JP3346325B2 - 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 used for, for example, an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an electric junction box has a case body, and a mounting block is provided upright on the upper surface thereof. A relay as an electric component is detachably fitted to the mounting block. A cover is provided on the case body to cover the component mounting surface. By the way, the electric connection box may be attached vertically to a vehicle panel that separates the interior of the engine compartment from the interior of the compartment. When replacing the relay in the electrical junction box during maintenance,
It is necessary to remove the cover from the case body. But,
Because the electrical junction box is arranged vertically, the cover hits the bonnet located above, making it extremely difficult to remove the cover from the case body (FIG. 6).
reference). Therefore, it is conceivable to divide the cover into a plurality of parts. By doing so, the dimensions of the cover can be apparently shortened, so that the cover is considered to be relatively easy to remove. If this configuration is adopted, the divided bodies should be connected to each other so as not to be inadvertently separated. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a lock mechanism at the boundary between the divided bodies.

[0003]

However, the lock mechanism is located at the weakest point due to the structure of the cover. Therefore, when releasing the lock between the divided bodies, when the operation piece provided on the lock mechanism is pressed, the cover itself is deformed inward by the pressing force. As a result, it becomes difficult to release the lock of the locking means, and the cover may not be easily removed from the case body.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electric junction box that can easily separate divided bodies.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric connection box in which a cover is attached to a case body accommodating electric components.
A cover comprising a plurality of divided bodies, a locking means for detachably connecting the divided bodies to each other, and receiving and supporting the inner surface of the cover when pressing the locking means to disconnect the divided bodies. The gist of the present invention is to provide a supporting member.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the electrical junction box according to the first aspect, the gist is that the support member is a column vertically protruding from an upper surface of the case body.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the electrical junction box according to the second aspect, the support has a plurality of ribs extending along the axis thereof. Hereinafter, the “action” of the present invention will be described.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the locking means is pressed to release the connection between the divided bodies, the pressing force at that time acts on the cover. Then, the cover itself tries to deform. However, since the inner surface of the cover is received by the support member, deformation of the cover itself is avoided. Therefore, the unlocking of the locking means is facilitated, and the separated bodies can be easily separated.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the support member is a column vertically protruding from the upper surface of the case body. Therefore, for example, when a configuration in which the cover is slid on the case body is employed, the columns and the electric components do not interfere with each other. This is because the column does not move as the cover slides, as compared with the configuration in which the column is provided on the cover. Therefore, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the cover is slid on the case main body without being restricted by the arrangement of the electric components.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the support has a plurality of ribs, the rigidity of the support can be increased. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the struts from being deformed by the pressing force when the locking means is pressed to release the connection between the divided bodies.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The electric junction box 11 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is housed in an engine room of an automobile. The electric connection box 11 is provided on an installation surface 12 of a vehicle panel 12 provided between an engine room and a passenger compartment.
It is attached and fixed vertically to a. The electric connection box 11 includes a case body 13 made of a synthetic resin.
A plurality of mounting blocks 14 as mounting portions protrude from the component mounting surface 13a. A relay 15 as an electric component is detachably mounted on the mounting block 14.

At the front of the case body 13, a cover 16 made of synthetic resin is detachably provided. This cover 1
6 covers the component mounting surface 13 a and the opening 13 b formed on the front surface of the case body 13. The inner back surface of the cover 16 is flat from its upper end to its lower end.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.
Hook-like guide portions 20a, 20b, 2
0c are protruded. Guide parts 20a to 20
c respectively extend linearly along the up-down direction,
They are arranged in a line in the vertical direction. The guide portions 20a to 20c are provided on the left and right outer surfaces of the case body 13.
A plurality of ridges 21a, 21b, 2
1c and 21d are formed. Each ridge 21a-21
d each extend linearly along the vertical direction,
They are arranged in a line in the vertical direction. Each ridge 21
a to 21d are parallel to the guides 20a to 20c.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, projecting portions 23 extending vertically are projected from the left and right outer surfaces of the cover 16. Guide grooves 24 are formed on the left and right inner side surfaces of the cover 16 inside the both overhanging portions 23. The guide groove 24 extends in the vertical direction, that is, along the longitudinal direction of the cover 16. As shown in FIG. 5, hook-shaped engaging portions 25 project from left and right inner surfaces of the cover 16 on the inner side of the guide grooves 24. The two engaging portions 25 extend in the up-down direction and are parallel to the guide groove 24. In addition, the overhang portion 2
3. The guide groove 24 and the engaging portion 25 are provided in an upper divided body 16a and a lower divided body 16b, respectively, which will be described later.

