JP2002064920A - Junction box - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the cost for a connector of a junction box. SOLUTION: The peripheral wall of a connector housing at a bottom opening is integrally formed at an upper case or/and a lower case. A bottom wall member is formed as the bottom wall of the connector housing. An external connector terminal is pressed into the bottom wall member or an integrally molded common part is formed at the bottom wall member. At the time of assembling the junction box, the terminal of the common part is welded to a bus bar in the upper case and the lower case, and the bottom wall member is assembled at the bottom opening of the connector housing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a junction box, and more particularly, to a modularization of a junction box as a whole and a common use of a connector connecting portion.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the rapid increase of electrical components mounted on automobiles and the like, the number of circuits accommodated in electrical junction boxes for automobiles, especially junction boxes, has increased, and branch circuits and the like have been formed at high density. The number of parts becomes very large,
Assembly man-hours are also increasing.

In a junction box 1 shown in FIG. 6 among the electric connection boxes for automobiles, bus bars 5A to 5D are arranged between upper case 2 and lower case 3 with insulating plates 4A to 4E interposed therebetween. Upper case 2
Is provided with a connector accommodating portion 2a, a relay accommodating portion 2b, and a fuse accommodating portion 2c. A connector 6, a relay 7, and a fuse 8 are mounted in these accommodating portions, and these terminals and terminals and tabs protruding from the bus bar are provided. Are connected directly or via a relay terminal. The lower case 3 is also provided with a connector accommodating portion 3a, and the terminal 5a of the bus bar is protruded and connected to the connector.

[0004]

In the junction box 1, there is a problem that the area of the bus bar and the number of laminations increase as the number of circuits increases, and the junction box becomes large. When a connector housing, a relay housing, and a fuse housing are provided in both the upper case and the lower case, and the connector, relay, fuse and the internal circuit are connected to the upper and lower surfaces of the junction box, the upper case or It is possible to suppress an increase in the area of the junction box as compared with a case where the junction box is provided only on one side of the lower case.

However, if the connector accommodating portion and the relay accommodating portion or the fuse accommodating portion are provided at the upper and lower opposing positions, the terminals refracted from the bus bar overlap and cannot be deployed. Causes the number of layers to increase. As described above, when the number of busbar layers increases, the height of the junction box increases, and the size of the junction box increases.

Further, a connector housing, a relay housing, and a fuse housing are provided in an upper case and a lower case of the junction box, and a connector, a relay, and a fuse fitted in these housings are connected to a bus bar inside the case. Therefore, if there is a change in these connection circuits, there is a problem that both the case in which the housing portion is provided and the bus bar must be changed. In particular, when the terminal arrangements of the mating connectors are different, the bus bar must be changed correspondingly, and there is a problem in that the cost for producing the bus bar is high.

To solve the above problem, FIGS. 7A and 7B
As shown in FIG.
Is provided with a part in which a male tab 9e 'is integrated in advance, and the male tab 9e' is welded to a bus bar 4 'arranged on an insulating plate 5' of a circuit board 3 ', and then the connector housing 9' is connected to the upper case 2 The one protruding from the opening 2a 'provided in the' 2 'is proposed. A projection 9c 'for positioning with the upper case 2' protrudes from the outer surface 9b 'of the peripheral wall 9a' of the connector housing 9 ',
A locking portion 9d 'for locking the connector protrudes from the inner surface side.

On the other hand, the connector C attached to the terminal of the wire harness W / H constituting the external circuit has a lock claw Ca on the outer peripheral surface of the housing. The connector C is fitted into the above-mentioned connector portion 9 'and locked and locked by the lock claw portion Ca and the lock locking portion 9d', and the external circuit and the internal circuit are electrically connected via the male tab 9e '.

The connector C of the external circuit has various types of housings for the purpose of use, the place of use, the prevention of incorrect fitting, and the like. Therefore, the connector housing 9 'on the side of the junction box 1' to be mated also needs to have a large number of exclusive shapes according to the type of the connector C. Therefore, even if the parts in which the male tab 9e 'and the connector housing 9' are integrated are provided, the number of types of the connector housing 9 'increases, so that a large number of parts are required, and the sharing rate is low. In addition, since the connector housing 9 'is molded with resin, it is necessary to prepare a large number of molding dies in accordance with the type, and there is a problem that the cost is high.

