JP2000211666A - Waterproof case - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve waterproofness of a waterproof case without spoiling assembly workability of the waterproof case. SOLUTION: A sealing groove 24 for fitting an elastic sealing member 14 therein is formed at a lid 13, and a fitting protuberance 22 to be fitted into a fitting groove 23 of the elastic sealing member 14 is formed at a case main body 12. Seal line parts 25, 26 and 27, each in a projected shape, are formed, extending all over both of side faces of the fitting groove 23 of the elastic sealing member 14 and both of side faces and upper and lower faces of the elastic sealing member 14. When the lid 13 is fitted to the case main body 12, the seal line parts 25 at both of the side faces of the fitting groove 23 are stuck fast to both of side faces of the fitting protuberance 22, and while the seal line parts 26 at both of the side faces of the elastic sealing member 14 are stuck fast to both of the side faces of the sealing groove 24, the seal line parts 27 at the upper and lower faces of the elastic sealing member 14 are stuck fast to the case main body 12 and the bottom of the sealing groove 24 of the lid 13. Furthermore, the elastic sealing member 14 is interposed between the lower end of the fitting protuberance 22 and the bottom of the sealing groove 24.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a waterproof case in which a space between a case body and a lid is sealed by an elastic sealing member.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, for example, an electronic engine control circuit of an automobile has been housed in a waterproof case to protect it from rainwater and moisture. In recent years, a waterproof structure as shown in FIG. 5 has been proposed in order to improve the waterproofness and assemblability of the waterproof case. This is the case body 1
An annular seal groove 4 for fitting an annular elastic seal member 3 is formed in a lid 2 covered with a cover body, and an annular fitting groove 5 is formed on the upper surface side of the elastic seal member 3 over the entire circumference thereof. 1, an annular fitting protrusion 6 that fits into the fitting groove 5 of the elastic seal member 3 is formed. Further, on both sides of the fitting groove 5 and both sides of the elastic sealing member 3, convex sealing line portions 7, 8 are formed over the entire circumference, respectively, and the fitting projection 6 is formed on the fitting groove 5 of the elastic sealing member 3. When fitted in, the fitting projections 6 are pressed against the sealing line portions 7 on both sides of the fitting groove 5 to expand the fitting groove 5, whereby the sealing on the both sides of the elastic seal member 3 is performed. The line portion 8 is brought into close contact with both side surfaces of the seal groove 4.

[0003]

In the above conventional waterproof structure, the seal line portions 7 and 8 of the elastic seal member 3 are provided on both sides of the fitting projection 6 of the case body 1 and both sides of the seal groove 4 of the lid 2. The contact between the case main body 1 and the lid 2 is sealed by bringing the case body 1 into close contact. Therefore, in order to enhance the waterproof performance with this structure, it is necessary to increase the compressibility (pressure contact force) of the elastic seal member 3 in the horizontal direction. To achieve this,
What is necessary is just to make the width dimension of the elastic seal member 3 large and the width dimension of the fitting groove 5 small, but with such a dimension setting, it is difficult to fit the elastic seal member 3 into the seal groove 4 during assembly. And the fitting protrusion 6 is
, It is difficult to fit into the device, and the assemblability is deteriorated.

If the height of the elastic seal member 3 is made larger than the depth of the seal groove 4, as shown in FIG. 6, the elastic seal member 3 is compressed vertically and expanded horizontally. Therefore, the pressing force of the elastic seal member 3 in the horizontal direction can be increased. However, in this case, when assembling the lid 2 to the case body 1, the lid 2 is lifted up by the elastic sealing member 3, so that the lid 2 is strongly pressed against the repulsive force of the elastic sealing member 3 and assembled. Therefore, the repulsive force at the time of assembly is large, and the assembling property is deteriorated. Moreover, in this case, since the entire elastic seal member 3 is maintained in a state where it is relatively largely compressed in the vertical direction, settling of the elastic seal member 3 is promoted,
There is also a drawback that the elastic force of the elastic seal member 3 tends to decrease and the durability deteriorates. Under these circumstances, the waterproof structure of FIGS. 5 and 6 cannot achieve both waterproof performance and assemblability, and one of them has to be sacrificed.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a waterproof case capable of improving waterproof performance without lowering assemblability.

