Electrical Junction Box

Abstract

To provide an electric connection box which is excellent in separation workability of a second resin body from a first resin body, and can reduce a work space at the time of separation work.SOLUTION: An electric connection box 1 includes a first resin body 10 and a second resin body 20, wherein the second resin body 20 is configured so that a first wall part 21 provided with a first engagement part 23 engaged with an engaged part 12 of the first resin body 10 and a second wall part 22 having a recess 29 provided on one end in a first direction crossing an assembly direction are integrated with each other, the first engagement part 23 has an engaged projection 25 which gets over an engaged projection 13 of the engaged part 12 to the first resin body side in the assembly direction when the second resin body 20 is assembled to the first resin body 10 and is engaged with the engaged projection 13, and the engaged projection 25 has an inclined surface 25a which is brought into contact with the engaged projection 13 and guides getting over of the engaged projection 25 to the second resin body side in the assembly direction to the engaged projection 13, when the second resin body 20 is separated in the assembly direction from the first resin body 10.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

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

[0002] Conventionally, electrical connection boxes such as relay boxes and fuse boxes that are mounted on vehicles and have a storage space for storing electronic components such as relays and fuses (hereinafter also referred to as "conventional electrical connection boxes") have been proposed. One conventional electrical connection box includes a frame that stores electronic components therein, and an upper cover that is assembled to close an upper end opening of the frame, and the upper cover is assembled to the frame by engaging a plurality of engaging portions of the upper cover with a plurality of engaged portions of the frame (for example, see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2017-208247 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the above-mentioned conventional electrical junction box, when removing the upper cover from the frame for maintenance or the like, the worker must release the engagement between the multiple engaged parts of the frame and the multiple engagement parts of the upper cover one by one, for example, with his / her fingers or a jig, which makes the work complicated. Furthermore, when removing the upper cover from the frame, a working space is required to release the engagement between the multiple engaged parts and the multiple engagement parts, which limits the location where the electrical junction box can be mounted on the vehicle. Thus, the conventional electrical junction box has room for improvement in terms of workability and working space.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned situation, and its object is to provide an electrical connection box that enables excellent separation of a second resin body from a first resin body and reduces the working space required during the separation work. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the electrical junction box according to the present invention has the following features.

[0007] An electric connection box including a first resin body in which an electronic component is housed, and a second resin body assembled to the first resin body, The second resin body is a frame-shaped first wall portion extending in an assembly direction with the first resin body; and a second wall portion that closes the open end of the first wall portion. The second wall portion has a recess at one end in a first direction intersecting with the assembly direction, The first wall portion is provided with a first locking portion that is locked to the locked portion of the first resin body, The first locking portion is a locking projection that, when the second resin body is assembled to the first resin body, passes over a locking projection of the locking portion toward the first resin body in the assembly direction and is locked by the locking projection, The locking projection has: When the second resin body is separated from the first resin body in the assembly direction, an inclined surface is provided that comes into contact with the locked projection and guides the locked projection to move over the second resin body in the assembly direction. 、 The first wall portion is The first locking portion is provided at the one end in the first direction, a second locking portion that is locked to the locked portion is provided at the other end in the first direction, At the one end in the first direction, the inclined surface of the locking projection of the first locking portion is formed so as not to face parallel to a lower end surface of the locked projection, At the other end in the first direction, an upper end surface of the locking projection of the second locking portion is formed to face parallel to a lower end surface of the locked projection of the locked portion. It is an electrical junction box. Effect of the Invention

