JP2953313B2 - Electrical 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 an electric junction box for a motor vehicle, and more particularly, to arranging electric circuits including a large number of fuses, relays and the like in a concentrated manner to rationally connect a wiring harness. In an electric connection box, an internal circuit is constituted by electric wires and press-connecting terminals. In particular, the electric wiring can be easily and reliably performed, and the entire structure of the electric connection box is simplified and downsized. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of electric junction box, an electric wire is used instead of a bus bar formed by punching a conductive metal plate, as a structure which can easily cope with a change in design of an internal circuit. There is provided an apparatus in which wiring is performed and connection between the electric wires and external input / output terminals and connection between the electric wires are performed by press contact terminals.

In the case where an internal circuit composed of the electric wires and the press contact terminals is provided, the press contact terminals are previously attached to an upper case and a lower case of an electric connection box and / or an insulating plate provided between the upper case and the lower case. An electric wire is press-fitted into the press-contact terminal and press-connected.
(Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-120627, JP-A-6-9682)
No. 0, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-166419, etc.)

[0004] In Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 1-166419, both a circuit composed of electric wires and pressure terminals and a circuit composed of bus bars are used for the internal circuit of the electric junction box.
That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the power supply side circuit connected to the battery requires a conductive material for a large current, while the load side circuit branch-connected to the power supply side circuit uses a conductive material for a small current. Because it is good and there are many circuit changes, the bus bar 1 is used for the power supply side circuit, the electric wire 2 and the press contact terminal 3 are used for the load side circuit, and the bus bar 1 and the electric wire 2 are connected by the fuse 4.

[0005]

As described above, when the upstream power supply side circuit is constituted by the bus bar and the downstream load side circuit is constituted by the electric wire and the press contact terminal, the structure becomes complicated and Since the mounting mode of the bus bar, the electric wire and the press contact terminal is different, the number of working steps increases. Further, there is a problem that both a mold for forming the bus bar and a mold for wiring are required, and the cost is greatly increased. In addition, when the circuit on the power supply side is also used for another vehicle type, it is often necessary to change the circuit. In this case, there is a disadvantage that the circuit cannot be changed.

The above problem can be solved by eliminating the combined use with the bus bar and all the internal circuits are composed of electric wires and press-connecting terminals. However, there is a case where the area is increased due to the electric wire wiring and a problem occurs in the installation space. is there.

Further, when the internal circuit of the electric connection box is formed by electric wires and press-connecting terminals, a wiring die is required for wiring the electric wires in a required pattern, and the wiring pattern is changed according to the difference in the wiring pattern. Many wiring dies must be prepared. Further, a transfer process for press-connecting the electric wire laid on the wiring mold to the press-connecting terminal attached to the case or the insulating plate is required, which causes a problem that both cost and labor are increased.

[0008] When a press contact terminal is previously attached to the upper case or the lower case, the press contact of the electric wire to the press contact terminal and the assembling of the cases are performed at the same time, so that the state of the press contact between the electric wire and the press contact terminal is checked. There is a problem that cannot be done.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned various problems. When the internal circuit of an electric connection box is constituted by a circuit including an electric wire and a press contact terminal, the electric wire can be efficiently used without taking up space. Wiring can be performed, and the wiring mold that was required conventionally is not required.Also, the quality of the press-contact state between the press-connecting terminal and the electric wire can be checked, and the internal circuit of the electric connection box is connected to the power supply side on the upstream side. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electric junction box which can be constituted by a circuit including an electric wire and a press contact terminal, including a circuit.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is to form a first wiring groove opening on one surface of an insulating plate housed in an inner space of an upper and lower case,
A second wiring groove is formed on the surface of a step-like projection that protrudes stepwise from a part of the other surface, and the first wiring groove is used for a thin electric wire and the second wiring groove is used for a thick electric wire. For insertion, a press contact terminal driving portion having a large groove width is provided at a required portion of the first and second wiring grooves, and a wire press contact portion is provided on one end side of the wire inserted and held in these wiring grooves. A press contact terminal having an input / output terminal portion on the other end side is connected to the electric wire by pressing the wire press contact portion with the press contact terminal driving portion, and the input / output terminal portion at the other end is provided on the outer wall of the case. An object of the present invention is to provide an electric connection box which protrudes from a terminal hole and is connected to an external circuit.

