JPH057832B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a connection device between electrical connection boxes used for connecting wire harnesses.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, an electrical junction box houses a busbar circuit whose main function is to absorb the joints of the wire harness inside the case, and a connector with a terminal that conducts with the busbar circuit is provided on the outside of the case. It has a configuration in which the connector of the wire harness terminal is fitted and connected. By distributing a plurality of electrical connection boxes at appropriate locations in the vehicle, wiring of the wire harness is facilitated and the wiring form is simplified.

By the way, when connecting multiple electrical junction boxes,
Conventionally, methods have been used to connect each other with electric wires, or to provide female and male connectors for each to fit together, resulting in the number of circuits inside the box being duplicated or increasing more than necessary. Problems include a complicated configuration, an increase in the number of connector connection terminals, and an increase in the size of the electrical connection box.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a method of connecting such an electrical junction box, and FIG. 8 shows its wiring diagram.

In the figure, A indicates an electrical contact box disposed on the dashboard side of an instrument panel of an automobile, and B indicates an electrical junction box disposed on the back of the instrument panel. Electrical junction box A has mating connectors 2a and 2b for connector 1a of engine room side wire harness We and connector 1b of cowl side wire harness Wc, and electrical junction box B has connectors 1 for instrument panel side wire harnesses Wp and Wp'.
In addition to providing mating connectors 2c and 2d for the connectors c and 1d, a large number of fuses 3 are mounted for ease of maintenance. A connector 2e paired with the connector 1e is provided for interconnecting both the electrical connection boxes A and B. 4 and 5 are busbar circuits housed in the respective electrical connection boxes A and B, 6 is a branch in each busbar circuit, and 4a and 5a are male or female terminals connected to each busbar circuit 4 and 5. shows.

As is clear from Fig. 8, the power circuit from the engine room battery is connected to connectors 1a and 2.
It is connected to electrical junction box A, connectors 1e and 2e, and electrical junction box B via a. Furthermore, the power distributed by the fuse 3 is supplied to the instrument panel side wire harnesses Wp, Wp' and to the connectors 2e, 1
It is distributed within the electrical junction box A via e and is supplied to the cowl side wire harness Wc.

Therefore, in order to connect the connector 1a to the electrical junction box B, the electrical junction box A must be provided with pass-through busbar circuits (through busbars) as shown by the symbols 4 ₁ , 4 ₂ , and 4 ₃ . In addition, three sets of terminals 4a, 5a are provided for connection to the busbar circuits 5 ₁ , 5 ₂ and 5 ₃ in the electrical junction box B.
Is required.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

An object of the present invention is to reduce the number of simple sluice bars for connecting two or more electrical connection boxes, to make it possible to downsize the electrical connection box by reducing the number of circuits, and to reduce the contact resistance by reducing the number of connection terminals. An object of the present invention is to provide an interconnection device capable of suppressing an increase in electrical connection and increasing the reliability of electrical connection.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention interconnects two electrical connection boxes, each of which houses a plurality of busbar circuits inside and is provided with a connector having a terminal connected to the busbar circuits on the outside. In a device to be connected to the electrical connection box, a connector penetration part is provided in one electrical connection box, a penetration connector is provided protrudingly in the other electrical connection box, and the penetration connector is inserted into the connector penetration part to connect both electrical connection boxes. In addition to being mechanically coupled, some or all of the plurality of terminals accommodated in the through connector are short-circuited to a desired busbar circuit in the one electrical connection box.

The above configuration will be specifically described below with reference to drawings showing examples.

〔Example〕

In FIGS. 1 and 2, A' indicates an electrical connection box on the dash board side, and B' indicates an electrical connection box on the instrument panel side, as in FIGS. 7 and 8 showing the conventional example. Electrical connection box A′ is cowl side wire harness Wc
The mating connector 2b is connected to the connector 1b, and the electrical junction box B' is connected to the instrument panel side wire harness.
It is similar to the conventional example in that mating connectors 2c and 2d are provided for the connectors 1c and 1d of Wp and Wp', and a plurality of fuses 3 are mounted.

According to the present invention, a connector penetration portion 7 is provided in the center of one electrical connection box A', and a penetration connector 8 is provided protruding from the opposing surface of the other electrical connection box B'.

As is clear from the comparison between FIG. 2 and FIG. 8, in the through connector 8, the busbar circuits 5 ₁ , 5 ₂ to 5 ₅ of the electrical junction box B' are connected so as to cross the electrical junction box A'. A group of terminals 5a formed at the open end 8a of the connector 8 can be directly connected to the connector 1a of the engine room side wire harness We. The busbar circuits 5 ₄ and 5 ₅ are located in the middle part, and the busbar circuit 5 ₆ is located in the tip part of the electrical connection box.
A short-circuit (or branch) connection 6 is made to the busbar circuit 4 of A'.

3 is a sectional view of the through connector 8, and FIG. 4 is a plan view of the busbar circuits 5 ₁ , 5 ₂ , 5 ₃ . . . in the connector 8. That is, a plurality of windows 10 are vertically opened in the upper and lower outer peripheral walls of the insulating housing 9 of the through connector 8. In addition, the busbar circuit 5
₁ is divided into two parts by a notch, one of which is a tab-shaped male terminal 5a, and the other of which is folded back into an arc to form an elastic contact piece 5b, with the top of the elastic contact piece 5b protruding from the window 10.