[0008] The electrical junction box according to the present invention will be described below. According to the electrical connection box of this configuration, the first engaging portion of the second resin body has an engaging protrusion that, when the second resin body is assembled to the first resin body, goes over the engaged protrusion of the engaged portion of the first resin body toward the first resin body in the assembly direction and is engaged with the engaged protrusion. The engaging protrusion is provided with an inclined surface that guides the protrusion to go over the engaged protrusion toward the second resin body in the assembly direction. As a result, when the upper cover is separated from the frame, the engagement between the engaging protrusion and the engaged protrusion is released by pulling the upper cover toward the second resin body in the assembly direction, and the upper cover can be easily separated from the frame. Furthermore, a recess is provided at one end of the second wall portion of the second resin body in the first direction. As a result, when the upper cover is separated from the frame, for example, the other end of the first wall portion of the second resin body in the first direction and the inner wall of the recess can be used as a place for fingers, i.e., a gripping portion of the upper cover. In this way, the electrical junction box having the above-described configuration not only provides excellent separation workability for the second resin body from the first resin body, but also reduces the working space required for the separation work.

[0009] The present invention has been briefly described above. Furthermore, the details of the present invention will be further clarified by reading the following description of the embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter, referred to as "embodiment") with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a top view showing an embodiment of an electrical junction box according to the present invention fixed to a vehicle (however, fastening members are not shown). [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an exploded front perspective view of a main portion of the electrical junction box. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the upper cover. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1 (however, the lower region of the electrical junction box is not shown). [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of part B in FIG. [Figure 6]FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of part C in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] <Embodiment> Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, an electric junction box 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention shown in Fig. 1 etc. will be described. The electric junction box 1 is typically a relay box mounted on a vehicle and having an internal space for accommodating electronic components such as a relay and other components R (see Figs. 2 and 4).

[0012] For ease of explanation, "front," "rear," "left," "right," "upper," and "lower" are defined below as shown in Figs. 1 to 6. The "front-rear direction," "left-right direction," and "upper direction" are mutually perpendicular. When the electrical junction box 1 is mounted on a vehicle, the "front-rear direction," "left-right direction," and "upper direction" correspond to the front-rear direction, left-right direction, and upper-lower direction of the vehicle, respectively. In addition, the side of the electrical junction box 1 that faces the inside is referred to as the "inner" side, and the side of the electrical junction box 1 that faces the outside is referred to as the "outer" side.

[0013] In addition, the up-down direction corresponds to the "assembly direction" of the present invention. The "lower" side in the up-down direction corresponds to the "first resin body side in the assembly direction" of the present invention, and the "upper" side in the up-down direction corresponds to the "second resin body side in the assembly direction" of the present invention. In addition, the front-rear direction corresponds to the "first direction" of the present invention. In addition, the left-right direction corresponds to the "second direction" of the present invention.

[0014] 2, the electrical junction box 1 is composed of a frame 10 (corresponding to the "first resin body" of the present invention) in which the component R is housed, an upper cover 20 (corresponding to the "second resin body" of the present invention) that is attached to close an upper end opening of the frame 10, and a lower cover 30 that is attached to close a lower end opening of the frame 10. All of the above three components that constitute the electrical junction box 1 are resin molded bodies. Below, the frame 10, upper cover 20, and lower cover 30 that constitute the electrical junction box 1 will be described in order.

[0015] First, the frame 10 will be described. As shown in Fig. 2, the frame 10 has a side wall portion 11 having a generally rectangular tubular shape extending in the vertical direction. The side wall portion 11 constitutes most of the external appearance of the side surface of the electrical junction box 1.

[0016] A locking portion 12 including a through hole extending in the up-down direction is integrally provided on the outer surface of each of the front end portion (corresponding to "one end portion in the first direction" of the present invention) and the rear end portion (corresponding to "the other end portion in the first direction" of the present invention) at the upper end portion of the side wall portion 11. The locking portion 12 has a function of assembling the upper cover 20 to the frame 10.

[0017] 5 and 6, an inwardly protruding locked projection 13 is integrally formed on the upper end of each locked portion 12. A lower end surface 13a of the locked projection 13 is formed in an inclined shape that slopes downward from the outside to the inside.

[0018] Locked portions 14 each including a through hole extending in the up-down direction are integrally provided on the outer surface of a plurality of circumferential positions (five positions in this example) of the lower end portion of the side wall portion 11. The locked portions 14 have a function of assembling the lower cover 30 to the frame 10.

