JP2012033827A - Casing - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure water resistance without complicating assembling works for a casing in which at least one of casing elements has two walls extending in directions intersecting with each other.SOLUTION: A casing 1 includes a base member 10 having a base-side reference wall part 11 and a conduit frame part 12 which extend in directions intersecting with each other, and a cover member 20. Joining auxiliary means 40 is provided between the base member 10 and the cover member 20. The joining auxiliary means 40 engage with each other in an abutting state to elastically deform the sidewall parts 23 of the cover member 20 so as to keep the sidewall parts 23 separated from a conduit gasket part 31a provided on the peripheral wall of the conduit frame 12 when the extending end faces of the sidewall parts 23 are joined to an inner surface of the base side reference wall part 11, and releases the abutting engagement to allow joining of the sidewall parts 23 to the conduit gasket part 31a when the extending end faces of the sidewall parts 23 are joined to the inner surface of the base-side reference wall part 11.

Description

  The present invention relates to a housing in which an accommodation space is secured between two housing elements, and more particularly to a housing having a waterproof structure in which a gasket is disposed at a joint portion.

  In a casing of an electronic device such as an inverter that can be installed outdoors, a sealing means is interposed at a joint between two casing elements in order to ensure waterproofness. For example, in a housing having a base member on which a component is mounted and a cover member that covers the base member, a gasket is disposed around the base member, and the opening edge of the cover member is pressed against the gasket. The member and the cover member are joined in a watertight manner (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP-A-9-252187

  By the way, the two casing elements joined to each other may take various forms depending on their uses and requirements, and one of the casing elements has two wall portions extending along a direction intersecting each other. There is also. For example, in the case of a rectangular parallelepiped housing, the bottom wall portion and the back wall portion are integrated to form the base member, while the front wall portion, the pair of side wall portions, and the upper wall portion are integrated. A cover member may be configured.

  In the case having the base member and the cover member having such a shape, when the edge portions of the side wall portions are joined to the both side edge portions of the back wall portion, the joint portion between the bottom wall portion and the side wall portion is formed. There will be a risk of damaging the gasket provided at the joint between the bottom wall and the side wall. For this reason, in this type of housing, when joining the base member and the cover member, it is necessary to elastically deform one of them to maintain a state in which the gasket is separated, which complicates the assembly work. Become.

  In the present invention, in view of the above situation, at least one of the two casing elements has two wall portions extending along a direction intersecting each other, without causing complication of assembly work, An object of the present invention is to provide a housing that can ensure waterproofness.

  In order to achieve the above object, a housing according to the present invention has at least one of two housing elements joined to each other having two wall portions extending along a direction intersecting with each other. The edge portions of the two wall portions serve as joint portions with the other housing element, and the joint portions of the two housing elements are joined to each other via a sealing means, thereby being accommodated between the two housing elements. In a housing that secures a space, between the two housing elements, the other housing element is abutted and engaged with each other when the other housing element is joined to the joint portion of one wall portion. The housing element is elastically deformed to keep the other housing element separated from the joint of the other wall, and at least the joint of the one wall and the other housing element are When joined, the contact engagement state is released and the other casing element is Characterized in that a bonding aid to permit bonding of other casing element with respect to the junction of the other wall by returning to a normal state.

  Further, according to the present invention, in the housing described above, the two housing elements are integrally formed of a first reference wall portion and a pair of side wall portions that bend and extend in the same direction from both side edges thereof. A second housing formed integrally with a first housing element molded into a first reference wall portion, a second reference wall portion corresponding to the first reference wall portion, and a sandwiching wall portion bent and extended from one side edge thereof. A body element, and the extended end edges of the pair of side wall portions are respectively joined to corresponding side edges of the second reference wall portion, and between the first reference wall portion and one end portion of the pair of side wall portions. A holding space is secured between the first casing element and the second casing element by joining the clamping wall portion to the first sealing element via a sealing means. A gasket is affixed to the outer edge surface of the clamping wall portion or the inner surfaces of the first reference wall portion and the pair of side wall portions. Then, the outer edge surface of these sandwiching wall portions, the inner surface of the first reference wall portion, and the inner surfaces of the pair of side wall portions are joined to each other, and the joining assisting means includes the sandwiching wall portion and the pair of paired side walls. One of the side wall portions is formed between the pair of side wall portions, and when the sandwiching wall portion is inserted between the pair of side wall portions, the mutual space between the pair of side wall portions is elastically expanded by abutting and engaging with each other. When at least an outer edge surface of the clamping wall portion is joined to the first reference wall portion, the abutting engagement state is released to return the pair of side wall portions to a normal state. And