[0010] In connection with the above problem, FIG.
No. 3,212,267 discloses an electrical connector 9 ″. The electrical connector 9 ″ is a shared connector housing 9a ″ and a board receiving portion 9 which is a dedicated product for use.
b "is combined with the other, and the manufacturing of the mold for the shared connector housing 9a" is omitted, and the cost is reduced. However, since the above-described invention relates to an electrical connector, there are many structural differences, such as the connection between the built-in board and the terminal in the electrical connector and the connection method between the male tab and the bus bar in the junction box. It cannot be installed in junction boxes for automobiles.

The junction box 1 'is provided with a connector housing 9' in order to cope with high-density circuits.
And the upper case 2 ′ are separated from each other, but a projection 9 c ′ is formed on the outer surface 9 b ′ for positioning the connector housing 9 ′.
The external dimensions of the connector housing 9 'are also increased by the amount of the protrusion 9c'. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, when welding the male tab 9e 'and the bus bar 4', in order to prevent the resistance welding electrode D from interfering with the projection 9c ', the horizontal portion 9 serving as a welding portion of the male tab 9e' is used.
f 'must be extended outward and left and right male tabs 9e'
The distance L1 between the ends of the horizontal portion 9f 'is also increased. Therefore, there is a problem in that the initial aim of increasing the circuit density is also hindered by the above factors.

On the other hand, when the connector C fitted to the connector housing 9 'is to be removed, it is necessary to release the lock and release the connector C. The force required for the removal is limited by the lock retaining portion 9d' provided on the wall surface and the like. Through the connector housing 9 ', and is also transmitted to the integrated male tab 9e'. Then, since the direction of the transmitted force coincides with the direction in which the welding portion Y of the male tab 9e 'and the bus bar 4' is peeled off, a large load is applied to the welding portion Y, and in the worst case,
There is also a possibility that the welding location Y may be peeled off.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and accommodates a circuit in a junction box in a junction box by modularizing a connector connection circuit, a relay connection circuit, and a fuse connection circuit. It is an object of the present invention to suppress an increase in the number of stacked bus bars, to reduce the thickness of the junction box, and to easily cope with circuit changes. Also, even if there is a circuit change in the junction box connector connection part, it can be shared to reduce the cost, increase the density of the circuit, and reduce the load on the welded spot between the male tab and the bus bar. Is also an issue.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an upper case and / or a lower case, in which a peripheral wall portion of a connector housing having a bottom opening is provided integrally, while a lower wall of the connector housing is provided. , A bottom wall member, and a common part in which terminals for connecting an external connector are integrated by press-fitting or molding into the bottom wall member.When assembling the junction box, the terminals of the common parts are placed in the upper case and the lower case. A junction box is provided, which is configured to be welded to a bus bar to be accommodated and to have a configuration in which a bottom wall member is assembled to a bottom opening of a connector housing.

The bottom wall member of the common part has a substantially flat plate shape, and the connector connection terminal to be integrated with the bottom wall member is formed by connecting a male tab from a horizontal portion which is overlapped with a bus bar and subjected to resistance welding or ultrasonic welding. It is shaped to be bent. The contact portion with the external connector protruding from the bottom wall member may be a female fitting portion instead of the male tab.

As described above, according to the present invention, the connector housing fitted with the external connector is divided into the peripheral wall portion provided integrally with the case and the bottom wall member made of a separate member, and the terminals are fixed to the bottom wall member in advance. It is provided as a common part integrated. As described above, the peripheral wall portion of the connector housing, which needs to be dedicated according to the shape of the external connector to be fitted, is provided on the case side, while the bottom wall member for attaching the terminal is provided as a part and shared to change the circuit configuration. Change the connection position with the bus bar according to the
The cost can be reduced.

More specifically, the exclusive portion of the connector housing is only the peripheral wall portion of the housing having a complicated shape which is constrained by the shape of the mating connector, as described above. In this case, there is no need to raise a mold for forming a connector housing corresponding to each type of connector, and the cost of the mold can be reduced. That is, since the upper case or the lower case is a dedicated product for the junction box, it is necessary to raise a dedicated mold in any case. Therefore, if a mold for the case is manufactured so as to include the shape for molding the peripheral wall portion of the housing in the mold for forming the case, the manufacture of the mold dedicated to the connector housing can be omitted.

On the other hand, since the pitch of each terminal and the like of the terminal of the housing from which the male tab projects are determined according to the standard of the connector, the terminal is not restricted by the shape of the mating connector. Therefore, the common part integrated with the bottom wall member and the terminal can be combined and shared with any of the housing peripheral wall portions having different inner peripheral surface forms.