[0006]

To achieve the above object, a waterproof case according to the first aspect of the present invention has an annular seal groove in one of a case body and a lid, and an elastic seal member fitted in the other. An annular fitting projection is formed to fit into the mating groove, and a convex seal line portion is formed on both sides of the fitting groove of the elastic seal member and on both sides and upper and lower surfaces of the elastic seal member over the entire circumference. When the lid is assembled to the case body, the seal line portions on both sides of the fitting groove of the elastic seal member are in close contact with both side surfaces of the fitting protrusion, and the seal line portions on both side surfaces of the elastic seal member are in the seal groove. And the seal lines on the upper and lower surfaces of the elastic sealing member are in close contact with the case body and the lid.

In this waterproof structure, sealing can be performed in the horizontal direction by the seal line portions on both side surfaces of the elastic seal member and the seal line portions on both side surfaces of the fitting groove. Seals can be made in any direction, improving waterproof performance. Moreover, instead of bringing the entire upper and lower surfaces of the elastic seal member into close contact with the case body and the lid as shown in FIG. 6, only the seal line portion of the elastic seal member is brought into close contact with the case body and the lid. When assembling the lid to the case body, it is sufficient to compress and deform almost only the seal line portion, and as compared with a structure in which the entire elastic seal member is vertically compressed as shown in FIG. Can be reduced, and assemblability can be secured. Further, as compared with the structure of FIG. 6, the compression ratio of the entire elastic seal member can be reduced, so that even when used for a long period of time, the elastic seal member has little set-up and can maintain a stable sealing force for a long period of time. And durability can be improved. In addition, by improving the waterproof performance, the tolerance of the dimensional tolerance of each component can be relaxed, the manufacturing cost can be reduced accordingly, and even if the case body or the lid is distorted or displaced, The required waterproof performance can be ensured, and the reliability of waterproofing can be improved.

Further, the length of the protrusion of the fitting protrusion is set such that the lower end of the fitting protrusion contacts the bottom surface of the fitting groove in a state where the lid is assembled to the case body. Is also good. With this configuration, since the elastic sealing member is sandwiched between the lower end of the fitting protrusion and the bottom surface of the seal groove, a sealing effect can be provided even at the lower end side of the fitting protrusion, and the waterproof performance can be further enhanced. Can be.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a step convex portion is formed in a portion of the case body or the lid facing the seal groove, and a lower surface of the step convex portion is elastically sealed by an elastic sealing member. May be brought into close contact with the seal line portion on the upper surface of. With this configuration, the height of the elastic seal member can be reduced by the height of the stepped portion, so that the elastic seal member can be completely housed in the seal groove.
Thereby, it is possible to prevent the upper portion of the elastic seal member from being caught in a state shifted to the outside of the seal groove, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of poor waterproof due to a defective assembly of the elastic seal member.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [Embodiment (1)] An embodiment (1) in which the present invention is applied to a waterproof case of an on-vehicle electronic control circuit will be described below with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 2, the waterproof case 11 is constructed by assembling a lid 13 with a case main body 12, and an annular ring formed of an elastic material such as rubber is provided between the case main body 12 and the lid 13. The elastic seal member 14 is sandwiched. A circuit board 15 on which electronic components (not shown) constituting an electronic control circuit are mounted is housed in the waterproof case 11. A wiring pattern (not shown) is formed on one side or both sides of the circuit board 15, and a connector 16 is mounted so as to be electrically connected to the wiring pattern.

As shown in FIG. 3, a connector housing 17 for housing a connector 16 is provided at a front portion of the case body 12, and at both side surfaces and a back surface of the case body 12,
Two engaged projections 18 for engaging and holding the lid 13 are formed two by two. A fitting projection 22 is formed on the entire periphery of the opening of the case body 12. A mounting flange 19 is formed on one side of the case body 12, and an engagement groove 2 is formed on the opposite side.
0 is formed. When attaching the waterproof case 11 to the vehicle body, the engagement groove 20 of the case main body 12 is inserted into and engaged with an engagement protrusion (not shown) provided on the vehicle body, and a screw (not shown) is inserted into the screw hole 21 of the mounting flange 19. The waterproof case 11 is attached to the vehicle body by inserting and tightening the waterproof case 11 into the vehicle body.