  Further, the present invention provides the above-described housing, wherein the joining auxiliary means includes a protrusion formed on an outer edge surface of the sandwiching wall portion facing an inner surface of the pair of side wall portions, and an inner surface of the pair of side wall portions. And a pair of side wall portions that are spread apart when the projection is brought into contact with and engaged with the platform portion.

  Further, according to the present invention, in the above-described housing, at least the contact assisting state of the joining auxiliary means is released between the extended end edges of the pair of side wall portions and the second reference wall portion, And an engagement means for engaging each other when the outer edge surface of the sandwiching wall portion is joined to the first reference wall portion and restricting the pair of side wall portions from moving in the direction of opening and closing each other. Features.

  According to the present invention, when the other housing element is joined to the joining portion of one wall portion, the other wall portion is brought into contact with and engaged with each other to elastically deform the other housing element. When the other casing element is maintained in a state of being separated from the joining portion of the other, and when the joining portion of at least one wall portion and the other casing element are joined, the contact engagement state is released and the other housing element is released. Since a joining auxiliary means for allowing the joining of the other housing element to the joint portion of the other wall portion by allowing the housing element to return to the normal state is provided, the sealing means is used when joining the two housing elements. Will not be brought into sliding contact with the casing element. Therefore, it is possible to ensure desired waterproofness for the assembled housing.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a housing according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the housing shown in FIG. FIG. 3A is a diagram schematically illustrating a state in the middle of assembling the two casing elements of the casing illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 3B is a diagram schematically illustrating a state immediately before the two casing elements of the casing illustrated in FIG. 1 are joined to each other. FIG. 3C is a diagram schematically illustrating a state where the two casing elements of the casing illustrated in FIG. 1 are joined to each other. 4A and 4B are cross-sectional views of the two housing elements shown in FIG. 3B. FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB. 5A and 5B are cross-sectional views of the two housing elements shown in FIG. 3-3, where FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC, and FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line DD. FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a main part of the housing shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a casing according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  1 and 2 show a housing which is an embodiment of the present invention. The housing 1 illustrated here is an electronic device such as an inverter that is mounted with various components such as electronic components therein, and a base member (second housing element) that serves as a housing element. 10 and a cover member (first housing element) 20.

  The base member 10 includes a rectangular plate-like base side reference wall portion (wall portion) 11, a conduit frame portion (clamping wall portion) 12 provided at one end of the base side reference wall portion (second reference wall portion) 11, and And a plurality of cooling fins 13 provided on the outer surface of the base-side reference wall portion 11. The base side reference wall 11 and the cooling fin 13 are integrally formed of a metal having a relatively high thermal conductivity such as aluminum or an aluminum alloy. The conduit frame portion 12 is formed by integrally molding a base wall 12A having a mounting hole 12a through which a conduit connector (not shown) is inserted, and a peripheral wall 12B provided around the entire edge of the base wall 12A. The base-side reference wall 11 protrudes from the inner surface of the one end toward the direction intersecting with each other. As is clear from the figure, the base wall 12A of the conduit frame portion 12 is formed in a trapezoidal shape whose width gradually decreases as the distance from the base side reference wall portion 11 increases.

