JP5846052B2 - Electrical junction box - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrical junction box.

  Conventionally, the thing of patent document 1 is known as an example of the electrical connection box mounted, for example in vehicles, such as a hybrid vehicle and an electric vehicle.

  In this electrical connection box, a terminal fitting attached to the wire terminal is accommodated in a terminal accommodating chamber of a cassette block accommodated in the box body, and the electric wire is extended outside the terminal accommodating chamber.

JP 2011-15467 A

  By the way, in recent years, aluminum wires are being used instead of copper wires for the purpose of reducing the weight of wire harnesses. In this case, when an aluminum electric wire is connected to a copper terminal fitting, a dissimilar metal is connected. Therefore, when the electrical connection box is installed in an engine room or the like as in the configuration of Patent Document 1, it is during rain or car wash. There is a concern that the water that has entered the housing is applied to the connection portion between the electric wire and the terminal fitting, and the aluminum electric wire is corroded.

  Then, in order to prevent corrosion of an aluminum electric wire, it can be considered that the connection portion between the electric wire and the terminal fitting is individually waterproofed. In this case, however, there is a problem that the individual waterproofing processing takes time.

  The present invention has been completed based on the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide an electrical connection box capable of preventing corrosion of a connection portion between an electric wire and a terminal with a simple configuration. To do.

The present invention is an electrical junction box comprising: a plurality of terminals-attached wires each having a terminal attached to a terminal portion of the plurality of wires; and a housing that houses the plurality of terminals, wherein the plurality of terminals-attached wires A sealing member that collectively covers a connection portion between each terminal and each electric wire in the housing, and the housing has a fitting chamber into which the sealing member in a state of covering the connection portion in the electric wire with terminal is fitted. An elastic biasing means that is provided and capable of biasing the outer peripheral surface of the seal member with an elastic force is provided, and the elastic biasing means has a plate shape that can be bent and deformed .

According to this configuration, the connection portion between the terminals of the plurality of electric wires with terminals is collectively covered by the sealing member fitted in the insertion chamber of the housing, so that moisture can be prevented from entering the connection portions. it can. Therefore, it is possible to prevent corrosion of the connection portion between the electric wire and the terminal with a simple configuration.
Further, the reaction force from the inner wall of the insertion chamber to the seal member can be increased by the elastic biasing means, and higher sealing performance can be generated.

In addition to the above configuration, the following configuration is preferable.
-The said sealing member inserted by the said insertion chamber is closely_contact | adhered to the inner wall of the said insertion chamber.
If it does in this way, it will become possible for the sealing member inserted in the insertion chamber to produce high sealing performance by the reaction force from the inner wall of the insertion chamber.

-At least one of the inner wall of the insertion chamber and the portion of the seal member facing the inner wall is provided with a drainage groove for escaping water to the outside.
If it does in this way, it will become possible to escape the water which entered in the housing from the drainage groove outside.

-The housing is provided with the casing and the accommodating member accommodated in the casing, and the insertion chamber is formed between the inner wall of the casing and the accommodating member.
In this way, if the sealing member is housed in the casing together with the housing member, the sealing member can be fitted into the fitting chamber, and therefore the work of fitting the sealing member into the fitting chamber can be facilitated. become.

-The said sealing member is comprised by fitting a pair of division member.
If it does in this way, what is necessary is just to insert in the insertion chamber as the state which fitted the other division member to the one division member which mounted the electric wire with a terminal, and can simplify the assembly process of an electric junction box. It becomes possible.

The seal member includes a hinge portion that connects the pair of split members, a locked portion that is provided on a side of the one split member that is different from the hinge portion, and the other split member that is provided on the cover member. A locking portion that is locked to the locking portion and holds the pair of divided members in a fitted state.
If it does in this way, it will become easy to carry out the operation | work which hold | maintains a pair of division member in the state fitted, and the fitting operation | work to this insertion chamber from this state.

