JP5510898B2 - Electrical junction box - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrical junction box mounted on an automobile or the like, and relates to an electrical junction box provided with a connector accommodating portion that accommodates a connector provided at an end of an electric wire.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, some electrical connection boxes such as a relay box and a fuse box accommodate a connector provided at a terminal of an electric wire such as a wire harness in a connector housing portion. In such an electrical connection box, for example, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-74893 (Patent Document 1), a male connector and a female connector that are fitted to each other are provided from both the upper and lower directions of the electrical connection box. Some are inserted into the connector housing and are fitted together in the connector housing.

  By the way, in particular, in the electrical connection box described in Patent Document 1 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-77486 (Patent Document 2), the electrical connection of one connector connected from the upper side of the electrical connection box is folded, and the electrical connection is performed. It is extended below the box.

  In such an electric connection box, in order to wrap the electric wire of the connector connected from above downward, an electric wire insertion part that communicates the upper and lower sides of the electric connection box must be provided outside the connector housing part. The connection box was enlarged. Further, when connecting the connector from the upper side of the electrical connection box, the connector must be routed upward from the lower side of the electrical connection box by passing the electric wire through the electric wire insertion portion, which takes time and labor. It was.

JP 2006-74893 A JP 2009-77486 A

  The present invention has been made in the background of the above-described circumstances, and the problem to be solved thereof is an electrical connection box in which a male connector and a female connector are inserted into the connector housing portion from both the upper and lower directions and connected to each other. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical junction box having a novel structure that can achieve downsizing and improve connection workability.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, in the electrical junction box including a connector housing portion in which the male connector and the female connector provided in the electric wire terminal are housed, the connector housing portion has a cylindrical shape having an opening portion below. A support tube portion and an electric wire retracting portion that opens to an outer peripheral surface of the support tube portion and extends upward from the opening portion, and the male connector and the female connector are provided from the opening portion of the support tube portion. Are inserted and held in the support cylinder part, and the electric wire extending from the male connector or the female connector located forward in the insertion direction to the connector accommodating part is the electric wire retracting part. It is characterized by being inserted through.

  According to the electrical junction box having the structure according to the present invention, the male connector and the female connector can be fitted in advance outside the electrical junction box, and can be inserted from the lower opening of the support cylinder in the fitted state. The male and female connectors are supported without being obstructed by the electric wires by inserting the electric wires of the connector located forward in the insertion direction into the electric wire retracting portion opened in the outer peripheral surface of the supporting cylindrical portion and letting it out of the supporting cylindrical portion. Can be inserted into the tube. At the same time, the electric wire of the connector positioned at the upper side can be extended downward through the electric wire retracting portion.

  As a result, it is possible to extend the electric wire of the connector positioned above without providing an electric wire insertion portion for inserting the electric wire outside the support cylinder portion, and it is possible to reduce the size of the electric junction box. Moreover, since it is not necessary to consider the space for forming the wire insertion portion, the degree of freedom in design can be improved. Furthermore, the male connector and the female connector can be pre-fitted outside the electric connection box and inserted into the connector housing at once, and the trouble of turning the upper connector from the lower side of the electric connection box upward Therefore, the workability of assembling the connector can be improved. Such an electrical junction box can be particularly suitably used when providing a male connector and a female connector assembled in advance.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the connector housing portion is provided with a lock mechanism that engages with the male connector and the female connector fitted to each other. It is.

  If it does in this way, the male connector and female connector which were made into the fitting state can be hold | maintained in a connector accommodating part. Note that the locking mechanism in this aspect does not need to be directly engaged with both the male connector and the female connector, but can be engaged with either the male connector or the female connector in the fitted state. It may hold both the female connector and the female connector.

  According to this invention, while providing the support cylinder part which has an opening part below, the electric wire retracting part which opened to the outer peripheral surface and extended up and down was provided in this support cylinder part. As a result, the male connector and the female connector are inserted into the support tube portion from the opening in a fitted state, and the electric wire of the connector positioned forward in the insertion direction is inserted into the wire retracting portion and retracted outside the support tube portion. I can do it. As a result, the male connector and the female connector can be fitted in advance outside the electrical connection box and assembled to the electrical connection box at a time, and the work efficiency of the connector assembly can be improved. At the same time, since it is possible to extend the electric wire of the connector located above through the electric wire retracting portion, it is not necessary to provide a space for routing the electric wire outside the connector housing portion. Can be achieved.

