JP2001238328A - Electric junction box - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electric junction box which surely discharges water which entered the inside. SOLUTION: A component fitting 52 is arranged in a case 21, which forms a part of the electric junction box 11. To the component fitting part 52, a fusible link, a fuse, a relay, etc., which are not shown in the Figure. are fitted. The case body 21 is covered with a rear cover 22. Along with it, a fitting surface 51 is covered with a front cover 23. A gap S1 is formed between a lower end surface 21a of the case 21 and a bottom surface 43 of the front cover 23. The junction box 11 is fittable vertically, to a fitting member inside an engine room 12 via the rear cover 22.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a waterproof structure for an electric junction box used vertically in an engine room of an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various electric connection boxes such as a junction box, a relay box, a fusible link box, and an electric control unit used for an electric circuit of an automobile have been proposed.

As shown in FIG. 8, an electric connection box 61 may be mounted vertically on a vehicle panel 64 as a mounting member for partitioning an engine room 62 and a vehicle room 63. As shown in FIG. 9 and FIG.
1 houses a case body 71. Case body 7
Electrical components such as a fuse, a fusible link, and a relay are detachably fitted to a component mounting portion 73 provided on the first mounting surface 72. A rear cover 74 is placed on the rear side of the case body 71. On the front side of the case body 71, a front cover 75 that covers the mounting surface 72 is detachably provided. The front cover 75 slides along a direction parallel to the mounting surface 72 (that is, the vertical direction in FIG. 8).

[0004]

As shown in FIG. 11, a gap is provided between the lower end surface of the case body 71 and the bottom surface portion 74a of the rear cover 74 to prevent water from entering therethrough. Was not set. Nevertheless, water easily entered the seam between the lower end surface of the case body 71 and the bottom surface portion 74a of the rear cover 74 due to capillary action.

Further, water adheres and accumulates on both the lower end surface of the case body 71 and the bottom surface portion 74a of the rear cover 74 due to surface tension, so that there is a problem that it is difficult for water to escape therefrom.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electric junction box capable of reliably discharging water that has entered the inside.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a rear cover is placed on a case body provided with a component mounting portion for mounting an electrical component on a mounting surface. An electrical connection box in which the mounting surface is covered with a front cover and is mounted vertically on a mounting member in an engine room via the rear cover, wherein a space between a lower end surface of the case body and a bottom surface of the rear cover is provided. The gist is that a gap is provided in the.

[0008] The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that a water pocket recess is provided in the bottom surface portion. According to the third aspect of the present invention, a side wall of the recess is provided with a slope, a drain hole is provided in the recess, and a drain hole is provided at a portion where the upper end surface of the bottom surface is orthogonal to the rear cover. The gist is that it is provided.

The "action" of the present invention will be described below. According to the first aspect of the invention, the gap is provided between the lower end surface of the case body and the bottom surface of the rear cover. Therefore, even when water enters between the lower end surface of the case main body and the bottom surface of the rear cover, the water does not adhere to both the lower end surface of the case main body and the bottom surface of the rear cover.
Therefore, it is difficult for water to accumulate in this portion, and it is possible to reliably discharge water from inside the electric connection box.

[0010] According to the second aspect of the invention, the water that has entered the electric junction box is collected at the bottom portion and then flows into the water reservoir recess. Therefore, it is possible to reliably flow the water that has entered the electric connection box. In addition, since the bottom portion has irregularities, the bottom portion can be reinforced.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the water that has entered the electric junction box is collected at the bottom. Then, the water smoothly flows into the puddle recess due to the inclination provided on the side wall of the puddle recess. Thereafter, water is discharged from the drain hole. Therefore, the water that has entered the electric connection box can be smoothly discharged.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of an electric junction box for a vehicle embodying the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1, an electric junction box 11 is housed in an engine room 12 of an automobile. The electric connection box 11 is a vehicle panel (vehicle body) as a mounting member provided between the engine room 12 and the vehicle room 13.
14 is fixed vertically to the installation surface 14a. As shown in FIG. 2, an electric connection box 11 made of synthetic resin
Is configured by covering a rear cover 22 on the rear part of the case main body 21 and detachably providing a front cover 23 on the front part of the case main body 21. The front cover 23 is slidable vertically.
The front cover 23 covers an opening 22a formed on the front surface of the rear cover 22.

