JP2012205369A - Connector and electric connection box using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make efficient use of an unused and vacant fuse housing part of an electric connection box.SOLUTION: A connector attached to an unused fuse housing part provided on the outer case surface of an electric connection box includes a housing being in the same shape as a resin body of a fuse to be accommodated in the fuse housing part, the housing having a pair of connection members therein. One end of each connection member is placed at an outer surface opening at one end of the housing so as to be fitted into a mating terminal of an electric wire terminal of a wiring harness.

Description

  The present invention relates to a connector connected to an automotive wire harness and an electrical junction box using the connector.

  An electrical junction box such as a junction box to which an automobile wire harness is connected is provided with a large number of fuse accommodating portions for inserting and connecting fuses from the outside to the outer surface of the case. The number of fuses to be installed in these fuse housing units may differ depending on the grade of the vehicle model, the destination, and the like. In low-grade vehicle models, there may be a large number of unused fuse housing units in which no fuses are installed.

  In this way, when an empty fuse housing portion in which no fuse is mounted is generated, the present applicant has proposed to mount a spare fuse in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-20912.

JP 2005-20912 A

As described above, a spare fuse may be attached to an unused fuse housing part, but the number of unused fuse housing parts is often larger than the number of spare fuses to be installed. The utilization rate of the service has declined and cannot be used effectively.
On the other hand, when it is necessary to connect the wires constituting the wire harness to each other by splice connection, or to connect wires of another wire harness, the wires of the wire harness can be connected to a joint connector or through-wire. It is necessary to connect via connectors and attach these connectors to the outer periphery of the wire harness or to the vehicle body panel, which takes up space and burdens the work.
Further, when an optional component to be mounted on the automobile is not provided with a circuit for connecting a power circuit, a signal circuit, or a ground circuit in advance, the wire harness connected to the optional component can be connected to the internal circuit of the electrical junction box by a connector. It is preferable to do so.

  From the above viewpoint, the present invention, when an unused fuse housing portion is generated in the fuse housing portion of the electrical connection box, it is necessary to connect the wire harness and the internal circuit of the electrical connection box by a connector. An object is to make the fuse housing part available.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, as a first invention, among the fuse housing portions provided on the outer surface of the case of the electrical junction box, a connector to be attached to an unused fuse housing portion,
The housing of the connector has the same shape as the resin body of the fuse that was to be accommodated in the fuse accommodating portion, and has a pair of connecting materials in the housing, and one end of each connecting material is located on one end side of the housing. There is provided a connector characterized in that it is configured to be fitted and connected to a mating terminal of an electric wire terminal of a wire harness positioned at an outer surface opening.

  It is preferable to provide a locking projection on the outer surface of the housing, and to provide a recess in the peripheral wall of the unused fuse housing portion so that the locking projection can be fitted and fixed in the recess. .

  Further, a U-shaped connecting portion is provided on one outer surface of the housing and an I-shaped connecting portion is provided on the other outer surface, and a plurality of connectors are sequentially fitted by fitting the U-shaped connecting portion and the I-shaped connecting portion. It is preferable to have a configuration that can be connected by fitting.

  In many cases, a plurality of fuse accommodating portions provided on the outer surface of the case of the electrical junction box are provided in parallel. When these parallel fuse accommodating portions accommodate unused connectors that are connected to the wire harness, the connecting portions can be provided on the connectors and attached to the unused fuse accommodating portions in an integrally connected state.

A pair of connecting members in the housing are connected to form a joint connector, and a joint connector that splices the wires of the wire harness.
With this configuration, the splice portion of the wire harness can be accommodated in an unused fuse accommodating portion of the electrical junction box.

  Alternatively, the pair of terminal materials housed in the housing protrude from the other end side of the housing and connect a middle portion in the length direction to form a joint connector, which is inserted from the opposite side of the electrical connection box. These terminals are fitted together, and a total of four wires connected from above and below the electrical junction box can be joint-connected.

  Alternatively, the pair of terminal members in the housing are independent without being connected, and are protruded from the other end side of the housing, so that electric wires connected from opposite sides of the electrical connection box are connected to each other.

