JP5536170B2 - Waterproof case - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a waterproof case mounted on an automobile as a moving body.

  In general, automobiles as moving bodies are equipped with a wide variety of electronic devices such as lamps such as head lamps and tail lamps, and motors such as motors for starter motors and air conditioners.

  In order to supply power to the various electronic devices described above, the automobile has a wire harness. The wire harness includes a plurality of electric wires and a connector attached to an end of the electric wires. The electric wire is, of course, a so-called covered electric wire provided with a conductive core wire and a covering portion covering the core wire. The connector includes a terminal fitting made of conductive sheet metal or the like and connected to the core wire, and a connector housing containing the terminal fitting. The wire harness is routed to the automobile described above, with a connector connected to a power source and various electronic devices.

  Of course, the wire harness connector described above is required to be waterproof. For this reason, for example, the connector described above may be accommodated in a waterproof case to prevent liquid such as water from entering the connector. This type of waterproof case includes a box body provided with an opening, a lid that is detachably attached to the box body and closes the opening when attached to the box body, and an annular shape that is substantially equal to the outer edge of the opening. And a seal member which is attached to one of the box body and the lid and keeps watertight between them.

  The box body is provided with a plurality of peripheral plates that form the openings described above by surrounding the box body. The peripheral plate is provided with a cutout in which a part of the peripheral plate is cut away from the edge near the opening in a direction away from the opening. Moreover, the grommet as a cover member which lets the electric wire of the wire harness mentioned above pass inside is attached to a box main body. When the grommet is attached to the box body, the grommet closes the above-described notch and keeps the space between the box body watertight. Of course, the seal member is made of an elastic material such as rubber, and abuts against the edge of the peripheral plate or the edge of the grommet described above and elastically deforms to keep the box body and the lid body watertight. .

  The above-described waterproof case is obtained by housing the wire harness connector in which the electric wire is passed through the grommet in the box body, attaching the grommet to the box body, and then attaching the lid body to which the seal member is fixed to the box body. The connector is accommodated inside. Thus, the waterproof case prevents liquid such as water from adhering to the connector.

  However, the above-described waterproof case is provided with a notch in the box body and a grommet that closes the notch is attached, so that a gap is generated between the peripheral plate of the box body and the grommet. For this reason, even if the sealing member keeps the space between the peripheral plate and the grommet watertight, the waterproof case is formed on the inner side through the gap between the peripheral plate and the grommet, particularly the gap generated in the vicinity of the opening. In some cases, liquids such as water could get in.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a waterproof case capable of preventing liquid such as water from entering through a gap between a box body and a cover member attached to the box body.

  In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object, the waterproof case of the present invention according to claim 1 includes a box body provided with openings formed by being surrounded by a plurality of peripheral plates, and the box body. And a lid that closes the opening when attached to the box body, and is attached to one of the box body and the lid, and abuts against an edge of the peripheral plate. A sealing member that keeps water tight between the box body and the lid body, and at least one of the plurality of peripheral plates has an opening portion from an edge near the opening portion. A notch formed by notching the peripheral plate in a direction away from the box, and is attached to the box body, and further provided with a cover member that closes the notch when attached to the box body, the seal member A notch is provided. Edge and edge abutting contact portion of the cover member in the circumferential plate is characterized in that it is formed thick in thickness than other portions.

  A waterproof case according to a second aspect of the present invention is the waterproof case according to the first aspect, wherein the contact portion includes a main body portion having the same thickness as the other portion, and is overlapped with the main body portion. And a projecting portion projecting to the peripheral plate side from the portion.

  As described above, according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, when the box body and the lid are attached to each other, the amount of elastic deformation of the contact portion is larger than that of the other portions. A part enters the gap between the box body and the cover member. For this reason, the seal member closes the gap between the box body near the opening and the cover member, and can prevent liquid such as water from entering through the gap.

It is a perspective view which decomposes | disassembles and shows the waterproof case which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the cover body and sealing member of a waterproof case which were shown by FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the sealing member of the waterproof case shown by FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the IV-IV line in FIG. It is sectional drawing of the principal part of the waterproof case shown by FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the sealing member of a reference example. It is a perspective view which shows the cover body and sealing member of a waterproof case which concern on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the sealing member of the waterproof case shown by FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the IX-IX line in FIG. It is sectional drawing of the principal part of the waterproof case shown by FIG.