[0019] A fastening portion 15 including a fastening hole (reference number omitted) penetrating in the front-rear direction is integrally provided on the outer surface of the front side wall portion 11. The fastening portion 15 has a function of fixing the electrical junction box 1 to a fixing portion 2 of the vehicle (see FIG. 1).

[0020] Next, the upper cover 20 will be described. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the upper cover 20 integrally comprises an annular side wall 21 (corresponding to the "first wall" of the present invention) which constitutes most of the appearance of the upper side surface of the electrical junction box 1, and an upper wall 22 (corresponding to the "second wall" of the present invention) which closes the annular upper end opening of the side wall 21 and constitutes most of the appearance of the upper surface of the electrical junction box 1. The annular lower edge of the side wall 21 has a shape which corresponds to the annular upper edge of the side wall 11 of the frame 10, and is capable of fitting with the annular upper edge of the side wall 11.

[0021] A first locking portion 23 is provided integrally on the outer surface of the front side wall portion 11 in correspondence with the front locked portion 12 of the frame 10 (see also FIG. 1). As shown in FIG. 5, the first locking portion 23 is provided integrally with a flexible piece 24 extending in the vertical direction and a locking projection 25 located at the lower end of the flexible piece 24 and protruding outward.

[0022] An upper end surface 25a (corresponding to the "inclined surface" of the present invention) of the locking projection 25 is formed in an inclined shape that slopes downward from the inner (rear) side to the outer (front) side. When the upper cover 20 is separated from the frame 10, the upper end surface 25a comes into contact with the locked projection 13 of the frame 10 and has a function of guiding the locking projection 25 to climb over the locked projection 13 to the upper side.

[0023] A second locking portion 26 is provided integrally on the outer surface of the front side wall portion 11 in correspondence with the locked portion 12 on the rear side of the frame 10 (see also FIG. 1). As shown in FIG. 6, the second locking portion 26 is provided integrally with a flexible piece 27 extending in the vertical direction and a locking projection 28 located at the lower end of the flexible piece 27 and projecting outward. An upper end surface 28a of the locking projection 28 is formed in an inclined shape that slopes downward from the outer (rear) side to the inner (front) side.

[0024] A pair of recesses 29 recessed downward are arranged on the outer surface of the front end of the upper wall portion 22 at a distance from each other in the left-right direction (see Figs. 1 to 3). More specifically, a recess 29a is provided at the right corner of the front end, and a recess 29b is provided at the left corner of the front end. The recesses 29 function as a place for the operator's fingers to grip the upper cover 20 when separating the upper cover 20 from the frame 10.

[0025] Next, the lower cover 30 will be described. As shown in Fig. 2, the lower cover 30 is integrally provided with an annular side wall portion 31 that constitutes most of the appearance of the lower side surface of the electrical junction box 1, and a bottom wall portion 32 that closes an annular lower end opening of the side wall portion 31 and constitutes most of the appearance of the bottom surface of the electrical junction box 1. The annular upper edge portion of the side wall portion 31 has a shape that corresponds to the annular lower edge portion of the side wall portion 11 of the frame 10, and is capable of fitting with the annular lower edge portion of the side wall portion 11.

[0026] On the outer surface of the upper end portion of the side wall portion 31 at multiple circumferential locations (in this example, five locations), upwardly extending locking pieces 33 are integrally formed, each corresponding to a multiple number of locked portions 14 of the frame 10.

[0027] A fastening portion 34 including a fastening hole (reference numeral omitted) penetrating in the vertical direction is integrally provided on the outer surface of the rear side wall portion 31. The fastening portion 34 has a function of fixing the electrical junction box 1 to a mounting location (not shown) of the vehicle.

[0028] The above describes the frame 10, the upper cover 20, and the lower cover 30 that constitute the electrical junction box 1. Below, a method for manufacturing the electrical junction box 1 that is made up of the frame 10, the upper cover 20, and the lower cover 30 will be described.