  Furthermore, as a second invention, an electrical junction box is provided in which the connector is mounted in an unused fuse housing part.

  As described above, the connector of the present invention is attached to an unused fuse housing portion among a large number of fuse housing portions formed on the outer surface of the case of the electrical junction box, and the external circuit of the wire harness and the interior of the electrical junction box A joint connector or / and a through connector with an external circuit of another wire harness connected from the opposite side of the circuit or the electrical junction box, and a joint connector for splicing wires of the wire harness are used. Therefore, by using the connector of the present invention, an unused fuse housing portion of the electrical junction box can be used effectively. And the splice of a wire harness can be stored in the inside of an electrical-connection box, for example, connecting outside wire harnesses via a joint connector can be abolished.

The electrical junction box which accommodates the connector of embodiment of this invention is shown, (A) is a schematic plan view, (B) is a schematic perspective view, (C) is an expansion perspective view of a fuse accommodating part. FIG. 5A is a perspective view, FIG. 5B is a front view, and FIG. 5C is a diagram illustrating a state in which the fuse is attached to the fuse housing portion and connected to the electric wire. It is a perspective view of the joint connector with which the unused fuse accommodating part of the embodiment of the present invention is attached. (A) is a front view of the joint connector of FIG. 3, (B) is a side view, (C) is a plan view, and (D) is a cross-sectional view. The joint state of a joint connector is shown, (A) is a perspective view before connection, (B) is a front view of the connected state, (C) is a plan view of the connected state. It is drawing which attaches a joint connector to an unused fuse accommodating part, and shows the state which joins an electric wire. It is a perspective view which shows the state which connects the terminal of an electric wire terminal from the up-down direction of the said joint connector. The other joint connector is shown, (A) is sectional drawing, (B) is drawing which shows a connection state with an electric wire. A through connector is shown, (A) is sectional drawing, (B) is drawing which shows a connection state with an electric wire.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an electrical connection box 1 mounted on an automobile, and a plurality of fuse housing blocks 4 in which a large number of fuse housing portions 3 are arranged in parallel are provided on the upper surface of a case 2 of the electrical connection box 1.

One fuse accommodating portion 3 has a shape in which the fuse 5 shown in FIG. 2 is inserted and fitted from above. The fuse 5 has a well-known shape, and a terminal material 6 in which a pair of input terminals 6a and output terminals 6b are continuously connected by a fusing part 6c is embedded in the resin case body 7, and the input terminals 6a and the output terminals 6b are connected to the resin case body 7. It protrudes from the lower end surface. The fuse housing portion 3 to which the fuse 5 is mounted includes a peripheral wall 3a surrounding the resin case body 7 of the fuse 5, and an input terminal 6a and insertion ports 3c and 3d for the output terminal 6b on the bottom wall 3b.
In the fuse housing block 4, the peripheral wall 3 a of the fuse housing 3 serves as a partition wall with the adjacent fuse housing 3, and the fuse housing 3 is arranged in parallel.

Of the fuse housing block 4, in the first block 4A, a pair of electric wires 8A and 8B of the wire harness 8 connected to the input terminal 6a and the output terminal 6b of the fuse 5 attached to the fuse housing portion 3 from below the electrical connection box 1 are provided. The terminals 8At and 8Bt of the terminal are connected by connectors.
Further, in the second block 4B, the input terminal 6a and the output terminal 6b of the fuse 5 to be mounted in the fuse housing portion 3 are fitted and connected to the terminals provided on the bus bar of the internal circuit housed in the electrical connection box 1.

  The number of fuse accommodating portions 3 provided side by side in the first block 4A and the second block 4B is provided in accordance with the case where there are high-grade vehicles and optional mounted products in the same vehicle type. Therefore, an unused fuse housing portion 3 -C in which no fuse is mounted is generated in both the first block 4A and the second block 4B.

  As shown in FIG. 1, joint connectors 10 and 11 and a through connector 12 are attached to the unused empty fuse housing portion 3 -C. Any one of the joint connectors 10 and 11 and the through connector 12 may be used.