Further, since the housing peripheral wall is integrated with the upper case or the like, it is not necessary to provide a projection on the outer surface of the peripheral wall of the connector. Furthermore, at the time of welding the terminal of common parts and the bus bar, there is only the bottom wall member,
There is no interference with the welding electrode, and the welded portion of the terminal does not need to be extended outward. Therefore, due to these factors, it is possible to reduce the size of the connector portion, thereby making it possible to increase the density of the circuit portion.

Further, when the connector of the external circuit fitted with the connector portion is disconnected, the force required to pull out the connector is transmitted to the peripheral wall portion of the connector housing, but is not transmitted to the terminal because the bottom wall member is separate. Absent. Therefore, no load is applied to the welding portion between the terminal and the bus bar, and a reliable connection can be maintained.

As described above, the bottom wall member and the terminal constituting the common part are integrated by molding or press fitting. When integrated by molding, it can be integrated when the bottom wall member is formed, and can be easily produced as a general-purpose product. On the other hand, in the case of press-fitting, it is only necessary to provide a through-hole for press-fitting in the bottom wall member, so that the molding die does not need to correspond to the mold, so that the cost of the die can be reduced, and low cost and general-purpose Can be promoted. Also, in the case of a large connector requiring a large number of terminals in the connector section, a plurality of parts may be combined with the housing peripheral wall section to form the connector section.

The housing peripheral wall is provided with a protruding portion for positioning common parts from the inner peripheral surface. By providing the protruding portion in this manner, it is possible to reliably position the combined common parts and to stabilize the position of the terminal,
The fitting of the connector can be performed smoothly.

The internal circuit housed in the upper case and the lower case is divided into a connector connection circuit, a fuse connection circuit, and a relay connection circuit, and a connector module,
A fuse module, separately provided as a relay module, an end of a bus bar integrated with an insulating plate on the circuit board of each module is made to protrude from the insulating plate to form a welded portion, and a fuse module for the welded portion of the connector module, The modules are joined by overlapping and welding the welded portions of the relay module, and the peripheral wall of the connector housing is integrally provided in the upper case and / or the lower case, and the bus bar of the circuit board of the connector module is provided. The terminal of the common part is welded, and the bottom wall member is fitted to the connector housing.

As described above, the internal circuit housed in the junction box is divided into a connector connection circuit section, a relay connection circuit section, and a fuse connection circuit section, and each is separately provided as a connector module, a fuse module, and a relay module. ing. That is, a bus bar for a circuit board for connector connection, a bus bar for a fuse circuit board, and a bus bar for a relay circuit board are provided separately.

Conventionally, one conductive plate is punched to provide a connector connection circuit, a fuse connection circuit, and a relay connection circuit, and each of the above circuits has a connector connection tab, a fuse connection tab, and a relay connection tab. Since the tabs are provided, the circuit layout is complicated, and as a result, the bus bar area is increased and the bus bars are multilayered.

On the other hand, according to the present invention, the bus bar for the connector, the bus bar for the fuse, and the bus bar for the relay are divided, punched out from separate conductive plates, and arranged at different positions. Can be suppressed, and the circuit layout of each bus bar can be simplified, so that the bus bar area can be reduced. Furthermore, by modularizing each electric component in this way, each module becomes a dedicated product of the electric component, so that the electric component can be directly mounted on the circuit board, and there is no need to provide a connection tab from the bus bar. . Therefore, by mounting a connector portion on the connector module to take advantage of modularization and applying the above-described contents of the present invention, the density of the circuit can be increased and the cost can be reduced.

[0027]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an exploded state of a modularized junction box 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The junction box 10 divides an internal circuit accommodated in the upper case 11 and the lower case 17 having the housing peripheral wall portion 15 of the connector portion 13 into a connector connection circuit portion, a fuse connection circuit portion, and a relay connection circuit portion. , A fuse module 18 and a relay module 19.

In each of the above modules, the end of the bus bar integrated with the insulating plate or the like is formed as a welded portion by projecting from the end of the insulating plate or the like. The connector module 12 is a welded portion 12d for a fuse protruding from the periphery. Are overlapped and welded to the welded portion 18a of the fuse module 18, and the modules are joined to form a required circuit. Similarly, the L-shaped projecting portion 12 e of the connector module 11 for the relay is overlapped and welded to the welding portion 19 a of the relay module 19.