[0029] To obtain the electrical junction box 1, it is necessary to assemble the upper cover 20 to the frame 10. To assemble the upper cover 20 to the frame 10, first, the first locking portion 23 and the second locking portion 26 (see Figs. 1 to 4) of the upper cover 20 are inserted from above into the through holes of the locked portion 12 (see Fig. 2) of the frame 10, and from this state, the annular lower edge portion of the side wall portion 21 of the upper cover 20 is fitted into the annular upper edge portion of the side wall portion 11 of the frame 10, and the first locking portion 23 and the second locking portion 26 are locked to the locked portion 12. This completes the assembly of the upper cover 20 to the frame 10 (see Fig. 1).

[0030] When the upper cover 20 is assembled to the frame 10, the locking projection 25 of the first locking portion 23 and the locking projection 28 of the second locking portion 26 pass over the locked projection 13 of the locked portion 12 from above to below and are locked to the locked projection during the assembly process. In other words, the locking projections 25, 28 are located below the locked projection 13 in the locked state and above the locked projection 13 in the separated state.

[0031] The engagement manner between the engaged portion 12 of the frame 10 and the first engagement portion 23 of the upper cover 20, and the engagement manner between the engaged portion 12 and the second engagement portion 26 of the upper cover 20 when the upper cover 20 is assembled to the frame 10 will be explained in order.

[0032] 5, the lower end surface 13a of the locked projection 13 in the locked portion 12 is formed to be inclined downward from the outside to the inside, whereas the upper end surface 25a of the locking projection 25 in the first locking portion 23 is formed to be inclined downward from the inside to the outside. In other words, the lower end surface 13a of the locked projection 13 and the upper end surface 25a of the locking projection 25 are not parallel to each other. For this reason, when the upper cover 20 is separated from the frame 10 (i.e., when a predetermined force is applied to the upper cover 20 in the up-down direction), the lower end surface 13a and the upper end surface 25a do not engage with each other.

[0033] 6, the upper end surface 28a of the locking projection 28 in the second locking portion 26 is formed in an inclined shape that slopes downward from the outside to the inside, so that the lower end surface 13a of the locked projection 13 and the upper end surface 28a of the locking projection 28 face each other substantially in parallel. This prevents the upper cover 20 from being separated upward from the frame 10.

[0034] Similarly, to obtain the electrical junction box 1, it is necessary to assemble the lower cover 30 to the frame 10. To assemble the lower cover 30 to the frame 10, first, the multiple locking pieces 33 (see FIG. 2) of the lower cover 30 are inserted from below into the multiple through holes of the locked portions 14 (see FIG. 2) of the frame 10, and from this state, the annular upper edge portion of the side wall portion 31 of the lower cover 30 is fitted into the annular lower edge portion of the side wall portion 11 of the frame 10, and the multiple locking pieces 33 are locked to the multiple locked portions 14. This completes the assembly of the lower cover 30 to the frame 10 (see FIG. 1).

[0035] When the lower cover 30 is attached to the frame 10, the engagement between the multiple locking pieces 33 and the multiple locked portions 14 prevents the lower cover 30 from separating downward from the frame 10.

[0036] The electrical junction box 1 is completed by assembling the upper cover 20 and the lower cover 30 to the frame 10. The order in which the upper cover 20 is attached to the frame 10 and the lower cover 30 is attached to the frame 10 does not matter.

[0037] The above has described the process of assembling the upper cover 20 and the lower cover 30 to the frame 10, i.e., the manufacturing method of the electrical junction box 1. Below, the process of separating the upper cover 20 from the frame 10 will be described.

[0038] To separate the upper cover 20 from the frame 10, first place your thumb on the second engagement portion 26, your index finger on the recess 29a (specifically, the rear wall portion of recess 29a), and your middle finger on the recess 29b (specifically, the rear wall portion of recess 29b), and grasp the upper cover 20 between your index finger, middle finger, and thumb so that they pinch it in the front-to-back direction.