As shown in FIG. 2, the front cover 23 is composed of an upper divided body 23a and a lower divided body 23b provided under the upper divided body 23a. Each divided body 23a, 23b
Is approximately half the length of the front cover 23 in the vertical direction. In addition, each divided body 23a, 23
The vertical length of b is substantially equal. The connecting part 31 is formed along the lower edge of the upper divided body 23a.

On the left and right outer surfaces of the upper divided body 23a and the lower divided body 23b, projecting portions 3 extending vertically are provided.
2 are protruding. Guide grooves 33 are provided on the right and left inner side surfaces of the front cover 23 inside the both overhang portions 32. The guide groove 33 extends in the vertical direction, that is, along the longitudinal direction of the front cover 23. Also,
A hook-shaped engaging portion 34 is provided on the inner surface of the front cover 23 at a position deeper than the guide groove 33. Both engagement portions 34 extend in the up-down direction, and are parallel to the guide groove 33. A pair of locking claws 3 extending in the up-down direction is provided on the outer surface of the lower end of the lower divided body 23b.
5 are formed. Each locking claw 35 bends around its base end.

On the left and right outer surfaces of the rear cover 22,
A plurality of hook-shaped guide portions 41 are protruded. Each guide portion 41 extends linearly along the vertical direction, and is arranged in a line in the vertical direction. Both end edges of the front cover 23 can be engaged with the guide portion 41. Further, both end edges of the rear cover 22 can be engaged with the engaging portions 34. A plurality of ridges 42 are formed on the left and right outer surfaces of the rear cover 22 on the front side of the guide 41. Each ridge 42
Are linearly extended along the vertical direction, respectively, and are arranged in a line in the vertical direction. Each ridge 42
Are parallel to the respective guide portions 41.

An engagement hole 44 is provided at the front end of the bottom surface 43 of the rear cover 22. The tip of each of the locking claws 35 can be engaged with the engaging hole 44. By this engagement, the rear cover 22 and the front cover 23 are irremovably connected.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.
A plurality of component mounting portions 52 are provided on one mounting surface 51 so as to protrude. A fusible link, a fuse, a relay, and the like (not shown) as electric components are detachably mounted on the component mounting portion 52. Each fusible link and each fuse are arranged in the upper half area of the mounting surface 51. The upper half region substantially corresponds to the front surface of the upper divided body 23a. The relay and the like are arranged in a lower half area of the mounting surface 51. The lower half region substantially corresponds to the lower divided body 23b. Therefore, the fusible link and the fuse, which are relatively frequently exchanged, are arranged in the upper half region of the mounting surface 51. Also, the mounting surface 5
In the lower half area of 1, a relay having a relatively low replacement frequency is arranged.

As shown in FIG. 4, five recesses 55 are provided at the lower end of the case body 21. Each recess 55
Are arranged at a fixed interval from each other. The concave portion 55 extends along the front-rear direction of the lower end surface 21a. Due to these recesses 55, a gap is formed between the lower end of the case body 21 and the edge 22 b of the rear cover 22. Therefore, it is easy to drain water that has entered the case body 21 below the lower end.

As shown in FIG. 3 to FIG.
In the bottom part 43 of the, there are provided water collecting recesses 45 at three places. The pool recess 45 extends along the front-rear direction on the bottom surface 43 of the rear cover 22. The depth of the pool recess 45 is about half the thickness of the bottom surface 43. The side wall 45a of the water recess 45 has an inclination. The angle θ1 between the bottom surface 45b and the side wall 45a of the water recess 45 is about 45 °. Puddle recess 45
Has a smaller width toward the bottom surface 45b of the water reservoir recess 45. The width at the upper edge of the water recess 45 at the center of the bottom surface 43 is about 1.5 times larger than the width at both ends of the bottom surface 43. A drain hole 46 is provided in the water recess 45. Also,
A drain hole 46 is also provided rearward at a portion where the upper end surface 43a of the bottom portion 43 is orthogonal to the rear cover 22.

A gap S1 is provided between the lower end surface 21a of the case body 21 and the bottom surface 43 of the front cover 23. The size of the gap S1 is preferably set to 5 mm or more. At the same time, the size of the gap provided between the lower end surface of the lowermost electric component among the electric components attached to the component mounting portion 52 and the upper end surface 43a of the bottom portion 43 is set to 15 mm or more. Is better.

