Guide member, electric device, and assembly method of the electric device

Abstract

To cancel a deviation of an attachment direction of a cover to a case when attaching the cover to the case of an electric device, and improve an assembling operation of the electric device.SOLUTION: A guide fixture 1 is formed by a frame body 10 to be mounted to an open edge part 31 of a metal case 3 at the time of attachment operation of a resin cover 4 to the case 3 of an electric device. The frame body 10 includes: an insertion part 11; a guide part 12; and a visual confirmation part 13. A case main body part 31 is inserted into the insertion part 11 at the time of mounting. The guide part 12 guides a peripheral edge part 41 of a cover 4 at the time of the attachment operation to an open edge part 31. The guide part 12 includes: a contact surface 121; and an inclination surface 122. When a case body part 30 is inserted into the insertion part 11, the open edge part 31 is contacted to a contact surface 121. The inclination surface 122 guides the peripheral edge part 41 to the peripheral edge part 41 from an outside of the open edge part 31. The visual confirmation part 13 can confirm a fitting state between the peripheral edge part 41 and the open edge part 31 along a side part of the frame body 10.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a guiding member for guiding a cover to a case of an electrical device exemplified by an inverter device or a power supply device during the attachment operation of the cover to the case.

Background Art

[0002] As a prior art of a waterproof structure unit of an electrical device, for example, there is a case for housing an electronic circuit board of an electrical device disclosed in Patent Document 1. The case includes a metal case body for housing the electronic circuit board and a resin cover for sealing the case body. A groove portion that fits with a convex portion of the periphery of the cover is formed on the periphery of the case body. An adhesive is filled in the groove portion and the convex portion to ensure a sealed structure of the housing case.

[0003] The adhesive is used in combination with, for example, a sealing material made of a photocurable silicone composition or silicone gel disclosed in Patent Document 2, so that the compression amount of the adhesive is increased and the sealing property of the housing case is improved. Further, instead of the adhesive, for example, a rubber O-ring or gasket disclosed in Patent Document 3 is used in combination with the sealing material, and an effect equivalent to the sealing structure of Patent Document 2 can be obtained.

[0004] For example, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, in the electrical device 2, a convex portion 42 at the peripheral edge 41 of a cover 4 is fitted into a groove portion 32 at the opening edge 31 of an aluminum case 3 that houses a heat-generating component through an O-ring 5 for heat dissipation of the heat-generating component as in the sealing structures of Patent Documents 1 to 3. The peripheral edge 41 of the cover 4 is fixed to the opening edge 31 of the case 3 by a fastener 6. The case 3 can be replaced with a base made of a metal other than aluminum.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

[0006] In the conventional sealing structure, the convex portion 42 of the cover 4 is fitted into the groove portion 32 of the case 3. When the deformation of the cover 4 is large, the convex portion 42 may not fit with the groove portion 32 due to the dimensional tolerance of the cover 4.

[0007] Particularly, when an O-ring 5 is used, since the compression rate and filling rate of the O-ring 5 are determined to ensure waterproofing, the depth of the groove portion 32, the height or width of the convex portion 42 cannot be set large. Therefore, when the cover 4 is deformed, the convex portion 42 cannot be fitted into the groove portion 32 during the assembly of the electric device 2. For this reason, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, for example, guide portions 33 are provided outside and inside the opening edge portion 31 of the case 3 so that the convex portion 42 does not shift outside or inside the groove portion 32.

[0008] However, when the guide portion 33 is provided on the case 3, the size of the electric device 2 increases by the size of the guide portion 33. Providing the guide portion 33 only on the inner side of the case 3 to avoid increasing the size of the case 3 cannot cope with the deviation outside the convex portion 42. In this case, after visually checking the fitting state between the convex portion 42 and the groove portion 32 during the operation of attaching the cover 4 to the case 3, it is necessary to further temporarily tighten the fastener 6 and then perform the final tightening. Further, when the attachment direction of the cover 4 with respect to the case 3 is oblique and the convex portion 42 and the groove portion 32 do not fit together, the attachment operation needs to be redone, increasing the assembly man-hours. Furthermore, if the final tightening is erroneously performed in a state where the groove portion 32 and the convex portion 42 are not fitted, the cover 4 may be damaged.

[0009] In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to eliminate the deviation in the attachment direction of the cover with respect to the case when attaching the cover to the case of the electric device and improve the assembly workability of the electric device.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0010] Therefore, one aspect of the present invention is a guiding member that guides a resin cover to a metal case of an electric device during the attachment operation of the cover, and is composed of a frame body that is attached to the opening edge of the case during the attachment operation. The frame body has an insertion portion into which the case main body is inserted during the attachment, a guiding portion that guides the peripheral edge of the cover to the opening edge, and a visual confirmation portion that allows visual confirmation of the fitting state between the peripheral edge and the opening edge. The guiding portion has a contact surface that contacts the opening edge inserted into the insertion portion, and an inclined surface that guides the peripheral edge from the outside of the opening edge toward the opening edge.