Explanatory drawing which shows the connector accommodating part of the electrical junction box as one Embodiment of this invention, and the male connector and female connector assembled | attached to this. The top view of the connector accommodating part shown in FIG. III-III sectional drawing in FIG. Sectional drawing corresponding to FIG. 3 in the state which accommodated the male connector and the female connector. Explanatory drawing corresponding to FIG. 1 of the state which accommodated the male connector and the female connector. Explanatory drawing corresponding to FIG. 2 which shows the connector accommodating part of the electrical-connection box as a different aspect of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  First, in FIG. 1, a male connector 14 and a female connector 16 accommodated in a main part of an electrical junction box 10 as an embodiment of the present invention and a connector housing part 12 provided in the main part are fitted. A connector fitting body 18 is also shown.

  The electrical connection box 10 is a relay box, for example, and is formed from a non-conductive synthetic resin. A connector housing portion 12 is provided at an appropriate position of the electrical connection box 10. Note that a plurality of connector housing portions 12 may be provided in the electrical connection box 10.

  2 and 3 show the connector housing portion 12. The connector housing part 12 has a support cylinder part 20. The support cylinder part 20 has an upper opening 22 that opens above the electrical connection box 10 (upward in FIG. 3) and a lower opening 24 that opens below the electrical connection box 10 (downward in FIG. 3). And it is set as the substantially rectangular cylinder shape extended up and down of the electrical-connection box 10. As shown in FIG. At the upper end edge of the support cylinder part 20, locking piece parts 26, 26 projecting inward of the support cylinder part 20 are formed at a pair of opposing side parts.

  And in the support cylinder part 20, the electric wire retracting part 30 is formed in one outer peripheral wall 28a which opposes orthogonally to the side in which the locking piece parts 26 and 26 were formed. The wire retracting portion 30 has a slit shape that extends through the outer peripheral wall 28a from the lower opening 24 toward the upper side of the electrical junction box 10, and is centered in the width direction (vertical direction in FIG. 2) of the outer peripheral wall 28a. It is formed in the part. Thereby, the electric wire retracting portion 30 is opened on the outer peripheral surface 32 of the outer peripheral wall 28 a in the support cylinder portion 20. Further, the wire retracting portion 30 is formed over the entire length of the outer peripheral wall 28 a in the vertical direction, and is also opened below and above the support cylinder portion 20. Further, the wire retracting portion 30 is formed with a constant groove width dimension: w, and this groove width dimension: w is larger than the diameter dimension of the electric wire 60 extending from the female connector 16 described later.

  On the other hand, the outer peripheral wall 28b opposite to the outer peripheral wall 28a is located so as to protrude outward, and a locking claw 36 as a locking mechanism is integrally formed on the inner surface 34 of the outer peripheral wall 28b. The locking claw 36 has a connecting portion 38 that protrudes inward from the inner surface 34, and a spring portion 40 that is a leaf spring extending upward from the connecting portion 38. The spring portion 40 has a plate shape having an inclined guide surface 42 that protrudes inward of the support tube portion 20 as it goes upward from the connecting portion 38. And the upper end surface of the spring part 40 is made into the flat latching surface 44 which spreads orthogonally to the up-down direction of the support cylinder part 20. As shown in FIG. In addition, a standing wall-like positioning projection 46 that protrudes upward is formed at an end edge of the locking surface 44 on the outer peripheral wall 28b side.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a connector fitting body 18 in which a male connector 14 and a female connector 16 are fitted is inserted into such a connector housing portion 12. Since the male connector 14 and the female connector 16 are conventionally known, detailed illustration is omitted, but the male connector 14 has a hood portion 48, and a male terminal (not shown) is provided in the hood portion 48. Projected. The male connector 14 has a stepped shape in which the hood portion 48 protrudes outward and has a stepped surface 50. On the other hand, a female terminal (not shown) is provided in the female connector 16. When the female connector 16 is inserted into the hood portion 48 of the male connector 14, the male terminal of the male connector 14 and the female terminal of the female connector 16 are connected to each other.