-The sealing member is formed of a soft resin on the inner surface side covering the connecting portion and formed of a hard resin on the outer surface side, and the locked portion and the locking portion are formed in the hard resin portion. Yes.
If it does in this way, while being able to improve a sealing performance by soft resin about the inner surface side of a sealing member, about the outer surface side of a sealing member, the strength of a to-be-latched part and an engaging part will be improved by hard resin. Is possible.

The sealing member is formed of a soft resin on the inner surface side covering the connecting portion and formed of a hard resin on the outer surface side.
In this way, the sealing performance can be enhanced by the soft resin on the inner surface side of the sealing member, and the outer surface side of the sealing member can be secured to the housing with the sealing member by the hard resin, for example. It becomes easy to increase the strength of locking when a structure for stopping is provided.

The seal member is formed with a retaining latch portion that latches with the housing and prevents the seal member from slipping out.
In this way, for example, the sealing member can be directly prevented from coming out as compared with the case where it is locked to the terminal-attached electric wire and prevented from coming off.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to prevent corrosion of the connection part of an electric wire and a terminal with a simple structure about an electrical junction box.

The perspective view which shows the electrical junction box of embodiment Front view showing the electrical junction box Side view showing electrical junction box Rear view showing electrical junction box AA sectional view of FIG. BB sectional view of FIG. Perspective view showing electric wire with terminal The perspective view which shows the state with which the sealing member was mounted | worn with the electric wire with a some terminal The top view which shows the state by which the sealing member was mounted | worn with the electric wire with a some terminal Side view showing a state in which a sealing member is attached to a plurality of electric wires with terminals Rear view showing a state in which a sealing member is attached to a plurality of electric wires with terminals The top view which shows the state which opened a pair of division member about the sealing member The side view which shows the state which opened a pair of division member about the sealing member The rear view which shows the state which opened a pair of division member about the sealing member The top view which shows the state by which the electric wire with a terminal was mounted in one division member The top view which shows the state by which the sealing member was mounted | worn to the electric wire with a terminal of other embodiment The top view which shows the state which opened a pair of division member about the sealing member of other embodiment The rear view which shows the state which opened a pair of division member about the sealing member of other embodiment

<Embodiment>
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
The electrical junction box 10 in the present embodiment is disposed in a vehicle such as an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, for example, and between a power source (not shown) and in-vehicle electrical components (not shown) such as a lamp and a horn. And has a function of interrupting current when an overcurrent occurs. The electric junction box 10 is arranged in the engine room of the vehicle with the electric wires 12 facing downward (the right side in FIG. 3 is upward and the left side is downward). 5 will be described with reference to the left side of FIG. 5 as the front and the right side as the rear.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the electrical junction box 10 includes a plurality (12 in this embodiment) of electric wires 11 with terminals, a plurality of electric wires 11 with terminals (each terminal 15), and a plurality of housings 22. And a plurality of (two in this embodiment) seal members 31 that are integrally attached to the terminal-attached electric wire 11.

As shown in FIG. 7, the terminal-attached electric wire 11 includes an electric wire 12 and a terminal 15 attached to a terminal portion of the electric wire 12.
The electric wire 12 is obtained by coating a conductor portion 13 made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy with a resin insulating coating 14 (insulating layer). At the terminal portion, the insulating coating 14 is stripped and the conductor portion 13 is exposed. Has been. The electric wire 12 is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy instead of the copper alloy conductor, so that weight reduction and cost reduction are achieved. In addition, in FIG. 1 etc., the back side of the electric wire 12 is abbreviate | omitted on drawing.

  The terminal 15 is made of copper or copper alloy, and is engaged with a terminal connection portion 16 connected to a counterpart terminal and a retaining engagement portion 28 of the housing 22 to be prevented from being detached. And a wire connecting portion 21 connected to the terminal portion of the wire 12.

  The terminal connection portion 16 is electrically connected by sandwiching a terminal of the fuse inserted from the insertion groove 17 and a slit-shaped insertion groove 17 provided on the front end wall rising from the front end of the bottom plate, into which the terminal of the fuse is inserted. And a pair of bending pieces 19, 19.