[0011] One aspect of the present invention is an electric device having a metal case that houses electric components and a resin cover that seals the case. The cover has a peripheral edge that is guided to the opening edge of the case by the above guiding member during the attachment operation of the cover to the case.

[0012] In one aspect of the present invention, in the electric device, a groove portion that can be fitted with a convex portion of the peripheral edge is formed in the opening edge, an elastic seal member is provided between the groove portion and the convex portion, and the peripheral edge is fastened to the opening edge by a fastener.

[0013] One aspect of the present invention is an assembling method of an electric device using the above guiding member.

Advantages of the Invention

[0014] According to the present invention as described above, the deviation in the attachment direction of the cover with respect to the case when attaching the cover to the case of the electric device is eliminated, and the assembling workability of the electric device is improved.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0015]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0017] The guiding jig 1, which is one aspect of the guiding member of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, guides the cover 4 to the case 3 when attaching the cover 4 to the case 3 of the electric device 2 during the assembly process of the electric device 2, for example, as shown in FIG. 6.

[0018] (Case 3) The case 3 illustrated in FIG. 3 is made of a metal material such as aluminum and has a case main body portion 30 and an opening edge portion 31.

[0019] The case main body portion 30 forms, for example, a rectangular container and houses the electrical components of the electric device 2 (for example, an inverter circuit board when the electric device 2 is an inverter device).

[0020] On the opening edge 31, a groove 32 that can be fitted with a convex portion 42 on the peripheral edge 41 of the cover 4 is formed when the cover 4 is attached to the case 3. And between this groove 32 and the convex portion 42, an O-ring 5 made of an elastic member is arranged as a sealing member as shown in FIG. 3.

[0021] (Cover 4) The cover 4 is made of a resin material and has a cover main body portion 40 and a peripheral edge portion 41 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6.

[0022] The cover main body portion 40 is formed, for example, in a substantially trapezoidal vertical cross-section and seals the case main body portion 30.

[0023] The peripheral edge portion 41 is provided corresponding to the opening edge 31 of the case 3 as shown in FIG. 3 and is guided to the opening edge 31 of the case 3 by the guiding jig 1 during the attachment operation of the cover 4 to the case 3.

[0024] Also, on the peripheral edge portion 41, a convex portion 42 that fits into the groove 32 of the opening edge 31 of the case 3 is formed. And this peripheral edge portion 41 is fastened to the opening edge 31 of the case 3 by a fastening tool 6 in a state where the convex portion 42 fits into the groove 32 of the case 3 via the O-ring 5 as shown in the same figure.

[0025] (Guiding jig 1) The guiding jig 1 is composed of a frame body 10 that is attached to the opening edge 31 of the case 3 during the attachment operation of the cover 4 to the case 3 as shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and 4.

[0026] The frame body 10 is formed, for example, in a rectangular shape corresponding to the opening edge 31 of the case 3 and has an insertion portion 11, a guiding portion 12, and a visual confirmation portion 13.

[0027] The insertion portion 11 is inserted with the case main body portion 30 as shown in FIG. 3 during the attachment.

[0028] The guide part 12 is provided on the upper surfaces of the side parts and corner parts of the frame body 10 as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, and guides the peripheral edge part 41 of the cover 4 to the opening edge part 31 of the case 3 during the attachment operation. The guide part 12 may be provided singly or plurally at four diagonal positions or at the centers of two opposing side parts of the frame body 10 without being limited to the illustrated mode as long as the guiding is possible.

[0029] Further, the guide part 12 has a contact surface 121 and an inclined surface 122. The contact surface 121 contacts the opening edge part 31 when the case main body part 30 is inserted into the insertion part 11 as shown in FIG. 3. The inclined surface 122 guides the peripheral edge part 41 of the cover 4 from the outside of the opening edge part 31 toward the peripheral edge part 41 during the attachment operation.

[0030] The visual confirmation part 13 is secured between adjacent guide parts 12 in the frame body 10 as shown in FIG. 1, and enables visual confirmation of the fitting state between the peripheral edge part 41 of the cover 4 and the opening edge part 31 of the case 3 along the side part of the frame body 10 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

[0031] Furthermore, a plurality of clamping parts 14 capable of clamping the case main body part 30 inserted into the insertion part 11 are appropriately provided on the opposing inner surfaces of the insertion part 11.

[0032] (Assembly procedure of the electric device 2) The assembly procedure of the electric device 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

[0033] S1: The frame body 10 of the guide jig 1 is mounted on the opening edge part 31 of the case 3 from above the case 3. At this time, the case main body part 30 is inserted into the insertion part 11 of the guide jig 1 as shown in FIG. 3, and the opening edge part 31 contacts the contact surface 121 of the guide jig 1. Further, the case main body part 30 is clamped by the clamping part 14 on the inner surface of the frame body 10.

[0034] S2: An O-ring 5 is mounted on the groove part 32 of the case 3 as shown in the figure.

