JP2009177902A - Waterproof case - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a waterproof case which can surely prevent the intrusion of liquid into the case while having a simple structure without using a packing. <P>SOLUTION: The waterproof case 1 constituting an electric connection box 10 includes: a case body 3 composed of a plurality of peripheral walls 31 and formed into a box shape; and an upper cover 2 which covers openings 3a formed of edges 31a of the plurality of peripheral walls 31 of the case body 3. Waterproof walls 32 which are formed outside flash lines E1 with the second peripheral walls 21, and prevent liquid injected to the flash lines E1 from directly abutting on the waterproof walls are partially formed at the peripheral walls 31. Some of the waterproof walls 32 are formed outside inclined parts out of the flash lines E1 inclined with respect to orthogonal directions X, Z orthogonal to the installation direction Y of the upper cover 2 to the case body 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a waterproof case suitable for an electrical junction box that is attached to, for example, an engine room of an automobile and accommodates electrical components such as fuses and relays.

  In an automobile, an electrical connection box such as a junction box, a fuse box, or a relay box is used to accommodate electrical components such as connectors of wire harnesses, relays, fuses, and electronic control units (see Patent Documents 1 to 3). Is installed. Various types of electric connection boxes are used depending on the vehicle type. For example, a case body 103 made of a synthetic resin and an upper surface of the case main body 103 as shown in an electric connection box 110 shown in FIGS. There are cases in which various electrical components are accommodated in a waterproof case 101 composed of an upper cover 102 attached to the housing. The electrical junction box 110 is attached to the engine room of the automobile.

    The electrical junction box 110 shown in FIG. 5 to FIG. The waterproof case 101 needs to have a waterproof structure because it may enter between the peripheral wall 121 of the 102 and enter the waterproof case 101. If these liquids enter the waterproof case 101, parts such as a circuit may be short-circuited or a leakage current may flow.

    For this reason, in the waterproof case 101, a convex portion 133 that protrudes toward the edge portion 121a is provided on a portion of the edge portion 131a of the peripheral wall 131 that overlaps the edge portion 121a of the peripheral wall 121, and the edge portion 121a of the peripheral wall 121 is provided. By providing the step portion 123 that overlaps the convex portion 133, the overlapping portion between the peripheral wall 131 and the peripheral wall 121 is formed in a staircase shape to prevent the liquid that has passed through the peripheral wall 131 from entering the waterproof case 101. .

5 to 7 indicate the direction in which the upper cover 102 is attached to the case body 103. The vertical direction of the waterproof case 101 referred to in this specification refers to a direction along the mounting direction Y. In addition, arrows X and Z in FIGS. 5 to 7 indicate orthogonal directions orthogonal to the mounting direction Y. That is, in the waterproof case 101, the peripheral wall 121 and the peripheral wall 131 extend along the attachment direction Y.
JP 2000-316219 A JP-A-9-216648 JP-A-8-288667

    Thus, since the convex part 133 and the step part 123 are provided in the waterproof case 101, it is possible to prevent rainwater or water droplets condensed on the outer surface of the waterproof case 101 from entering the waterproof case 101. However, in this waterproof case 101, for example, when liquid such as water or car wash liquid sprayed at the time of car washing is directly sprayed on the waterproof case 101, this liquid may enter the waterproof case 101. there were.

    That is, when the sprayed liquid directly collides with the peripheral wall 131 of the case main body 103 from below along the mounting direction Y of the case main body 103, as shown by an arrow P1 in FIG. A gap is formed between the peripheral wall 131 and the peripheral wall 121 bent inward by the liquid, and as shown by an arrow P2, the liquid that has flowed toward the upper portion of the case main body 103 through the peripheral wall 131 passes through the above-described gap. There has been a problem that it may enter into 101.

    In order to prevent even such injected liquid from entering the inside, a waterproof case in which rubber packing is attached between the peripheral wall (131) and the peripheral wall (121), or the peripheral wall (131) and the peripheral wall A waterproof case (see Patent Document 2) provided with a pair of sealing walls that overlap each other and seal the peripheral wall (131) and the peripheral wall (121) on the outside of (121) has been proposed. When the packing is used, new problems such as an increase in the size of the waterproof case, an increase in the part number of the components of the electrical junction box, and an increase in cost are unavoidable. In addition, the waterproof case provided with a pair of sealing walls for sealing the peripheral wall (131) and the peripheral wall (121) is difficult to manufacture because the structure is complicated, and the waterproof case is enlarged. Problems arise.

    Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, the waterproof case 101 described above is part of a joint E <b> 2 (meaning a portion surrounded by a two-dot chain line in FIGS. 5 and 6) between the peripheral wall 131 and the peripheral wall 121. , An inclined portion C2 (meaning a portion surrounded by a solid line in FIG. 7) inclined with respect to the orthogonal direction X or the orthogonal direction Z is provided. The portion provided with the inclined portion C2 is more liquid than the flat portion D2 (meaning a portion surrounded by a solid line in FIG. 7) provided in parallel to the orthogonal direction X or the orthogonal direction Z in the joint E2. Is easy to penetrate.

    The reason for this is that, in the flat portion D2, there is a possibility that the liquid may enter the waterproof case 101 only when the liquid flows along the peripheral wall 131 from the lower side along the attachment direction Y to the upper side. In the inclined portion C2, when the liquid flows along the peripheral wall 131 from the lower side along the attachment direction Y to the upper side, the liquid flows along the orthogonal directions X and Z along the peripheral wall 131 in the lateral direction. This is because the liquid may enter the waterproof case 101 in some cases. For this reason, there has been a particular demand for a waterproof case with higher waterproofness in the inclined portion C2.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a waterproof case that can reliably prevent liquid from entering inside while having a simple structure without using packing.

    In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 covers a case main body provided in a box shape by a plurality of peripheral walls, and an opening formed by edges of the plurality of peripheral walls of the case main body. A waterproof case having a cover, provided on one of a peripheral wall of the case body and a second peripheral wall of the cover that overlaps the peripheral wall, and an outer side of a joint of the peripheral wall and the second peripheral wall The waterproof case is characterized in that a waterproof wall is provided to prevent the liquid jetted from being directly applied to the joint.

  The invention described in claim 2 is the invention described in claim 1, wherein the waterproof wall is inclined with respect to an orthogonal direction orthogonal to an attachment direction of the cover to the case body among the joints. It is characterized in that it is partially provided outside the inclined portion.

  The invention described in claim 3 is the invention described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the waterproof wall is provided on the peripheral wall.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is provided on one of the peripheral wall of the case main body and the second peripheral wall of the cover that overlaps the peripheral wall, and on the outer side of the joint between the peripheral wall and the second peripheral wall. Since a waterproof wall is provided to prevent the liquid sprayed at the joint from directly hitting, the peripheral wall or the second peripheral wall is bent by the pressure of the liquid, and the space between the peripheral wall and the second peripheral wall Therefore, it is possible to provide a waterproof case that can reliably prevent liquid from entering the inside while having a simple structure that does not use packing.

  According to the invention described in claim 2, since the waterproof wall is partially provided outside the inclined portion, which is a place where liquid can easily enter, miniaturization and complication of the configuration are minimized. It is possible to provide a waterproof case that can surely prevent the liquid from entering the inside while limiting to the limit.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, since the waterproof wall is provided on the peripheral wall, the rigidity of the case body can be improved. Further, the cover of the conventional waterproof case can be used for the waterproof case as it is without any design change. Further, by providing a waterproof wall on the case body side, it is possible to suppress an increase in the size of the waterproof case as compared with the case of providing it on the cover side.

  Hereinafter, a waterproof case according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an electrical junction box constituted by a waterproof case according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a cover is removed from the case main body of the waterproof case illustrated in FIG. 1. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing a portion B surrounded by a one-dot chain line in FIG.

    The waterproof case 1 according to the present embodiment constitutes an electrical junction box 10 shown in FIGS. The electrical connection box 10 is attached to an engine room of an automobile and houses a plurality of electrical components such as a wire harness connector, a relay 11, a fuse 12, and an electronic control unit, and is mounted on the automobile and the electrical parts. In addition, various electronic devices are electrically connected according to a predetermined pattern.

