Lock structure

Abstract

To provide a lock structure capable of preventing careless unlocking.SOLUTION: The locking structure 6 includes an engaging protrusion 15 protruding from an outer surface of the sidewall portion 13 of the case body 10, a cantilever-shaped flexible engaging frame 25 provided at a side end of the cover 20 fixed to the case body 10 and extending along the outer surface of the sidewall portion 13 to engage with the engaging protrusion 15, an engaging piece 17 protruding from a distal end 13a of the sidewall portion 13, and an engaging piece engaging portion 27 provided between base portions on an inner surface side of the flexible engaging frame 25 so as to abut on the distal end 13a of the sidewall portion 13 and having a regulating surface 17a abutting on an inner surface 26a of the engaging piece 17 to suppress rattling of the flexible engaging frame 25.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a locking structure. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, power supply circuits and the like have used conductive members that are connected to a power source such as a battery to supply electricity to electrical components, etc. Some of these conductive members include a strip-shaped flat conductor (bus bar) having a predetermined width. Such conductive members must ensure the electrical insulation of the flat conductors. For example, known techniques include covering the flat conductors with an insulating material and insulating the flat conductors with a protector made of insulating resin.

[0003] In addition, assembly parts consisting of a box-shaped or gutter-shaped case body, such as an electrical connection box or protector, and a cover that covers the opening of the case body, have a locking structure for fixing the cover to the case body (see Patent Documents 1 to 3).

[0004] For example, as shown in Figures 9 and 10, the conductive member 501 includes a band-shaped flat conductor (bus bar) 530, and a case body 510 and a cover 520 that are arranged opposite the front and back surfaces of the flat conductor 530 and cover the flat conductor 530 from the plate thickness direction.

[0005] The case body 510 has a bottom wall 511 formed in a generally rectangular shape in a plan view, and side wall portions 513 extending vertically from both widthwise edges of the bottom wall 511, and accommodates a middle portion of the flat conductor 530. Furthermore, engagement protrusions 515 are provided on the outer surfaces of the side wall portions 513.

[0006] Cover 520 is attached to the upper opening side of case body 510, sandwiching flat conductor 530 therebetween, to cover flat conductor 530. Cover 520 has an upper wall 521 having substantially the same shape as the outer shape of cover 520 in a plan view, and side wall portions 523 hanging down from both side edges of upper wall 521. Furthermore, cantilevered flexible engagement frames 525 are provided on both side edges of upper wall 521, extending along the outer surfaces of side wall portions 513 to engage with engagement protrusions 515.

[0007] Further, a positioning portion 540 is provided between the base portions on the inner surface side of the flexible engagement frame 525, which abuts against the tip 513a of the side wall portion 513 to position the cover 520 relative to the case body 510.

[0008] 10, when the cover 520 is attached to the case body 510, the abutting portion 540a of the positioning portion 540 abuts against the tip 513a of the side wall portion 513 to be positioned, and the flexible engagement frame 525 is engaged and locked with the engagement protrusion 515. That is, the engagement protrusion 515 and the flexible engagement frame 525 form a locking structure 506 for fixing the cover 520 to the case body 510. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0009] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-178969 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2019-57459 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2024-29413 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0010] However, with the above-described locking structure 506, as shown in Fig. 11, if the cover 520 rattles along the width direction Y while the flexible engagement frame 525 is engaged and locked with the engagement protrusion 515, there is a risk that the engagement lock will be released. That is, since the above-described locking structure 506 does not have a structure for suppressing rattle, there is a possibility that the cover 520 will rattle along the width direction Y relative to the case main body 510 or shift along the longitudinal direction X.

[0011] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a locking structure that can prevent accidental unlocking. [Means for solving the problem]

[0012] The above object of the present invention can be achieved by the following configuration. an engaging protrusion provided on an outer surface of the side wall portion of the first member; a cantilever-shaped flexible engagement frame provided at a side end of a second member fixed to the first member, the cantilever-shaped flexible engagement frame extending along an outer surface of the side wall portion to engage with the engagement protrusion; an engagement piece protruding from a tip of the side wall portion; an engagement piece engagement portion provided between the base portions on the inner surface side of the flexible engagement frame so as to abut against the tip of the side wall portion, the engagement piece having a restricting surface abutting against the inner surface of the engagement piece to suppress rattle of the flexible engagement frame; A locking structure comprising: [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] The locking structure according to the present invention can prevent accidental unlocking.