Both ends of the cover 16 can be engaged with the guide portions 20a to 20c. In addition, the protrusions 21a to 21d can be engaged with the guide groove 24. Further, both end edges of the case body 13 can be engaged with the engaging portion 25. With these engagements, the cover 16
Are slidable in a direction parallel to the component mounting surface 13a, that is, in a vertical direction.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a pair of locking claws 2 extending in the vertical direction
7, 28 are formed. And each locking claw 27,2
8 is adapted to bend around its base end. The tips of the locking claws 27, 28 can be engaged with engagement holes 29, 30 formed in the front end of the bottom wall of the case body 13. By this engagement, the case body 13 and the cover 16 are irremovably connected.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cover 16
It is composed of an upper divided body 16a and a lower divided body 16b provided thereunder. A coupling portion 31 is formed along the lower edge of the upper divided body 16a, and the inside thereof forms an engagement groove 31a. And each divided body 16a, 1
When 6b are connected to each other, the engagement groove 31a of the connection portion 31
, The upper edge of the lower divided body 16b is engaged. On the front surface of the cover 16, the two divided bodies 16a, 1
A lock mechanism 35 as lock means is provided at a location located at the boundary of 6b. Then, by the lock mechanism 35, the divided bodies 16a and 16b are detachably connected to each other.

As shown in FIG. 4, the lock mechanism 35
Is composed of a lower engaging portion 36 provided at the center of the upper front end of the lower divided body 16b, and an upper engaging portion 37 provided at the center of the lower front end of the upper divided body 16a.
The lower locking portion 36 and the upper locking portion 37 are arranged to face each other. The lower engaging portion 36 is formed in a hook shape extending in the up-down direction, and has a protrusion 36a at its tip.
Is formed.

The upper locking portion 37 is connected to the connecting portion 3.
An operation piece 37 provided at the tip of the device 1 and extending vertically.
a. The operation piece 37a is adapted to bend along the arrow direction shown in FIG. 4 with its base end as a center. An engagement hole 37c is formed at the center of the operation piece 37a, and a projection 36a provided at the distal end of the lower engagement portion 36 is engaged with the engagement hole 37c. When the operation piece 37a is pressed against its own elastic force, the protrusion 36a comes out of the engagement hole 37c. As a result, the connection between the divided bodies 16a and 16b is released.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, on the component mounting surface 13a, a support 4 as a support member made of a synthetic resin is provided.
0 is protruding. That is, the support 40 is provided with the lock mechanism 3.
5 is slightly off the back. This support 40
The lock mechanism 35 is disposed at a position substantially opposed to the lock mechanism 35. The support column 40 is formed integrally with the case body 13,
It extends perpendicularly to the component mounting surface 13a. Further, the column 40 becomes slightly thinner toward the tip. Further, the column 40 has a plurality (four in this embodiment) of ribs 41 extending along the axis thereof. Since the ribs 41 are arranged at 90 ° intervals on the same circumference, the shape of the column 40 viewed from the front is a cross shape.

The length L of the column 40 from the component mounting surface 13a
1 is set to be substantially equal to the distance L2 from the component mounting surface 13a to the inner back surface of the cover 16. More specifically, the length L1 of the column 40 is slightly shorter than the distance L2 to the inner surface of the cover 16.
In the present embodiment, the distance between the distal end surface of the column 40 and the inner surface of the cover 16 is about 1 to 2 mm. Then, the operation piece 37a of the lock mechanism 35 is pressed, and each divided body 16 is pressed.
When the connection between a and 16b is released, the inner inner surface of the cover 16 abuts on the distal end surface of the column 40 and is received.

The operation of the electric junction box configured as described above will be described below. Before attaching the cover 16 to the case body 13, the cover 16 is divided into an upper divided body 16a and a lower divided body 16b. Then, first, the lower divided body 16b is attached to the case body 13 first, and then the upper divided body 16a is attached. Each divided body 16a, 16b is mounted as follows. Guide part 2 provided on case body 13
Both end edges of the lower divided body 16b are engaged with 0a to 20c. Also, the protrusions 21a to 21d provided on the case body 13 are engaged with the guide grooves 24 provided on the lower divided body 16b. Further, both end edges of the case body 13 are engaged with the engaging portions 25 provided on the lower divided body 16b. Then, the lower divided body 16b is slid downward from the upper end of the case body 13. When the lower divided body 16b reaches a predetermined position, the tips of the locking claws 27, 28 are locked in the engaging holes 29, 30. As a result, the lower divided body 16b is
Locked to 3. Thus, the lower divided body 16b is mounted on the case body 13.