Next, the process of discharging the water that has entered the electric connection box 11 to the outside will be described in detail. Water is front cover 2
There is a high possibility of intrusion through the gap between the rear cover 3 and the rear cover 22 or the gap between the upper divided body 23a and the lower divided body 23b.
If water enters the electric connection box 11, the water is collected on the bottom surface 43 of the rear cover 22. A gap S1 is provided between the lower end surface 21a of the case body 21 and the bottom surface 43 of the rear cover 22. Therefore, the lower end surface 21a of the case body 21 and the rear cover 22
Even if water invades between the bottom surface 43 and the bottom surface 43, water does not adhere to both the lower end surface 21a of the case body 21 and the bottom surface 43 of the rear cover 22 due to the action of surface tension.

Next, most of the water collected on the bottom surface 43 flows into the water reservoir recess 45. The side wall 45a of the water recess 45 has an inclination. Therefore, the water smoothly flows into the water pool recess 45. After that, the water is drained from the drain hole 4 provided in the bottom surface 45b of the water recess 45.
6 to the outside. Also, the upper end surface 4 of the bottom portion 43
The water remaining in 3a is also drained from a drain hole 46 provided rearward in a portion where the upper end surface 43a of the bottom surface portion 43 and the rear cover 22 are orthogonal to each other.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. (1) Lower end surface 21a of case body 21 and rear cover 22
A gap S <b> 1 is provided between the bottom surface 43 and the bottom surface 43. Therefore, the lower end surface 21a of the case body 21 and the rear cover 2
Even if water invades between the second bottom surface 43 and the bottom surface 43, the water does not adhere to both the lower end surface 21a of the case body 21 and the bottom surface 43 of the rear cover 22, so that water does not accumulate in this portion. Therefore, water can be reliably discharged from the inside of the electric connection box 11.

(2) A water pool recess 45 is provided on the bottom surface 43. Therefore, the water that has entered the electric connection box 11 is collected in the bottom surface 43 and then flows into the water reservoir recess 45. Therefore, the water that has entered the electric connection box 11 can be reliably flowed. Further, since the bottom portion 43 has irregularities, the bottom portion 43 can be reinforced.

(3) The side wall 45a of the water reservoir recess 45 is provided with an inclination. Therefore, the water that has entered the electric connection box 11 and has been collected on the bottom surface 43 flows smoothly into the water collecting recess 45 due to the inclination provided on the side wall 45a. Thereafter, the water is discharged from the drain hole 46. Therefore, water that has entered the electric connection box 11 can be discharged smoothly.

(4) The size of the gap S1 between the lower end surface 21a of the case body 21 and the upper end surface 43a of the bottom surface portion 43 is 5 mm.
It is set above. Therefore, the occurrence of the capillary phenomenon in the water passing through the gap S1 is prevented. Therefore, water is applied to the lower end surface 21a of the case body 21 and the upper end surface 4 of the bottom surface portion 43.
3a, and it is possible to prevent the discharge from the outside of the electric connection box 11 from becoming difficult.

(5) A plurality of water recesses 45 are provided on the lower end surface 21a of the case body 21. Therefore, the occurrence of the capillary phenomenon in the water passing through the gap S1 is more reliably prevented. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably prevent water from entering between the lower end surface 21a of the case main body 21 and the upper end surface 43a of the bottom surface portion 43 and becoming difficult to be discharged to the outside of the electric connection box 11.

(6) The size of the gap between the lowermost surface of the lowermost component mounting portion 52 of the electric components mounted on the component mounting portion 52 and the upper end surface 43a of the bottom portion 43 is 15 mm or more. It has become. Therefore, the electric connection box 1
Even if the water that has entered the inside 1 rebounds on the upper end surface 43a of the bottom surface portion 43, it is difficult for water to directly adhere to the electric components. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a malfunction from occurring in the electric circuit.

The embodiment of the present invention may be modified as follows. In the above embodiment, the side wall 45a of the water pool recess 45
Had an inclination with respect to the bottom surface 45b. However, as shown in FIG.
May be perpendicular to the bottom surface 45b.

