A junction box connector with port status indicator lights

Abstract

The utility model aims at solving the traditional junction box as single function "black box", cannot intuitively show the electrical state of each port inside from outside, thereby leading to on-site troubleshooting difficult, low diagnostic efficiency and existing security risk technical problem. The utility model discloses a junction box connector with port state indicator light. It includes a box body, is equipped with at least one cable entry on the lateral wall of box body, an installation in the circuit board of box body and a box cover for sealing box body. The core lies in, is provided with the terminal and LED light source of wiring of corresponding one of each cable entry on the circuit board. The box cover is provided with the light guide component of corresponding one of each LED light source and integral forming with it. The light guide component is responsible for the light that the inside LED light source emits, is conducted to the corresponding position outside the box cover without damage and carries out state display, thereby realized the safe, efficient visual diagnosis to the inside electrical connection state.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of electrical connection technology, and in particular to a junction box connector for use in industrial automation, equipment manufacturing and building wiring, especially a junction box connector that integrates port electrical status visualization indication function. Background Technology

[0002] Junction boxes are a widely used basic electrical component in the electrical wiring systems of industrial production lines, machinery, or buildings. The main function of a traditional junction box is to provide a closed, insulated physical protection space for the electrical connection points of multiple cables (such as cable joints connected using terminal blocks) to prevent accidental electric shock to operators and to protect the internal connection points from external environmental factors such as dust and moisture.

[0003] However, this traditional junction box is essentially a single-function, passive "black box." When an electrical fault occurs in the system, such as a power outage or signal loss in a line, maintenance personnel cannot visually determine the continuity of each port inside the junction box from the outside. To troubleshoot the fault, maintenance personnel must follow safety procedures, first disconnecting the power to the relevant equipment area, then using tools to open the junction box cover one by one where there might be a problem, and finally using measuring instruments such as multimeters to measure the internal terminals point by point.

[0004] This process is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, greatly reducing the efficiency of troubleshooting and maintenance and leading to prolonged equipment downtime, but it also increases the workload of maintenance personnel and potential safety risks. Therefore, the market needs a new type of junction box that can provide real-time status feedback and improve diagnostic efficiency. Utility Model Content

[0005] The purpose of this invention is to overcome the defects in the prior art and provide a junction box connector with port status indicator lights, which aims to solve the technical problems of traditional junction boxes being unable to intuitively display the internal electrical status and having low fault diagnosis efficiency.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, this utility model provides a junction box connector with port status indicator lights, comprising: A box body, the top of the box body having an opening, and at least one cable inlet provided on the side wall of the box body; A circuit board is installed inside the box. The circuit board (20) is provided with wiring terminals and LED light sources corresponding to each of the cable inlets. A lid is provided to seal the opening of the box body. The lid is provided with a light guide component corresponding to each of the LED light sources, which is used to conduct the light emitted by each LED light source to a corresponding position outside the lid.

[0007] Preferably, the cover and the light guide component thereon are integrally formed.

[0008] Preferably, the lid is made of an opaque material, and the light guide component is made of a transparent material.

[0009] Preferably, the circuit board is square, the cover is round, and the LED light source is arranged in a circular array on the circuit board.

[0010] Preferably, an O-ring is provided between the opening of the box lid and the box body.

[0011] Preferably, the light guide component is a light guide column that penetrates the cover, with one end forming a light-transmitting surface located outside the cover, and the other end extending to the LED light source to receive the light emitted by it.

[0012] Preferably, the terminal block is a 3-position screw terminal block and is arranged adjacent to the corresponding LED light source on the circuit board.

[0013] Preferably, the number of cable inlets is eight, with two cable inlets provided on each side wall of the housing.

[0014] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: By providing a status display area on the outside of the junction box that corresponds one-to-one with each internal port, the troubleshooting difficulties caused by traditional junction boxes being "black boxes" are fundamentally solved. Maintenance personnel can clearly grasp the electrical status of each line at a glance, thereby achieving rapid diagnosis and significantly reducing equipment downtime caused by fault diagnosis. At the same time, by avoiding the dangerous operation of opening the cover for inspection in potentially live environments, operational safety is greatly improved. Furthermore, its design, in which the light guide component is integrally molded with the junction box cover, combined with a reliable sealing structure, ensures the high reliability of the indicator function itself and the excellent waterproof and dustproof performance of the entire unit, enabling it to withstand harsh industrial environments. In summary, this utility model transforms the junction box from a simple passive protective component into an active intelligent diagnostic node, possessing significant technological added value and market competitiveness. Attached Figure Description

[0015] Figure 1 This is an exploded perspective view of a junction box connector according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 yes Figure 1 The embodiment shown is a schematic diagram of the optical path transmission principle.

[0016] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached drawings: 10, housing; 11, opening; 12, cable inlet; 20, circuit board; 21, terminal block; 22, LED light source; 30, cover; 31, light guide component. Detailed Implementation

[0017] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solution of this utility model, a preferred embodiment of this utility model will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that this embodiment is only used to explain this utility model and not to limit it.

[0018] Please see Figure 1 The junction box connector with port status indicator provided in this embodiment mainly includes a box body 10, a circuit board 20 installed inside the box body 10, and a box cover 30 for sealing the box body 10.