  As shown in FIG. 4 to be described later, a hood-side protrusion 52 that protrudes inward is formed on the upper edge of the hood portion 48 of the male connector 14, while the outer peripheral surface of the female connector 16 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the female connector 16. An operation piece 54 that is a leaf spring is formed, and an operation piece side protrusion 56 is formed at a position corresponding to the hood side protrusion 52 in the operation piece 54. When the female connector 16 is inserted into the hood portion 48, the operation piece 54 is bent toward the main body side of the female connector 16 by the guiding action of the hood side protrusion 52 and the operation piece side protrusion 56, and the operation piece side protrusion 56 becomes hood. By getting over the side protrusion 52, the operation piece side protrusion 56 and the hood side protrusion 52 are engaged with each other so that the female connector 16 can be fitted out of the hood portion 48 so that it cannot be pulled out.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the male connector 14 and the female connector 16 are provided at the ends of the electric wires 58 and 60, respectively, and the electric wire 58 extends from the male connector 14, while the female connector 16. The electric wire 60 is extended from. In particular, in the present embodiment, these electric wires 58 and 60 are extended from a single wire harness 62.

  When assembling the male connector 14 and the female connector 16 to the electrical connection box 10, first, as shown in FIG. 1, the male connector 14 and the female connector 16 are fitted to each other outside the electrical connection box 10, and the connector is connected. The fitting body 18 is assumed. The electric wire 60 extending from the female connector 16 is folded back to the male connector 14 side and extended in the same direction as the electric wire 58 extending from the male connector 14. In addition, the electric wire 60 extending from the female connector 16 is fixed to the male connector 14 by, for example, wrapping with a tape 64 as necessary.

  Such a connector fitting body 18 is inserted into the support cylinder portion 20 in the connector housing portion 12 from the lower opening 24 (see FIG. 3). The connector fitting body 18 is inserted from the female connector 16 into the support cylinder portion 20 with the female connector 16 positioned in the front in the insertion direction. When the connector fitting body 18 is inserted into the support cylinder portion 20, the electric wire 60 of the female connector 16 is inserted into the electric wire retracting portion 30. Thereby, the electric wire 60 is retracted out of the support cylinder portion 20, and the connector fitting body 18 can be inserted into the support cylinder portion 20 without being obstructed by the electric wire 60.

  Then, when the connector fitting body 18 is inserted into the support cylinder portion 20, the hood portion 48 of the male connector 14 comes into contact with the inclined guide surface 42 (see FIG. 3) of the spring portion 40. Thereby, the spring part 40 is bent to the outer peripheral wall 28b side. Further, when the hood portion 48 is positioned above the locking surface 44 of the spring portion 40, the spring portion 40 returns. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the stepped surface 50 of the male connector 14 and the locking surface 44 of the spring portion 40 are engaged with each other, so that the connector fitting body 18 is pulled out downward in the support cylinder portion 20. Held impossible. In FIG. 4, the electric wires 58 and 60 and the wire harness 62 are omitted. Further, the connector fitting body 18 is positioned in the support cylinder portion 20 by the positioning protrusion 46 of the spring portion 40 engaging the outer surface of the hood portion 48. In this manner, the connector fitting body 18 is accommodated in the connector accommodating portion 12.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the electric wire 60 extending from the female connector 16 is folded downward through the electric wire retracting portion 30 in the accommodated state in the connector accommodating portion 12, and the electric junction box is similar to the electric wire 58 extending from the male connector 14. 10 is pulled out below. Further, in the state of being accommodated in the connector accommodating portion 12, the locking piece portions 26, 26 provided on the upper end edge portion of the support cylinder portion 20 are positioned above the male connector 14. As a result, when the connector fitting body 18 is displaced upward, the locking pieces 26 and 26 are engaged with the male connector 14 so that the connector fitting body 18 is prevented from coming off upward. Yes.