In the above-described embodiment, the cross section of the water pool recess 45 has a substantially trapezoidal shape. However, as shown in FIG. 7B, the cross section of the water pool recess 45 may be formed in an arc shape. In the above embodiment, the water pool recess 45 has the bottom surface 45b. However, as shown in FIG. 7C, the bottom surface 45b may not be provided in the water recess 45.
That is, the cross section of the water pool concave portion 45 may be substantially V-shaped.

In the above-described embodiment, the water pool recess 45 extends from the front edge to the rear edge of the bottom surface 43.
However, as shown in FIG.
Need not necessarily extend to the front edge of the bottom surface 43.

In the above-described embodiment, the drain hole 46 is provided at a portion where the water cover recess 45 and the upper end surface 43a of the bottom portion 43 are orthogonal to the rear cover 22. However, the drain hole 46 may be provided only in the water recess 45. Further, the drain hole 46 may not be provided.

In the above-described embodiment, both the water collecting recess 45 and the drain hole 46 are provided on the bottom surface 43. Instead, the drain hole 46 is omitted and the bottom portion 43
May be provided with only the drain hole 46.

In the above-described embodiment, the size of the gap between the lower end surface of the lowermost component mounting portion 52 of the electric components mounted on the component mounting portion 52 and the upper end surface 43a of the bottom portion 43 is 15 mm or more. Met. However, if the depth of the water pool recess 45 is 15 mm or more, the lower end surface of the lowermost component mounting portion 52 and the upper end surface 43 of the bottom surface portion 43 are provided.
The gap with a may be 15 mm or less.

In the above embodiment, the drain hole 46 is provided at a plurality of locations on the lower end surface 21a of the case body 21. However, the drain hole 46 may be provided at only one place.

Next, in addition to the technical ideas described in the claims, the technical ideas grasped by the above-described embodiments will be listed below together with their effects. (1) The electric junction box according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a size of a gap between an upper end surface of the bottom portion and a lower end surface of the case body is 5 mm or more. Therefore, according to the technical idea (1), it is possible to prevent a capillary phenomenon from occurring in water passing through the gap.

(2) The electrical junction box according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the lower end of the case body has a plurality of irregularities. Therefore, according to the technical idea (2), the water that has entered the case body can be easily drained to the outside.

(3) The lower end surface of the component mounting portion, which is the lowest in the mounting surface, of the electric component mounted on the component mounting portion, and the upper end surface of the bottom surface portion. The size of the gap between the electric connection box and the electric connection box is 15 mm or more. Therefore, according to the technical idea (3), even if water that has entered the electric junction box rebounds at the bottom, it is difficult for water to directly adhere to the electric components.

[0040]

As described in detail above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, water can be reliably discharged from the inside of the electric junction box.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reliably flow the water that has entered the electric junction box. Further, the bottom portion can be reinforced. According to the third aspect of the present invention, the water that has entered the electric junction box can be smoothly discharged.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing an electric junction box according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the electric junction box.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing the inside of the electric junction box.

FIG. 4 is a rear view showing the inside of the electric junction box.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an essential part taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 3;

6 is a cross-sectional view of a main part along line 6-6 in FIG. 3;

FIGS. 7A to 7C are front views of main parts showing the inside of an electric junction box in another example. (D) is a principal part perspective view of the rear cover in another example.

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view of an electric junction box according to the related art.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view showing the electric connection box.

FIG. 10 is a front view showing the inside of the electric junction box.

11 is a sectional view of a main part taken along line 11-11 of FIG. 10;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Electric junction box, 12 ... Engine room, 14 ... Vehicle panel as an attachment member, 21 ... Case body, 21a ...
Lower end face, 22: rear cover, 23: front cover, 4
3 ... bottom surface part, 45 ... water pool concave part, 45a ... side wall, 46
... drain holes, 51 ... mounting surface, 52 ... parts mounting part.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A case body provided with a component mounting portion for mounting an electrical component on a mounting surface is covered with a rear cover, the mounting surface is covered with a front cover, and a mounting member in an engine room is provided via the rear cover. An electrical junction box, which is mounted vertically, wherein a gap is provided between a lower end surface of the case body and a bottom surface of the rear cover. 2. The electrical junction box according to claim 1, wherein a water recess is provided on the bottom surface. 3. A water collecting recess having an inclined side wall, a water draining hole provided in the water collecting recess, and a water draining hole also provided in a portion where an upper end surface of the bottom portion is orthogonal to the rear cover. The electrical junction box according to claim 2, wherein: