JP2000151129A - Fixing structure of case - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To readily and surely fix and remove a case for storing a connector, etc., to and from a bracket at a car side, etc. SOLUTION: In a fixing structure of a case for fitting a clamp 14 of a lock arm 11 of a case 1 to a fitting part 31 of a bracket 2, the case 1 is provided with elastic parts 26, 27 which press the bracket 2 toward the clamp 14. The clamp 14 is fit to the fitting part 31 from below and a lower end of the bracket 2 is supported by the elastic parts 26, 27. A tip part 15 of the lock arm 11 is projected from the case 1 in the longitudinal direction of the lock arm. The lock arm 11 is projected and formed aslant from a wall 7 of the case 1 and a lock arm deflection space is formed in the wall. A projecting stripe 33 for sliding is formed inside a slide fitting part of the case 1 for the bracket 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a case fixing structure for fixing a case accommodating a connector or the like to a bracket on a vehicle or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 shows a conventional case fixing structure described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-87554.
In this structure, a metal bracket 42 is fixed to a vehicle panel (not shown), and a locking projection 4 of a lock arm 44 of a synthetic resin case 41 is provided in an engagement hole 43 of the bracket 42.
The case 41 is fixed to the bracket 42 by engaging with the bracket 5.

The engagement hole 43 is provided on a main plate 46 of the bracket 42.
, And guide portions 47 are formed on both sides of the main plate portion 46. The case 41 is provided with slide engaging portions 48 for the guide portions 47 on both sides of the lock arm 44. A panel fixing part 50 is formed above the main plate part 46 via a step part 49. Lock arm 44
Is a root portion 51 protruding forward from the lower part of the case 41.
And a main part 52 that is raised from the base part 51. The main plate portion 46 of the bracket 42 is
The upper and lower dimensions are longer than 4.

[0004] The case 41 accommodates, for example, connectors, relays, fuses, and the like (not shown). The case 41 is mounted on the bracket 42 from above as indicated by the arrow B. That is, the slide engaging portion 48 engages with the guide portion 47, the locking protrusion 45 descends along the main plate portion 46, and the lock arm 44 bends. Combine.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional structure, first, the case 41 is attached to the bracket 42.
When mounted on the main body, there is a problem that the sliding resistance between the guide portion 47 and the slide engagement portion 48 and between the main plate portion 46 and the locking projection 45 is large, and the insertion workability is poor. In addition, locking projection 4
It is difficult to confirm whether or not 5 is completely fitted into the engagement hole 43, and there is a concern that the locking projection 45 will flow to the next process while being half-fitted into the engagement hole 43. When the locking projection 45 is completely fitted in the engagement hole 43, the case 41 is formed by the dimensional play between the locking projection 45 and the engagement hole 43.
However, there was a problem that rattling occurred in the vertical and horizontal directions.
When the case 41 is detached from the bracket 42, the lock arm 44 is pryed in a bending direction with a jig or the like,
In addition, the case 41 must be lifted upward, and there is a problem that the detachability of the case 41 is poor.

In view of the above points, the present invention can easily mount a case on a bracket with good workability, and can securely lock the case on the bracket.
Incomplete mounting of the case to the bracket can be easily detected,
It is another object of the present invention to provide a case fixing structure that can prevent rattling of the case with respect to the bracket and can easily remove the case from the bracket.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a case fixing structure in which a locking portion of a lock arm of a case is engaged with an engaging portion of a bracket.
An elastic portion for pressing the bracket toward the locking portion is provided on the case (claim 1). It is also effective that the engaging portion engages with the engaging portion from below, and the elastic portion supports a lower end of the bracket (claim 2). It is also effective that the distal end of the lock arm protrudes beyond the case in the lock arm longitudinal direction. It is also effective that the lock arm is formed so as to project obliquely from the wall of the case, and a lock arm bending space is formed in the wall. It is also effective that a ridge for sliding contact is formed in the slide engagement portion of the case with respect to the bracket (claim 5).

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show one embodiment of a case fixing structure according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a case made of synthetic resin, and 2 denotes a bracket made of metal or synthetic resin. The case 1 of this example is for accommodating a plurality of connectors (not shown), and has a plurality of penetrating connector accommodation spaces 4 partitioned by a partition wall 3. The bracket 2 has its horizontal plate 5
And is fixed to a vehicle panel (not shown).

