JP3293476B2 - Double lock structure of 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 a double lock structure of an electric junction box, and more particularly, to a junction block, a relay block, a fusible link block and / or a fuse block. It is preferably applied to the case where the first lock and the like are directly coupled to each other, and double-locks between the electric connection boxes. When the first lock is in a half-fitted state, the second lock detects the second lock. By locking, the first lock which is half-fitted can be corrected to the full fit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Normally, electrical connections between electrical junction boxes are made via electric wires. For example, as shown in FIG.
The connector 2 connected to one end of the electric wire w is connected to a terminal (not shown) of the bus bar accommodated in the junction block 1, while the connector 3 connected to the other end of the electric wire w is connected to the terminal of the bus bar accommodated in the relay block 4. Terminals (not shown) are connected, and are connected in the order of the terminal of one electric connection box, the connector wire, the connector and the terminal of the other electric connection box.

[0003] When the electric connection between the electric connection boxes is made by using electric wires and connectors as described above, the number of electric wires, terminals, connectors and the like is increased, and the step of connecting the terminals to the electric wires is performed. And a step of attaching the connector to the electric connection box, which is troublesome and increases the cost. further,
The wires and terminals are connected, the terminals are connected,
There is also a problem that the resistance increases due to an increase in the number of connection points.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the applicant of the present invention directly connected electric connection boxes and provided them on bus bars housed in these electric connection boxes, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-33162. The present invention provides an electric connection box in which electric terminals are directly fitted and connected to each other so as to perform electric connection between electric connection boxes without passing through wires and connectors.

That is, as shown in FIG. 10, a female terminal portion 5a is provided on a part of the bus bar 5 housed in the junction block 1 ', while the bus bar 6 of the relay block 4' is provided.
Is provided with a male terminal portion 6a, and the male terminal portion 6a is inserted into and brought into contact with a notch 5b provided in the female terminal portion 5a to supply electric power for electrical connection.

[0006]

In the connection structure between the electric connection boxes having the above-described structure, in order to directly connect the terminals accurately with each other, first, the electric connection boxes are surely connected to each other. It must be locked with. The electric connection boxes, for example, the junction block 1 ′ and the relay block 4 ′, lock the locking claw provided on the outer surface of the case of one block with the locked claw or locking hole provided on the outer surface of the case of the other block. And then locked.

There is no problem when the lock is securely performed. However, when the lock is in a half-fitted state, the terminals are not connected or are in a poor connection state. Power supply cannot be performed.

A lock mechanism for connecting the upper case and the lower case of one electric connection box, such as a junction block or a relay block, instead of locking the electric connection boxes to each other, comprises a cassette for locking a lock claw in a lock hole. Only locks are generally provided. In the case of only the lock mechanism that locks the lock claw in the lock hole, there is a problem that it is difficult to detect the half-fitting. In some cases, a double lock is provided, but in that case, a retainer is used, and if the retainer is used, it is discarded after being removed and cannot be reused.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and in particular, in a case where the electric connection boxes are directly connected to each other and the internal circuits of these electric connection boxes are also directly connected to each other, a lock between the electric connection boxes is provided. Is half-fitted,
It is an object of the present invention to be able to reliably detect this, and to be able to force half-fitting of the first lock into full fitting by the second lock.

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided a lock structure of a first case of a first electric connection box and a second case of a second electric connection box. A first lock for locking in the vertical direction by fitting a lock claw provided in the second case into a lock hole provided in the first case.
A locking means and a second locking means for locking a hook provided in the first case in a locking groove of a hook bar provided in the second case to lock in a horizontal direction, and A taper portion is provided at the insertion opening of the locking groove of the hook bar into which the hook is inserted, and the hook is inserted by the hook of the second lock means when the lock claw is half-fitted into the lock hole of the first lock means. A double lock structure of an electric junction box is provided in which a second case provided with a rod is pushed down to allow a lock claw of the first lock means to be fully fitted in a lock hole.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the first case and the second case, for example, the junction block and the relay block are directly connected, the lock claw provided in the second case is provided in the lock hole provided in the first case. The first lock is performed by fitting. Next, the hook provided on the first case of the second lock is press-fitted into the locking groove of the hook bar provided on the second case. At this time, if the first lock is half-fitted, the hook of the second lock and the locking groove are displaced, and the hooked portion of the hook cannot be inserted into the locking groove. It is possible to detect the mating, the first lock is performed again, and the actual mating is performed.
The first lock and the second lock ensure that the cases are double locked with each other.