  The cover member 20 covers the inner surface of the base member 10 in a state in which an accommodation space for accommodating components is secured between the cover member 20 and the base member 10. In the present embodiment, the cover member 20 is applied in which the cover side reference wall portion (first reference wall portion) 21, the end wall portion 22, and the pair of side wall portions 23, 23 are integrally formed by injection molding. The cover-side reference wall portion 21 is a portion arranged to face the base-side reference wall portion 11 of the base member 10 and is formed in a rectangular shape having a slightly smaller width than the base-side reference wall portion 11. The end wall portion 22 is a trapezoidal portion disposed to face the conduit frame portion 12 of the base member 10, and is directed from one end edge of the cover side reference wall portion 21 toward the inner surface side of the cover side reference wall portion 21. It bends and extends. The pair of side wall portions 23 and 23 are portions that are bent and extended from both side edges of the cover side reference wall portion 21 toward the inner surface side of the cover side reference wall portion 21. The pair of side wall parts 23, 23 extend so that the distance between the side wall parts 23, 23 gradually increases as the distance from the cover side reference wall part 21 increases, and the base side reference wall of the base member 10 is between the extended end parts. It is configured to have substantially the same width as the portion 11.

  Sealing means 30 is formed at the joint between the base member 10 and the cover member 20. The sealing means 30 joins the base member 10 and the cover member 20 in a watertight manner. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a series of endless gaskets 31 are laid from the outer surface of the peripheral wall 12 </ b> B in the conduit frame portion 12 to the edge of the inner surface of the base-side reference wall portion 11. On the other hand, the sealing means 30 is configured by providing a pressing contact portion 32 having a large plate thickness at a portion facing the gasket 31 on the inner surface of the end wall portion 22 and the inner surfaces of the pair of side wall portions 23 and 23. More specifically, for the gasket portion (hereinafter referred to as “conduit gasket portion 31a”) laid on the peripheral wall 12B of the conduit frame portion 12, the inner surface of the end wall portion 22 and the pair of side wall portions 23, 23 are provided. The pressure contact portions 32 provided on the inner surface of each of the two members are brought into pressure-contact with each other so as to be watertightly joined to each other. For the gasket portion (hereinafter referred to as “base gasket portion 31 b”) laid on the inner surface of the base-side reference wall portion 11, the extended end surface of the end wall portion 22 and the extended end surfaces of the pair of side wall portions 23 and 23. Are joined together in a watertight manner.

  Further, a joining auxiliary means 40 is provided between the base member 10 and the cover member 20. When the joining auxiliary means 40 brings the pair of side wall portions 23, 23 of the cover member 20 close to the base gasket portion 31b, the conduit gasket portion 31a and the pressing contact portion 32 of the pair of side wall portions 23, 23 are This prevents a situation where they are in sliding contact with each other. In the present embodiment, the projection 41 is provided at a portion of the peripheral wall 12B of the conduit frame portion 12 that faces the inner surface of the pair of side wall portions 23, 23, while a trapezoidal portion is provided on the inner surface of each of the side wall portions 23, 23. By providing 42, the joining auxiliary means 40 is constituted. The protrusion 41 is formed in a columnar shape, and protrudes outward from the outer surface of the peripheral wall 12B. The trapezoidal portion 42 is a protruding portion that protrudes inward from the inner surface of the pair of side wall portions 23, 23, and is provided at a portion that is closer to the inner edge side than the pressing contact portion 32. As shown in FIG. 4, when these protrusions 41 and the base-like part 42 are brought into contact with each other, the pair of side wall parts 23, 23 are elastically deformed in the direction of expanding each other, and the pair of side wall parts The pressing contact portions 32 of 23 and 23 are formed in a protruding amount that can be maintained in a state separated from the conduit gasket portion 31a.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the protrusion 41 and the base portion 42 are provided at positions where the extended end surface of the end wall portion 22 is brought into contact with the corresponding inner surface of the base-side reference wall portion 11 and the end wall portion 22 is provided. When the cover member 20 is rotated in the direction close to the base member 10 with the extended end face of the shaft as a rotation axis, the conduit gasket part 31a and the pressing contact part 32 provided on the inner surfaces of the pair of side wall parts 23 and 23, 3, and then, until the extended end surfaces of the pair of side wall portions 23, 23 are in contact with the inner surface of the base-side reference wall portion 11, as shown in FIG. It is a position where it can contact.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3C, the protrusion 41 and the base portion 42 are mutually connected when the extended end surfaces of the pair of side wall portions 23 and 23 come into contact with the inner surface of the base-side reference wall portion 11. The contact state is released, and the pair of side wall portions 23 and 23 are configured to return to the normal state by elastic recovery. When the pair of side wall portions 23 and 23 are in the normal state, the pressing contact portion 32 can be brought into contact with the conduit gasket portion 31a as shown in FIG.