A double wall 7, 8 (FIG. 5) is formed in parallel at the front of the case 1, and the walls 7, 8 are connected by an upper end wall 9, and are slightly grooved on the outer wall 7. A recessed concave wall portion 10 is formed, in which a flexible lock arm 11 is formed slightly obliquely and straight from top to bottom. In this example, a pair of lock arms 11 are provided left and right slightly apart.

A base portion (root portion) 12 of the lock arm 11 is located above the concave wall portion 10, and the concave wall portion 10 is cut in a slit shape from top to bottom on both sides of the lock arm 11, and the pair of slit portions is formed. 13 between the lock arm 11 and the concave wall 1
It is located in a tapered shape slightly outside the zero surface. The base 12 of the lock arm 11 is located on the same plane as the concave wall 10. A locking projection (locking portion) 14 is formed at a substantially intermediate portion in the height (length) direction of the lock arm 11. The locking projection 14 has an upward guiding inclined surface 14a and a downward horizontal locking surface 14b. As shown in FIG. 2, the distal end (lower end or free end) 15 of the lock arm 11 extends further below the concave wall 10, that is, the lower end of the case 1. The thickness of the lock arm 11 (FIG. 5) is gradually reduced to a taper shape as it goes toward the tip.

Both sides of the concave wall 10 are connected to the outer wall 7 via a small step 16. On both sides of the lock arm 11, slide engaging portions 17 and 18 for the bracket 2 are formed on the wall 7. One slide engagement portion 17 is formed at the same height as the case 1 from the lower end to the upper end of the case 1, and the other slide engagement portion 18 is
It is formed to almost half the height of Each of the slide engaging portions 17 and 18 includes a support wall 19 and 20 projecting forward from the wall 7 at a right angle, and a front cover wall 21 orthogonal to the support walls 19 and 20 and formed in parallel with the wall 7. , 22 and stop bottom walls 23, 24 (FIG. 2). Covering wall 2
The gap 25 (FIG. 3) between the walls 1 and 22 and the wall 7 is formed sufficiently larger than the thickness of the bracket 2.

The bottom walls 23,
Elastic pieces (elastic portions) 26 and 27 for preventing backlash are formed to project from both sides 24 (FIG. 2) toward both side surfaces on the distal end side of the lock arm 11. The elastic pieces 26 and 27 project slightly obliquely upward, and the ends of the elastic pieces 26 and 27 reach the slits 13 on both sides of the lock arm 11 as shown in FIG. The distal ends 29 of the elastic pieces 26 and 27 are bent to a state nearly horizontal. Each of the elastic pieces 26 and 27 is composed of an upwardly inclined portion 28 and a tip portion 29 which is nearly horizontal. The tip portion 29 functions as a receiving portion for the bracket 2. A curved rib 30 is formed from the cover walls 21 and 22 of the slide engagement portions 17 and 18.
Continue to the bases (roots) of the elastic pieces 26 and 27. The elastic pieces 26 and 27 can bend in the vertical direction, and exert an upward urging force on the bracket 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, the bracket 2 is formed in a substantially L-shape by a horizontal plate portion 5 and a vertical plate portion 6, and the rectangular plate portion 6 engages with the locking projection 14 of each lock arm 11 in a rectangular shape. A hole (engaging portion) 31 is provided. The lower end (lower end surface) 31a of the engagement hole 31 is a contact portion of the locking projection 14 with the locking surface 14b. The vertical plate 6 around the engagement hole 31
Are thinned by being recessed in a rectangular groove shape. In the center of the vertical plate portion 6, a slit-shaped notch portion 32 for escape to the short support wall 20 is formed.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the slide engaging portions 17,
A ridge 33 for contacting and supporting the bracket 2 (FIG. 1) is formed inside the wall 18 in the height direction of the wall 7. The ridge 33 has a tapered guide surface 33a on the upper side. The bracket 2 is smoothly guided by the tapered guide surface 33a. The vertical plate portion 6 of the bracket 2 (FIG. 1) is engaged between the ridge 33 and the covering walls 21 and 22 so as to be sandwiched. Therefore, the bracket 2 and the slide engagement portions 17 and 1
The sliding resistance with the bracket 8 is extremely small, and the insertability of the case 1 into the bracket 2 is extremely good.

As shown in FIG. 3, the elastic pieces 26 and 27 and the concave wall 1
0, a gap 34 is formed, and the elastic pieces 26,
The vertical bending operation of 27 is performed smoothly without sliding resistance with concave wall portion 10. The distal ends 29 of the pair of elastic pieces 26 and 27 face each other on both sides of the lock arm 11, and are located with a small gap 35 between them. 36 is a taper chamfer for guiding the bracket. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the distal end portion 15 of the lock arm 11 protrudes below the case 1 and functions as an operating portion for unlocking.