    Such an electrical junction box 10 includes a waterproof case 1 that forms an outline of the electrical junction box 10 and the plurality of electrical components described above that are accommodated in the waterproof case 1. That is, the waterproof case 1 of the present invention is a case for housing a plurality of electrical components and preventing liquids such as water from adhering to these electrical components. In addition, the term “waterproof” as used in the present invention is not limited to preventing the entry of water, but means that it effectively acts on all liquids including water, oil, alcohol, etc. The description will be made using “waterproof” widely used as a name.

  The waterproof case 1 includes a case main body 3 on which the plurality of electrical components are mounted, an upper cover 2 as a cover detachably provided on the upper surface of the case main body 3, and a lower surface of the case main body 3. And a lower cover 4 provided. Further, the case body 3, the upper cover 2, and the lower cover 4 are made of an insulating synthetic resin and are formed by well-known injection molding.

  Moreover, the up-down direction of the waterproof case 1 referred to in this specification refers to a direction along the arrow Y direction in FIGS. 1 to 4. The arrow Y direction indicates the direction in which the upper cover 2 is attached to the case body 3. Furthermore, the arrow X and the arrow Z in FIG. 1 thru | or FIG. 4 have shown the orthogonal direction orthogonal to the attachment direction Y. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the case body 3 is provided in a cylindrical shape, that is, in a box shape by a plurality of peripheral walls 31 that extend along the mounting direction Y and that have end portions connected to each other. In addition, the inside of the peripheral wall 31 is partitioned into a large number of spaces by a plurality of partition walls, and openings 3 a and 3 b are provided at both ends located vertically along the mounting direction Y. That is, the opening 3 a is configured by an edge 31 a positioned at the upper ends of the plurality of peripheral walls 31. Further, the opening 3 b is constituted by an edge 31 b located at the lower ends of the plurality of peripheral walls 31. In addition, electrical components such as the relay 11 and the fuse 12 described above are mounted in the numerous spaces.

  The upper cover 2 is opened toward the opening 3a by the ceiling wall 20 facing the opening 3a and a plurality of second peripheral walls 21 standing from the outer edge of the ceiling wall 20 along the mounting direction Y. It is formed in a box shape, and is attached to the upper surface of the case body 3 so as to cover the opening 3 a of the case body 3. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the upper cover 2 has an edge 21a of the second peripheral wall 21 that overlaps an edge 31a of the peripheral wall 31 of the case body 3, and an inner surface of the edge 21a is an edge. It attaches to the case main body 3 so that it may overlap with the outer surface of 31a. That is, the second peripheral wall 21 is positioned outside the peripheral wall 31.

    A plurality of lock portions 5 that fix the case body 3 and the upper cover 2 to each other are provided on the edge portion 21 a of the second peripheral wall 21 and the edge portion 31 a of the peripheral wall 31 of the case body 3. The lock portion 5 includes a protruding portion 51 provided on the edge portion 31a side, and a lock arm 52 provided on the edge portion 21a side and provided so as to be able to be engaged with the protruding portion 51.

  The lower cover 4 is formed in a box shape opened toward the opening 3b by a bottom wall facing the opening 3b and a plurality of peripheral walls 41 erected from the outer edge of the bottom wall along the mounting direction Y. It is attached to the lower surface of the case body 3 so as to cover the opening 3b of the case body 3.

    A plurality of lock portions 6 that fix the case body 3 and the lower cover 4 to each other are provided on the edge portion 41 b (see FIG. 4) of the peripheral wall 41 and the edge portion 31 b of the peripheral wall 31 of the case body 3. ing. The lock portion 6 includes a lock claw portion 62 provided on the edge portion 41b side, and a lock receiving portion 61 provided on the edge portion 31b side and provided so as to be able to engage with the lock claw portion 62. ing.

  Further, the “joint E1” between the peripheral wall 31 and the second peripheral wall 21 of the present invention is a portion indicated by an arrow E1 in FIG. 1 and means a portion surrounded by a two-dot chain line in FIG. That is, the “joint E1” between the peripheral wall 31 and the second peripheral wall 21 of the present invention is a portion where the lower end portion of the edge portion 21a and the peripheral wall 31 overlap in a state where the upper cover 2 is attached to the case body 3. Means.

    Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the seam E1 is inclined with respect to the flat portion D1, which is a portion provided in parallel to the orthogonal direction X or the orthogonal direction Z, and the orthogonal direction X or the orthogonal direction Z. And an inclined portion C1, which is a portion that has been cut. 4 shows a state in which the upper cover 2 is removed from the case body 3, the actual seam E1, that is, the flat portion D1 and the inclined portion C1, is, as described above, the edge portion 21a. The lower end part of this and the peripheral wall 31 mean the part which overlapped.