The engaged portion 20 includes a pair of engagement pieces 20A and 20B formed by extending a pair of side walls 18 rising from both side edges of the bottom plate, and the pair of engagement pieces 20A and 20B overlap each other so as to face each other. ing.
The electric wire connection portion 21 includes a pair of barrel pieces 21 </ b> A for crimping and connecting the conductor portions 13 of the electric wires 12 and a pair of holding pieces 21 </ b> B for holding the electric wires 12.

The housing 22 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and as shown in FIG. 6, a box-shaped casing 22A having a partition wall that divides the upper and lower stages in an intermediate part in the vertical direction, and a seal member 31 on the upper and lower stages of the casing 22A. And a plurality of (two in this embodiment) accommodation members 22B.
As shown in FIG. 2, each housing member 22 </ b> B has an opening 25 in a recessed portion on the front side thereof, and a portion narrowed below the opening 25 serves as a terminal of a fuse (not shown). The insertion groove 26A can be inserted.

As shown in FIG. 5, the terminals 15 (six in this embodiment) of the plurality of terminal-attached electric wires 11 to which the seal member 31 is attached are accommodated side by side between the casing 22A and each accommodating member 22B. It is set as a storage chamber 23.
The accommodation chamber 23 has a space that communicates with the front-rear direction of the housing 22.
A substantially first half portion of the accommodation chamber 23 accommodates the terminal connection portion 16 in the terminal 15, and a substantially second half portion of the accommodation chamber 23 is a fitting chamber 30 into which the seal member 31 is fitted.

A front stop wall 26 that restricts the forward movement of the terminal 15 is provided at a lower portion of the front end portion of the storage chamber 23.
On the inner wall of the storage chamber 23, a retaining engagement portion 28 extending so as to protrude forward from the rear end portion is provided at a position corresponding to the engaged portion 20 of each terminal 15.

  The retaining engagement portion 28 has a thin plate shape and can be bent and deformed in the vertical direction (direction intersecting the insertion direction of the electric wire with terminal), and the distal end portion of the retaining engagement portion 28 is engaged. The engaging protrusion 28 </ b> A is arranged behind the joint portion 20. Thereby, when the force to back (extraction direction) of the electric wire 11 with a terminal arises, the engaging protrusion 28A engages with the engaged portion 20 and is prevented from coming off.

  Of the inner wall of the storage chamber 23, the bottom surface of the retaining engagement portion 28 is recessed from the left and right inner walls 27 of the retaining engagement portion 28 (the inner wall 27 in close contact with the seal member 31). When the seal member 31 is fitted, a space serving as a drainage path for the infiltrated water is formed between the seal member 31 and the seal member 31.

The insertion chamber 30 has a rectangular space inside that is substantially the same as the outer shape of the seal member 31 in the left-right direction.
When the sealing member 31 mounted on the plurality of terminal-attached electric wires 11 is fitted into the insertion chamber 30, the outer surface of the sealing member 31 is in close contact with the inner wall of the insertion chamber 30.

  A plate-like extension portion 24 </ b> A extending in a plate shape from a substantially intermediate portion in the front-rear direction to the rear side is parallel to the retaining engagement portion 28 above the retaining engagement portion 28 with a predetermined dimension. Is provided. The plate-like extension portion 24 </ b> A has a rear end portion protruding from the rear surface of the housing 22.

  Above the plate-like extension portion 24A, which is spaced apart by a predetermined dimension, elastically extended in a plate-like shape from the substantially intermediate portion in the front-rear direction (the front end position of the seal member fitted in the fitting chamber) to the rear side. Biasing means 24B is provided. The elastic biasing means 24B has a rear end portion protruding from the rear surface of the housing 22 (rear end of the casing 22A).