By inserting this penetration connector 8 into the connector penetration part 7 of electrical connection box A', both electrical connection boxes
A′, B′ are mechanically coupled, and the busbar circuits 5 ₁ , 5 ₂ . Electrical connection is achieved.

FIG. 5 shows another connection structure for the electrical connection boxes A' and B', in which a connector penetration portion 7' and a penetration connector 8' are provided at the ends of both electrical connection boxes, respectively.
Further, the electrical junction box B' may be provided with a through connector for another electrical junction box (not shown), and the protruding position and number of the through connectors can be arbitrarily selected depending on the electrical junction box on the other side. can.

Figure 6 shows another connection structure for electrical junction boxes A' and B', in which the connector penetration part 7 is provided in electrical junction box A' as in the case of Figure 1, but electrical junction box B The connector of the engine room side wire harness We is formed as a through connector 8'' while leaving the original connector 2e (see Fig. 7) at '.

This through connector 8'' has a structure similar to that of the through connector 8 shown in FIG. 1, and has a tab-shaped male terminal 5a and an elastic contact piece 5b as shown in FIG. Bus bar 5'
The elastic contact piece 5b is exposed through the window 10' and brought into contact with a desired bus bar 4 of the electrical connection box A'.

[Effect]

As is clear from the comparison between FIG. 2 and FIG. 8, the busbar circuits 5 ₁ , 5 ₂ in the electrical junction box B'
A group of terminals 5a of ... extend to the open end of the through connector 8, and their intermediate or tip end is connected to an electrical connection box.
By providing a means for making a short-circuit connection 6 to a desired busbar circuit 4 in A', the busbar circuits (through circuits) 4 ₁ , 4 ₂ of the conventional electrical connection box A are provided.
Groups are no longer needed. This reduces the number of circuits and
It is possible to downsize the electrical connection box A' or to install other busbars in the empty space.

Further, the through connector 8 is directly connected to, for example, the engine room side wire harness We, and is connected to the conventional connection connectors 1e and 2e (Figs. 7 and 8).
, and the relay connection using the terminals 4a and 5a is also eliminated, improving the reliability of the electrical connection.

Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the through connector 8'' of the engine room side wire harness We is directly connected to the connector 2e of the electrical junction box B', and the desired bus bar 4 in the electrical junction box A' is connected directly to the connector 2e of the electrical junction box B'. A short-circuit connection (elastic contact piece 5b) is made to the first and second connectors 2a and 1e (Figs.
The same effects as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 can be obtained.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, when two or more electrical junction boxes are interconnected, the number of internal circuits in one of the electrical junction boxes is greatly reduced, and the number of connection terminals is reduced, thereby making the electrical connection. It is possible to reduce the size of the box and improve the reliability of electrical connections.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the device of the present invention in a separated state, Fig. 2 is a wiring diagram showing an example of the internal circuit configuration of the same as above, and Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of the through connector shown in Fig. 1. , FIG. 4 is a partial plan view of the busbar circuit of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the device of the present invention in a separated state, and FIG. 6 is a plan view of another embodiment of the device of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a conventional device in a separated state, and FIG. 8 is a wiring diagram showing an example of the internal circuit configuration of FIG. 7. A, A', B, B'...Electrical connection box, 1a, 1b
~, 2a, 2b ~... Connector, 3... Fuse, ₄ , 4 1 , 4 ₂ ~, 5, 5 ₁ , 5 ₂ ~... Busbar circuit, 4a, 5a... Male (or female) terminal,
6... Branch part (short circuit connection), 5b... Elastic contact piece,
7, 7'... Connector penetration part, 8, 8', 8''...
Penetration connector, 9... Insulation housing, 10...
window.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a device for interconnecting two electrical junction boxes, each of which houses a plurality of busbar circuits inside and is provided with a connector having a terminal connected to the busbar circuits on the outside, one of the Open a connector penetration part in the electrical connection box,
A penetration connector is provided protrudingly on the other electrical junction box, and the penetration connector is fitted into the connector penetration part to mechanically couple both electrical junction boxes, and one of the plurality of terminals accommodated in the penetration connector is inserted. An interconnection device for electrical connection boxes, characterized in that part or all of the electrical connection boxes are short-circuited and connected to a desired busbar circuit in one of the electrical connection boxes. 2. In a device for interconnecting two electrical junction boxes, each of which houses a plurality of busbar circuits inside and is provided with a connector having a terminal connected to the busbar circuits on the outside, one of the electrical junction boxes has a connector penetrating through it. Established a department,
One of the external connectors connected to the one electrical junction box is formed as a penetration connector, and the penetration connector is inserted into the connector penetration part and fitted into a mating connector provided on the other electrical junction box. An interconnection device for electrical connection boxes, characterized in that some or all of the plurality of terminals accommodated in the through connector are short-circuited to a desired busbar circuit in the one electrical connection box.