Thus, by modularizing in this way, each module itself can be treated as a component,
It is also possible to mount the electric component directly on the circuit, and the common part 50 in which the housing bottom wall member 16 of the connector portion 13 and the terminal 14 are integrated is mounted on the circuit board 12a of the connector module 12.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the circuit board 12a is formed by stacking conductive bus bars 12c punched into a required shape on an insulating plate 12b. The terminal 14 of the common part 50 is electrically connected to the bus bar 12c by being welded to the bus bar 12c of the circuit board 12a, and is attached to the circuit board 12a together with the bottom wall member 16.

As shown in FIG. 3, the bottom wall member 16 is made of a flat resin, and is molded and integrated with the L-shaped terminal 14 at the time of molding. The terminal 14 has a shape in which a male tab 14a is vertically bent from a horizontal portion 14b to be overlapped with a bus bar and subjected to resistance welding or ultrasonic welding. The length of the horizontal portion 14b to be welded to the bus bar 12c is set short as described later. The outer dimensions of the bottom wall member 16 are the same as those of the dimension of the bottom surface of a commonly used connector housing, and the pitch of each terminal 14 is given versatility in accordance with the connector standard.

In the common part 50, the bottom wall member 16
The terminal 14 and the terminal 14 do not necessarily have to be integrated by molding. As shown in FIG. 4, a bottom wall member 16 'having a through hole 16a' for press-fitting is formed as a single unit, and the terminal 14 'is connected to the through hole 16a. It may be press-fitted into the 'and integrated.

The horizontal portion 14b of the terminal 14 and the bus bar 12c
In the present embodiment, the connection to the terminal horizontal portion 1 is made by resistance welding as shown in FIG.
4b and the bus bar 12c are sandwiched and welded at the welding location Y. At the time of this welding, as compared with the one shown in FIG.
Can be brought closer to the bottom wall member 16, so that it is not necessary to extend the horizontal portion 14b of the terminal 14 to be welded, and the distance L2 between the ends of the horizontal portion 14b is also shorter than the distance L1 shown in FIG.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5A, the housing peripheral wall 15 of the connector 13 has an opening 15e at the bottom.
And is integrally formed with the upper case 11. The housing peripheral wall portion 15 has a complicated shape dedicated to the connector C to be fitted, and a lock engagement portion 15d is provided on the inner surface 15b of the peripheral wall 15a so as to match the lock claw portion Ca of the connector C. I have. Also, the inner surface 15
A projecting portion 15c is provided below b in the horizontal direction. There is no protrusion on the outer surface side of the peripheral wall 15a.
The outer shape itself is the same as the outer size of the housing peripheral wall portion 15.

As described above, although the housing peripheral wall portion 15 has a special shape, it is formed integrally with the upper case 11 made exclusively for the junction box 10, so that only the housing peripheral wall portion 15 is used. The mold for molding has not been raised and the upper case 11
The molding die (not shown) is manufactured so as to include the molding portion of the housing peripheral wall portion 15, and the housing peripheral wall portion 15 is molded.

When assembling the junction box 10, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the upper case 11 and the lower case 17 are put on the circuit board 12a, the bottom wall member 16 of the common part 50 is attached to the bottom surface of the housing peripheral wall portion 15. Opening 1
5e, and a connector portion 13 is formed.
At this time, since the bottom wall member 16 is positioned at an up-down position or the like by the protrusion 15c of the housing peripheral wall portion 15, the terminal
Is located at a prescribed position inside the housing peripheral wall portion 15, and is smoothly fitted to the connector C attached to the terminal of the wire harness W / H, which is an external circuit.

The connector C fitted as described above is fitted into the lock engagement portion 15d of the housing peripheral wall portion 15 with the lock claw portion C.
a enters and is securely locked. Also, when releasing the mated connector C, when the lock engagement is released and the connector C is pulled out, the force of pulling out upward due to frictional resistance between the outer surface of the connector C and the inner surface 15b of the housing peripheral wall portion 15 and the like. Housing peripheral wall 15 of connector 13
, But not to the separate bottom wall member 16.
Therefore, since the welding location Y of the terminal 14 is on the side of the separate bottom wall member 16, removing the connector C does not burden the welding location Y.

The bottom wall member 16 of the common part 50 is
As long as the dimensions match, it is possible to combine the inner peripheral surface with another housing peripheral wall portion 15 having a different form, and also to generalize various types of terminals 14 other than four. It is also possible to form a required connector portion by combining with various housing peripheral wall portions. Further, when the connector to be formed is large, a plurality of common parts can be used in combination, and the bottom wall member of these common parts can be assembled and used inside the housing peripheral wall.

