JP2001204124A - Electrical connection box - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electrical connection box into which water does not get through a connector housing. SOLUTION: A touching surface 17 of a back wall 18 having terminal inserting holes 23 in a connector housing 14 of the electrical connection box is placed more outside than the surface 13 of the cover 11 of the electrical connection box, and the back wall 18 is thickened. In the thick back wall 18, grooves 24 (25, 26) which are connected to the inserting holes 23 and drain water to the surface 13 of the cover 11 through the hood portion 16 of the connector housing 14, are formed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric junction box having a cover surface inclined with respect to a vehicle floor, and more particularly to a connector housing projecting from the cover surface having a drain structure. Electrical connection box.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In FIG. 9, an electric junction box 1 mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile is mounted so that its longitudinal direction is perpendicular to the floor of the vehicle. Further, connector housings 3, 4, and 5 projecting in parallel to the floor surface are formed on a cover 2 constituting the electric connection box 1. A plurality of tabs 6 erected from a bus bar (not shown) project through a back wall (not shown) inside each of the connector housings 3, 4, and 5, respectively. Can be connected (only the connector corresponding to the connector housing 3 is shown). Reference numeral 8 indicates a fuse connected to the electric connection box 1. A relay or the like may be further connected in addition to the fuse 8.

[0003]

By the way, in the above-mentioned prior art, there is a possibility that water is transmitted to the inside of the connector housing 3 or the like through the connector 7. If water accumulates inside the connector housing 3 or the like, the water may enter the electrical connection box 1 from a terminal insertion hole (not shown) for the tab 6 and cause a leak between bus bars. Was.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide an electric connection box in which water does not enter inside through a connector housing.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electrical junction box having a connector housing protruding from a surface of a cover, and a portion having the connector housing. An electrical junction box disposed such that the surface of the cover is inclined with respect to the floor of a vehicle, wherein the surface of the back wall having the terminal insertion holes in the connector housing is located outward of the surface of the cover. And the back wall is thickened, and the thick back wall communicates with the terminal insertion hole and drains water to the surface of the cover via a hood portion of the connector housing. Is formed.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, even if water is transmitted through a connector connected via a connector housing, the water must be inserted into the electrical junction box before the water penetrates. It is drained by a groove formed in the wall.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part showing an embodiment of an electric connection box of the present invention. 2 is a front view of the connector housing of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the connector housing of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

In any one of FIGS. 1 to 4, an electric connection box mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile is provided on a cover 11 constituting the electric connection box at a terminal of a wire harness or the like, similarly to the conventional example. It has a plurality (only one is shown) of connector portions 12 for connecting connectors (not shown). The connector portion 12 is integrally formed with a connector housing 14 so as to protrude from a surface 13 of the cover 11.
And a plurality of tabs 15 arranged in the connector housing 14.

The electric connection box is provided on the surface 13 of the cover 11.
Is mounted so as to be orthogonal to a floor (not shown) of the vehicle. In other words, the connector part 1
The electric connection box is mounted so that the surface 13 of the cover 11, which is a portion having 2, is inclined with respect to the floor (not shown) of the vehicle.

The connector housing 14 has a substantially frame-shaped hood portion 16 protruding in a direction perpendicular to the surface 13 of the cover 11, and a contact surface 17 for the connector (not shown) more than the surface 13 of the cover 11. (Corresponding to the surface of the back wall described in the range) is provided with a thick back wall 18 located outside.

The hood 16 has cutouts 19, 19, and 20 formed in one wall along the longitudinal direction of the hood 16 (a wall near the floor (not shown) of the vehicle).
The notches 19, 19, and 20 are formed by cutting straight out from the projecting tip of the hood 16 to the surface 13 of the cover 11. On both sides of the one-wall cutout portion 20 (center cutout), reinforcing ribs 21, 21 each having a right-angled triangular shape in a side view are integrally formed.

Guide ribs 22 for the connector (not shown) are formed near the center of the other wall of the hood portion 16 in the longitudinal direction opposite to the one wall.
The pair of walls orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the hood portion 16 are connected to ends of the one wall and the other wall. Hood section 16
Can accommodate the above-mentioned connector (not shown) in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped.

The rear wall 18 has a plurality of terminal insertion holes 23 through which the tabs 15 are inserted. The terminal insertion hole 23
Are arranged in upper and lower tiers. In addition, each terminal insertion hole 2
3 is a drainage groove 2 communicating with the surface 13 of the cover 11 through one of the cutouts 19, 19, 20.
4 are formed.

The grooves 24 include upper tab grooves 25 for each of the three tabs 15 arranged on the upper stage, and a plurality (eight) of lower tab grooves 26 for the tabs 15 arranged on the lower stage. It is configured. The groove 24 has a depth corresponding to the thickness of the back wall 18 with respect to the surface 13 of the cover 11. Note that the present invention does not depend on the number of tabs 15.

The upper tab groove 25 has three short grooves 27.
, An aggregation groove 28, and discharge grooves 29, 29.
Each of the short grooves 27 communicates with the upper terminal insertion hole 23 and is formed in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. The converging groove 28 is formed along the longitudinal direction and each short groove 27 is continuous. Further, the discharge grooves 29, 29 are formed in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, and the converging groove 28 and the cover 11 are formed.
The surface 13 is communicated.

Incidentally, the consolidating groove 28 is provided with three tabs 15 on the upper stage.
And three corresponding lower tabs 15. The discharge grooves 29, 29 are formed so as to pass between the three tabs 15 in the lower stage.

The lower tab grooves 26 are formed so that the lower terminal insertion holes 23 and the surface 13 of the cover 11 communicate with each other. Further, they are formed in parallel with the discharge grooves 29, 29.

In the above configuration, after the connector (not shown) is connected to the connector portion 12, even if water is transmitted into the connector housing 14 through the connector, the upper tab grooves 25, 25 and the lower tab grooves are formed. 26
(Water is drained down the groove 24 by its own weight), so that water does not enter the inside of the electrical junction box. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the leak between the bus bars, which has been conventionally concerned. Incidentally, the reference numeral indicating the bus bar is 30 (see FIG. 4, the tab 15).
Are standingly coupled from the bus bar 30).

Next, another example will be described. Parts that are basically the same as those described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and when they are similar, denoted by dashed reference numerals. FIG. 5 shows a front view of a connector housing which is another example of the connector housing of FIG.

In FIG. 5, the connector portion 12 'is the same as the connector portion 12 (see FIG. 2) except that the upper tab grooves 25, 25 (see FIG. 2) are removed. . That is, the thicker inner wall 18 ′ of the connector housing 14 ′ is provided with the terminal insertion holes 23 arranged in two upper and lower stages.
In addition, the lower terminal insertion hole 23 and the surface 1 of the cover 11
8 are formed with eight lower tab grooves 26 communicating with each other. The lower tab groove 26 of the connector portion 12 ′ is formed so as to communicate with the front surface 13 of the cover 11 through one of the cutout portions 19, 19, 20, as described above.

On the other hand, referring to FIG. 6 showing a second other example, the connector section 12 ″ is
2 (see FIG. 2).
(See ref.). That is, in the thick inner wall 18 "of the connector housing 14", in addition to the terminal insertion holes 23 arranged in the upper and lower two stages, the lower terminal insertion hole 23 and the surface 13 of the cover 11 communicate with each other. Two lower tab grooves 26 and upper tab grooves 25 ', 25' are formed.

The upper tab groove 25 'has three short grooves 27 and an aggregated groove 28'. The short groove 27
As described above, each is formed in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction while communicating with the terminal insertion hole 23 on the upper stage side. The converging groove 28 'is formed along the longitudinal direction and each short groove 27 is continuous. One end of the converging groove 28' is formed on the surface of the cover 11 via a wall of the hood 16 'perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. 13 is formed. still,
The arrangement of the lower tab groove 26 is the same as described above.

The above-described connector section 12 'and connector section 1
It is a matter of course that 2 ″ can obtain the same effect as the above-described connector section 12.

