Electric connection box

Abstract

To provide an electric connection box comprising a lid section which is attachable and detachable in a space saving state.SOLUTION: An electric connection box comprises: a main body section including a storage space in which an electronic component can be stored; and a removable lid section covering an opening which communicates with the storage space of the main body section. The lid section consists of a plurality of parts which is separable or a plurality of parts which is connected in a bendable manner. Each of the parts of the lid section includes a fixing member which fixes the main body section and the parts in a detachable manner. It is preferable that the plurality of separable parts further includes a fixing member which fixes the parts in a detachable manner. The fixing member may serve as a magnet or a surface fastener.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1B

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an electrical junction box. [Background technology]

[0002] In general, an electrical junction box comprises, as its constituent members, a main body in which electronic components are housed, and a lid that closes the opening of the main body. The main body and the lid are assembled by fitting the peripheral edges of their openings together (i.e., the ends of the opening sides of the outer circumferential walls of each of them), and this fitted state is maintained by a locking mechanism (see Patent Document 1). When removing the lid from the main body of such an electrical junction box, the lid is rotated around one side as a fulcrum to release the locking mechanism on one side. The lid can then be removed by sliding it horizontally to a position where the locking mechanism can be released and lifting it upward. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-88105 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, when the electrical connection box is installed inside the body of an automobile or the like, it is difficult to attach and detach the lid of the electrical connection box configured as described above. This is because, in order to open and close the lid as described above, space is required for the lid to move, and it is difficult to secure such space inside the vehicle body because various components are arranged around it. In particular, when it is difficult to visually see the area behind the worker's working position due to the influence of the surrounding components, it becomes extremely difficult to attach and detach the lid.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the problems inherent in the conventional techniques, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electrical junction box having a lid that can be attached and detached in a space-saving manner. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An electrical connection box according to one aspect of the present invention has a main body having a storage space capable of accommodating electronic components, and a removable lid covering an opening communicating with the storage space of the main body, the lid being composed of a plurality of separable parts or a plurality of foldably connected parts, and each part of the lid being provided with a fixing member for releasably fixing the main body and the part. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an electrical junction box having a lid that can be attached and detached in a space-saving manner. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1A] FIG. 2 is a top view of the electrical junction box according to the embodiment. [Figure 1B] FIG. 2 is a side view of the electrical junction box according to the embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a side view showing the electrical junction box of the present embodiment with a lid portion removed. [Figure 3A] 1B is a diagram showing a state in which a cover portion of the electrical junction box shown in FIG. 1A has been removed to the left. [Figure 3B] 1B is a diagram showing a state in which a lid portion of the electrical junction box shown in FIG. 1A is removed upward. [Figure 3C] 1B is a diagram showing a state in which a cover portion of the electrical junction box shown in FIG. 1A is removed to the right. [Figure 3D] 1B is a diagram showing a state in which a cover portion of the electrical junction box shown in FIG. 1A is removed downward. [Figure 4A] 10 is a side view showing another aspect of the lid portion of the electrical junction box according to the present embodiment. FIG. [Figure 4B] FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 4A. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a side view showing another embodiment of the electrical junction box according to the present invention. [Figure 6A] 1 is a side view showing a state in which a cover of a conventional electrical junction box is rotated to position A. FIG. [Figure 6B]6B is a side view showing a state in which the cover of the electrical junction box shown in FIG. 6A is lifted further upward. FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a conventional electric junction box is installed in a vehicle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, the electrical junction box according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the dimensional ratios in the drawings are exaggerated for the convenience of explanation and may differ from the actual ratios.

[0010] The electrical connection box of this embodiment has a main body having a storage space capable of storing electronic components, and a removable lid covering an opening communicating with the storage space of the main body. The lid is composed of a plurality of separable parts or a plurality of foldably connected parts, and each part of the lid has a fixing member for releasably fixing the part to the main body.