  According to the electrical connection box 10 having such a structure, when the male connector 14 and the female connector 16 fitted to each other are inserted into the support cylinder portion 20 of the connector housing portion 12, the electric wire 60 extending from the female connector 16 is provided. Can be inserted into the wire retracting portion 30 and escaped to the outside of the support cylinder portion 20. As a result, the male connector 14 and the female connector 16 can be inserted into the support tube portion 20 of the connector housing portion 12 in a state in which the male connector 14 and the female connector 16 are previously fitted outside the electrical connection box 10. As a result, it is possible to eliminate the need to wrap the female connector 16 upward from below the electrical connection box 10 and accommodate it in the connector accommodating portion 12 as in the prior art. Assembling to 12 can be performed efficiently. Further, since the male connector 14 and the female connector 16 can be fitted outside the electrical connection box 10, both the connectors 14 and 16 can be fitted more reliably. And since it becomes possible to extend the electric wire 60 of the female connector 16 to the downward direction of the electrical junction box 10 through the electric wire retracting part 30, the space for making the electric wire 60 wrap around below is provided outside the connector accommodating part 12. Can be obtained, more excellent space efficiency can be obtained, and the degree of freedom in designing the electrical junction box 10 can be improved.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the locking claw 36 provided in the support cylinder portion 20 prevents the connector fitting body 18 from being pulled downward, and the engagement provided at the upper edge of the support cylinder portion 20. The stopper pieces 26, 26 prevent the connector fitting body 18 from coming off upward. Thereby, the male connector 14 and the female connector 16 can be stably held in the connector housing portion 12. Further, since the support cylinder portion 20 is opened upward through the upper opening portion 22, for example, the operation piece 54 of the female connector 16 is operated to be disconnected from the male connector 14, and only the female connector 16 is passed through the upper opening portion 22. The conventional operation of removing from the connector housing portion 12 or inserting into the connector housing portion 12 through the upper opening 22 to connect to the male connector 14 in the connector housing portion 12 is also possible, and the maintenance is improved. I can plan.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was explained in full detail, this invention is not limited by the specific description. For example, the wire retracting portion is not limited to the slit shape as in the above embodiment, and extends in the vertical direction of the support tube portion 20 as shown in FIG. 6 with the same reference numerals as in FIG. Further, it may have a long hole shape that opens on both the upper and lower sides. In this aspect, the opening on the outer peripheral surface 32 in the support cylinder part 20 is covered with the outer wall 66, and in this way, an excessive protrusion of the electric wire 60 extending from the female connector 16 to the outside of the support cylinder part 20 is prevented. Can be avoided.

  Moreover, the support cylinder part should just be opened below at least, and the upper opening part 22 in the said embodiment is not necessarily required. Further, the specific shape of the locking mechanism for holding the male connector and the female connector in the support cylinder portion can be appropriately set according to the specific shape of the both connectors, and the male connector and the female connector are conventionally known. Can be adopted as appropriate, and is not limited to the shape of the embodiment.

  Further, the present invention is not limited to the relay box, but can be widely applied to various electrical connection boxes having a connector housing portion such as a fuse box and a junction box.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10: Electrical connection box, 12: Connector accommodating part, 14: Male connector, 16: Female connector, 18: Connector fitting body, 20: Support cylinder part, 24: Lower opening part, 30: Electric wire retracting part, 32: Outer peripheral surface , 36: locking claw (lock mechanism), 60: electric wire, 64: tape

Claims (2)

In the electrical junction box provided with a connector housing portion in which the male connector and the female connector provided in the electric wire terminal are accommodated,
The connector housing portion includes a cylindrical support tube portion having an opening portion below and an electric wire retracting portion that opens to the outer peripheral surface of the support tube portion and extends upward from the opening portion. The male connector and the female connector are inserted in a state of being fitted to each other through the opening of the tube portion and are housed and held in the support tube portion, and are positioned forward in the insertion direction to the connector housing portion. The electrical connection box, wherein the electric wire extending from the male connector or the female connector is inserted into the electric wire retracting portion.   The electrical connection box according to claim 1, wherein the connector housing portion is provided with a lock mechanism that engages with the male connector and the female connector fitted to each other.

Images