JP2006050823A - Electric connection box for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent flooding from a lock hole into a case. <P>SOLUTION: At a first locking portion for locking upper and lower cases, a lock pawl projecting from the lower case is inserted into a lock hole formed in the circumferential wall of the upper case and stopped in place. A protection wall surrounding the lock hole of the upper case protrudes from the outer surface of circumferential wall of the upper case, and a second locking portion for locking the upper case and the upper cover is provided on the outside at the same position as the first locking portion. A lock frame is protruded upward from the circumferential wall of the upper case while surrounding the upper part of the protection wall, and the lock pawl formed at the upper end of the lock frame is inserted into the lock hole of a lock arm piece protruding from the outer surface of circumferential wall of the upper cover and locked. Furthermore, a rib surrounding the opening at the upper end of the protection wall is projected upward from the bottom wall section of the lock frame so that water flooding from the upper cover side is accumulated on the bottom wall of the lock frame and not flooding to the first lock portion side from the opening surrounded by the protection wall. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrical junction box mounted in a water-resistant region such as an engine room of an automobile, and in particular, improves a waterproof portion by improving a lock portion provided in a case.

In an electric junction box for automobiles, a circuit material such as a bus bar is accommodated inside a lower case and an upper case to lock the case, and various proposals have been made regarding the lock structure.
For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-296621 (Patent Document 1), as shown in FIG. 5, a lock frame portion 1a made of a U-shaped frame projects from the outer surface of the peripheral wall of the lower case 1, while the upper case 2 locks. The arm 2a protrudes downward, and an elastic piece 2b with a lock claw 2c protruding is provided in the lock arm 2a.
In the lock structure, the lock arm 2a is inserted into the lock frame portion 1a, and the lock claw 2c is locked to the lower surface of the lock frame portion 1a to lock the upper and lower cases together.

In the case of the lock structure, the lower case 1 is provided with a notch 1b on the peripheral wall facing the lock frame portion 1a, and the upper wall of the upper case 2 is also provided with a notch 2d. There is a risk that the water from the water will enter the case through the notch 1b.
Therefore, although it can employ | adopt as a lock structure of the electrical junction box arrange | positioned in an indoor area | region, it cannot employ | adopt as an electrical junction box of a flooded area | region, such as an engine room.

As described above, water is liable to be generated in the portion where the lock of the case is formed, and this point needs to be particularly improved in the electrical junction box mounted in the water-filled area such as the engine room.
In many cases, the upper and lower cases 1 and 2 are also covered with upper and lower covers in the electrical junction box mounted in the engine room. It is difficult to reliably prevent flooding. Therefore, even when the cover is covered, it is necessary to have a configuration in which water does not occur in the upper and lower cases at the portion where the lock is formed.
JP-A-8-296621

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said problem, and makes it the subject to make sure that a water immersion does not arise in the part which formed the lock part of the case.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is an electrical junction box mounted on a wet area of an automobile,
A case main body comprising an upper case and a lower case that are locked and coupled to each other, an upper cover that covers and locks the upper case from above, and a lower cover that locks and couples the lower case from below,
In the first lock portion that locks the upper case and the lower case, a locking claw that protrudes from the lower case is inserted and locked into the lock hole formed in the peripheral wall of the upper case from the inner side of the upper case, and While a protective wall surrounding the lock hole of the upper case from the outside protrudes from the outer surface of the peripheral wall of the upper case,
A second lock portion that locks the upper case and the upper cover is provided outside the same position as the first lock portion, and the lock protrudes upward from the peripheral wall of the upper case so as to surround the upper portion of the protective wall. A lock claw formed on the upper end of the lock frame is inserted and locked from the outer surface side to the lock hole of the lock arm piece protruding from the outer surface of the peripheral wall of the upper cover, and locked.
In addition, by projecting a rib surrounding the opening at the upper end of the protective wall from the bottom wall portion of the lock frame, water from the upper cover side is accumulated on the bottom wall portion of the lock frame to accumulate on the protective wall. An automobile electrical junction box is provided that is configured not to be submerged from the enclosed opening toward the first lock portion.

  As described above, in the electrical junction box to be mounted in the flooded area of the present invention, the first lock portion between the lower case and the upper case that accommodates the circuit material such as the bus bar, and the second lock of the upper case and the upper cover Are formed on the same vertical direction, and the lock frame of the second lock portion protrudes from the upper portion of the protective wall of the first lock portion. With this configuration, when water is generated in the upper cover, the water flows down on the bottom wall portion of the lock frame of the second lock portion provided outside the first lock portion. Cover the upper surface opening of the protective wall at the bottom, and do not enter the upper surface opening of the protective wall on the side of the first lock part with ribs protruding from the periphery of the opening. It can be surely prevented.