  The elastic urging means 24B extends in a direction along the insertion direction of the terminal-attached electric wire 11 and the seal member 31, and is configured to be able to bend and deform in the vertical direction (direction intersecting the insertion direction). As a result, when the seal member 31 is fitted into the normal position (position in FIG. 5) of the insertion chamber 30 with the seal member 31 attached to the terminal-attached electric wire 11, the outer surface slightly swells due to the terminal-attached electric wire 11. The seal member 31 presses the housing member 22B side, and the elastic urging means 24B is slightly bent by this elastic force to generate an elastic repulsive force. Accordingly, a reaction force can be generated from the housing member 22B side to the seal member 31 side, and the sealing performance between the housing member 22B and the seal member 31 is enhanced.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the sealing member 31 has a soft resin layer 31A (for example, elastomer) formed thinly on the inner surface side for holding the terminal-attached electric wire 11, and a hard resin layer 31B (for example, polypropylene (PP)) is disposed on the outer surface side. As shown in FIG. 12, a pair of split members 32 and 33 and a hinge portion 36 for connecting the split members 32 and 33 are provided.

Each division member 32 and 33 is the same shape plate shape, Comprising: It has the recessed parts 34 and 35 which can engage | insert the connection part of the electric wire 11 and the terminal 15 of the electric wire 11 with a terminal.
The recesses 34 and 35 are formed over the entire length of the divided members 32 and 33 so that the front ends thereof are arranged in front of the wire connecting portions 21 of the terminal-attached electric wires 11 and the rear ends thereof are portions of the insulating coating 14 of the electric wires 12. Has been.

  The depth of the recesses 34 and 35 is a depth that can cover the entire connecting portion of the electric wire 11 and the terminal 15 in the terminal-attached electric wire 11 in the recesses 34 and 35 when the dividing members 32 and 33 are fitted together. It is. More specifically, when the divided members 32 and 33 are fitted together, the flat outer surfaces of the divided members 32 and 33 are configured to slightly swell, whereby the seal member 31 is fitted into the fitting chamber 30. At this time, the seal member 31 is pushed against the inner wall of the insertion chamber 30 to generate a slight elastic repulsion force.

The hinge portion 36 is provided integrally with the split members 32 and 33 at the end portions of the split members 32 and 33, and is formed with a thickness that can be bent and deformed.
One split member 32 is provided with a locked portion 37, and the other split member 33 is locked to the locked portion 37 and held in a state where the pair of split members 32 and 33 are fitted together. A locking portion 38 is provided.

  The locking portion 38 includes a locking piece 38A that can rise and bend and deform in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the split members 32 and 33, and a locking claw 38B provided at the tip of the locking piece 38A.

The locking claw 38B protrudes in a step shape with respect to the locking piece 38A, and has a shape in which the protruding dimension decreases in an inclined manner toward the tip side.
The locked portion 37 has a step portion 37A that holds the stepped portion of the locking claw 38B and holds the pair of divided members 32 and 33 in a fitted state. When the locking portion 38 is locked to the locked portion 37, the connection portion between the terminal 15 of the terminal-attached electric wire 11 and the electric wire 12 is held in a state covered with the seal member 31.

Next, assembly of the electrical junction box 10 will be described.
With the split members 32 and 33 of the seal member 31 open, the part from the wire connection portion 21 of the terminal-attached electric wire 11 to the insulation coating 13 of the electric wire 12 is fitted into one split member 32 (FIG. 15), and the other split is made. The member 33 is fitted and the locking portion 37 is locked to the locked portion 37.
As a result, the seal member 31 is attached to and integrated with the electric wire 11 with terminal, and the terminal connecting portion 16 and the engaged portion 20 in front of the electric wire 11 with terminal protrude in an exposed state in front of the seal member 31, and with the terminal. The electric wire 12 extended behind the electric wire 11 will be in the state protruded in the exposed state behind the sealing member 31 (FIG. 8).
Next, with the sealing member 31 attached to the terminal-attached electric wire 11, the accommodation member 22 </ b> B is overlapped downward and inserted into the accommodation chamber 23 of the housing 22 from the front side. Then, after the portion of the terminal connection portion 16 is inserted into the storage chamber 23, the seal member 31 is inserted into (inserted into) the insertion chamber 30 behind the storage chamber 23.