[0039] While grasping the upper cover 20, force is applied with the thumb to operate the flexible piece 27 of the second locking portion 26, thereby releasing the lock between the locking projection 13 of the rear locking portion 12 and the locking projection 28 of the second locking portion 26, and in this state, the upper cover 20 is pulled upward in the vertical direction.

[0040] When the upper cover 20 is pulled upward in the vertical direction, the front locked projection 13 comes into contact with the upper end surface 25a of the locking projection 25 of the first locking portion 23, and the locking projection 25 climbs over the upper side of the locked projection 13 by the guide of the upper end surface 25a. In other words, the lock between the locked projection 13 and the locking projection 25 is released. This separates the upper cover 20 from the frame 10. The above describes the operation of separating the upper cover 20 from the frame 10.

[0041] <Actions and Effects> The electrical connection box 1 of this embodiment allows the upper cover 20 to be easily separated from the frame 10 (in a single action), and the recess 29 functions as a place for the fingers (a gripping portion for the upper cover 20), thereby reducing the working space required to release the engagement between the locked portion 12 of the frame 10 and the locking portion of the upper cover 20 (particularly the second locking portion 26) during the separation operation.

[0042] Furthermore, in the electrical junction box 1 according to this embodiment, the first locking portion 23, which does not require an operation to release the lock from the locked portion 12, is provided on the recess 29 side (front side), and the second locking portion 26, which requires an operation to release the lock from the locked portion 12, is provided on the opposite side (rear side) from the recess 29. This makes it possible to further reduce the working space required to release the lock between the frame 10 and the upper cover 20 during separation work.

[0043] Furthermore, in the electrical junction box 1 according to this embodiment, the second locking portion 26 is provided in addition to the first locking portion 23, so that unintended separation of the upper cover 20 from the frame 10 can be suppressed.

[0044] Furthermore, according to the electrical junction box 1 of this embodiment, the working space required for separating the upper cover 20 from the frame 10 is reduced, improving the degree of freedom in the mounting location on a vehicle or the like.

[0045] <Other forms> The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately modified, improved, etc. In addition, the material, shape, size, number, arrangement location, etc. of each component in the above-described embodiment are arbitrary as long as the present invention can be achieved, and are not limited.

[0046] In the above embodiment, in addition to the first locking portion 23, the upper cover 20 is provided with the second locking portion 26, but depending on the location and environment in which the electrical connection box 1 is installed, the locking portion provided on the upper cover 20 may be only the first locking portion 23.

[0047] Specifically, when the force acting on the upper cover 20 in the upward direction is less than a predetermined value, the upper end surface 25a does not function as the above-mentioned guide, and the locked projections 13 and the locking projections 25 interfere with each other, preventing the upper cover 20 from being separated from the frame 10. For this reason, when the electrical junction box 1 is mounted in a location where vibrations generated when the vehicle is traveling are difficult to transmit, the first locking portion 23 may be the only locking portion provided on the upper cover 20.