  The joint connector 10 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is to be attached to an unused fuse housing portion 3 -C of the first block 4A. As shown in FIG. 6, the joint connector 10 includes two electric wires 50A and 50B of the wire harness 50 connected from the upper surface of the case of the electrical junction box 1, and two electric wires 51A of the wire harness 51 connected from the lower surface of the case. The four electric wires with 51B are spliced.

  A connector housing (hereinafter abbreviated as “housing”) 21 of the joint connector 10 is similar in shape to the rectangular parallelepiped shape of the resin case body 7 of the fuse 5, and has a shape that fits in the peripheral wall 3 a of the fuse housing 3. In addition, locking convex portions 21b are provided on the outer side surfaces 21a on both short sides of the housing 21, and, as shown in FIG. 6, fitted into the concave portions 3x provided on the inner surface of the peripheral wall 3a so as to be semi-locked. Yes.

  Further, a U-shaped connecting portion 21e is provided on each of the outer side surfaces 21c on the long side of the housing 21, and an I-shaped connecting portion 21f is provided in parallel, and the U-shaped connecting portion 21e and the I-shaped connecting portion 21f on both sides are provided. Is phase-symmetric. Thereby, as shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C, the plurality of joint connectors 10 arranged in parallel can be sequentially connected by inserting the I-shaped connecting portion 21f into the U-shaped connecting portion 21e. ing.

  In the housing 21 of the joint connector 10, joint members 22 and 23 made of a pair of bus bars having the same shape as the input terminals 6 a and output terminals 6 b of the fuse 5 are connected in parallel by connecting portions 24. The terminal 25 is accommodated. One end side of the terminal members 22 and 23 of the joint terminal 25 is projected from the lower end of the housing 21 in the same manner as the input / output terminal of the fuse to form tab-shaped terminals 22a and 23a. The other ends of the terminal members 22 and 23 are tab-shaped terminals 22 b and 23 b exposed inside the upper surface opening 21 k of the housing 21.

Hereinafter, the usage state of the joint connector 10 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 5, the plurality of joint connectors 10 are sequentially connected to the plurality of unused fuse housing portions 3-C by inserting the I-shaped connection portion 21f into the U-shaped connection portion 21e.
At that time, the locking convex portion 21b protruding from the outer surface of the housing 21 of each joint connector 10 is fitted into the concave portion 3x of the peripheral wall 3a of each fuse accommodating portion and semi-locked.

  In the state where the joint connector 10 is mounted on each unused fuse housing part 3-C as described above, the terminals 22a and 23a at the lower end of the joint terminal 25 of the joint connector 10 are inserted into the insertion port 3c on the bottom wall of the fuse housing part 3. Project downward from 3d. Also, the upper end terminals 22 b and 23 b are located inside the upper end opening of the housing 21.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the two electric wires 50 </ b> A and 50 </ b> B of the wire harness 50 connected from the upper surface of the case of the electrical connection box 1 to the joint connector 10 attached to the unused fuse housing portion 3-C. The female terminals 50A-t and 50B-t connected to the terminal are inserted from the upper end opening of the housing 21 and fitted and connected to the terminals 22b and 23b.
The female terminals 51A-t and 51B-t connected to the terminals of the two electric wires 51A and 51B of the wire harness 51 connected from the lower surface of the case are fitted and connected to the terminals 22a and 23a protruding from the lower end of the housing 21.

  As described above, the electric wires 50A and 50B of the wire harness 50 and the electric wires 51A and 51B of the wire harness 51 are connected by the joint terminal 25 of the joint connector 10, and the four electric wires are spliced inside the electric junction box 1. ing.