The connector portion 31 shown in FIG. 7 includes a connector housing 32 integrally formed so as to protrude from the surface 13 of the cover 11 and a plurality of tabs 15 arranged in the connector housing 32, as described above. It is composed of The connector housing 32 has a hood portion 33 and a back wall 34. The hood portion 33 has cutout portions 19, 19, 19, 19 in one wall along the longitudinal direction of the hood portion 33.
20 has a notch 3 on the other wall facing the one wall.
5, 35 are formed.

The notches 19, 20, and 35 are notches formed from the projecting tip of the hood 33 to the surface 13 of the cover 11. On both sides of the one-wall cutout portion 20, reinforcing ribs 21 and
1 are integrally formed. Guide ribs 22 and 2 are provided near the center of the other wall, which is located on the opposite side of the notch 20.
2 are integrally formed.

The back wall 34 is formed thick so that the contact surface 17 (corresponding to the back wall surface described in the claims) with respect to the connector (not shown) is located outside the surface 13 of the cover 11. Have been. Also, on the back wall 34,
A plurality of terminal insertion holes 23 through which the tabs 15 are inserted are formed. The terminal insertion holes 23 are arranged in upper and lower two stages. Further, the notch portions 19, 1 and
A drain groove 36 communicating with the surface 13 of the cover 11 via any one of 9, 20, 35, 35 is formed.

The grooves 36 include a plurality (six) of upper tab grooves 26 'for the tabs 15 arranged in the upper stage and a plurality (eight) of lower tab grooves 26 for the tab 15 arranged in the lower stage. It is composed of The upper tab groove 26 ′
It is the same as the lower tab groove 26, and only the arrangement is different. That is, the upper terminal insertion hole 23 and the surface 13 of the cover 11 are formed so as to communicate with each other through the cutouts 35, 35.

In the connector portion 31 having the above-described structure, the cover 1 serving as a portion having the connector portion 31 is provided.
This is effective when the first surface 13 is parallel to the floor (not shown). This is the same for the connector section 37 shown in FIG. In FIG. 8, the connector portion 37 will be briefly described. A drain groove 38 is formed between the tabs 15 arranged in two upper and lower stages along the longitudinal direction of the connector portion 37. The groove 38 is formed in a thick inner wall 40 of the connector housing 39, and one end of an aggregated groove 41 constituting the groove 38 is provided on the surface of the cover 11 via a wall of the hood portion 42 perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. 13. Also,
The short groove 43 communicating with the terminal accommodating hole 23 into which the tab 15 is inserted is connected to the aggregated groove 41.

In addition, it goes without saying that the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the gist of the present invention. That is, it is natural that the grooves 24 (25, 26, 26 '), 36, and 38 are inclined to increase drainage efficiency.

[0030]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the groove extending between the terminal insertion hole and the hood portion in the connector housing is formed in the thick inner wall of the connector housing. Due to the formation, even if water is transmitted into the connector housing through the connector, the water can be drained before entering the inside of the electric connection box. Therefore, there is an effect that it is possible to provide an electric connection box in which water does not enter inside through the connector housing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part showing an embodiment of an electric junction box according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the connector housing of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the connector housing of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a connector housing which is another example of the connector housing of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a front view of a connector housing which is another example of the connector housing shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a front view of a third alternative connector housing to the connector housing of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a front view of a fourth alternative connector housing to the connector housing of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is an external perspective view of a conventional electric junction box.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Cover 12 Connector part 13 Surface 14 Connector housing 15 Tab 16 Hood part 17 Contact surface (surface of (back wall)) 18 Back wall 19, 20 Notch part 23 Terminal insertion hole 24 Groove 25 Upper tab groove 26 Lower side Tab groove 27 Short groove 28 Converging groove 29 Drain groove

Claims (1)

[Claims] An electrical junction box having a connector housing protruding from a surface of a cover, wherein the surface of the cover serving as a portion having the connector housing is disposed so as to be inclined with respect to a floor of a vehicle. The surface of the inner wall having the terminal insertion holes in the connector housing is located outside the surface of the cover to make the inner wall thicker, and the inner wall having the thicker wall has the terminal insertion hole. An electric connection box, wherein a groove communicating with the hole and draining water from a surface of the cover through a hood portion of the connector housing is formed.