JP2598099Y2 - Branch junction box - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a branch junction box used for a wire harness for an automobile, and more particularly, to a lower case in which a press-connecting terminal for connecting an electric wire is arranged and an upper case by welding. The object of the present invention is to improve the fitting and holding force of a case in a branch connection box of a type that covers a cover.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A branch connection box used for branch connection of an automobile wire harness to various electrical components is a branch connection box that concentrates branch connection points at one location and rationally and economically connects wiring. Various types of wiring harnesses have been developed in accordance with the densification of the wiring harnesses.

As the branch junction box, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, cylindrical welding bosses 1 are provided at four corners of a lower case 1.
a, and through holes 2a for inserting the bosses 1a are provided at four corners of the upper case 2, respectively.
As shown in FIG. 8A, after inserting each boss 1a into each through hole 2a, as shown in FIG. 8B, the distal end portion 1b of each boss 1a is melted by an ultrasonic welding machine 3 to form an upper case. 2 and the upper case 2 and the lower case 1
Are fitted and held. Upper case 2
In order to fix the lower case 1 coupled to the lower case 1 to the vehicle body, a bracket 4 for fixing to the vehicle body is provided on a side portion of the lower case 1.

[0004] Inside the lower case 1 and the upper case 2 to be welded and connected as described above, a press contact terminal 6 is usually connected to a wire group 5 arranged inside the lower case 1 as shown in FIGS. The press contact terminal 6 is coupled to a connector (not shown) inserted into the connector housing chamber 2b of the upper case 2. The largest reason why the lower case 1 and the upper case 2 are welded and connected in the branch connection box in which the press contact terminals 6 are arranged inside is to stabilize the performance of the press contact portion between the press contact terminals and the electric wires. That is, the clearance required for fitting the lower case 1 and the upper case 2 is eliminated, and the play due to the vibration or the like that occurs when the clearance is present is prevented from increasing, and as a result, the pressure contact between the pressure contact terminal and the electric wire is prevented. It prevents external force from being transmitted to the part, prevents disconnection of the electric wire and deformation of the press contact terminal, and enhances contact reliability.

After a connector connected to a wire harness is inserted into the connector housing chamber 2b of the upper case 2, a cover 7 for protecting electric wires is attached. As shown in FIG. 7, the cover 7 is provided with lock claws 2 c provided at two places on both outer surfaces of the upper case 2, respectively.
A lock hole 7 a provided at a lower portion of the cover 7 is engaged with the upper case 2 so as to be fitted and locked.

The electric wire group 5 wired to the lower case 1 is engraved on the electric wire guide plate 1g protruding from both outer ends of the lower case 1 and the outer end surfaces on both sides of the upper case 2 when the electric wire group 5 is fitted to the upper case 2. Wire drawing hole 7b which is inserted between the guide grooves 2g and is directed upward, through the inside of the cover 7, and opened from the side surface to the upper surface of the cover 7.
Through to the outside.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional branch junction box, the upper case 2
A load in the upward direction A (see FIGS. 6 and 2) acts on the lower case 1, while a load in the downward direction B (see FIGS. 6 and 2) acts on the lower case 1 from the bracket 4 fixed to the vehicle body. The load acts when the branch junction box is fixed to the vehicle body via the bracket 4, and also acts due to vibration or the like generated during traveling of the vehicle. The loads acting on the upper case 2 and the lower case 1 are loads in opposite directions, and the upper case 2 and the lower case 1 are deformed because they are both synthetic resin molded products, and each of the lower case 1 and the upper case 2 is welded. An excessive load acts on the parts 1a and 2a. As a result, there is a possibility that the welded portions 1a and 2a may be damaged, and the fitting and holding of the upper case 2 and the lower case 1 may not be maintained.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problem. The present invention utilizes a cover of an upper case to improve a fitting holding force between an upper case and a lower case, and to reduce a load acting on the welding portion. It is intended to do so.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises a lower case and an upper case to be welded and joined, and a box-shaped cover having a lower surface opening which is detachably mounted from above the upper case, The cover covers the lower case and the upper case to be welded and joined together, and the cover has a first lock portion and a second lock portion protruding downward, and the locked portion provided on the upper case is covered by the cover. Characterized in that the second connection part is locked with the first lock part and the locked part and the cover provided on the lower case are locked with the second lock part. It is.