  Hereinafter, a waterproof case according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  A waterproof case 1 shown in FIG. 1 according to the present embodiment is mounted on an automobile as a moving body and accommodates a connector of a wire harness routed in the automobile. The wire harness includes a plurality of electric wires and a connector attached to an end of the electric wires. The electric wire includes a conductive core wire and an insulating covering portion that covers the core wire. The connector includes a terminal fitting made of conductive sheet metal and connected to the core of the electric wire, and an insulating connector housing that houses the terminal fitting. In the above-described wire harness, the connector is connected to various electronic devices mounted on the automobile, and supplies desired electric power and signals to the electronic device. In addition, some connectors of the wire harness are accommodated in the waterproof case 1 to prevent liquids such as water from adhering thereto.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the waterproof case 1 includes a box body 2, a lid 3, a grommet 4 as a cover member, and a seal member (shown in FIG. 2) 5.

  The box body 2 is made of an insulating synthetic resin, and includes a bottom plate 6, a plurality of peripheral plates 7 erected from the outer edge of the bottom plate 6, and a flange 8, and is formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape. ing. The flange 8 is formed so as to protrude from the outer surface of the peripheral plate 7, and is provided on the entire circumference of the box body 2. The box body 2 is provided with an opening 9 formed by being surrounded by a plurality of peripheral plates 7. Of course, the opening 9 communicates the inside and outside of the box body 2.

  A convex lip 10 is formed on the edge 7a of the peripheral plate 7 away from the bottom plate 6 from the edge 7a. Furthermore, a notch 11 is provided in one peripheral plate 7 of the box body 2. Two notches 11 are provided in the illustrated example. The notch 11 cuts the peripheral plate 7 and extends in a direction approaching the bottom plate 6 from an edge 7 a on the side of the peripheral plate 7 away from the bottom plate 6, that is, a direction away from the opening 9.

  Further, a nut is embedded in the box body 2 on the inner surface side of the peripheral plate 7. The nut is disposed at a corner of the box body 2.

  The lid 3 is made of an insulating synthetic resin, and includes a flat ceiling plate 12 and a plurality of peripheral plates 13 erected from the outer edge of the ceiling plate 12. Bolt through holes 14 pass through the ceiling plate 12. When the lid body 3 is positioned at a position where the opening 9 is closed with respect to the box body 2, the bolt through hole 14 is opposed to the nut provided inside the peripheral plate 13 described above.

  Inside the peripheral plate 13, as shown in FIG. 2, a seal member accommodation groove 15 is provided over the entire circumference of the lid body 3. When the lid 3 is positioned at a position that closes the opening 9 with respect to the box body 2, the seal member accommodation groove 15 is provided with lips 10 and 20 provided on the plate 7 and the plate 17 described later of the grommet 4 described above. Relative to The lid 3 is attached to the box body 2 so as to close the opening 9 by screwing the bolt 16 that has passed through the bolt through hole 14 into the nut described above. In the state in which the box body 2 and the lid 3 are attached to each other, the direction in which the bottom plate 6 and the ceiling plate 12 face each other is the direction K in which the box body 2 and the lid 3 overlap each other (in FIG. 1). (Indicated by an arrow). For this reason, the direction K in which the box body 2 and the lid 3 overlap each other is orthogonal to both the bottom plate 6 and the ceiling plate 12.

  The grommet 4 is integrally provided with a plate portion 17 and a tube portion 18. The plate portion 17 is formed in a flat plate shape, and the planar shape thereof is substantially the same as the planar shape of the notch portion 11. The plate portion 17 is provided with a through hole (shown in FIG. 5) 19. The tube portion 18 is formed in a cylindrical shape and continues to a portion located outside the through hole 19 of the plate portion 17.