    Further, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4 and the like, the upper surface of the case body 3 and the ceiling wall 20 of the upper cover 2 are not formed in the same plane shape, but are formed in a shape having a plurality of irregularities. It is inevitable that the inclined portion C1 described above is generated. Further, the upper surface means not a real surface but a virtual surface. The reason why the upper surface of the case body 3 is formed in a shape having a plurality of irregularities is to fit the electrical junction box 10 in a narrow space in the engine room as compactly as possible.

  Next, a waterproof structure for preventing liquid such as water and car wash liquid from entering the waterproof case 1 from between the peripheral wall 31 and the second peripheral wall 21 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 3 and the like, the waterproof case 1 of the present invention has a convex portion 33 projecting toward the edge portion 21a at a portion overlapping the edge portion 21a of the second peripheral wall 21 of the edge portion 31a of the peripheral wall 31 described above. In addition, the stepped portion 23 that overlaps the convex portion 33 is provided on the edge portion 21a, so that the overlapping portion of the peripheral wall 31 and the peripheral wall 21 has a staircase shape, that is, an intricate shape, and is transmitted along the outer surface of the peripheral wall 31. Liquid is prevented from entering the waterproof case 1.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG. 3 etc., the waterproof case 1 of this invention is distribute | arranged to the outer side of the seam E1 of the surrounding wall 31 and the 2nd surrounding wall 21, and the liquid injected to this seam E1 hits directly. A waterproof wall 32 is provided to prevent this. The ejected liquid is, for example, water or car wash liquid ejected from a pump during car washing. Further, in the present invention, “the waterproof wall 32 is disposed outside the joint E1 between the peripheral wall 31 and the second peripheral wall 21” means that the waterproof wall 32 is a solid line in FIG. As shown in the figure, it is arranged outside the case main body 3 along the orthogonal direction X or the orthogonal direction Z rather than the joint E1. That is, the position along the attachment direction Y of the upper end 32a of the waterproof wall 32 does not matter. Moreover, in this invention, as shown with the dashed-dotted line in FIG. 3, it arrange | positions in the position which the upper end 32a of the waterproof wall 32 wraps along the edge part 21a of the 2nd surrounding wall 21 along the orthogonal direction X or the orthogonal direction Z. The waterproof wall 32 is also included in “the outer side of the joint E1 between the peripheral wall 31 and the second peripheral wall 21”.

  The waterproof wall 32 is provided integrally with the peripheral wall 31 of the case body 3. The waterproof wall 32 is provided in a plate shape extending along the mounting direction Y, and is provided in parallel to the peripheral wall 31 with a space between the waterproof wall 32 and the peripheral wall 31. The space between the waterproof wall 32 and the peripheral wall 31 communicates with the external space at both ends along the mounting direction Y. Therefore, the waterproof wall 32 does not prevent the liquid from passing through the peripheral wall 31.

  Further, in the present invention, the configuration of the waterproof wall 32 that can “prevent the liquid sprayed on the joint E1 from directly hitting” varies depending on conditions such as the mounting position and mounting angle of the electrical junction box 10. However, in the case of the electrical junction box 10 shown in the present embodiment, that is, when the liquid sprayed from obliquely below the case main body 3 is sprayed as shown by the arrow R in FIG. 3, the waterproof wall 32 has the joint E1. The upper end 32a that is arranged on the outer side and along the mounting direction Y of the waterproof wall 32 has the same height as the joint E1 and the mounting direction Y, as shown by the solid line and the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 3 or a configuration in which the upper end 32a is positioned above the seam E1 along the attachment direction Y as indicated by a dotted line in FIG.

    And in this embodiment, since it was set as the structure where the upper end 32a of the waterproof wall 32 is located in the position of the same height along the joint E1 and the attachment direction Y as mentioned above, the arrow in FIG. In addition to preventing the sprayed liquid indicated by R from directly hitting the joint E <b> 1 between the peripheral wall 31 and the second peripheral wall 21, the second peripheral wall 21 is attached when the upper cover 2 is attached to the case body 3. The upper cover 2 can be easily attached to the case main body 3 without hitting the waterproof wall 32.