[0012]

Further, with the above-mentioned structure, even if the first lock is half-fitted and the hook and the latching groove of the hook bar are misaligned, a tapered portion is provided in the insertion opening of the latching groove. Since the hook is extended, the hook can be inserted, and by pushing the hook in, the case provided with the hook bar can be pushed down, so that the first lock can be corrected from half-fitted to full-fitted.
In other words, the double lock can be performed while the first lock is corrected to the normal completely fitted state by the second lock.

When the first case is a junction block and the second case is an electric connection box consisting of a relay block, and the internal circuit is also directly connected, a double lock is applied to the internal circuit. Electrical connection between them can be reliably performed.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 5 show a first embodiment, and FIG.
Is a junction block, and 11 is a relay block. As shown by an arrow in FIG. 1, a terminal housing portion 14 is provided at the right end of the junction block 10 at intervals.
A terminal accommodating portion 17 arranged side by side at an interval on the left end of the relay block 11 is fitted from above, and the female terminal 15 accommodated in the terminal accommodating portion 14 is inserted into the terminal accommodating portion 17 as shown in FIG. The accommodated male terminals 18 are fitted to connect the terminals directly. The female terminal 1
Each of the male terminal 5 and the male terminal 18 is formed integrally with a bus bar housed inside the junction block 10 and the relay block 11.

The case 12 of the junction block 10 and the case 13 of the relay block 11 have first lock portions 20 and 21 and second lock portions 25 and 26 for connecting the blocks to the respective outer surfaces on the terminal connection side. Provided.

That is, the case 13 on the relay block 11 side
The three terminal accommodating portions 1 provided at the above-mentioned predetermined intervals
Lock portion 21 provided with lock claws 21g on both outer sides of 7
On the other hand, the case 12 of the junction block 10 is provided with a first lock portion 20 provided with lock holes 20b for locking the lock claws 21g on both outer sides of the terminal accommodating portions 14 provided at predetermined intervals. , The first lock portions 20 and 2
1 are opposed to each other.

The first lock for inserting and locking the lock claw 21g into the lock hole 20b is a cassette lock type as shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5. That is, the first lock portion 21 provided on the outer surface of the case of the relay block 11 has a pair of left and right side frames 21a protruding from the outer surface of the case 13, and the grooves 21b vertically penetrating the opposite side frames 21a.
Is provided. Further, a flexible piece 21d is protruded from the inner surface side of both side frames 21a with a predetermined gap 21c from the outer surface of the case, and a lock claw 21g is protruded from a central outer surface of the flexible piece 21d. On the other hand, the first lock portion 20 provided on the outer surface of the case of the junction block 10 is
a, a lock hole 20b is formed in the upper part of the frame 20a, and guide rods 20c are provided on both sides of the frame 20a so as to slidably fit in the grooves 21b. The first lock portions 20 and 21 engage the lock portion 21 with the lock portion 20 from above, fit the guide rod 20c slidably into the grooves 21b of the side frames 21a, and lock the lock claws 21g. The lock is made by fitting into the lock hole 20b.

In the junction block 10 and the relay block 11, near the first lock portions 20 and 21,
As shown in FIG. 2, the second lock portions 25 and 26 are provided to face each other. The second provided on the junction block 10
The lock 25 is provided on the support portion 1 protruding from the upper surface of the case 12.
One end of a hook 25a is rotatably supported by a shaft 25c at 2a, and a locking portion 25e having a semicircular concave portion 25d cut out is provided at the other end of the hook 25a. On the other hand, the second block 26 provided on the relay block 11 has a hook bar 26a protruding from the upper surface of the case 13 and a semicircular locking groove 26b provided on the peripheral surface thereof. The vertical width of the locking groove 26b is
The hook locking portion 25e is made equal to or slightly smaller in thickness than the hook locking portion 25e so that the hook locking portion 25e is forcibly inserted into the locking groove 25b and inserted. I have to.

When the junction block 10 provided with the first lock portions 20 and 21 and the junction block 10 provided with the second lock portions 25 and 26 and the relay block 11 are connected, first, the relay block 11 is moved from above to the junction block 10 from above. When assembled, the lock claw 21g of the first block 21 of the relay block 11 is locked in the lock hole 20b of the first block 20 of the junction block 10.