[0011]

The electric connection box is provided with a fuse fitting portion on the outer surface of the case at a position corresponding to the second wiring groove, and a press-connecting terminal connected to a power supply side circuit made of a thick electric wire inserted into the second wiring groove. The input / output terminal portion of the press-connecting terminal connected to the load side circuit made of a thin wire inserted into the first wiring groove is connected to the fuse by projecting the input / output terminal portion from the terminal hole to the fuse fitting portion. It protrudes from the terminal hole of the connector portion provided on the outer surface of the case and is connected to the connector.

[0013]

In the electrical junction box according to the first aspect of the present invention, first, electric wires are directly inserted into the first and second wiring grooves of the insulating plate and wired, and then the press-connecting terminals are attached by pressing the electric wires. In a state where the case is not attached to the insulating plate, it is possible to check whether or not the pressure contact state between the electric wire and the pressure contact terminal is good.

In the electric junction box, the thick electric wire forming the power supply side circuit is wired in the second wiring groove formed in the thick step-like projection, and the thin electric wire forming the load side circuit is connected to the thick electric wire. Wired to the first wiring groove. In this way, the entire circuit inside the electric junction box is composed of electric wires and pressure contact terminals,
Instead of using a bus bar as in the related art, a hybrid structure is not used, so that the structure can be simplified and the number of work steps can be reduced.

Further, in the electric junction box, the power supply side circuit using the thick electric wire is concentrated and disposed on the step-like protrusion, and the input / output terminal portion of the press contact terminal connected to the thick electric wire of the power supply side circuit is provided. Connected to fuse. Also, the load side circuit is intensively arranged on the other surface side of the insulating plate, and the input / output terminal portion of the press contact terminal connected to the thin wire of the load side circuit is connected to the connector connected to the load side wire. I have. As described above, the large current circuit on the power supply side and the small current circuit on the load side can be efficiently arranged collectively, and the large current circuit is concentrated on the step-shaped protrusion, so that the area of the insulating plate is reduced. Can be reduced,
Accordingly, the installation space required by the electric junction box can be reduced.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. 1 to 5 show an electric connection box according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the electric connection box includes a single thick insulating plate 12 inside an upper case 10 and a lower case 11.
Is sandwiched. On the lower and upper surfaces of the insulating plate 12, the first wiring 1 for inserting and holding the electric wires according to the wiring pattern.
3 and a second wiring groove 14, and a thin electric wire 15 and a thick electric wire 16 are inserted into the wiring grooves 13 and 14, respectively.
(Not shown) for direct insertion. This wiring groove 1
With respect to the electric wires 15 and 16 held inside the
The press contact portions 17a, 18a at one end of the press contact terminals 17, 18 are press-fitted and connected by press contact, and the input / output terminal portions 17b, 18b at the other ends of the press contact terminals 17, 18 are formed on the outer walls of the upper case 10 and the lower case 11. It protrudes from the terminal holes 19 and 20.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the upper case 10 is provided with a step on the upper wall portion 10a at the lower end surface opening,
The fuse fitting portion 21 on the power supply side is formed one step higher, and the connector portion 22 for fitting the connector connected to the electric wire on the load side is formed at a lower position.
1. The terminal holes 19 are respectively formed in the inner surface surrounded by the peripheral wall of the connector portion 22. On the other hand, lower case 11
Is an opening at the upper end surface, a connector portion 23 for fitting a connector connected to the load-side electric wire is protruded from the lower wall portion 11a, and the terminal hole 20 is formed on an inner surface surrounded by a peripheral wall of the connector portion 23. Has been drilled. The distal end surfaces of the outer peripheral walls 10b, 11b of the upper case 10 and the lower case 11 are in contact with each other to form an electric connection box.