  In the present invention, the waterproof wall 32 that is disposed outside the joint E1 between the peripheral wall 31 and the second peripheral wall 21 and prevents the liquid sprayed on the joint E1 from directly hitting is thus provided. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the peripheral wall 31 from being bent due to the pressure of the liquid and to generate a gap between the second peripheral wall 21 and the liquid can be reliably prevented from entering the waterproof case 1 through the gap. In the present invention, even if the liquid whose strength is weakened enters between the edge portion 31a of the peripheral wall 31 and the edge portion 21a of the second peripheral wall 21, this liquid is the convex portion 33 and the step portion 23 described above. Therefore, liquid can be reliably prevented from entering the waterproof case 1.

  In the present invention, since the waterproof wall 32 is provided on the case body 3 side of the case body 3 and the upper cover 2, the rigidity of the case body 3 can be improved. Further, the upper cover 102 of the conventional waterproof case 101 can be used for the waterproof case 1 as it is without any design change. In addition, by providing the waterproof wall 32 on the case body 3 side, it is possible to suppress an increase in the size of the waterproof case 1 as compared with the case where it is provided on the upper cover 2 side.

  Furthermore, the waterproof wall 32 having the above-described configuration is provided at a plurality of locations on the peripheral wall 31. That is, the waterproof wall 32 is partially provided on the peripheral wall 31. And some of these waterproof walls 32 are provided in the outer side of the inclination part C1 mentioned above, as shown in FIG.2 and FIG.4.

  As described above, in the present invention, since the waterproof wall 32 is partially provided outside the inclined portion C1, which is a place where liquid can easily enter, miniaturization of the waterproof case 1 and complication of the configuration are minimized. However, it is possible to reliably prevent liquid from entering the waterproof case 1.

  According to the waterproof case 1 having the above-described configuration, it is possible to reliably prevent liquid from entering the inside while having a simple structure without using packing. Moreover, since the packing is not used, the waterproof case 1 can be provided at a low cost. In addition, it has a much simpler structure than a conventional waterproof case having a pair of sealing walls that seal the joint E1 between the peripheral wall 31 and the second peripheral wall 21, but ensures that liquid can enter the inside. Can be prevented.

  In the embodiment described above, the waterproof wall 32 is provided on the case body 3 side. However, in the present invention, the waterproof wall may be provided on the upper cover 2 side. In other words, in the present invention, it is only necessary that a waterproof wall is provided on one of the case body 3 and the upper cover 2.

  In the embodiment described above, the waterproof wall 32 is partially provided. However, in the present invention, the waterproof wall may be provided continuously over the entire circumference of the case body 3 or the upper cover 2. .

  In addition, embodiment mentioned above only showed the typical form of this invention, and this invention is not limited to embodiment. That is, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

It is a perspective view which shows the electrical junction box comprised by the waterproof case which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the state from which the cover was removed from the case main body of the waterproof case shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing along the AA line in FIG. It is a perspective view which expands and shows the B section enclosed with the dashed-dotted line in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the waterproof case used for the conventional electrical junction box. It is explanatory drawing explaining the problem of the conventional waterproof case shown by FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a conventional waterproof case shown in FIG. 5.

Explanation of symbols

1 Waterproof case 2 Upper cover (cover)
3 Case body 3a Opening portion 21 Second peripheral wall 31 Peripheral wall 31a Edge portion 32 Waterproof wall C1 Inclined portion E1 Seam

Claims (3)

A waterproof case having a case body provided in a box shape by a plurality of peripheral walls, and a cover that covers an opening formed by edges of the plurality of peripheral walls of the case body,
Provided on one of the peripheral wall of the case body and the second peripheral wall of the cover that overlaps the peripheral wall, arranged on the outer side of the joint between the peripheral wall and the second peripheral wall, and sprayed to the joint Waterproof case characterized by a waterproof wall that prevents direct contact with liquid.   The waterproof wall is partially provided on an outer side of an inclined portion that is inclined with respect to an orthogonal direction orthogonal to an attachment direction of the cover to the case main body among the joints. Item 10. A waterproof case according to Item 1.   The waterproof case according to claim 1, wherein the waterproof wall is provided on the peripheral wall.

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