Next, the guide 2 provided on the case body 13
Both end edges of the upper divided body 16a are engaged with 0a to 20c. Also, the ridges 21a to 21d provided on the case body 13 are engaged with the guide grooves 24 provided on the upper divided body 16a. Further, both end edges of the case main body 13 are engaged with the engaging portions 25 provided on the upper divided body 16a. And the upper divided body 1
6a is slid downward from the upper end of the case body 13. When the upper divided body 16a reaches a predetermined position, the upper edge of the lower divided body 16b is engaged with the engagement groove 31a of the connecting portion 31. At the same time, the tip of the upper locking portion 37
It is inserted into a space surrounded by the lower engagement portion 36 and the lower divided body 16b. Then, when the distal end surface of the upper locking portion 37 comes into contact with the fixed surface of the lower locking portion 36, the projection 36a is locked in the engagement hole 37c formed in the operation piece 37a. As a result, the divided bodies 16a and 16b are connected to each other. Thus, the upper divided body 16 is attached to the case body 13.
a is attached.

To remove the cover 16 from the case body 13, the upper divided body 16a and the lower divided body 16b are separately removed. For this purpose, the lock of the lock mechanism 35 is first released. Specifically, when the operation piece 37a is pressed inward of the cover 16 against its own elastic force, the engagement hole 37a is pressed.
The engagement between c and the projection 36a is released. By this disengagement, the connection between the divided bodies 16a and 16b is released.

The cover 16 itself is deformed inward by the pressing force when pressing the operation piece 37a. That is, the lower ends of the upper divided bodies 16a and the upper ends of the lower divided bodies 16b both try to be depressed inward. However, the inner inner surface of the cover 16 (upper split body 16a) is received by contacting the distal end of the column 40. As a result, both the lower ends of the upper divided bodies 16a and the upper ends of the lower divided bodies 16b are prevented from being depressed inward. For this reason, the projection 36a and the engagement hole 37 can be formed without strongly pressing the operation piece 37a.
The engagement with c is released. Therefore, the lock mechanism 35 can be easily unlocked.

After the lock mechanism 35 is unlocked, the state is maintained, and the upper divided body 16a is slid upward to be separated from the lower divided body 16b. Then, the upper divided body 16a is further slid upward and removed from the case body 13. For the lower divided body 16b, first, the engagement between the locking claws 27, 28 and the engagement holes 29, 30 is released. With the release state maintained, the lower divided body 16b is slid upward and removed from the case body 13.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. (1) The cover 16 is composed of a plurality of divided bodies 16a and 16b, and a lock mechanism 35 for detachably connecting the divided bodies 16a and 16b is provided. Component mounting surface 13
A support 40 is protruded from “a” so as to face the lock mechanism 35. When the operation piece 37a provided on the lock mechanism 35 is pressed to release the connection between the divided bodies 16a and 16b, the inner deep surface of the cover 16 is received and supported by the columns 40. For this reason, even if the pressing force at the time of operating the operation piece 37a acts on the cover 16, the cover 16 itself does not deform. Therefore, the lock mechanism 3
5 can be easily released, and the divided bodies 16a and 16b can be easily separated from each other.

(2) For example, the support 4 is
In the case of employing a configuration in which 0 is protruded, each divided body 16
When sliding a and 16b, relay 1
5 hits. If the relay 15 is prevented from hitting the column 40, the arrangement of the relay 15 is restricted. On the other hand, the column 40 in the present embodiment is protruded from the component mounting surface (upper surface) 13 a of the case main body 13.
With this configuration, even if each of the divided bodies 16a and 16b is slid, the relay 15 does not hit the column 40. Therefore, a configuration in which the cover 16 is slid on the case main body 13 without being restricted by the arrangement of the relay 15 can be adopted. Furthermore, if the support 40 is grasped by hand, the case body 13 can be easily installed at a predetermined position on the vehicle panel 12. Accordingly, the mounting workability of the case body 13 is improved even in a narrow engine room.

(3) The column 40 has a plurality of ribs 41 extending along its axis. Therefore, the rigidity of the column 40 can be increased. Therefore, when the operation piece 37a is pressed to release the lock, or when the column 40 is gripped and the case body 13 is attached to the vehicle panel 12, the column 40 can be prevented from being deformed by the pressing force.