And the front-end | tip of the terminal connection part 16 is inserted to the regular position which contact | abuts the front stop wall 26 (FIG. 5). At this time, the entire seal member 31 is fitted into the insertion chamber 30, and the outer surface of the seal member 31 is in close contact with the inner wall of the insertion chamber 30 (FIG. 6). At this time, the drainage groove 29 provided on the inner surface side of the retaining engagement portion 28 forms a drainage channel with the outer surface of the seal member 31.
Thereby, the electrical junction box 10 is formed.

  The electrical connection box 10 is arranged in the engine room of the vehicle with the side where the electric wire 12 is extended as the lower side, and a fuse can be mounted from above.

According to the present embodiment, the following operations and effects are achieved.
(1) According to the present embodiment, the connection portion between the terminal 15 and the electric wire 12 in the plurality of electric wires 11 with terminals is collectively covered by the sealing member 31 fitted into the insertion chamber 30 of the housing 22. Intrusion of moisture into the connection portion can be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to prevent corrosion of the connection portion between the electric wire 12 and the terminal 15 with a simple configuration.

(2) The seal member 31 fitted in the insertion chamber 30 is in close contact with the inner wall 27 of the insertion chamber 30.
If it does in this way, it becomes possible for the sealing member 31 inserted in the insertion chamber 30 to produce high sealing performance by the reaction force from the inner wall 27 of the insertion chamber 30.

(3) A drainage groove 29 for allowing water to escape to the outside is provided on the inner wall of the insertion chamber 30.
In this way, water that has entered the housing 22 can be released from the drainage groove 29 to the outside.

(4) The housing 22 includes a casing 22A and an accommodation member 22B accommodated in the casing 22A, and a fitting chamber 30 is formed between the inner wall 27 of the casing 22A and the accommodation member 22B.
In this way, if the seal member 31 is accommodated in the casing 22 </ b> A together with the accommodating member 22 </ b> B, the seal member 31 can be fitted into the fitting chamber 30, so that the sealing member 31 is fitted into the fitting chamber 30. Can be made easier.

(5) The housing 22 is provided with elastic urging means 24B capable of urging the outer peripheral surface of the seal member 31 with elastic force.
If it does in this way, it will become possible to raise the reaction force from the inner wall 27 of the insertion chamber 30 with respect to the sealing member 31 with the elastic biasing means 24B, and a higher sealing performance can be produced.

(6) The seal member 31 is configured by fitting a pair of split members 32 and 33 together.
If it does in this way, what is necessary is just to fit in the insertion chamber 30 as the state which fitted the other division member 32,33 to the one division member 32,33 which mounted the electric wire 11 with a terminal. The assembly process can be simplified.

(7) The seal member 31 includes a hinge portion 36 that connects the pair of divided members 32, 33, a locked portion 37 provided on a side different from the hinge portion 36 in one divided member 32, and the other divided member And a locking portion 38 that is locked to the locked portion 37 and that holds the pair of divided members 32 and 33 in a fitted state.
If it does in this way, it will become easy to carry out the operation | work which hold | maintains the pair of division members 32 and 33 in the state fitted, and the fitting operation | work to the insertion chamber 30 from this state.

(8) The seal member 31 is formed with the soft resin 31A on the inner surface side covering the connecting portion and formed with the hard resin 31B on the outer surface side, and the locked portion 37 and the lock portion 38 are formed on the hard resin 31B portion. Is formed.
If it does in this way, while sealing performance can be improved by soft resin about the inner surface side of the sealing member 31, about the outer surface side of the sealing member 31, the to-be-latched part 37 and the latching | locking part 38 are made with hard resin. The strength can be increased.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) The number of the terminal-attached electric wires 11 to which the seal member 31 is attached is not limited to the number in the above embodiment. Further, the sealing member 31 collectively covers the terminals 15 arranged side by side. However, in the above-described embodiment, the housing chamber and the insertion chamber extending in the vertical direction are provided, and the electric wires 11 with terminals arranged in the vertical direction are batched. You may make it cover.

(2) In the above embodiment, the electrical connection box 10 is mounted with a fuse. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the electrical connection box 10 may be an electrical connection box on which electronic components such as a relay are mounted.

(3) In the above embodiment, the drainage groove 29 is provided on the inner wall of the insertion chamber 30. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the drainage groove may be provided on the seal member 31 side facing the inner wall of the insertion chamber 30.