  Further, an engaging means 50 is provided between the base member 10 and the cover member 20. In the engaging means 50, the contact state between the protrusion 41 of the joining assisting means 40 and the base portion 42 is released, and the extended end surfaces of the pair of side wall portions 23, 23 are on the inner surface of the base-side reference wall portion 11. When they come into contact with each other, they are engaged with each other to restrict the movement of the pair of side wall portions 23, 23 in the direction of expanding each other. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the engagement member 50 is configured by providing an engagement protrusion 51 on the base member 10 and providing an engagement recess 52 on the extending end surface of the side walls 23, 23. ing. As shown in FIG. 2, the engagement protrusion 51 is provided on a portion of the base-side reference wall portion 11 adjacent to the peripheral wall 12 </ b> B of the conduit frame portion 12, and is disposed at a portion on the outer edge side of the gasket 31. It is set up. As shown in FIG. 6, each of the engagement protrusions 51 has a guide surface 51 a at a position located on the inner edge side of the protruding end portion. The guide surface 51a is an inclined surface that gradually inclines toward the outer edge side as the distance from the inner surface of the base-side reference wall portion 11 increases. The engagement recess 52 is a recess formed in a portion corresponding to the engagement protrusion 51 on the extending end surface of the pair of side wall portions 23, 23, and is formed to have a size capable of accommodating the engagement protrusion 51. .

  When assembling the housing 1 with the base member 10 and the cover member 20 configured as described above, both may be joined in accordance with the procedure shown in FIGS. That is, as described above, the extending end surface of the end wall portion 22 is brought into contact with the corresponding inner surface of the base-side reference wall portion 11, and from this state, the cover member 20 has the extending end surface of the end wall portion 22 as the rotation axis. Is rotated in a direction approaching the base member 10, so that the extended end surfaces of the pair of side wall portions 23, 23 are brought into contact with the inner surface of the base-side reference wall portion 11. In this state, the pressing contact portion 32 provided on the inner surface of the end wall portion 22 and the inner surfaces of the pair of side wall portions 23 and 23 is opposed to the conduit gasket portion 31a laid on the peripheral wall 12B of the conduit frame portion 12. Each of the extended end surfaces of the end wall portion 22 and the extended side surfaces of the pair of side wall portions 23 and 23 are pressed against the base gasket portion 31 b laid on the inner surface of the base side reference wall portion 11. As a result, each of them is joined in a watertight manner.

  Here, according to the housing 1, the protrusion 41 provided on the conduit frame portion 12 and the base-like portion 42 provided on the inner surfaces of the pair of side wall portions 23, 23 come into contact with each other, whereby a pair of side wall portions. A pair of side wall parts 23 and 23 will be expanded mutually until the extended end surface of 23 and 23 is in the state just before contact | abutting to the inner surface of the base side reference wall part 11. FIG. Accordingly, the conduit gasket portion 31a and the pressing contact portions 32 of the pair of side wall portions 23 and 23 do not cause a sliding contact with each other during the operations shown in FIGS. On the contrary, when removing the cover member 20 from the base member 10 in maintenance inspection or the like, similarly, the conduit gasket portion 31a and the pressing contact portion 32 of the pair of side wall portions 23 and 23 are brought into sliding contact with each other. There is no. In addition, the contact state between the protrusion 41 and the base portion 42 is released when the extended end surfaces of the pair of side wall portions 23, 23 contact the inner surface of the base-side reference wall portion 11. In addition, in this embodiment, since the engaging means 50 is provided between the base member 10 and the cover member 20, the extended end surfaces of the pair of side wall portions 23, 23 are the base side reference wall portion 11. The movement in the direction in which the pair of side wall portions 23 and 23 expand to each other can be restricted at the time of contact with the inner surface. In other words, the movement in the direction in which the conduit gasket portion 31a and the pressing contact portions 32 of the pair of side wall portions 23 and 23 are separated from each other is restricted. Thereby, even when the cover member 20 is repeatedly attached to and detached from the base member 10, there is no risk of damaging the conduit gasket portion 31a, and it is possible to always ensure the desired waterproof performance for the housing 1. It becomes.