Further, the lock arm piece provided on the upper cover is configured such that the upper part of the left and right arm parts protrudes from the outer surface of the peripheral wall of the upper cover and the lower part is connected to the lower part of the elastic locking piece via the connecting part,
While the elastic locking piece is provided with the lock hole,
The lock frame provided on the upper case side protrudes from the bottom wall portion that is continuous with both outer surfaces of the protective wall and the outer peripheral surface of the upper case, and the upper portions of the both side portions are connected to the upper portion. And the locking claw is provided on the inner surface of the connecting portion,
The lock frame is externally fitted to the lock arm piece and locked.

  In the present invention, the lower part of the lock arm piece provided on the upper cover is connected to the arm part and the lower part on both sides. Therefore, it can be prevented that both sides of the lock frame on the upper case side insert a gap between the lock arm piece and the protective rib and cannot be locked.

As described above, according to the present invention, the first lock portion of the case main body composed of the lower case and the upper case mounted in the wet area is placed inside the second lock portion of the upper cover and the upper case that covers the upper case. By being positioned at the position, it is possible to surely prevent the first lock portion from being flooded, and to improve the waterproofness of the electrical junction box mounted in the wet area.
Therefore, the electrical components housed in the lower case and the upper case are not exposed to water, so that leakage can be prevented through water droplets and corrosion of the electrical components can also be prevented.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.
FIG. 1 shows an electrical junction box 100 according to the present embodiment, in which an upper case 11 and a lower case 12 are lock-coupled by a first lock portion A to form a case body 10, and the upper case 11 and the upper cover 13 are second-locked. Part B is lock-coupled.
In addition, a lower cover 16 that accommodates and locks the connector 15 is disposed below the lower case 12, and the connector 15 is screwed and connected to the case body 10 including the upper case 11 and the lower case 12 via a bolt 17. 16 is locked to the lower portion of the upper case 11 by a third lock portion C.

  The upper case 11 includes an upper wall 11a and a peripheral wall 11b, and a relay accommodating portion and a fuse accommodating portion are provided on the upper wall 11a. A lower case 12 that is locked to the upper case 11 includes a bottom wall 12a and a peripheral wall 12b. The peripheral wall 11b of the upper case 11 is externally fitted over the peripheral wall 12b. Inside the upper case 11 and the lower case 12, an internal circuit material in which bus bars and insulating plates (not shown) are alternately stacked is accommodated, and a tab protruding from the bus bar projects from the bottom wall of the lower case 12. It is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber of the connector 15.

As shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C, the first lock portion A between the upper case 11 and the lower case 12 has a lock hole 20 formed in the lower portion of the peripheral wall 11b of the upper case 11, A lock claw 21 protruding from the outer surface of the peripheral wall 12b of the lower case 12 in the lock hole 20 is inserted and locked into the lock hole 20 from the inside.
On the outer surface portion of the peripheral wall 11b in which the lock hole 20 is formed, a protective wall 22 having a U-shaped horizontal cross section extends downward from the upper side of the peripheral wall 11b, and the lock hole 20 is formed by the protective wall 22. So that water is not directly generated into the lock hole 20.

A lock frame 24 that constitutes the second lock portion B is provided between the upper cover 13 and the upper cover 13 outside the upper side of the protective wall 22 of the upper case 11.
The lock frame 24 has a bottom wall portion 24a that projects continuously from the upper end of the protective wall 22 and the peripheral wall 11b of the upper case 11, and both side portions 24b that project upward along the edge of the bottom wall 24a. The connecting part 24c connects the upper ends of the both side parts 24b, and a lock claw 24d formed on the inner surface of the connecting part 24c. Furthermore, the reinforcement part 24e extended below from both the side parts 24b is protrudingly provided from the surrounding wall 11b.

  The bottom wall portion 24a protrudes outward from the U-shaped upper end in a plan view of the protective wall 22, and the upper surface opening 22a of the protective wall 22 is provided with an opening in the bottom wall portion 24a. A rib 24f having a U-shape in plan view that surrounds the top opening of the bottom wall portion 24a protrudes upward from the top surface of the bottom wall portion 24a. Thereby, the upper surface opening 22a of the protective wall 22 that is surrounded by the protective wall 22 and the upper case peripheral wall 11b and communicates with the first lock portion A is surrounded by a high frame protruding from the upper surface in the bottom wall portion 24a. In addition, the water falling to the bottom wall portion 24a is less likely to enter the upper surface opening 22a of the protruding protective wall 22.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, a lock arm piece 26 projects from the outer surface of the peripheral wall 13 a of the upper cover 13 as a lock member on the upper cover 13 side constituting the second lock portion B. The lock arm piece 26 includes left and right arm portions 28, the upper portion of the arm portion 28 projects from the peripheral wall of the upper cover 13, and the lower portion thereof is connected to the lower portion of the elastic locking piece 26 b via the connecting portion 29. The elastic locking piece 26b is provided with a lock hole 26c, and a stepped protrusion 26d is provided above the lock hole 26c.