As shown in FIG. 1, the insulating plate 12 is formed into a shape which can be closely fitted to an internal space formed when the upper case 10 and the lower case 11 are in contact with each other. That is, the insulating plate 12 is formed on the upper wall 10a of the upper case 10.
A step-like protruding portion 12a is provided at a portion sandwiched between the fuse fitting portion 21 and the lower case 11, which is one step higher, and this portion is made thicker than other portions.

As shown in FIGS. 4B and 5, a first wiring groove 13 is provided on the lower surface 12b of the insulating plate 12 in contact with the inner surface of the lower case 11, corresponding to the wiring pattern. The wiring groove 13 is used for inserting a small electric wire through which a small current flows.
As shown in FIG. 5, the relationship between the diameter W1 of the thin wire 15 and the width W2 of the first wiring groove 13 is set to W1 ≧ W2, and the depth H of the first wiring groove 13 and the wire diameter W1 are set. Is set to H ≧ 2W1. The depth H of the wiring groove 13
Is not limited to the above relationship, and may be larger than the wire diameter W1, but is preferably twice or more as described above.

The electric wire 15 inserted into the wiring groove 13
In the portion where the wiring groove 13 is connected, the side walls 13a and 13b of the wiring groove 13 are widened to form a pressing terminal driving portion 24 having a lower surface opening with a wiring groove width of W3. FIG.
As shown in (A), a part of the first wiring groove 13 penetrates from the bottom surface to the upper surface 12c of the insulating plate 12, and is formed with a press-contact terminal driving portion 25 having an upper surface opening. The press contact terminal driving portion 25 does not extend to the lower surface 12b of the insulating plate 12, but extends from the upper surface 12c to an intermediate portion between the side walls 13a and 13b of the wiring groove 13. The press contact terminal driving portion 24 is provided in the lower case 1.
The first terminal hole 20 and the press contact terminal driving portion 25 are provided at positions corresponding to the terminal holes 19 of the upper case 10.

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 5, on the upper surface of the step-like projection 12a of the insulating plate 12 corresponding to the fuse fitting portion 21, the wiring pattern is connected to the fuse. The second wiring groove 14 is provided. The second wiring groove 14 is for inserting a thick electric wire through which a large current flows, has a width W4 larger than that of the first wiring groove 13 for inserting a thin electric wire, and the depth of the second wiring groove 14 is also the first wiring groove. It is deeper than the groove 13. In the portion where the thick electric wire 16 inserted into the second wiring groove 14 and the press contact terminal 18 are connected, the width of the side walls 14a and 14b of the second wiring groove 14 is increased to provide the press contact terminal driving portion 26. The first wiring groove 13 is provided on the lower surface side of the step-shaped protrusion 12a of the insulating plate 12, so that the second wiring groove 14 and the first wiring groove 13 are formed on both upper and lower surfaces of the step-shaped protrusion 12a.
Is provided.

A press contact terminal 1 for press contact with the thick electric wire 16
8. The press-contact terminal 17 for press-contacting the thin electric wire 15 has the same shape as the conventional one, is made of a conductive metal plate, has male input / output terminal portions 17b and 18b on one side, and has a fork on the other side. Press-fitting part 1 having a slot 17c, 18c at the center
7a and 18a. These press contact terminals 17,
The wire press-contact portions 17a and 18a of the press-contact terminal driving portion 2
4, 25 and 26 are press-fitted.

Next, a method of assembling the electric junction box comprising the above members will be described. First, with the lower surface of the insulating plate 12 facing upward, the thin wire 15 is fed into the first wiring groove 13 by using a wire feeder and directly inserted. At this time, the depth H of the first wiring groove 13 is twice or more than the depth of the electric wire 15, and the width W2 of the first wiring groove 13 is set to be slightly smaller than the diameter W1 of the electric wire 15. Is press-fitted, even if the wire 15 inserted into the first wiring groove 13 has a bend, the wire 15 can be reliably held without being lifted up from the first wiring groove 13.