[0014] The present invention has been briefly described above. The details of the present invention will become clearer by reading the following detailed description of the invention (hereinafter referred to as "embodiments") with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conductive member having a locking structure according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the conductive member shown in FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the locking structure shown in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the locking structure shown in FIG. 3 as viewed from the inner surface side. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the unlocked state of the lock structure shown in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the lock structure shown in FIG. 5 as viewed from the inner surface side. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a front view of the locking structure shown in FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VIII-VIII in FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is an enlarged perspective view showing a conventional lock structure. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the conventional lock structure shown in FIG. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the engagement lock of the lock structure shown in FIG. 10 is released. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The conductive member 1 equipped with the locking structure 6 according to this embodiment is, for example, an inter-stack wiring module used for electrically connecting a plurality of battery stacks. Needless to say, the locking structure 6 of the present invention is not limited to the protector 5 used in the conductive member 1 of this embodiment, and is not limited to assembled parts consisting of a box- or trough-shaped case body and a cover that covers the opening of the case body, such as an electrical connection box or a wire harness protector, but can also be applied to various assembled parts consisting of a first member and a second member fixed to the first member.

[0017] Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a conductive member 1 equipped with a locking structure 6 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the conductive member 1 shown in Fig. 1. In this embodiment, the up, down, front, back, left, and right directions of the conductive member 1 correspond to the up, down, front, back, left, and right directions indicated by arrows in Fig. 1.

[0018] 1 and 2, the conductive member 1 according to this embodiment mainly comprises a strip-shaped flat conductor (bus bar) 30, a case body (first member) 10 that houses the middle portion of the flat conductor 30, and a cover (second member) 20 that is attached to the case body 10 so as to cover the upper opening of the case body 10 and hold the flat conductor 30. The case body 10 and the cover 20 are integrally molded by injection molding or the like, and form a protector 5 made of insulating resin, which is held together by a plurality of (four in this embodiment) locking structures 6.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 2, the flat conductor 30 is made of a conductive metal plate having a substantially long, flat shape that has been pressed into a predetermined shape, and bolt through holes 33 are formed at both ends exposed from the case body 10 and the cover 20. The conductive metal plate can be made of various conductive metal materials such as copper or copper alloy, aluminum or aluminum alloy, etc.

[0020] As shown in Figure 2, the case body 10, which is the first member of this embodiment, has a bottom wall portion 11 formed in a roughly rectangular shape when viewed from above, and both side wall portions 13 vertically extending from both side edges of the bottom wall portion 11 in the left-right width direction. As shown in Figure 2, the cover 20, which is the second member of this embodiment, has an upper wall portion 21 formed in a generally rectangular shape in plan view that is substantially the same as the external shape of the case body 10, and both side wall portions 23 hanging down from both side edges of the upper wall portion 21.

[0021] Furthermore, four case-side locking portions 19 are provided on each of the side wall portions 13 of the case body 10. Furthermore, the cover 20 is provided with four cover-side locking portions 29 that hang down from both side edges of the upper wall portion 21 in the left-right width direction. As shown in FIG. 3, the case side locking portion 19 and the cover side locking portion 29 constitute a locking structure 6 that holds the case body 10 and the cover 20 together.

[0022] As shown in Figures 4 to 8, the cover side locking portion 29 of this embodiment includes a cantilever-shaped flexible engagement frame 25 extending along the outer surface of the side wall portion 13 of the case main body 10, and an engagement piece engagement portion 27 abutting against the tip 13a of the side wall portion 13.

[0023] The flexible engagement frame 25 has a pair of hanging portions 25a extending downward from the upper wall portion 21 and a connecting portion 25b connecting the tips of both hanging portions 25a, and an approximately rectangular opening is defined and formed by the upper wall portion 21, both hanging portions 25a, and connecting portion 25b.

[0024] 4 and 6, engagement piece engagement portion 27 is provided between the bases of both hanging portions 25a on the inner surface 25c side of flexible engagement frame 25. Engagement piece engagement portion 27 is formed in a U-shaped cross section, having restriction wall 26 with restriction surface 26a that abuts against inner surface 17a of engagement piece 17 of case-side locking portion 19 (described later), and a pair of support walls 28 erected on both side ends of restriction wall 26 and respectively connected to the bases of pair of hanging portions 25a of flexible engagement frame 25. Lower end portions 28a of support walls 28 abut against tips of side wall portions 13 of case body 10, thereby enabling positioning of cover 20 relative to case body 10.

[0025] As shown in Figures 5 to 8, the case side locking portion 19 of this embodiment has an engagement protrusion 15 protruding from the outer surface of the side wall portion 13 and an engagement piece 17 protruding from the tip 13a of the side wall portion 13.

[0026] The engagement projection 15 has a lower end locking portion 15a that abuts the tip of the side wall portion 13 of the case body 10 against the lower end portion 28a of the support wall 28 of the engagement piece engagement portion 27 of the cover 20, and locks the connecting portion 25b of the flexible engagement frame 25 in a state where the upper opening of the case body 10 is covered by the upper wall portion 21. Furthermore, the engagement projection 15 has an inclined surface 15b that is formed so as to move away from the outer surface of the side wall portion 13 from top to bottom, and that bends the flexible engagement frame 25 outward.