  The grommet 4 is attached to the box body 2 in such a manner that the electric wire of the wire harness passes through the inside of the tube portion 18 and the through hole 19 and the plate portion 17 closes the notch portion 11. Further, when attached to the box body 2, a lip 20 that protrudes from the edge 17 a is provided on the edge 17 a of the plate portion 17 of the grommet 4 that is substantially flush with the edge 7 a of the peripheral plate 7.

  The seal member 5 is made of chloroprene-based or EPDM-based foamed rubber. As shown in FIG. 3, the seal member 5 includes four columnar portions 21 and is formed in an annular shape. Of course, the columnar part 21 is formed in a columnar shape. The end portions of the columnar portion 21 are continuous. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the seal member 5 is accommodated in the seal member accommodation groove 15 and attached to the lid 3.

  When attached to the lid 3, the seal member 5 comes into contact with the edge 7 a of the peripheral plate 7 and the edge 17 a of the plate portion 17 of the grommet 4 and is pressed from the lips 10 and 20 provided on the edges 7 a and 17 a. Thus, it is elastically deformed to keep the space between the box body 2 and the lid 3 watertight. One columnar portion 21 (hereinafter denoted by reference numeral 21a) that contacts the edge 7a of the peripheral plate 7 provided with the notch 11 of the seal member 5 and the edge 17a of the plate portion 17 of the grommet 4 has an abutting portion. A contact portion 22 is provided.

  Of course, the contact part 22 contacts the edge 7a of the peripheral plate 7 provided with the notch part 11 and the edge 17a of the plate part 17 of the grommet 4. A thickness T of the contact portion 22 is formed to be thicker than a thickness t of other portions of the seal member 5 other than the corresponding contact portion 22. The thicknesses T and t are dimensions in the direction in which the lid 3 and the box body 2 overlap each other. Further, the width H of the contact portion 22 is formed to be equal to the width h of other portions of the seal member 5. The widths H and h are dimensions in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the lid 3 and the box body 2 overlap each other.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the contact portion 22 includes a main body portion 23 and a protruding member 24 as a protruding portion. The main body portion 23 is formed to have the same thickness and width as the other portions other than the corresponding contact portion 22 of the seal member 5 and is formed integrally with the other portions. The protruding member 24 is overlaid on the surface of the main body 23 on the box body 2 side. For this reason, the protruding member 24 protrudes to the box body 2 side from the main body portion 23. The protruding member 24 is formed to have the same width as the other portions of the seal member 5 other than the corresponding contact portion 22. In the contact portion 22, the protruding member 24 is formed of a softer material than the main body portion 23. The sealing member 5 having the above-described configuration is assembled by integrally forming the main body portion 23 and other portions, and then attaching the protruding member 24 to the main body portion 23.

  In the waterproof case 1 having the above-described configuration, after the wire harness wire is passed through the grommet 4, the grommet 4 is attached to the box body 2, and the connector of the wire harness is accommodated in the box body 2. And the cover 3 is attached to the box main body 2, and the waterproof case 1 of the structure mentioned above is assembled. Then, as shown in FIG. 5 and the like, the waterproof case 1 is elastically deformed by the seal member 5 being pressed from the lips 10 and 20 and the like, so that the space between the lid 3 and the box body 2 is kept watertight. This prevents liquid such as water from entering the main body 2.

  According to this embodiment, since the contact portion 22 of the seal member 5 is formed to have a thickness T greater than that of the other portions, when the box body 2 and the lid 3 are attached to each other, the contact portion 22 is It is elastically deformed more than other parts. For this reason, a part of the contact portion 22 enters the gap between the box body 2 and the plate portion 17 of the grommet 4 and covers the lip 20 of the grommet 4 and the like. For this reason, the seal member 5 closes the gap between the box body 2 near (in the vicinity of) the opening 9 and the plate portion 17 of the grommet 4, and liquid such as water passes through the gap. Intrusion can be prevented.