An unused fuse in the second block 4B that fits and connects the input terminal 6a and the output terminal 6b of the fuse 5 to be installed in the fuse accommodating portion 3 with the terminal provided on the bus bar of the internal circuit accommodated in the electrical connection box 1. When the accommodating portion 3-C is generated and the optional component and the bus bar terminal can be connected, the joint connector 10 may be attached to the unused fuse accommodating portion 3-C of the second block 4B.
In that case, the terminals 22a and 23a of the joint connector 10 are connected to the terminals of a bus bar (not shown) of the internal circuit, and the external terminals 22b and 23b are terminals of the electric wire terminals of the wire harness 50 connected to the optional components. Connected.

  The joint connector 11 has the shape shown in FIG. 8A, and the difference from the joint connector 10 is that the joint connector 11 does not have terminals 22a and 23a protruding below the joint terminals 25, The lower end of 23 is U-shaped connected by a connecting portion 24. Other configurations are the same, and the configuration in which the shape of the housing 21 and the terminals 22b and 23b at the upper end of the joint terminal 25 are exposed inside the upper surface opening of the housing 21 is the same as that of the joint connector 10, and the same reference numerals are given. The description is omitted.

  The joint connector 11 only uses an unused fuse housing portion 3-C as a mounting portion. That is, as shown in FIG. 8 (B), the joint connector 11 for splicing the wires 53A and 53B of the wire harness 53 is simply attached to the unused fuse housing portion 3-C of the electrical connection box 1. is there. Therefore, it can be mounted in any unused fuse housing portion 3-C of the first fuse housing block 4A and the second fuse housing block 4B.

  The through connector 12 has the shape shown in FIG. 9A, and the difference from the joint connector 10 is that the terminal members 22 and 23 housed in the housing 21 are independent of each other and are not connected by a connecting portion. Since other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, the same reference numerals are given and description thereof is omitted.

  When the through connector 12 is attached to the unused fuse housing part 3-C of the first fuse housing block 4A, as shown in FIG. 9B, the wire 55A of the wire harness 55 connected from above and the wire from below are connected. The wire 56A of the harness 56 can be through-connected, and similarly, the wire 55B and the wire 56B can be through-connected.

  In addition, the through connector 12 can be attached to the unused fuse housing portion 3-C of the second fuse housing block 4B to connect the internal circuit of the electrical junction box 1 and each wire of the wire harness.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electrical junction box 2 Case 3 Fuse accommodating part 3a Perimeter wall 3x Recessed part 4 (4A, 4B) Fuse accommodating block 5 Fuse 10, 11 Joint connector 12 Through connector 21 Connector housing 22, 23 Terminal material 24 Connection part 25 Joint terminal

Claims (7)

Of the fuse housing part provided on the outer surface of the case of the electrical junction box, a connector to be attached to an unused fuse housing part,
The housing of the connector has the same shape as the resin body of the fuse that was to be accommodated in the fuse accommodating portion, and has a pair of connecting materials in the housing, and one end of each connecting material is located on one end side of the housing. A connector characterized in that the mating terminal is connected to the mating terminal of the wire terminal of the wire harness, being positioned in the outer surface opening.   2. A locking convex portion is provided on the outer surface of the housing, and a concave portion is provided in a peripheral wall of the unused fuse housing portion so that the locking convex portion can be fitted and fixed in the concave portion. Connector described in.   A U-shaped connecting portion is provided on one outer surface of the housing and an I-shaped connecting portion is provided on the other outer surface, and a plurality of connectors are sequentially fitted by fitting the U-shaped connecting portion and the I-shaped connecting portion. The connector according to claim 1, wherein the connector can be connected together.   The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a pair of connecting members in the housing are connected to form a joint connector, and the joint connector is a splice between the wires of the wire harness.   The pair of terminal materials housed in the housing project from the other end side of the housing and connect the middle part in the length direction to form a joint connector, which is a terminal of an electric wire terminal inserted from the opposite side of the electrical connection box The connector according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a total of four wires connected from above and below of the electrical junction box can be joint-connected.   The pair of terminal members in the housing are independent without being connected and protrude from the other end side of the housing to form a through connector for connecting wires connected from opposite sides of the electrical connection box. Item 4. The connector according to any one of item 3.   An electrical junction box in which the connector according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is mounted in an unused fuse housing part.

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