As shown in FIG. 2, on the outer peripheral portion of the lid 13,
A U-shaped engagement piece 28 is formed at a position corresponding to the engaged convex portion 18 of the case body 12. To the case body 12. An annular seal groove 24 is formed in the cover 13 at a position corresponding to the fitting protrusion 22 of the case body 12, and the elastic seal member 14 is fitted into the seal groove 24.

On the other hand, on the upper surface side of the elastic seal member 14,
An annular fitting groove 23 is formed over the entire circumference, and the fitting projection 22 of the case body 12 is fitted into the fitting groove 23. In this case, the protrusion length of the fitting projection 22 is
3 is formed slightly larger than the depth dimension of the fitting projection 22.
Between the lower end of the seal and the bottom of the seal groove 24
4 is sandwiched. Further, on both side surfaces of the fitting groove 23 of the elastic seal member 14, and on both side surfaces and upper and lower surfaces of the elastic seal member 14, a plurality of seal line portions 25, 26, 27 each having a convex shape are formed over the entire circumference. I have.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the height dimension of the elastic seal member 14 is such that the elastic seal member 14
When the is fitted, the seal line portion 27 on the upper surface side is set to protrude upward from the seal groove 24. Further, as shown in FIG.
When assembling, the seal line portions 25 on both sides of the fitting groove 23 are in close contact with both sides of the fitting protrusion 22, and the seal line portions 26 on both sides of the elastic seal member 14 are in close contact with both sides of the seal groove 24. At the same time, the seal line portions 27 on the upper and lower surfaces of the elastic seal member 14 are in close contact with the bottom surfaces of the seal grooves 24 of the case body 12 and the lid 13.

According to the waterproof structure described above, both sides of the fitting groove 23 of the elastic seal member 14 and the elastic seal member 14
The convex sealing line portions 25, 26, 27 are formed on both side surfaces and upper and lower surfaces of the elastic sealing member 1 respectively.
4 can be sealed in the horizontal direction by the seal line portions 26 on both side surfaces and the seal line portions 25 on both side surfaces of the fitting groove 23, and can also be sealed in the vertical direction by the seal line portions 27 on both the upper and lower surfaces of the elastic seal member 14. The waterproof performance can be improved as compared with the conventional waterproof structure that seals only in the horizontal direction.

Further, since only the seal line portion 27 of the elastic seal member 14 is merely brought into close contact with the case main body 12 and the lid 13, when the lid 13 is assembled to the case main body 12, almost only the seal line portion 27 is provided. May be compressed and deformed, and the compression ratio of the elastic seal member 14 in the vertical direction may be small. Therefore, the resilience of the elastic seal member 14 at the time of assembly can be reduced as compared with the structure in which the entire elastic seal member is vertically compressed as shown in FIG.
Assemblability can be secured. In the process of compressively deforming the seal line portions 27 on the upper and lower surfaces of the elastic seal member 14, the elastic seal member 14 is also slightly compressed in the vertical direction and expands in the horizontal direction. The press-contact force between the portion 26 and both side surfaces of the seal groove 24 can be increased as compared with the related art, and the horizontal sealing effect can be enhanced.

Further, as compared with the structure shown in FIG. 6, the compression rate of the entire elastic seal member 14 can be reduced, so that even if the elastic seal member 14 is used for a long period of time, the elastic seal member 14 has a small set-up and a long-term stable sealing force. Can be maintained, and the durability can be improved. In addition, by improving the waterproof performance, the tolerance of the dimensional tolerance of each component can be relaxed,
Accordingly, the manufacturing cost can be reduced and the case body 1 can be reduced.
Even when distortion or displacement of the cover 2 or the cover 13 occurs, necessary waterproof performance can be ensured, and reliability for waterproofing can be improved.

Further, in the present embodiment (1), the projecting length of the fitting projection 22 is set to be slightly larger than the depth dimension of the fitting groove 23. The elastic sealing member 14 can be reliably sandwiched between the bottom surface of the sealing member 24 and the bottom surface of the sealing member 24, and a sealing effect can be imparted to this portion, and the waterproof performance can be further enhanced.

However, according to the present invention, the length of the fitting protrusion 22 is made smaller than the depth of the fitting groove 23 so that the lower end of the fitting protrusion 22 does not contact the bottom surface of the fitting groove 23. Even in this case, the intended object of the present invention can be sufficiently achieved.