(4) In the above embodiment, the seal member 31 is made of the soft resin 31A and the hard resin 31B. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a structure made of a single member (for example, a rubber-like member). It is good.

(5) In the above embodiment, the terminal-attached electric wire 11 and the housing 22 are provided with the structure (the engaging protrusion 28A and the engaged portion 20) for preventing the terminal-attached electric wire 11 (and the seal member 31) from coming off. However, the seal member may be provided with a structure in which the housing 22 and the seal member 31 are directly locked together with or without the retaining member. For example, as shown in FIGS. 16 to 18, the retaining protrusions 28 </ b> A and the engaged portion 20 may not be provided, and the stopper members 39 and 40 may be provided on the seal member 41. In this case, for example, a recessed portion that is locked to the retaining locking portions 39 and 40 in the housing 22 or a locked portion that is a hole wall of a through hole may be provided on the inner surface of the housing 22.

If the retaining stoppers 39 and 40 are provided in this way, the sealing member can be retained directly, particularly when the outer side of the sealing member 31 is the hard resin layer 31B as in the above embodiment. Can be more securely engaged with the sealing member 31 (and the terminal-attached electric wire 11) than when the soft resin layer is used, so that it is easier to prevent the removal.
Further, the configuration in which the engagement protrusion 28A is not provided on the housing 22 side can simplify the shape of the housing 22, and the appearance inspection of the engagement protrusion 28A can be omitted, so that the cost can be reduced. It becomes possible.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Electrical connection box 11 ... Electric wire with terminal 12 ... Electric wire 15 ... Terminal 16 ... Terminal connection part 20 ... Engaged part 21 ... Electric wire connection part 22 ... Housing 22A ... Casing 22B ... Housing member 23 ... Housing chamber 24B ... With elasticity Energizing means 27 ... inner wall 28 ... retaining engagement part 29 ... drainage groove 30 ... fitting chambers 31 and 41 ... sealing members 32 and 33 ... split members 34 and 35 ... recessed part 36 ... hinge part 37 ... locked part 38 ... engagement Stop portions 39, 40 ... retaining stoppers

Claims (9)

An electric junction box comprising: a plurality of terminals-attached electric wires each having a terminal attached to a terminal portion of the plurality of electric wires; and a housing that houses the plurality of terminals,
A seal member that collectively covers a connection portion between each terminal and each electric wire in the plurality of electric wires with terminals;
The housing is provided with a fitting chamber into which the sealing member in a state of covering the connection portion of the electric wire with terminal is fitted, and is elastically capable of urging the outer peripheral surface of the sealing member with an elastic force. Are provided,
The elastic urging means is an electric connection box that is a plate shape that can be bent and deformed . The electrical connection box according to claim 1, wherein the seal member fitted in the insertion chamber is in close contact with an inner wall of the insertion chamber. The electrical connection according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a drainage groove for escaping water to the outside is provided in at least one of the inner wall of the insertion chamber and the portion of the seal member facing the inner wall. box. The said housing is provided with the casing and the accommodating member accommodated in the said casing, The said insertion chamber is formed between the inner wall of the said casing and the said accommodating member. The electrical junction box according to claim 1. The electrical junction box according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the seal member is configured by fitting a pair of split members . The seal member includes a hinge portion connecting the pair of divided members, a locked portion provided on a side of the one divided member different from the hinge portion, and the engaged member provided on the other divided member. The electrical connection box according to claim 5, further comprising: a locking portion that is locked to the locking portion and holds the pair of divided members in a fitted state . The sealing member is formed of a soft resin on the inner surface side covering the connection portion, and formed of a hard resin on the outer surface side,
The electrical connection box according to claim 6, wherein the locked portion and the locking portion are formed in the hard resin portion . The electrical connection box according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the seal member is formed of a soft resin on an inner surface side covering the connection portion and formed of a hard resin on an outer surface side . The electrical connection box according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the seal member is formed with a retaining latch portion that is latched with the housing and prevents the seal member from being detached .

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