[0010] The lower case and the upper case are joined by inserting a welding boss provided in the lower case into a through hole provided in the upper case, melting a tip portion of the boss, welding to the upper case, The upper case and the cover are locked by a first lock claw and a lock hole, and the lower case and the cover are locked by a second lock claw and a lock hole.

More specifically, the cover has a box shape with a lower surface opening, has a wire drawing hole extending from the side surface to the upper surface, and has a first lock hole on opposing front and rear outer surfaces. A second lock hole is provided on a left and right outer surface of the case, the second lock hole is formed to extend downward and detachably engage with first lock claws projecting from both outer surfaces of the case. Are removably locked to second lock claws projecting from both outer surfaces of the lower case.

An electric wire connected to the press contact terminal is inserted and arranged inside the lower case, while a connector connected to the press contact terminal is inserted inside the upper case. The branch connection box for welding and connecting the lower case and the upper case is not necessarily limited to the one in which the press contact terminal is housed therein.

[0013]

According to the branch junction box of the present invention, the welding boss of the lower case is inserted into the through-hole of the upper case and welded to the upper case, while the first lock hole of the cover is firstly locked to the upper case. The second locking hole is locked to the second locking claw of the lower case while being locked to the claw, and the upper case is fixed with the upper case sandwiched between the lower case and the cover.

As described above, since the cover is also fitted and locked to the lower case, the upper case is sandwiched between the cover and the lower case, so that the load acting on each welded portion is distributed to each fitted lock portion. The load acting on each weld is reduced, and the weld is less likely to be damaged. Further, in addition to the connection between the lower case and the upper case by the respective welded portions, by locking the cover to the lower case and the upper case, the fitting and holding force between the upper case and the lower case is also improved. By the improvement of the fitting and holding force, the performance of the press contact portion between the press contact terminal and the wire group is also stabilized, and the reliability is improved. Further, the fitting locking force of the cover itself is also improved, and problems such as falling off can be prevented.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiments. The same configuration as the prior art shown in FIG.
The parts of the operation are assigned the same numbers, and the detailed description is omitted.
As shown in FIG. 1, welding bosses 1a are respectively provided at four corners of a lower case 1 having a flat plate shape, and a fixing bracket 4 for fixing to a vehicle body is integrally protruded from one outer surface of the long side of the lower case 1. doing. Second lock claws 1c (see FIG. 3) are provided on the outer surface of the wire guide plate 1g and the outer surface on the bracket 4 side protruding from both short sides of the lower case 1, respectively. These lock claws 1c have inclined upper surface corners so that they can be easily engaged with the lock holes.

On the other hand, the upper case 2 has the same structure as the conventional case, and has through holes 2a for inserting the bosses 1a of the lower case 1 at four corners of the flat substrate portion 2h. The first lock claws 2c are provided at four locations (only two locations are shown). These lock claws 2c have the same shape as the second lock claws 1c. The upper case 2 has wire guide grooves 2 on both outer surfaces on the short side.
g, and a partition wall 2j forming a connector accommodating chamber 2b is formed on the upper surface of the substrate 2h so as to protrude upward from an internal position spaced apart from the short side outer end of the substrate 2h. ing.

A substantially box-shaped cover 7 having an opening on the lower surface has a first lock hole 7a at the lower part of the front and rear sides on the long side, which is engaged with the first lock claw 2c of the upper case 2.
Are provided respectively. Further, second lock holes 7c respectively engaging with the second lock claws 1c of the lower case 1 are provided at the left and right side portions on the short side and the lower portion of the rear side portion on the bracket 4 side.
(See FIG. 3). These second lock holes 7c protrude a U-shaped frame-shaped lock portion 7d from a lower end surface 7f of the side portion of the cover 7, and an internal hole of the lock portion 7d is a lock hole 7c. The lower end surface 7e of the side of the cover 7 provided with the first lock hole 7a
The lower end surface 7f provided with the second lock hole 7c is set to have a length to contact the upper surface of the protruding guide plate 1g of the lower case 1. The end face 7e is slightly projected from the lower end face 7f.