(4) The column 40 is formed integrally with the case body 13. Therefore, there is no need to mount the support 40. As a result, the number of manufacturing steps can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

The embodiment of the present invention may be modified as follows. In addition to receiving the pressing force at the time of pressing the operation piece 37 a with the support 40, the pressing force may be received and stopped at the upper end surface of the relay 15. As a configuration for this, it is desirable to set the height of the cover 16 as follows in a state where the cover 16 is attached to the case main body 13. That is, the component mounting surface 1
The height from 3a to the distal end surface of the relay 15 in the completely mounted state is set to be substantially equal to the height from the component mounting surface 13a to the inner back surface of the cover 16. More specifically, the height of the distal end surface of the relay 15 is set to be lower than the height of the inner back surface of the cover 16 by about 1 to 2 mm.

The number of columns 40 is not limited to one,
There may be more than one. -The shape of the support column 40 may be changed to, for example, a columnar shape, a truncated conical shape, or the like, in addition to the cross-sectional shape of substantially a cross.

The number of the ribs 41 may be one to three or five or more. Further, the shape of the rib 41 may be changed to an arbitrary shape, for example, it may be a wavy shape. An operation piece 37a and a projection 36 constituting the lock mechanism 35;
The positional relationship with a may be reversed. Specifically, the operation piece 37a is provided on the lower divided body 16b, and the projection 36a is provided on the upper divided body 16a.

The support column 40 does not have to be formed integrally with the case body 13. For example, a column 40 separate from the case body 13 may be attached and fixed with screws. -In the said embodiment, the support | pillar 40 was arrange | positioned in the location substantially opposing the lock mechanism 35. In addition, the column 40 may be arranged at any position as long as it is near the lock mechanism 35.

In the above embodiment, the cover 16 is composed of the two divided bodies 16a and 16b. Besides this,
The cover 16 may be composed of three or more divided bodies.
In the above embodiment, the cover 16 is divided horizontally. In addition, the image may be divided vertically.

-Two or more lock mechanisms 35 may be provided. Further, if the lock mechanism 35 is unlocked by pressing the operation piece 37 a inward of the cover 16, each of the locking portions 36 and 3 constituting the lock mechanism 35 is used.
7 can be changed to an arbitrary shape.

The cover 16 may be fitted and attached to the case body 13 without sliding. This type of electric connection box 11 is advantageous in that the support columns 40 are provided on the cover 16 side.

Next, in addition to the technical ideas described in the claims, the technical ideas grasped by the above-described embodiments will be listed below together with their effects. (1) An electric connection box in which electric parts are mounted on a mounting portion provided on a case main body, the electric connection box including a cover made of a plurality of divided bodies, and a locking means for detachably connecting the divided bodies to each other, An electric connection box in which an inner surface of the cover is received and supported by the electric component when the locking means is pressed to release the connection between the divided bodies. According to this configuration, the divided bodies can be easily separated from each other.

(2) The electrical connection according to claim 1, wherein the electric component is provided so as to be attachable to a mounting portion provided on an upper surface of the case main body, and the electric component also serves as the support member. box. According to this configuration,
It is possible to further prevent the cover from being deformed when the locking means is pressed.

(3) The cover according to any one of claims 1 to 3, (1) and (2), wherein the cover is constituted by a pair of divided bodies, and the locking means is a projection provided on one of the divided bodies. And an engagement hole provided on the other divided body and engaged with the projection.

[0041]

As described in detail above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the divided bodies can be easily separated from each other.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the cover is slid on the case body without restriction on the arrangement of the electric components. According to the third aspect of the invention, since the rigidity of the column can be increased, it is possible to reliably prevent the column from being deformed when the locking means is pressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an electric junction box embodying an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a case body and a cover.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the electric connection box with a cover removed.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a lock mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional plan view of the upper and lower divided bodies.

FIG. 6 is a reference diagram showing the prior art and showing the arrangement of the electrical junction box.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... electric junction box, 13 ... case body, 15 ... relay (electric parts), 16 ... cover, 16a ... upper divided body, 1
6b: Lower divided body, 35: Lock mechanism (lock means),
37a: operation piece, 40: support (support member), 41: rib.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H02G 3/14 G60R 16/02 H02G 3/08

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electric connection box in which a cover is attached to a case main body in which an electric component is accommodated, a cover comprising a plurality of divided bodies, locking means for detachably connecting the divided bodies, and the locking means. And a support member for receiving and supporting the inner surface of the cover when pressing to release the connection between the divided bodies. 2. The electric connection box according to claim 1, wherein the support member is a column vertically protruding from an upper surface of the case body. 3. The electrical junction box according to claim 2, wherein the support has a plurality of ribs extending along an axis thereof.