  Since the protruding member 24 is made of a material softer than the main body 23, the protruding member 24 is more elastic than the main body 23 when the contact portion 22 is elastically deformed between the box main body 2 and the lid 3. Deform. For this reason, the protruding member 24 near the gap between the box body 2 and the plate portion 17 of the grommet 4 is more elastically deformed, so that the protruding member 24 reliably closes the gap. Therefore, liquid such as water can be prevented from entering through the gap between the box body 2 and the plate portion 17 of the grommet 4.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a sealing member of a reference example which is not the present invention but serves as a reference. In the sealing member 5 of the reference example shown in FIG. 6, the width H of the contact portion 22 is wider than the other portions. In FIG. 6, the same parts as those in the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. In the case shown in FIG. 6, the contact portion 22 of the seal member 5 is formed to have a width H wider than the other portions. Therefore, when the box body 2 and the lid 3 are attached to each other, the contact portion 22 The part 22 is elastically deformed more greatly than the other parts. For this reason, a part of the contact portion 22 enters the gap between the box body 2 and the plate portion 17 of the grommet 4 and covers the lip 20 of the grommet 4 and the like. For this reason, the seal member 5 closes the gap between the box body 2 near (in the vicinity of) the opening 9 and the plate portion 17 of the grommet 4, and liquid such as water passes through the gap. Intrusion can be prevented.

  Moreover, in this invention, like the waterproof case 1 concerning 2nd Embodiment shown by FIG. 7 thru | or FIG. 10, both width H and thickness T of the contact part 22 are made into width h of another part. It may be larger than both thicknesses t. In the present embodiment, the same parts as those in the above-described embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

  In this embodiment, the contact part 22 is provided with the main-body part 23 and the protrusion member 24 which were mentioned above, as shown in FIG. 7 thru | or FIG. In the present embodiment, the main body portion 23 is formed to have the same thickness and width as other portions. The protruding member 24 has a width H that is wider than the width of the main body 23, and is attached to the main body 23 so as to overlap the edge 7 a of the peripheral plate 7 of the main body 23. Further, the protruding member 24 is attached to the main body portion 23 in such a manner that the vicinity of the outer edge portion of the main body portion 23 protrudes to the outside of the seal member 5.

  For this reason, the protruding member 24 protrudes from the main body portion 23 toward the peripheral plate 7 of the box main body 2 and in a direction C (indicated by an arrow in FIGS. 7 to 9) orthogonal to the overlapping direction K. Along the outer side of the box body 2 and the lid body 3, it protrudes. That is, in the present embodiment, the projecting member 24 forms both the projecting portion and the second projecting portion described in the claims.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the projecting member 24 is formed with a contact surface 24a. The contact surface 24 a is formed over the entire length of the protruding member 24 at the inner edge of the protruding member 24 and at the edge near the peripheral plate 7. The contact surface 24 a is inclined with respect to both the overlapping direction K and the direction C perpendicular to the overlapping direction K, and the inclination is formed constant over the entire length of the protruding member 24. Has been. The contact surface 24a gradually approaches the edge 7a of the peripheral plate 7 of the box body 2 along the direction C perpendicular to the overlapping direction K described above toward the outside of the box body 2 and the lid 3. It is inclined to. Further, the contact surface 24a is arranged at a position facing the outer edge portion of the lip 20 of the grommet 4 along the overlapping direction K described above. That is, the contact surface 24a contacts both the edge 7a of the peripheral plate 7 and the lip 20 of the grommet 4 when the box body 2 and the lid 3 are attached to each other. Also in this embodiment, the protruding member 24 is formed of a material softer than the material constituting the main body portion 23.

  Also in the present embodiment, the waterproof case 1 having the above-described configuration is configured such that after the wire harness wire is passed through the grommet 4, the grommet 4 is attached to the box body 2, and the connector of the wire harness is installed in the box body 2. Accommodate. And after inserting the columnar part 21 and the main-body part 23 in the sealing member accommodation groove | channel 15 and attaching the sealing member 5 to the cover body 3, the cover body 3 is attached to the box main body 2, and the waterproof case 1 of the structure mentioned above. Is assembled. Then, as shown in FIG. 10 and the like, the waterproof case 1 is elastically deformed by the seal member 5 being pressed from the lip 10 provided on the edge 7a of the peripheral plate 7, the lip 20 of the grommet 4, and the like. In particular, the protruding member 24 of the seal member 5 abuts the box body 2 over a wide range across the lip 20 of the edge 7 a of the peripheral plate 7 and a portion outside the lip 20. And the sealing member 5 keeps between the cover 3 and the box main body 2 watertight, and prevents liquids, such as water, permeating into the box main body 2.