In the branch junction box having the above structure, the wire group 5 is pre-wired to the lower case 1 and the press contact terminals 6 are assembled to the upper case 2 when assembling. Next, the through-hole 2a of the upper case 2 is inserted into the boss 1a of the lower case 1, and the lower case 1 and the upper case 2 are fitted. At the same time, the press contact terminal 6 is pressed into the electric wire 5 and connected. At this time, the wire group 5 wired to the lower case 1 is drawn upward through a space between the guide plate 1g of the lower case 1 and the guide groove 2g of the upper case 2.

Thereafter, the tip 1b of each boss 1a is melted and welded to the upper case 2 by the ultrasonic welding machine 3, and the upper case 2 and the lower case 1 are fitted and fixed.

Next, a connector (not shown) connected to the wire harness 10 is inserted into the connector accommodating chamber 2b of the upper case 2, and the press contact terminal 6 is inserted into the connector to be connected to a terminal inside the connector.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG.
The case 7 is put on the upper case 2 from above by pulling out the wire group 5 and the wire 10 connected to the connector from the wire drawing hole 7b of the case 7. The case 7 has the first lock hole 7 a engaged with the first lock claw 2 c of the upper case 2, and is fitted and locked to the upper case 2. At the same time, the second lock hole 7c of the case 7 is
And is also fitted and locked to the lower case 1.

As described above, the cover 7 is also fitted and locked to the lower case 1 so that the upper case 2
And the lower case 1
a, the load acting on the cover 2 and the upper case 2
And the fitting lock portion between the cover 7 and the lower case 1. Therefore, the load acting on the welded portions 1a and 2a is reduced, and the welded portions 1a and 2a are hardly damaged.

Further, in addition to the above-mentioned welding portions 1a and 2a,
By the engagement lock between the second lock claw 1c and the lock hole 7c, the engagement holding force between the upper case 2 and the lower case 1 is also improved. At the same time, the fitting locking force of the cover 7 itself is improved, so that troubles such as falling off can be prevented. Since the performance of the press-contact portion between the press-contact terminal 6 and the wire group 5 is stabilized by the improvement of the fitting and holding force of the upper case 2 and the lower case 1, the reliability is improved.

[0024]

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, in the branch junction box of the present invention, the welding boss of the lower case is inserted into the through hole of the upper case and welded to the upper case, while the cover of the upper case is closed. The first lock claw and the lock hole engage and lock with the upper case.
The upper case is sandwiched between the cover and the lower case, and the load acting on each welded part is distributed and reduced to each mated lock part. Therefore, each welded portion is less likely to be damaged. Further, in addition to the respective welded portions, the fitting lock between the second lock claw and the lock hole also improves the fitting holding force between the upper case and the lower case. The performance of the press contact part with the group is also stable, and the reliability is improved. Further, the fitting locking force of the cover itself is also improved, and problems such as falling off can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a branch junction box of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an assembled perspective view of the branch junction box of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a fitting lock portion between a lower case and a cover.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional branch junction box.

FIG. 5 is an assembled perspective view of an upper case and a lower case.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a fitting lock portion between the upper case and the cover.

8A is a cross-sectional view of an upper case and a lower case before welding, and FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view of a welding procedure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 lower case 1a welding boss 1c second lock claw 2 upper case 2a through hole 2c first lock claw 7 cover 7a first lock hole 7b wire drawing hole 7c second lock hole

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H02G 3/14 H02G 3/16

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] A lower case and an upper case to be welded and connected.
And the upper caseBottom that can be detached from above
Equipped with a box-shaped cover with face opening,
Cover the lower case and upper case to be welded together.
I A first lock portion protruding downward from the cover and a second lock portion;
With a lock part, Lock the part provided on the upper case with the cover
Locking to the first lock portion and provided on the lower case
The locked part and the cover are locked with the second locking part.
doing Branch junction box characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the lower case and the upper case are of the same type.
That the insulation displacement terminal to be connected to the wire is
The junction box according to claim 1, wherein