In the state shown in FIG. 1, the case 1 is
Attach to As shown in FIG. 4, the side end of the vertical plate portion 6 of the bracket 2 and the side end of the slit-shaped notch 32 are fitted into the slide engagement portions 17 and 18, and the locking projection 14 is engaged as shown in FIG. While engaging with the mating hole 31, the lower end 6a of the vertical plate part 6 presses against the elastic pieces 26 and 27 (FIG. 4), and slightly flexes the elastic pieces 26 and 27 downward.

A lock arm bending space 40 is cut out in the concave wall portion 10 (FIG. 5), and the lock arm 11 is bent to the same plane as the concave wall portion 10 or double wall portions 7 and 8 when bending.
And can be flexed in a space-saving manner. The lock arm bending space 40 continues to the slit portion 13 (FIG. 1).

The bracket 2 is moved by the spring force of the elastic pieces 26 and 27.
Is pressed upward, and the lower end surface 31 a of the engagement hole 31 strongly contacts the locking surface 14 b of the locking protrusion 14. A portion 37 (FIG. 4) of the vertical plate portion 6 below the engagement hole 31 is the locking surface 14.
b and the elastic piece 26 (27). As a result, the lock is securely and firmly performed, and the backlash of the case 1 in the vertical direction with respect to the bracket 2 is prevented. Backlash in the front-back and left-right directions is also prevented at the same time.

When the case 1 is mounted on the bracket 2 and the locking projections 14 are incompletely fitted in the engagement holes 31, the own weight of the case 1 and the small protrusions 33 (FIG. 3) are used. Due to the sliding resistance, the slide engagement portions 17 and 18 come out of the bracket 2 downward, and the case 1 easily falls. Thereby, incomplete locking is easily detected.

When the case 1 is detached from the bracket 2 for maintenance or the like, the lock is easily released by manually operating the exposed end portion 15 of the lock arm 11 in the bending direction of the lock arm. By pushing or pulling the case 1 downward, the case 1 is easily detached due to its own weight and a small sliding resistance of the ridge 33 (FIG. 3).

[0021]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the case is mounted on the bracket, the bracket is sandwiched between the locking portion and the elastic portion, and the case is securely fixed. At the same time, rattling of the case is prevented. Also,
According to the second aspect of the invention, when the case is mounted from below the bracket, if the locking portion is incompletely fitted to the engaging portion, the case falls by its own weight, and the incomplete lock is detected. Detected reliably. According to the third aspect of the present invention,
When the case is detached from the bracket, the tip of the lock arm protrudes from the case, so that the lock can be easily released by hand without using any jigs and tools, and the detachment workability and maintainability are improved. . According to the invention described in claim 4, when the case is mounted on the bracket,
Since the lock arm is easily bent and comes into contact with the bracket with a small sliding resistance, the workability of mounting the case is improved. According to the fifth aspect of the invention, when the case is mounted on the bracket, the ridge slides on the bracket with a small contact area, so that the sliding resistance is reduced and the workability of mounting the case is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a case fixing structure according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a case locking means.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing locking means of the case.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state where a case is mounted on a bracket.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 4 showing the locking means of the case.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Case 2 Bracket 6a Lower end 7 Wall part 11 Lock arm 14 Locking projection (locking part) 15 Tip part 26, 27 Elastic piece (elastic part) 31 Engaging hole (engaging part) 33 Projection 40 Lock arm bending space

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A case fixing structure in which a locking portion of a lock arm of a case is engaged with an engaging portion of a bracket.
A case fixing structure, wherein an elastic portion for pressing the bracket toward the locking portion is provided on the case. 2. The case fixing structure according to claim 1, wherein said engaging portion engages with said engaging portion from below, and said elastic portion supports a lower end of said bracket. 3. The case fixing structure according to claim 1, wherein a distal end portion of the lock arm protrudes beyond the case in a longitudinal direction of the lock arm. 4. The lock arm according to claim 1, wherein the lock arm protrudes obliquely from a wall of the case, and a lock arm bending space is formed in the wall. Case fixing structure. 5. The case fixing structure according to claim 1, wherein a ridge for sliding contact is formed in the slide engagement portion of the case with respect to the bracket.