JPH11121125A - Relay terminal and assembling structure thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a relay terminal and an assembling structure thereof capable of being easily inserted into a housing part even if an interval between housing parts is narrow. SOLUTION: A relay terminal 21 is formed in a substantially rectangular cylinder, and trapezoidal protrusion pieces 24a and 24b whose respective tip end sides are gradually narrow are formed at upper ends of its side wall parts 22a and 22b. In addition, in a housing part 27 at which a relay terminal 21 is assembled, parts corresponding to the protrusion pieces 24a and 24b are provided with recess parts 31a and 31b so that the protrusion pieces 24a and 24b and the recess parts 31a and 31b are fitted with each other.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a relay terminal for electrically connecting a tab of a bus bar of an electric connection box mounted on an automobile to a tab of an electric component such as a fuse or a relay, and an assembly thereof. It is about structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in an automobile or the like, an electric connection box 10 as shown in FIG. 5 has been used for connecting a bus bar and electric components such as a fuse and a relay. A plurality of housings 11 are arranged in parallel in the electric connection box 10, and the relay terminals 12 each having a substantially rectangular cylindrical shape are inserted into the housings 11. In the relay terminal 12, the tab 13 of the bus bar is inserted into one insertion portion (lower portion in the drawing), and the other (upper portion in the drawing).
The tab 15 of the electrical component 14 is inserted into the insertion portion of the electronic component 14. Accordingly, when the tab 15 is inserted into the relay terminal 12 after the relay terminal 12 into which the tab 13 has been inserted is inserted into the accommodating portion 11 in the electric connection box 10, a state as shown in FIG. 6 is obtained. In this case, the tab 13 and the tab 15, that is, the bus bar and the electrical component 14 are electrically connected via the relay terminal 12.

[0003] A slit 16 for inserting a tab 15 is provided in the ceiling of each of the accommodating portions 11. By inserting the tab 15 into the slit 16, the tab 1 is inserted.
5 is inserted into the other insertion portion of the relay terminal 12. On the other hand, the electrical junction box 10 is provided with a tapered portion 17 on the lower inner wall surface for guiding the insertion of the relay terminal 12.

[0004]

When the space between the housings 11 of the electric junction box 10 is wide, that is, when the thickness of the partition wall 18 is large, the inclination angle of the taper in the taper part 17 is sufficient. However, when the space between the housing portions 11 is small, that is, when the partition wall 18 is thin, it is difficult to form a sufficient taper. And the lower end opening becomes smaller.

[0005] Particularly, in recent automobiles, various equipments are provided, so that a storage space for each component in an engine room is limited. Therefore, the electric connection box 10 as described above is also downsized, and the thickness of the partition wall 18 of the electric connection box 10 is set to be thin. Therefore, as described above, the taper portion 17 cannot be sufficiently tapered, so that it is difficult to insert the relay terminal 12 into the housing portion 11.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a relay terminal and a relay terminal which can be easily inserted into a housing even when a space between the housings is small. An object of the present invention is to provide an assembling structure.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a tab of a bus bar is inserted into one end of a housing of an electric junction box, and one end of the bus bar is fitted inside the other end. A relay terminal for electrically connecting the tabs by fitting a tab of an electrical component in the part,
The relay terminal is formed in a substantially rectangular cylindrical shape, and a trapezoidal protruding piece whose width at the tip end is narrower at at least one of the upper and lower sides of the opening is higher than the other adjacent side wall ends. The gist is that it is formed so that

In the invention according to claim 2, the gist is that the protruding pieces are formed so as to form a pair and are formed so as to face each other. Further, in the invention according to claim 3, an assembly structure for assembling the relay terminal according to claim 1 or 2 to a housing portion of an electric connection box,
The gist is that a recess is provided in a portion corresponding to the projecting piece of the relay terminal in the housing portion of the electric connection box, and the projecting piece and the recess are fitted.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1, 2 (a), 2
As shown in (b), the relay terminal 21 is formed in a substantially rectangular cylindrical shape by bending a substantially rectangular metal plate, for example, a copper alloy plate. And this relay terminal 21
The connection spring pieces 23a, 23b, 23 bent in an arc shape toward the inner surface side are provided on the wide side walls 22a, 22b.
c and 23d are provided.

At the upper ends of the side walls 22a and 22b in the opening of the relay terminal 21, there are formed trapezoidal projecting pieces 24a and 24b each having a gradually narrower tip end. The inclined portions 25 on both sides of the projecting pieces 24a and 24b
Its lower end is flush with the upper end of the adjacent narrow side wall. The oblique portion 25 acts as a guide when inserting the relay terminal 21 into a later-described housing portion 27 (see FIG. 3) of the electric connection box 26, and facilitates insertion of the relay terminal 21 into the housing portion 27. It is supposed to. In addition, it has an effect of correcting the attitude of the relay terminal 21 with respect to the accommodation portion 27 and of allowing the relay terminal 21 to enter the accommodation portion 27 straight.

As shown in FIG. 3, the housing portion 27 is provided in a block portion 28 of the electric connection box 26, and a ceiling portion of the housing portion 27 in the block portion 28
A slit 29 for inserting the tab 15 of the electrical component 14 shown in FIG. 5 is provided.

A bus bar is provided in the electric connection box 26, and a tab 30 of the bus bar is inserted into the relay terminal 21 from below the housing 27.
The tab 15 and the tab 3 inserted into the relay terminal 21
0 denotes connection spring pieces 23a,
23c and the connection spring pieces 23b and 23d are pressed from both sides to ensure reliable electrical connection.