[0011] First, an example of a conventional electrical junction box will be described with reference to Figs. 6A, 6B, and 7. In the electrical junction box shown in Fig. 6A, when the lid 32 is removed from the main body 30, the lid 32 is first rotated around the fulcrum O at position A (Fig. 6A). Then, the lid 32 can be removed from the main body 30 by lifting the lid 32 upward (Fig. 6B). However, in the body of an automobile or the like, for example, a washer tank 40, piping 42, etc. are present as shown in Fig. 7. If the washer tank 40, piping 42, etc. are present above the electrical junction box, it becomes difficult to remove the lid 32. That is, in the conventional electrical junction box, it is difficult to attach and remove the lid in a space-saving manner. The electrical junction box of the present embodiment is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional electrical junction box.

[0012] As shown in Figs. 1A and 1B, the electrical connection box of this embodiment has a main body 12 and a lid 14. The main body 12 has a storage space capable of storing electronic components, and an opening at the top that communicates with the storage space. The opening is covered by a removable lid 14. The lid 14 is made up of a lid part 14A and a lid part 14B. That is, the lid 14 is made up of a plurality of separable parts. As shown in Fig. 1B, the vicinity of the right end of the lid part 14A and the vicinity of the left end of the lid part 14B are thin-walled portions of the same shape so that the lid parts 14A and 14B engage with each other to become one body.

[0013] The lid part 14A has magnets 18A, 18B, and 18D on the back side. Similarly, the lid part 14B has magnets 18C and 18E on the back side, and has magnet 16B on the upper surface side of the thin wall part near the left end. In addition, in the main body part 12, a magnet 16A having a polarity opposite to that of magnet 18A is held by a holding member (not shown) at a position facing magnet 18A. Furthermore, in the main body part 12, a magnet 16C having a polarity opposite to that of magnet 18C is held by a holding member (not shown) at a position facing magnet 18C. Similarly, in the main body part 12, a magnet not shown having a polarity opposite to that of magnet 18D and magnet 18E is held by a holding member (not shown) at a position facing magnet 18D and magnet 18E, respectively. On the other hand, when the thin portion of lid part 14A of lid portion 14 is engaged with the thin portion of lid part 14B, magnet 16B and magnet 18B are positioned so as to face each other, and magnet 16B and magnet 18B are set so as to have opposite polarities. In addition, when magnets in opposing positions have opposite polarities, it means that when one is a south pole, the other is a north pole, or when one is a north pole, the other is a south pole.

[0014] With the above configuration, the pair of opposing magnets attract each other because they have opposite polarities. Therefore, the lid parts 14A and 14B are fixed to the main body 12 by the magnets provided on the lid parts 14A and 14B and the main body 12. Furthermore, the lid parts 14A and 14B can be detached from the main body 12 by applying a force greater than the attractive force of the pair of opposing magnets. That is, in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, the magnets provided on the lid parts 14A and 14B and the magnet provided on the main body 12 form fixing members that detachably fix the main body 12 and the lid parts 14A and 14B. Furthermore, the magnet 18B provided on the lid part 14A and the magnet 16B provided on the lid part 14B form fixing members that detachably fix the respective lid parts to each other.

[0015] As shown in Fig. 2, the lid part 14 can be detached from the main body part 12 by sliding the lid part 14A and the lid part 14B horizontally in opposite directions. At this time, even if a member X is present above the lid part 14 as shown in Fig. 2, the lid part 14 can be detached from the main body part 12 without being affected by the member X. Conversely, when the lid part 14 is attached to the main body part 12, it is not affected by the member X. In other words, the lid part 14 can be attached and detached in a space-saving manner.

[0016] Next, four examples of how the lid parts 14A and 14B of the lid portion 14 are detached from the main body portion 12 are shown. Fig. 3A shows how the lid part 14A is slid leftward to be detached. Fig. 3B shows how the lid part 14A is slid upward (upward in the plane of Fig. 3B) to be detached. Fig. 3C shows how the lid part 14B is slid rightward to be detached. Fig. 3D shows how the lid part 14B is slid downward (downward in the plane of Fig. 3D) to be detached. As described above, the lid portion 14 can be slid in multiple directions to be detached from the main body portion 12. Therefore, for example, even if various components are arranged inside the vehicle body and the components become an obstacle when removing the lid portion 14, the lid portion 14 can be detached by sliding the lid part 14A or 14B of the lid portion 14 in a direction where there are no components. 3A to 3D show an example in which lid parts 14A and 14B of lid portion 14 are removed by sliding them horizontally, but lid parts 14A and 14B can also be removed by pulling them vertically upward.