[Embodiment (2)] In the embodiment (2) of the present invention shown in FIG. 4, the height dimension of the elastic seal member 14 is set smaller than the depth dimension of the seal groove 24 and the case body 12 Of the parts facing the seal groove 24,
A stepped portion 30 that fits into the seal groove 24 is formed, and the lower surface of the stepped portion 30 is brought into close contact with the seal line portion 27 on the upper surface of the elastic seal member 14. Other configurations are the same as those in the embodiment (1).

In such a waterproof structure, the height of the elastic seal member 14 can be reduced by the height of the step projection 30, so that the elastic seal member 14 can be completely housed in the seal groove 24. . Thereby, it is possible to prevent the upper portion of the elastic seal member 14 from being caught in a state shifted to the outside of the seal groove 24, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of poor waterproof due to a defective assembly of the elastic seal member 14.

In each of the above embodiments, the cover 13 is provided with the seal groove 24 and the case main body 12 is provided with the fitting projection 22. On the contrary, the case body 12 is provided with the seal groove 24. Alternatively, the fitting projection 22 may be provided on the lid 13. Further, in the above embodiment, the lid 13 is assembled to the case body 12 by the engaging means, but may be assembled by other fixing means such as screwing.
Further, the number of the seal line portions 25, 26, 27 may be appropriately changed.

In addition, in the present invention, the shapes of the waterproof case 11 and the elastic seal member 14 may be appropriately changed. Further, the application range of the present invention is not limited to the waterproof case of the vehicle-mounted electronic control circuit, and the present invention can be applied to the waterproof case of various components.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a partially enlarged vertical sectional view of a waterproof structure showing a state before a lid of a waterproof case is assembled in an embodiment (1) of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a state after the lid is assembled. Partial enlarged vertical sectional view of the waterproof structure shown

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a waterproof case.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a case body.

FIG. 4A is a partially enlarged longitudinal sectional view of a waterproof structure showing a state before assembling a lid of a waterproof case in an embodiment (2) of the present invention, and FIG. 4B is a state after assembling the lid. Partial enlarged vertical sectional view of the waterproof structure shown

FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged longitudinal sectional view of a waterproof structure of a conventional waterproof case (1).

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged longitudinal sectional view of a waterproof structure of a conventional waterproof case (part 2).

[Explanation of symbols]

11: waterproof case, 12: case body, 13: lid, 14
... elastic seal member, 15 ... circuit board, 22 ... fitting projection,
23: fitting groove, 24: seal groove, 25, 26, 27: seal line portion, 30: step convex portion.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Teruyoshi Ito 1-1-1 Showa-cho, Kariya-shi, Aichi F-term in DENSO Corporation (reference) 3E084 AA05 AA14 AB10 BA01 CA03 DA03 DB13 FA09 FC09 GA08 GB12 HA03 HB04 HC03 HD01 3J040 AA02 AA17 BA03 EA07 EA16 HA21

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A case main body, a lid for closing an opening of the case main body, an annular seal groove formed around one of the case main body and the lid so as to surround a periphery of the opening, In a waterproof case including an annular elastic seal member sandwiched between the case body and the lid in a state fitted in a seal groove, an annular seal formed over the entire periphery of the upper surface side of the elastic seal member. A fitting groove, an annular fitting projection formed at a portion of the case body or the lid facing the seal groove, and fitted into the fitting groove of the elastic seal member; A projection sealing line portion formed on both sides and both sides and upper and lower surfaces of the elastic seal member over the entire circumference, wherein the fitting groove is provided in a state where the lid is attached to the case body. Seal line portions on both side surfaces are in close contact with both side surfaces of the fitting projection, seal line portions on both side surfaces of the elastic seal member are in close contact with both side surfaces of the seal groove, and seals on both upper and lower surfaces of the elastic seal member are provided. A waterproof case, wherein a line portion is in close contact with the case body and the lid. 2. The projecting length of the fitting projection is set such that a lower end of the fitting projection contacts a bottom surface of the fitting groove in a state where the lid is assembled to the case body. The waterproof case according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A stepped projection that fits into the seal groove is formed in a portion of the case body or the lid that faces the seal groove, and a lower surface of the stepped projection is an upper surface of the elastic seal member. The waterproof case according to claim 1, wherein the waterproof case is in close contact with the seal line portion.