherein the movement of the electrical wire received in the wire receiving channel to the outside of the wire receiving channel is prevented by the temporary wire retaining piece in the undeformed state.
11. The electrical wire protective cover according to claim 10 , wherein
the temporary wire retaining piece comprises a pair of temporary wire retaining pieces;
a dimension of an opening between the pair of temporary wire retaining pieces in the undeformed state is smaller than the width of the electrical wire; and
the movement of the electrical wire received in the wire receiving channel to an outside of the wire receiving channel is prevented by the pair of temporary wire retaining pieces in the undeformed state.
12. The electrical wire protective cover according to claim 11 , wherein a temporary wire retaining piece of the pair of temporary wire retaining pieces is provided on both sides of the cover body.
13. The electrical wire protective cover according to claim 11 , wherein the pair of temporary wire retaining pieces slope in a direction that enters the inside of the wire receiving channel.
14. The electrical wire protective cover according to claim 11 , wherein an end portion in the wire extending direction of each of the pair of temporary wire retaining pieces is provided with a tapered surface that gradually expands from a center toward a tip of the end portion.
15. The electrical wire protective cover according to claim 11 , wherein the pair of temporary wire retaining pieces interfere with each other during an outward bending deformation to prevent a bending deformation greater than a given extent.
16. The electrical wire protective cover according to claim 15 , wherein trajectories of distal ends of each of the pair of temporary wire retaining pieces intersect during the outward bending deformation of the pair of temporary wire retaining pieces.
17. The electrical wire protective cover according to claim 1 , wherein the temporary wire retaining piece is configured such that a distal end of the temporary wire retaining piece abuts on an inner surface of the cover body during an outward bending deformation of the temporary wire retaining piece from within the wire receiving channel.
18. The electrical wire protective cover according to claim 2 , wherein distal ends of each piece of the pair of temporary wire retaining pieces comprise engagement portions forming a pair of engagement portions engaged with each other prior to a bending deformation of the pair of temporary wire retaining pieces such that the wire receiving channel is completely closed along the wire extending direction.
19. The electrical wire protective cover according to claim 18 , wherein
the pair of engagement portions engage with each other to prevent the pair of temporary wire retaining pieces from moving outside of the wire receiving channel; and
the pair of engagement portions release from each other to enable the pair of temporary wire retaining pieces to open and move into the wire receiving channel.
20. The electrical wire protective cover according to claim 1 , wherein the temporary wire retaining piece has a rounded surface defined as an outer surface of a connecting portion to the cover body.