In the above embodiment, the connector portion 13 is provided on the upper case 11, but the connector portion can be provided on the lower case 17 side as well, and both the upper and / or lower portions can be provided. May be provided with a connector section to connect to a large number of external circuits. Further, the present invention can be applied not only to a modularized junction box but also to a non-moduleized junction box.

[0040]

As is apparent from the above description, in the junction box of the present invention, the peripheral wall of the connector housing fitted with the external connector is provided integrally with the upper case and / or the lower case, while the bottom of the connector housing is provided. Since the wall is formed of a separate bottom wall member and terminals are fixed to the bottom wall member in advance and provided as common parts, even if there is a change in the connection circuit between the internal circuit of the junction box and the external connector, All that is required is to connect the terminal of the common part to the bus bar of the internal circuit and fit the common part to the bottom of the opening of the peripheral wall of the connector housing integral with the case. As a result, there is no need to raise a dedicated mold having a complicated shape for each type of mating connector.
The cost for designing and manufacturing the mold can be reduced. In addition, since the common parts can be used for various connectors, the cost for manufacturing the junction box can be reduced in this respect as well.

Further, since the connector portion of the junction box of the present invention can be made smaller than before, the pitch of each connector portion provided in a large number can be narrowed, which can contribute to the promotion of high-density circuits. In addition, in actual use, even when the fitted connector is removed, no load is applied to the welding portion between the terminal and the bus bar, so that the reliability of the welding connection can be maintained, and reliable conduction can be ensured. Further, by dividing the internal circuit of the junction box for each electric component and modularizing the junction box, it is possible to prevent the junction box from increasing in size and easily cope with circuit changes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a modularized junction box according to the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a schematic view of a state before the common parts are mounted on a bus bar, and FIG. 2B is a schematic view of a welding state.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a common part.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a modification of a common part.

FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram showing a combined state of a housing peripheral wall portion and a common part, and FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram showing a fitted state of a connector and a connector portion.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional junction box.

FIG. 7A is a schematic view showing a state of formation of a conventional connector section, and FIG. 7B is a schematic view showing a fitting state of the connector and the connector section.

FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C are schematic views of another conventional example.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing a conventional problem.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Junction box 11 Upper case 12 Connector module 12a Circuit board 13 Connector part 14 Terminal 14a Male tab 14b Horizontal part 15 Housing peripheral wall part 15c Projection part 16 Bottom wall member 50 Common parts D electrode Y Welding point

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Noriko Kobayashi 1-14 Nishisuehiro-cho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie F-term in Sumitomo Wiring Systems Co., Ltd. (Reference) 5E077 BB18 BB23 BB37 DD03 EE01 GG16 GG28 JJ20 5E085 BB06 BB22 CC01 CC08 CC09 DD03 DD04 HH11 HH13 JJ06 JJ38 5G361 BA04 BB01 BB02

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An upper case and / or a lower case are provided integrally with a peripheral wall portion of a connector housing having a bottom opening, and a bottom wall member is provided as a bottom wall of the connector housing, and an external connector is connected to the bottom wall member. Provide the common parts by integrating the terminals for press-fitting or molding, and at the time of assembling the junction box, weld the terminals of the above common parts to the bus bar housed in the upper case and the lower case, and attach the bottom wall member to the connector housing. A junction box characterized by being assembled to the bottom opening. 2. The bottom wall member of the common part has a substantially flat plate shape, and the terminal for connector connection integrated with the bottom wall member is formed from a horizontal portion which is overlapped with a bus bar and subjected to resistance welding or ultrasonic welding. The junction box according to claim 1, wherein the male tab is bent and provided. 3. The connector housing according to claim 1, further comprising: a protruding portion for positioning the bottom wall member on an inner surface of a peripheral wall of the connector housing; and a locking portion for an external connector fitted in the connector housing. The junction box according to claim 2. 4. An internal circuit housed in the upper case and the lower case is divided into a connector connection circuit, a fuse connection circuit, and a relay connection circuit, and provided separately as a connector module, a fuse module, and a relay module. The end of the bus bar integrated with the insulating plate on the circuit board is made to protrude from the insulating plate to form a welded portion, and the welded portion of the fuse module and the relay module are overlapped and welded to the welded portion of the connector module. A peripheral wall of the connector housing is provided integrally with the upper case and / or the lower case, and terminals of the common parts are welded to a bus bar of a circuit board of the connector module. Fit the member to the connector housing Junction box according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is set to adult.