Next, with the upper surface of the insulating plate 12 facing upward, the thick electric wire 16 is sent out and inserted directly into the second wiring groove 14 using an electric wire feeder. Also in the case of the thick electric wire 16, since the depth of the second wiring groove 14 is increased and the width of the wiring groove is reduced and the electric wire is press-fitted, the thick electric wire 16 rises from the second wiring groove 14. Can be inserted and held without the need.
Further, when the wires 15 and 16 are inserted into the wiring grooves 13 and 14, the wires 15 and 16 can be inserted in a stable state because the insulating plate 12 has few irregularities.

Next, the press contact terminal 17 is pressed into the press contact terminal driving portion 24 with the lower surface 12b of the insulating plate 12 facing upward. At this time, the insulating coating is pierced through the thin wire 15 in the slot 17c of the wire press-contact portion 17a of the press-connecting terminal 17,
Therefore, the press contact terminal 17 is attached to the insulating plate 12 at the same time as the press contact terminal 17 is electrically connected to the electric wire 15. Similarly, with the upper surface 12c of the insulating plate 12 facing upward, the press contact terminal 17 is press-fitted into the press contact terminal driving portion 25 and connected to the thin wire 15, and the press contact terminal 18 is pressed into the press contact terminal driving portion 26. Connect the thick wire 16 and press-connect terminal 17,
18 is attached to the insulating plate 12.

As described above, the wiring grooves 13, 1
4 against the electric wires 15 and 16 wired to
The upper case 10 and the lower case 11 are connected to the upper and lower surfaces of the insulating plate 12 by pressing the upper and lower surfaces of the upper and lower surfaces, respectively.
Is not attached, it is possible to confirm whether the electric wires 16 and 15 are in a press-fitted state.

Next, the upper case 10 and the lower case 11 are assembled with the insulating plate 12 interposed therebetween. At this time,
Terminal hole 19 of fuse fitting portion 21 of upper case 10
Of the press contact terminal 18 connected to the thick wire 16 and the input / output terminal portion 17b of the press contact terminal 17 connected to the thin wire 15 from the terminal hole 19 of the connector portion 22. Further, the input / output terminal portion 17b of the press contact terminal 17 connected to the thin wire 15 is projected from the terminal hole 20 of the connector portion 23 of the lower case 11.

In the electric junction box assembled as described above, the internal circuits are all thin electric wires 15 and thick electric wires 16.
And press-connecting wires 17 and 18 connected to them. That is, the power supply circuit side is configured by the thick electric wire 16 and the press contact terminal 18 press-connected to the thick electric wire 16, and the terminal 30 b of the press contact terminal 18 is attached to the fuse fitting portion 21 by the fuse 30 (FIG. A)). On the other hand, the load-side circuit includes a thin electric wire 15 and a press-contact terminal 17 that is press-connected to the thin electric wire 15, and a terminal portion 17 b of the press-contact terminal 17 is connected to the connector portion 22 or 23 on the load side. Connected to connector (not shown).

As described above, since the internal circuit of the electric connection box does not use the bus bar but is entirely composed of the electric wires and the press contact terminals, it is possible to easily cope with a circuit change. That is,
In particular, when a change occurs in the circuit for small current that frequently changes,
This can be easily achieved by changing the wiring of the thin object wire 15 or changing the mounting position of the press contact terminal 17. When the circuit for large current is changed, the wiring of the thick electric wire 16 is changed, or
It can be easily handled by changing the mounting position of.

[0030]

[0031]

As is apparent from the above description, in the electric connection box according to the first aspect of the present invention, the thickness of a part of the insulating plate is set so that the wire insertion groove can be formed in a layer only at a necessary portion. And the step-like projections are provided, so that necessary electric wires can be wired in the electric connection box without making the entire insulating plate thick. In addition, when the wire insertion groove is formed as a single layer without being arranged in a layered manner, the area of the insulating plate becomes large and an installation space for the electric connection box is taken. However, the area can be reduced by the layered arrangement. .

Also, since the first and second wiring grooves are formed in the insulating plate, the electric wires can be directly wired to the insulating plate by the automatic wire feeder. Therefore, unlike the conventional example, a metal mold for wiring is not required. Further, the press contact terminal can be connected to the electric wire inserted into the wiring groove and fixed to the insulating plate only by press-fitting the press contact terminal into the press contact terminal driving portion. Therefore, as compared with the conventional assembling process, the number of work steps can be significantly reduced, and
The cost can be reduced by eliminating the need for a wiring mold for attaching to the insulating plate.