[0027] When the cover 20 is attached to the case body 10, the flexible engagement frame 25 of the cover side engagement portion 29 engages with the engagement protrusion 15 of the case side engagement portion 19, and the case side engagement portion 19 and the cover side engagement portion 29 are engaged and locked with each other.

[0028] The engagement piece 17 of the case-side locking portion 19 is a generally rectangular protrusion extending upward from the tip 13a of the side wall portion 13, and has an inner surface 17a that is continuous with the inner surface of the side wall portion 13, and a tapered surface 17b formed on the upper edge of the inner surface 17a. The width W2 of the engagement piece 17 is set to be narrower than the distance W3 between the pair of support walls 28 in the engagement piece engagement portion 27 (i.e., the opening width of the flexible engagement frame 25) and larger than the width W1 of the engagement protrusion 15.

[0029] When the cover 20 is engaged and locked with the upper opening of the case body 10 covered, the engagement piece 17 reaches the engagement piece engagement portion 27 along the inner surface 25c of the flexible engagement frame 25. The width dimension W2 of the engagement piece 17, which is larger than the width dimension W1 of the engagement protrusion 15, is narrower than the distance W3 between the pair of support walls 28. Therefore, as shown in Figures 7 and 8, the inner surface 17a of the engagement piece 17 faces and can abut against the restriction surface 26a of the restriction wall 26.

[0030] Next, the assembly procedure for the conductive member 1 will be described. First, the flat conductor 30 is placed so that the central portion thereof overlaps the bottom wall portion 11 of the case body 10. The flat conductor 30 placed on the bottom wall portion 11 has both side edges covered by the side wall portions 13.

[0031] Next, the upper wall portion 21 of the cover 20 is placed on top of the case body 10 so as to cover the upper opening of the case body 10 and hold the flat conductor 30. At this time, the flexible engagement frame 25 of the cover-side engagement portion 29 is engaged with the engagement protrusion 15 of the case-side engagement portion 19. That is, the connecting portion 25b of the flexible engagement frame 25 is engaged with the lower-end engagement portion 15a of the engagement protrusion 15.

[0032] The protector 5, which is arranged opposite the front and back surfaces of the flat conductor 30 and covers the flat conductor 30 from the thickness direction, and is composed of a case body 10 and a cover 20, is held together by a locking structure 6 consisting of a cover side locking portion 29 and a case side locking portion 19.

[0033] Next, the operation of the above-described configuration will be described. In the locking structure 6 of this embodiment, when the cover 20 is engaged and locked while covering the upper opening of the case body 10, when it reaches the engagement piece engagement portion 27 along the inner surface 25c of the flexible engagement frame 25, the inner surface 17a of the engagement piece 17 faces the regulating surface 26a of the regulating wall 26, as shown in Figure 8.

[0034] Furthermore, according to the locking structure 6 of this embodiment, when the cover 20 rattles along the width direction Y, the inner surfaces 17a of the engagement pieces 17 protruding from both side wall portions 13 of the case body 10 abut against the regulating surfaces 26a of the regulating walls 26 at the engagement piece engagement portions 27 provided on both side edges of the cover 20, thereby suppressing rattling of the flexible engagement frame 25 in the width direction Y. Therefore, the locking structure 6 of this embodiment can suppress rattle of the flexible engagement frame 25 in the width direction Y, and prevent inadvertent unlocking.

[0035] In addition, in the locking structure 6 according to this embodiment, the engagement piece engagement portion 27 is formed in a U-shaped cross section, having a regulating wall 26 having a regulating surface 26a and a pair of support walls 28 erected on both side ends of the regulating wall 26 and connected to the base of the flexible engagement frame 25.

[0036] Therefore, when the upper opening of the case body 10 is covered with the cover 20 to engage and lock the locking structure 6, if the cover 20 shifts along the longitudinal direction X, the side edges of the engagement pieces 17 protruding from both side wall portions 13 of the case body 10 come into contact with the support walls 28 of the engagement piece engagement portions 27 provided on the side edges of the cover 20, thereby suppressing the shift of the flexible engagement frame 25 along the longitudinal direction X.

[0037] Therefore, according to the locking structure 6 of this embodiment, there is no need to set a structure for positioning the cover 20 in the longitudinal direction in another location, and the locking structure 6 can be positioned directly, improving the ease of assembly of the locking structure 6.