  In the above-described embodiment, the housing 1 is illustrated so as to sandwich the conduit frame portion 12 between the pair of side wall portions 23, 23, but the pair of side wall portions 23, 23 are not necessarily provided. It is not necessary that at least one of the two housing elements joined to each other has two walls extending along the direction intersecting each other, and the edges of the two walls are respectively the other Any other type of casing can be applied as long as it is a joint portion with the casing element.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case 1 of the electronic device is illustrated, but the case is not necessarily limited to the case of the electronic device.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Case 10 Base member 11 Base side reference wall part 12 Conduit frame part 20 Cover member 21 Cover side reference wall part 22 End wall part 23,23 Side wall part 30 Sealing means 31 Gasket 31a Conduit gasket part 31b Base gasket part 32 Pressing Contact portion 40 Joining auxiliary means 41 Protrusion 42 Stand-like portion 50 Engagement means 51 Engagement protrusion 52 Engagement recess

Claims (4)

At least one of the two housing elements joined to each other has two wall portions extending along a direction intersecting each other, and the edges of the two wall portions are respectively connected to the other housing element. In a housing that serves as a joint portion and secures an accommodation space between the two housing elements by joining the joint portions of the two housing elements to each other via a sealing means.
Between the two housing elements, when the other housing element is joined to the joint portion of one wall portion, the other housing element is elastically deformed by abutting engagement with each other. To keep the other casing element separated from the joining portion of the other wall portion, and when the joining portion of at least one wall portion and the other casing element are joined, the contact engagement state is established. A housing provided with joining auxiliary means for allowing joining of the other housing element to the joint portion of the other wall portion by releasing and returning the other housing element to a normal state. The two housing elements are
A first housing element formed integrally with a first reference wall portion and a pair of side wall portions that bend and extend in the same direction from both side edges thereof;
A second housing element formed integrally with a second reference wall portion corresponding to the first reference wall portion and a sandwiching wall portion bent and extended from one side edge thereof, and the pair of side wall portions Are connected to corresponding side edges of the second reference wall portion, and the holding wall portion is interposed between one end portions of the first reference wall portion and the pair of side wall portions via a sealing means. By securing, a storage space is secured between the first housing element and the second housing element,
The sealing means attaches a gasket to the outer edge surface of the holding wall portion or the inner surfaces of the first reference wall portion and the pair of side wall portions, and then the outer edge surface of the holding wall portion and the first reference wall portion The inner surface and the inner surfaces of the pair of side wall portions are joined together,
The joining auxiliary means is formed between the sandwiching wall portion and the pair of side wall portions, and abuts and engages with each other when the sandwiching wall portion is inserted between the pair of sidewall portions. The side walls of each of the pair of side walls are elastically widened, and at least when the outer edge surface of the sandwiching wall is joined to the first reference wall, the abutting engagement state is released and the pair of paired The casing according to claim 1, wherein the side wall is returned to a normal state. The joining auxiliary means includes a protrusion formed on an outer edge surface facing the inner surface of the pair of side wall portions in the sandwiching wall portion,
A pair of side wall portions formed on the inner surface of the pair of side wall portions at positions corresponding to the protrusions, and the pair of side wall portions are expanded to each other when the protrusions are brought into contact with and engaged with the base portion. The housing according to claim 2, wherein   Between the extended end edges of the pair of side wall portions and the second reference wall portion, at least the contact engagement state of the joining auxiliary means is released, and the outer edge surface of the clamping wall portion is the first edge portion. The engagement means for restricting movement of the pair of side wall portions in a direction to open and close each other when they are joined to the reference wall portion is provided. Housing.

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