[0035] S3: From above the guiding jig 1, the convex portion 42 of the peripheral edge portion 41 of the cover 4 is fitted into the groove portion 32 of the opening edge portion 31 of the case 3. In this process, the peripheral edge portion 41 is guided from the outside of the opening edge portion 31 toward the opening edge portion 31 by the inclined surface 122 of the guiding jig 1.

[0036] S4: Through the visual confirmation portion 13 of the guiding jig 1 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the fitting state between the peripheral edge portion 41 and the opening edge portion 31 can be visually confirmed.

[0037] S5: When it is confirmed that there is no abnormality in the fitting state along the entire circumference of the peripheral edge portion 41 and the opening edge portion 31, the peripheral edge portion 41 of the cover 4 is fixed to the opening edge portion 31 of the case 3 by the fastener 6.

[0038] S6: When the guiding jig 1 is removed from the case 3, the assembly of the electric device 2 is completed.

[0039] As described above, when the guiding jig 1 is mounted on the case 3, the position of the guiding jig 1 in the height direction in the case 3 is determined by the contact between the opening edge portion 31 of the case 3 and the contact surface 121 of the guiding jig 1. Then, when attaching the cover 4 to the case 3, the peripheral edge portion 41 of the cover 4 is guided to the groove portion 32 of the opening edge portion 31 of the case 3 by the guiding portion 12 of the guiding jig 1. Also, when the case 3 and the cover 4 are fitted, it is possible to confirm the fitting status between the opening edge portion 31 and the peripheral edge portion 41 from the visual confirmation portion 13 of the guiding jig 1.

[0040] (Effect of this embodiment) According to the above guiding jig 1, when attaching the cover 4 to the case 3, the peripheral edge 41 of the cover 4 is guided by the guiding part 12 into the groove part 32 of the opening edge part 31 of the case 3. Therefore, even for the resin cover 4 which is easy to deform, the peripheral edge 41 of the cover 4 can be fitted with the opening edge part 31 of the case 3 without shifting from the position of the opening edge part 31 of the case 3. Thus, it is possible to suppress the shift between the peripheral edge 41 of the cover 4 and the opening edge part 31 of the case 3 without requiring a guiding part 33 outside the opening edge part 31 of the case 3, and the cover 4 can be attached to the case 3. As described above, since the shift in the attachment direction of the cover 4 with respect to the case 3 when attaching the cover 4 to the case 3 of the electric device 2 is eliminated, the assembly workability of the electric device 2 is improved.

[0041] Moreover, even if a waterproof structure using an O-ring 5 is adopted, the fitting between the groove part 32 and the convex part 42 becomes easy. Therefore, it is not necessary to temporarily fasten the fastener 6, and the final fastening can be performed at once after the fitting, so that the assembly time of the electric device 2 can be shortened.

[0042] Furthermore, since the conventional guiding part 33 provided outside the case main body part 30 is not required, the enlargement of the electric device 2 can be avoided. And since the visual confirmation part 13 is secured in the guiding jig 1, the fitting state between the groove part 32 and the convex part 42 can be confirmed during the attachment work.

[0043] In addition, when the case 3 is formed by the aluminum die-casting method, the outer surface part of the case 3 has a draft angle. By making the contact surface of the insertion part 11 of the guiding jig 1 with respect to this outer surface part correspond to the draft angle, the positioning of the guiding jig 1 in the case 3 can be accurately performed.

Explanation of Signs

[0044] 1... guiding jig, 10... frame body, 11... insertion part, 12... guiding part, 121... contact surface, 122... inclined surface, 13... visual confirmation part, 14... clamping part 2... electric device 3... case, 30... case main body part, 31... opening edge part, 32... groove part, 33... guiding part 4… Cover, 40… Cover main body, 41… Peripheral edge, 42… Protrusion 5… O-ring 6… Fastener

Claims

1. A guiding member for guiding a resin cover to a metal case of an electrical device during the attachment operation of the cover to the case, which is composed of a frame body attached to the opening edge of the case during the attachment operation, wherein the frame body has an insertion portion into which the case main body is inserted during the attachment, a guiding portion for guiding the peripheral edge of the cover to the opening edge, and a visual confirmation portion for visually confirming the fitting state between the peripheral edge and the opening edge, and the guiding portion has a contact surface that contacts the opening edge inserted into the insertion portion, and an inclined surface for guiding the peripheral edge from the outside of the opening edge toward the opening edge, and has the above is a guiding member characterized by the above.

2. A metal case for housing electrical components, and a resin cover for sealing the case, and the cover has a peripheral edge that is guided to the opening edge of the case by the guiding member according to Claim 1 during the attachment operation of the cover to the case. is an electrical device characterized by the above.

3. A groove portion that can be fitted with a convex portion of the peripheral edge is formed in the opening edge, a sealing member is provided between the groove portion and the convex portion, and the peripheral edge is fastened to the opening edge by a fastener. is an electrical device according to Claim 2, characterized by the above.

4. A method for assembling an electrical device using the guiding member according to Claim 1.

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