[0038] In the lock structure 6 according to this embodiment, the width W2 of the engagement piece 17 is set to be narrower than the distance W3 between the pair of support walls 28 and larger than the width W1 of the engagement protrusion 15. Therefore, the engagement pieces 17 can reliably suppress displacement of the flexible engagement frame 25 along the longitudinal direction X without increasing the width dimension W1 of the engagement projections 15.

[0039] Therefore, the locking structure 6 according to this embodiment can prevent accidental unlocking.

[0040] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately modified, improved, etc. Furthermore, the material, shape, size, number, location, etc. of each component in the above-described embodiments are arbitrary and not limited as long as they can achieve the present invention.

[0041] Here, the features of the above-described embodiments of the lock structure according to the present invention will be briefly summarized and listed below in [1] to [3]. [1] An engagement projection (15) protruding from the outer surface of the side wall portion (13) of the first member (case body 10); a cantilever-shaped flexible engagement frame (25) provided at a side end of a second member (cover 20) fixed to the first member (case body 10), and extending along the outer surface of the side wall portion (13) to engage with the engagement protrusion (15); an engaging piece (17) protruding from the tip (13a) of the side wall portion (13); an engagement piece engaging portion (27) provided between base portions on the inner surface (25c) side of the flexible engagement frame (25) so as to abut against the tip (13a) of the side wall portion (13), and having a restricting surface (26a) abutting against the inner surface (17a) of the engagement piece (17) to suppress rattle of the flexible engagement frame (25); A locking structure (6) comprising:

[0042] According to the locking structure (6) described in [1] above, when the first member (case body 10) and the second member (cover 20) are engaged and locked, the inner surface (17a) of the engagement piece (17) faces the restricting surface (26a) of the engagement piece engagement portion (27). When the second member (cover 20) rattles along the width direction (Y), the inner surface (17a) of the engagement piece (17) protruding from each side wall portion (13) of the first member (case body 10) abuts against the restricting surface (26a) of the engagement piece engagement portion (27) provided on each side edge of the second member (cover 20), thereby suppressing rattle of the flexible engagement frame (25) in the width direction (Y).

[0043] [2] The engaging piece engaging portion (27) is formed in a U-shaped cross section, having a restricting wall (26) having the restricting surface (26a) and a pair of support walls (28) erected on both side ends of the restricting wall (26) and connected to the base of the flexible engaging frame (25). The locking structure (6) described in [1] above.

[0044] According to the locking structure (6) described in [2] above, when the first member (case body 10) and the second member (cover 20) are engaged and locked together, if the second member (cover 20) shifts along the longitudinal direction (X), the side edge of the engagement piece (17) protruding from the side wall portion (13) of the first member (case body 10) abuts against the support wall (28) of the engagement piece engagement portion (27) provided on the side edge of the second member (cover 20), thereby preventing the flexible engagement frame (25) from shifting along the longitudinal direction (X). Therefore, there is no need to set a positioning structure for the second member (cover 20) in the longitudinal direction in another location, and the locking structure (6) can be positioned directly, improving the ease of assembly of the locking structure (6).

[0045] [3] The width dimension (W2) of the engagement piece (17) is narrower than the interval (W3) between the pair of support walls (28) and is greater than the width dimension (W1) of the engagement protrusion (15). The locking structure (6) described in [2] above.

[0046] According to the locking structure (6) described in [3] above, the engagement piece (17) can reliably suppress displacement of the flexible engagement frame (25) along the longitudinal direction (X) without increasing the width dimension (W1) of the engagement protrusion (15). [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 10...Case body (first member) 13...Side wall 13a...tip 15…Engagement protrusion 17...Engagement piece 17a...Inside 20...Cover (second member) 25... Flexible engagement frame 25c...inside 26a…Regulatory aspects 27...Engagement piece engagement portion

Claims

1. an engaging projection provided on an outer surface of the side wall portion of the first member; a cantilever-shaped flexible engagement frame provided at a side end of a second member fixed to the first member, the cantilever-shaped flexible engagement frame extending along an outer surface of the side wall portion to engage with the engagement protrusion; an engagement piece protruding from a tip of the side wall portion; an engagement piece engagement portion provided between the base portions on the inner surface side of the flexible engagement frame so as to abut against the tip of the side wall portion, the engagement piece having a restricting surface abutting against the inner surface of the engagement piece to suppress rattle of the flexible engagement frame; A locking structure comprising:

2. The engaging piece engaging portion is formed in a U-shaped cross section, and includes a restricting wall having the restricting surface and a pair of support walls erected on both side ends of the restricting wall and connected to a base of the flexible engaging frame. The locking structure according to claim 1 .

3. The width of the engagement piece is narrower than the distance between the pair of support walls and is greater than the width of the engagement projection. The locking structure according to claim 2 .

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