[0017] Even if an integrally formed lid portion is difficult to attach and detach due to its size, in this embodiment, the lid portion 14 is separated into two parts, lid part 14A and lid part 14B, so that they can be attached and detached one by one in sequence.

[0018] In the above, the cover 14 is divided into two parts, cover part 14A and cover part 14B, but it may be divided into three or more parts.

[0019] On the other hand, the portions (thin portions) where the lid parts 14A and 14B engage may be of uniform thickness, or may be configured to be inclined toward each other as shown in Figures 4A and 4B. With such an inclined configuration, for example, when water droplets fall onto the lid 14 from above the electrical junction box 10 and enter through the gap between the lid parts 14A and 14B, the water droplets flow down the incline to the outside. This makes it possible to prevent water droplets from entering the interior of the electrical junction box 10.

[0020] The above-described lid 14 is composed of a plurality of separable lid parts 14A and 14B. In this embodiment, the lid may be composed of a plurality of parts connected in a foldable manner as shown in FIG. 5. The lid 20 shown in FIG. 5 is foldable at the center and is divided into two parts. Magnets 24A and 24B are provided on the back side of each lid part of the lid 20. In addition, in the main body 12, a magnet 22A having a polarity opposite to that of the magnet 24A is held by a holding member (not shown) at a position facing the magnet 24A. In addition, in the main body 12, a magnet 22B having a polarity opposite to that of the magnet 24B is held by a holding member (not shown) at a position facing the magnet 24B. On the other hand, although not shown, a pair of magnets is also provided on the opposite side of the lid portion 20 (the rear side in FIG. 5) so as to face the lid portion 20 and the main body portion 12.

[0021] In the configuration shown in Fig. 5, when one end of the lid portion 20 is lifted by applying a force greater than the attractive force of the pair of magnets, the lid portion 20 bends at the center, and half of the lid portion 20 opens. Furthermore, when the lid portion 20 is lifted upward or slid horizontally (to the right), the lid portion 20 can be detached from the main body portion 12. Even in the configuration shown in Fig. 5, the lid portion 20 does not need to be removed as a unit, and therefore can be attached and detached in a space-saving manner.

[0022] When the lid portion is constructed from multiple parts that are connected in a foldable manner, means for making the lid portion foldable include making the lid portion out of a flexible material, making the folding portion thin, providing a hinge at the folding portion, etc.

[0023] The above describes an embodiment in which a magnet is used as a fixing member for releasably fixing the main body and the lid parts, but the fixing member may be a hook-and-loop fastener. That is, the lid part and the main body may be provided with male and female hook-and-loop fasteners in opposing positions to make them detachable. As the fixing member, other than a magnet and a hook-and-loop fastener, any member that has the function of releasably fixing the main body and the lid parts may be used.

[0024] Although the present embodiment has been described above, the present embodiment is not limited to this, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the gist of the present embodiment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0025] 10 Electrical junction box 12 Main body 14 20 Lid 14A 14B Lid parts 16A~16C 18A~18E 22A~22B 24A~24B Magnet

Claims

1. The electronic component storage device includes a main body having an accommodation space capable of accommodating an electronic component, and a removable cover that covers an opening that communicates with the accommodation space of the main body. An electrical connection box, wherein the cover portion is composed of a plurality of separable parts or a plurality of foldably connected parts, and each part of the cover portion is provided with a fixing member that detachably fixes the main body portion and the part.

2. The electrical junction box according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of separable parts further include fixing members for releasably fixing the respective parts to each other.

3. 3. The electrical junction box according to claim 1, wherein the fixing member is a magnet or a hook-and-loop fastener.

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