As shown in FIGS. 4 (A) and 4 (B), the second lock portion B is assembled so that the lock frame 24 on the upper case 11 side is fitted to the lock arm piece 26, and the lock claw 24a is inserted into the lock hole 26c. In addition to being inserted and locked from the outer surface side, the left and right side portions 24b are positioned on the outer surface side of the arm portion 28 and sandwiched from both sides.
At that time, since the elastic locking piece 26b and the arm portions 28 on both sides are connected to each other via the connecting portion 29 at the lower side, the both side portions 24b of the lock frame 24 are connected to the elastic locking piece 26b and the arm portion 28. It can prevent entering the gap between them.

In the electrical junction box having the above-described configuration, the lock claw 21 of the lower case 12 is inserted and locked into the lock hole 20 of the first lock portion A at the lower part of the peripheral wall 11b of the upper case 11 from the inside, so that the upper case 11 and the lower case 12 And the lock is combined.
By surrounding the lock hole 20 of the first lock portion A provided in the upper case 11 with the protective wall 22, first, it is possible to prevent water from directly entering the lock hole 20 from the outside.

However, if water enters the protective wall 22 from the upper surface opening 22a of the protective wall 22, water cannot be reliably prevented from entering the case from the lock hole 20. On the other hand, as described above, the second lock portion B between the upper case 11 and the upper cover 13 is formed on the upper outer surface side of the protective wall 22, so that the upper surface opening 22 a of the protective wall 22 is immersed in water. Is preventing.
That is, as shown in FIG. 4B, the upper case 11 and the upper cover 13 may be flooded from the portion of the lock hole 26c that locks the lock claw 24d. However, since the water that has entered from the lock hole 26c blocks the upper surface opening 22a of the protective wall 22 below the elastic locking piece 26b of the lock arm piece 26, the water does not directly enter the upper surface opening 22a and is not immersed in the bottom wall portion 24a. Since it temporarily accumulates on the upper surface and the upper surface opening 22a of the protective wall 22 is surrounded by the rib 24f, it can be prevented from entering from the upper surface opening 22a of the protective wall 22. The water accumulated in the bottom wall portion 24a falls by its own weight below the outer edges on both sides of the bottom wall portion 24a and is drained to the outside.

  Thus, in the electrical junction box 10, it is possible to reliably prevent water from entering from the lock hole 20 of the first lock portion A inside the upper case 11 and the lower case 12 that accommodate the circuit material. Therefore, it can be set as the electrical junction box 10 excellent in the waterproof property arrange | positioned in the engine room used as a to-be-watered area | region.

It is a disassembled perspective view of the electrical junction box of the embodiment of the present invention. The principal part of an upper case is shown, (A) is a principal part front view, (B) is the BB sectional drawing of (A), (C) is a top view of (A). An upper cover is shown, (A) is a front view, (B) is a perspective view of a lock arm piece. The assembled state of an upper cover and an upper case is shown, (A) is a front view, and (B) is a sectional view taken along the line CC of (A). It is drawing which shows a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

10 electrical junction box 11 upper case 11b peripheral wall

12 Lower case 13 Upper cover 13a Perimeter wall 20 Lock hole
21 lock claw 22 protective wall 22a top opening 24 lock frame 24a bottom wall portion 24b both sides 24c connecting portion 24d lock claw 26 lock arm piece 26b vertical elastic piece 26c lock hole 28 arm 29 connecting portion A first lock portion B second lock Part

Claims (2)

An electrical junction box mounted in a wet area of an automobile,
A case main body comprising an upper case and a lower case that are locked and coupled to each other, an upper cover that covers and locks the upper case from above, and a lower cover that locks and couples the lower case from below,
In the first lock portion that locks the upper case and the lower case, a locking claw that protrudes from the lower case is inserted and locked into the lock hole formed in the peripheral wall of the upper case from the inner side of the upper case, and While a protective wall surrounding the lock hole of the upper case from the outside protrudes from the outer surface of the peripheral wall of the upper case,
A second lock portion that locks the upper case and the upper cover is provided outside the same position as the first lock portion, and the lock protrudes upward from the peripheral wall of the upper case so as to surround the upper portion of the protective wall. A lock claw formed on the upper end of the lock frame is inserted and locked from the outer surface side to the lock hole of the lock arm piece protruding from the outer surface of the peripheral wall of the upper cover, and locked.
In addition, by projecting a rib surrounding the opening at the upper end of the protective wall from the bottom wall portion of the lock frame, water from the upper cover side is accumulated on the bottom wall portion of the lock frame to accumulate on the protective wall. An automotive electrical junction box configured to prevent water from entering the first lock portion side from the enclosed opening. The lock arm piece provided on the upper cover is formed by projecting the upper part of the left and right arm parts from the outer surface of the peripheral wall of the upper cover and connecting the lower part to the lower part of the elastic locking piece via the connecting part,
While the elastic locking piece is provided with the lock hole,
The lock frame provided on the upper case side protrudes from the bottom wall portion that is continuous with both outer surfaces of the protective wall and the outer peripheral surface of the upper case, and the upper portions of the both side portions are connected to the upper portion. And the locking claw is provided on the inner surface of the connecting portion,
The electric junction box for automobiles according to claim 1, wherein the lock frame is configured to be externally fitted to the lock arm piece and locked.

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