[0019] The housing 10 serves as the base for the entire connector and is preferably injection molded from a high-strength, insulating engineering plastic (e.g., PC / ABS alloy). The housing 10 has a generally square base with a circular opening 11 at the center of its top. Eight cable inlets 12 are evenly distributed on the four side walls of the housing 10, specifically two cable inlets 12 on each side wall. Each cable inlet 12 is a standard waterproof cable connector (i.e., a cable gland) for the introduction, securing, and sealing of external cables. The housing 10 also contains multiple mounting posts for positioning and securing the circuit board 20.

[0020] The circuit board 20 is a square printed circuit board, the size of which matches the internal base of the housing 10, and is fixed to the mounting posts by screws or other fasteners. The circuit board 20 integrates the core electrical components of this invention. Specifically, eight terminals 21, corresponding one-to-one with the eight cable inlets 12 on the housing 10, are provided along the four edges of the circuit board 20. In this embodiment, the terminals 21 are preferably 3-position screw-type terminals, facilitating the connection of a three-core cable containing a live wire, neutral wire, and ground wire. Of course, in other embodiments, the terminals 21 can also be 2-position, 4-position, or other positions, or can be replaced with spring-loaded quick-connect terminals to adapt to different application scenarios, with the advantage of faster wiring. Inside each terminal 21, a corresponding and adjacent LED light source 22 is provided. These eight LED light sources 22 are arranged in a circular array along the circumference of a virtual circle on the square circuit board 20.

[0021] The lid 30 is circular, and its size matches the opening 11 of the box body 10 to seal the box body 10. The most innovative feature of the lid 30 is that it is equipped with eight light guide components 31 integrally formed with it. The light guide components 31 are cylindrical light guide columns, and their arrangement is also a circular array, which is completely consistent with the circular array arrangement of the LED light sources 22 on the circuit board 20. This ensures that after the lid 30 is installed, the lower end of each light guide component 31 can be precisely aligned with a corresponding LED light source 22. In order to ensure the sealing performance of the whole machine, an O-ring (not shown in the figure) is also provided between the lid 30 and the opening 11 of the box body 10. The O-ring is pressed tightly in the groove where the two fit together.

[0022] Preferably, the cover 30 and the light guide components 31 thereon are integrally molded using a two-color injection molding process. The main body of the cover 30 is made of an opaque material (such as colored PC), while the eight light guide components 31 are made of a transparent material with high light transmittance (such as optical-grade PC). The advantage of this process is that the two materials are seamlessly fused at the molecular level, fundamentally eliminating the risk of water leakage and achieving an IP67 or even higher protection rating. It also significantly improves the automation level of production and assembly efficiency. Alternatively, the light guide components 31 can also be an independent array of parts, fixed to the cover 30 by ultrasonic welding or adhesive bonding. This method has the advantage of lower mold costs, but the reliability of the seal requires additional design considerations.

[0023] Please see Figure 2 The working principle of this utility model is as follows: When an external cable connected to a terminal 21 is energized or receives a signal, the corresponding LED light source 22 on the circuit board 20 is illuminated and emits light. The light enters the bottom of the aligned light guide component 31 (i.e., the light guide post), is conducted along its axial direction inside the light guide post, and finally exits from the top of the light guide post. This top is located outside the cover 30, forming a clear light-transmitting surface, i.e., the status display area. In this way, maintenance personnel can determine the real-time working status of each port without any tools, simply by observing the illumination and deactivation of the light spot at the corresponding position outside the cover 30.

[0024] As a further extension and refinement of this solution, the light-transmitting surface of the light guide component 31 can be designed as a plane to be flush with the surface of the box 30, or it can be designed as a convex spherical surface, which has the advantage of providing a wider viewing angle and facilitating observation from the side. Furthermore, the LED light source 22 is not limited to a single-color LED; it can also use a dual-color LED (e.g., red / green) or an RGB tri-color LED to indicate richer status information, such as green representing "normal operation," red representing "fault alarm," and yellow representing "signal communication in progress." This greatly enhances the product's intelligence level and application value.

[0025] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of this utility model and is not intended to limit the scope of this utility model. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, or improvements made within the spirit and principles of this utility model should be included within the protection scope of this utility model.

Claims

1. A junction box connector with port status indicator lights, characterized in that, include: A box (10) has an opening (11) at the top and at least one cable inlet (12) on the side wall of the box (10). A circuit board (20) is installed inside the housing (10). The circuit board (20) is provided with wiring terminals (21) and LED light sources (22) corresponding to each of the cable inlets (12). A lid (30) is provided to seal the opening (11) of the box body (10). The lid (30) is provided with a light guide component (31) corresponding to each of the LED light sources (22) to conduct the light emitted by each of the LED light sources (22) to the corresponding position outside the lid (30).

2. The junction box connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cover (30) and the light guide component (31) on it are integrally formed.

3. The junction box connector according to claim 2, characterized in that, The lid (30) is made of opaque material, and the light guide component (31) is made of transparent material.

4. The junction box connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The circuit board (20) is square, the cover (30) is round, and the LED light source (22) is arranged in a circular array on the circuit board (20).

5. The junction box connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, An O-ring is provided between the lid (30) and the opening (11) of the box body (10).

6. The junction box connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The light guide component (31) is a light guide column that penetrates the cover (30). One end of the light guide column forms a light-transmitting surface located outside the cover (30), and the other end extends to the LED light source (22) to receive the light emitted by it.

7. The junction box connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The terminal block (21) is a 3-position screw terminal block, and is arranged adjacent to the corresponding LED light source (22) on the circuit board (20).

8. The junction box connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The number of cable inlets (12) is eight, and two cable inlets (12) are provided on each side wall of the housing (10).

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