Next, the second on the junction block side
The hook 25a of the lock portion 25 is rotated toward the relay block and press-fitted into the locking groove 26b of the hook bar 26a. At this time, if the first lock is in a half-fitted state as shown in FIG. 5, the position of the hook 25a does not match the position of the hook groove 25b, and the hook lock portion 25b 25e cannot be inserted. Therefore, it is possible to detect that the first lock is in the half-fitted state. Upon detection, the relay block 11 is further pushed down to make the first lock fully engaged, and then the hook locking portion 25e of the second lock is press-fitted into the locking groove 26b of the hook bar to perform double locking.

As described above, by providing the second lock, it is possible to detect that the first lock is half-fitted, to eliminate the half-fit, and to firmly connect the cases by the double lock. can do.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show a second embodiment, in which a tapered portion 26c is provided in an insertion opening of a locking groove 26b provided on a hook bar 26a of a second lock 26, and the tapered portion 26c is inclined upward and downward toward the opening end to be enlarged. are doing.

If the insertion opening of the locking groove 26b is enlarged vertically as described above, even if the first lock is half-fitted and the locking groove 26b and the hook locking portion 25e are displaced from each other, the figure is not changed. As shown in FIG. 7, the hook locking portion 25e hits the tapered portion 26c, and the locking groove 26b can be inserted toward the bottom surface while pushing down the tapered portion 26c. When the second lock is performed while pushing down the locking groove 26b by inserting the hook 25a, the relay block 11 provided with the locking groove 26b itself is pushed down. as a result,
When the relay block 11 is not fully pushed down by the first lock and is half-fitted, the relay block 11 is forcibly pressed down, and the half lock of the first lock is corrected to the full fit.

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment in which the first case 30 and the adjacent vertical side surfaces 30a and 40a of the second case 40 which are connected by the first locking means (not shown) are provided.
Second locking means is provided. That is, the hook 31 is attached to the side surface 30 a, and the hook bar 32 is protruded from the side surface 40. The hook 31 is hooked on the hook bar 32 from above to be locked.

Also in the above embodiment, by performing the second lock, when the first lock is half-fitted, it can be corrected to the full fit. That is, by pushing down the hook 31 until the hook 31 is horizontal, the hook 3
As a result, the first lock, which has been half-fitted on the other surface, can be corrected to the full fit.

In each of the above embodiments, the electric connection boxes are locked with each other. However, the double lock of the above embodiment can be applied to the lock between the upper case and the lower case of one electric connection box. Needless to say.

[0029]

As is apparent from the above description, with the structure of the first aspect of the present invention, when the case such as the junction block and the relay block are directly connected to each other, the lock claw is locked in the lock hole. After one lock, to perform a second lock to press-fit the hook into the locking groove of the hook bar,
The cases can be more reliably connected to each other. If the first lock is half-fitted, the hook of the second lock and the locking groove are displaced, and the hooked portion of the hook cannot be inserted into the locking groove, and the first lock is half-fitted. Can be detected. As a result, it is possible to perform the first lock again and perform the actual fitting,
Half-fitting can be eliminated.

Further, unlike the separate retainer used for conventional double locking, the retainer can be formed on the case itself and reused even after the cases have been uncoupled.

According to the structure of the second aspect, by locking the second lock means, when the first lock is half-fitted, it is possible to correct the first lock so that it is fully fitted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a main part of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a connection mode of terminals of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a normal fitting state of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a half-fitted state of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a hook bar.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of the operation of the hook bar.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view of another embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing another conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Junction block 11 Relay block 20, 21 1st lock part 20b Lock hole 21g Lock claw 25, 26 2nd lock part 25a Hook 25b Lock part 26a Hook bar 26b Lock groove

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] (1)Of the first electrical junction boxThe first case and2nd electricity
Junction boxA lock structure with the second case,The lock hole provided in the first case is installed in the second case.
The first lock that engages the locking
Means, The hook provided on the first case is provided on the second case.
Locks in the horizontal direction by locking in the locking groove of the hook bar
Locking means, and inserting the hook of the second locking means.
A taper part is provided in the insertion opening of the locking groove of the hook bar to enter, When the lock claw is half-fitted into the lock hole of the first lock means
The hook is inserted by the hook of the second locking means.
Push down the second case provided with
The lock claw of the means can be fully fitted into the lock hole.
To Double lock structure of electrical junction box.