In the state where the electric wire and the press contact terminal are attached as described above, since the case is not attached, it is possible to confirm the press contact state between the electric wire and the press contact terminal, and it is possible to prevent a problem such as poor contact. . Further, since the setting of the load side circuit of the insulating plate can be changed by attaching the press contact terminal, it is possible to easily cope with a circuit change which differs depending on a vehicle type. Furthermore, since the electric connection box has wires arranged on both upper and lower surfaces, the installation space for the electric wire can be reduced, and the size of the entire electric connection box can be reduced.

In the electric junction box according to the second and third aspects, a thick electric wire for a large current is wired in the second wiring groove formed in the step-like projection, and a thin wire for a small current is inserted in the first wiring groove. Since the electric wires are wired, it is possible to use a bus bar in a power supply side circuit for a large current as in the related art, and to prevent the bus bar and the electric wires from being mixed to form a hybrid configuration.
Further, when a change occurs in the large current circuit, it is possible to easily cope with the change by simply changing the wiring of the thick electric wire.
Further, when a change occurs in a small current circuit whose circuit is frequently changed, it can be easily dealt with by changing the wiring of the thin object wire or changing the attachment of the press contact terminal.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an electric junction box of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show an upper case constituting the electric junction box, wherein FIG. 2A is a plan view and FIG. 2B is a perspective view.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view showing a lower case constituting the electric connection box;

4A and 4B show an insulating plate constituting an electric junction box, wherein FIG. 4A is a plan view and FIG. 4B is a bottom view.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the electric wires and the press contact terminals are inserted into the insulating plate.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an internal circuit of a conventional electric junction box.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Upper case 11 Lower case 12 Insulating plate 12a Step-shaped protruding part 12b Lower surface (one surface) 13 First wiring groove 14 Second wiring groove 15 Thin electric wire 16 Thick electric wire 17, 18 Pressure contact terminal 17a, 18a Wire pressure contact portion 17b, 18b I / O terminal portion 19, 20 Terminal hole 24, 25, 26 Pressure contact terminal driving portion W2 Width of first wiring groove W4 Width of second wiring groove

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (72) Inventor Yoshito Oka 1-114, Nishisuehirocho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd. (72) Inventor Nori Inoue 1-114, Nishisuehirocho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie Sumitomo Wiring Systems (56) References JP-A-3-27712 (JP, A) JP-A-3-22358 (JP, U) JP-A-1-166419 (JP, U) JP-A-3-120627 (JP, A) U) Hikaru 1-103167 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H02G 3/08-3/20

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A first wiring groove formed on one surface of an insulating plate housed in an inner space of the upper and lower cases;
Forming a second wiring groove opening on the surface of the step-like protrusion protruding stepwise from a part of the other surface, and forming the first wiring groove for a thin object wire
Electric wire the second wiring groove and a Futomono wire insertion, the pressure contact terminal driving tool portion was large the groove width to the desired location of the first and second wiring grooves provided, and inserted and held in the wiring grooves with the On the other hand, a press contact terminal having an electric wire press contact portion on one end side and an input / output terminal portion on the other end side is connected to the electric wire by press-fitting the electric wire press contact portion with the press contact terminal driving portion ,
An electrical connection box in which the input / output terminal portion at the other end protrudes from a terminal hole provided in an outer wall of a case and is connected to an external circuit. 2. A case at a position corresponding to the second wiring groove.
A fuse fitting part is provided on the outer surface of
Of the insulation displacement terminal connected to the power supply side circuit
Protrude the input terminal part from the terminal hole to the above-mentioned fuse fitting part.
Connect a fuse and insert a small object
I / O terminal of insulation displacement terminal connected to load side circuit consisting of wires
Part protrudes from the terminal hole of the connector part provided on the outer surface of the case.
The electric wire connection box according to claim 1, wherein the electric wire connection box is connected to the connector .