In two portions of the inner wall of the block portion 28 corresponding to the projecting pieces 24a and 24b of the relay terminal 21, concave portions 31a and 31b are provided, respectively, and the projecting pieces are formed in the concave portions 31a and 31b. 24a, 24
b fit each other. Further, the relay terminal 21 is positioned at an appropriate position in the housing portion 27 by the fitting of the two.

In such a configuration, the relay terminal 21,
Assembling of the tabs 15, 30 and the electric connection box 26 is performed as follows. First, the tab 30 of the bus bar is inserted from the opening at the lower end of the relay terminal 21 to make the state as shown in FIG. In this state, the lower end of the relay terminal 21
The base 30 is supported by the base 32 into which the tab 30 is inserted so that the tab 30 does not shift laterally.

Next, the relay terminal 21 into which the tab 30 is inserted
Is inserted into the housing 27 of the electric connection box 26 from the protruding pieces 24a and 24b. In this case, each of the inclined portions 25 of the protruding pieces 24a and 24b is in sliding contact with the opening of the housing portion 27, and the relay terminal 21 enters the housing portion 27 while being corrected so that its posture is upright. . Then, the projecting pieces 24a, 24b are respectively formed in the concave portions 31a, 31b of the accommodation portion 27.
And the insertion of the relay terminal 21 ends.

Finally, the tab 15 of the electric component 14 is inserted into the slit 29 and is inserted into the upper end opening of the relay terminal 21. Thereby, the connection between the tab 30 and the tab 15 is made via the relay terminal 21.

Next, effects of the present embodiment will be described below. The projecting pieces 24 a and 24 b having the slanted portions 25 are protruded from the relay terminal 21, so that when the relay terminal 21 is inserted into the housing portion 27, the slanted portions 25 serve as a guide. Become. As a result, the interval between the housing portions 27 is narrow,
Even if the opening of the housing portion 27 is small, the relay terminal 21 can be inserted into the housing portion 27 smoothly and upright.
Further, since the relay terminal 21 can be smoothly inserted into the housing portion 27, breakage of the relay terminal 21 can be prevented.

Further, the projecting pieces 24a, 24b and the recess 3
Positioning of the upper end of the relay terminal 21 is performed by fitting with the relay terminals 1a and 31b. Therefore, the relay terminal 21 is always
Is fixed in an appropriate state. As a result, the dimensional accuracy of the wall surface of the housing 27 is not so required,
Its manufacture becomes easier. That is, like the housing portion 27 shown in FIG.
Even if the relay terminal 21 is not in contact with the side surface, the relay terminal 21 can be properly positioned.

The above embodiment can be modified and implemented as follows. As shown in FIG. 4, projecting pieces 34 a and 34 b having the same shape as the projecting pieces 24 a and 24 b are provided at the lower end of the relay terminal 33. Then, the projecting pieces 34a, 34 on the base 35
A concave portion 36 for positioning the relay terminal 33 is provided in a portion corresponding to b.

With this configuration, the lower end of the relay terminal 33 can be positioned more reliably. In addition, since the relay terminals 33 are vertically symmetric, there is no need to match the directions, and the work at the time of assembly becomes easier.

The protruding pieces 24a, 24b, 34
The configurations of a and 34b are not limited to those described above, and it suffices if at least one of the ends of the relay terminals 21 and 33 projects.

Further, projecting pieces 24a, 24b, 34
The formation positions of a and 34b may be on the narrow side walls of the relay terminals 21 and 33.

[0023]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. According to the first aspect of the present invention, the relay terminal can be easily inserted into the housing of the electrical junction box even when the space between the housings is narrow.

According to the invention described in claim 2, according to claim 1,
In addition to the effects of the invention described in (1), the insertion of the relay terminal into the accommodation portion becomes smoother. According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the protruding piece and the concave portion are fitted, the positioning of the relay terminal in the housing portion can be easily performed. Also, the dimensional accuracy of the housing portion of the electric connection box is not so required, and the manufacture becomes easy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a relay terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2A is a side view of a relay terminal, and FIG. 2B is a front view of the relay terminal.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an assembly structure of a relay terminal.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing another example of a structure for assembling the relay terminals.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view showing each member according to a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where members according to a conventional example are assembled.

[Explanation of symbols]

14 ... electrical components, 15, 30 ... tabs, 21, 33 ... relay terminals, 24a, 24b, 34a, 34b ... projecting pieces, 26 ...
Electrical connection box, 27 ... accommodation part, 31a, 31b, 36 ... recess.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. The two tabs are electrically connected to each other by being inserted into a housing portion of an electric connection box and having a tab of a bus bar fitted at one end and a tab of an electrical component fitted at the other end. A relay terminal, wherein the relay terminal is formed in a substantially rectangular tube shape, and a trapezoidal protruding piece whose tip side is narrower is adjacent to a side wall end portion of an opening at at least one of upper and lower sides thereof. A relay terminal formed so as to be higher than a side wall end of the relay terminal. 2. The relay terminal according to claim 1, wherein the projecting pieces are formed so as to form a pair, and are formed so as to face each other. 3. An assembling structure for assembling the relay terminal according to claim 1 or 2 into an accommodation portion of an electric connection box, wherein a recess is formed in a portion of the accommodation portion of the electric connection box corresponding to the projecting piece of the relay terminal. And an assembling structure of the relay terminal in which the protruding piece and the recess are fitted.