  According to the present embodiment, over the entire length of the contact portion 22 of the seal member 5, both the direction K in which the box body 2 and the lid 3 overlap and the direction C orthogonal to the overlapping direction K. Since the inclined contact surface 24 a is provided, the contact area between the corresponding contact portion 22 and the edge 7 a of the peripheral plate 7 and the grommet 4 is larger than the other portions of the seal member 5. Therefore, the seal member 5 closes the gap between the box body 2 and the grommet 4 near (in the vicinity of) the opening 9, and can prevent liquid such as water from entering through the gap.

  Since the contact surface 24a provided over the entire length of the contact portion 22 of the seal member 5 is inclined in a direction gradually approaching the edge 7a of the peripheral plate 7 toward the outside, the contact portion 22 and The contact portion with the edge 7 a of the peripheral plate 7 is gradually positioned upward as it goes toward the inside of the box body 2. Accordingly, it becomes difficult for liquid such as water to enter the box body 2 from between the seal member 5 and the edge 7a of the peripheral plate 7.

  The contact portion 22 includes a main body portion 23 and a projecting member 24 that forms both a projecting portion projecting from the main body portion 23 toward the peripheral plate 7 and a second projecting portion projecting outward from the projecting portion. Therefore, most of the protruding member 24 is positioned outside the box body 2 with respect to the edge 7a of the peripheral plate 7 and the lip 20 of the grommet 4. Therefore, liquid such as water is less likely to enter the box body 2 from between the seal member 5 and the edge 7a of the peripheral plate 7.

  Further, in the present invention, the main body portion 23 and the protruding member 24 of the contact portion 22 may be integrally formed, that is, may be a single part of the seal member 5. 24 may be formed of the same material. Furthermore, in the present invention, the contact surface 24a may be inclined in the reverse direction of the second embodiment, and the second projecting portion, that is, the projecting member 24 is moved from the projecting portion, that is, the main body portion 23 in the reverse direction of the second embodiment. You may make it project.

  In the embodiment described above, the waterproof case 1 houses a connector. However, in the present invention, the waterproof case 1 may accommodate a so-called electrical junction box such as a relay box or a fuse box, or may accommodate various electronic devices such as an ECU. Furthermore, in this invention, you may use not only the grommet 4 but the various articles | goods as a cover member.

  In the present invention, the seal member 5 may be attached to the box body 2. In short, in the present invention, the seal member 5 may be attached to one of the box body 2 and the lid 3.

  In addition, embodiment mentioned above only showed the typical form of this invention, and this invention is not limited to embodiment. That is, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

1 Waterproof Case 2 Box Body 3 Lid 4 Grommet (Cover Member)
5 Seal member 7 Peripheral plate 7a Edge 9 Opening portion 11 Notch portion 22 Contact portion (contact portion)
23 Main body 24 Projecting member (projecting part, second projecting part)
24a Contact surface T Contact portion thickness t Other portion thickness H Contact portion width h Other portion width K Overlapping direction C Orthogonal direction

Claims (2)

A box body provided with an opening formed surrounded by a plurality of peripheral plates;
A lid that is attached to the box body and closes the opening when attached to the box body;
A seal member that is formed in an annular shape and is attached to one of the box body and the lid body, abuts against an edge of the peripheral plate, and keeps the space between the box body and the lid body watertight; In a waterproof case with
At least one of the plurality of peripheral plates is formed with a notch formed by notching the peripheral plate in a direction away from the opening from an edge near the opening,
Attached to the box body, and further provided with a cover member that closes the notch when attached to the box body,
The waterproof case, wherein the edge of the peripheral plate provided with the cutout portion of the seal member and the contact portion that contacts the edge of the cover member are formed thicker than other portions. The contact portion includes a main body portion having a thickness equal to that of the other portion, and a protruding portion that is superimposed on the main body portion and protrudes toward the peripheral plate side with respect to the other portion. The waterproof case according to claim 1.

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