[0048] Here, the features of the above-described embodiments of the electrical junction box according to the present invention will be briefly summarized and listed in the following [1] to [3]. [1] An electric connection box (1) including a first resin body (frame 10) in which an electronic component (component R) is housed, and a second resin body (upper cover 20) assembled to the first resin body, The second resin body (upper cover 20) is A frame-shaped first wall portion (side wall portion 21) extending in an assembly direction (vertical direction) with the first resin body (frame 10); and a second wall portion (upper wall portion 22) that closes the open end of the first wall portion. The second wall portion (upper wall portion 22) has a recess (29) at one end (front end) in a first direction intersecting with the assembly direction, The first wall portion (side wall portion 21) is provided with a first engaging portion (23) that is engaged with the engaged portion (12) of the first resin body, The first locking portion (23) is a locking projection (25) that comes into contact with the locked projection (13) when the second resin body (upper cover 20) is assembled to the first resin body (frame 10) and moves over the locked projection (13) of the locked portion toward the first resin body in the assembly direction (the lower side in the up-down direction) to be locked by the locked projection, The locking projection (25) has: When the second resin body (upper cover 20) is separated from the first resin body (frame 10) along the assembly direction (vertical direction), an inclined surface (upper end surface 25a) is provided to guide the second resin body to get over the engaged projection (13) in the assembly direction (upper side in the vertical direction). Electrical junction box(1). [2] In the electrical connection box (1) described in [1] above, The second wall portion (upper wall portion 22) has A pair of the recesses (29a, 29b) are provided so as to be spaced apart from each other in a second direction (left-right direction) intersecting the assembly direction and the first direction. Electrical junction box(1). [3] In the electrical connection box (1) described in [2] above, The first wall portion (side wall portion 21) is The first engaging portion (23) is provided at the one end (front end) in the first direction, A second engaging portion (26) that is engaged with the engaged portion (12) is provided at the other end (rear end) in the first direction. Electrical junction box(1).

[0049] According to the electrical connection box having the configuration of [1] above, the first engaging portion of the second resin body has an engaging protrusion that, when the second resin body is assembled to the first resin body, goes over the engaged protrusion of the engaged portion of the first resin body toward the first resin body in the assembly direction and is engaged with the engaged protrusion. The engaging protrusion is provided with an inclined surface that guides the protrusion to go over the engaged protrusion toward the second resin body in the assembly direction. As a result, when the upper cover is separated from the frame, the engagement between the engaging protrusion and the engaged protrusion is released by pulling the upper cover toward the second resin body in the assembly direction, and the upper cover can be easily separated from the frame. Furthermore, a recess is provided at one end of the second wall portion of the second resin body in the first direction. As a result, when the upper cover is separated from the frame, for example, the other end of the first wall portion of the second resin body in the first direction and the inner wall of the recess can be used as a place for fingers, i.e., a gripping portion of the upper cover. In this way, the electrical junction box having the above-described configuration not only provides excellent separation workability for the second resin body from the first resin body, but also reduces the working space required for the separation work.

[0050] According to the electrical junction box having the configuration [2] above, a pair of recesses are provided in the second wall, so that when separating the upper cover from the frame, the index finger is placed in one recess, the middle finger in the other recess, and the thumb is placed on the other end of the first wall in the first direction, allowing the upper cover to be easily operated with three fingers. In other words, the electrical junction box of this configuration is excellent in the ease of separating the second resin body from the first resin body, and can further reduce the working space required during the separation work.

[0051] According to the electrical junction box having the configuration [3] above, the second locking portion is provided in addition to the first locking portion, so that unintentional separation of the upper cover from the frame can be suppressed. [Explanation of symbols]

[0052] 1 Electrical junction box 2 Fixing points 10 Frame (first resin body) 12 Locked part 13 Locked protrusion 13a Lower end surface 20 Upper cover (second resin body) 21 Side wall portion (first wall portion) 22 Upper wall portion (second wall portion) 23 First locking portion 25 Locking protrusion 25a Upper end surface (slanted surface) 26 Second locking part 28 Locking protrusion 28a Top surface 29, 29a, 29b Recess 30 Lower cover R Parts

Claims

1. An electrical connection box including a first resin body in which an electronic component is housed, and a second resin body assembled to the first resin body, The second resin body is a frame-shaped first wall portion extending in an assembly direction with the first resin body; and a second wall portion that closes an open end of the first wall portion. The second wall portion has a recess at one end in a first direction intersecting with the assembly direction, The first wall portion is provided with a first engaging portion that is engaged with the engaged portion of the first resin body, The first locking portion is a locking projection that, when the second resin body is assembled to the first resin body, passes over a locking projection of the locking portion toward the first resin body in the assembly direction and is locked by the locking projection, The locking projection has: an inclined surface is provided that contacts the engaged projection and guides the engaged projection to move over the engaged projection toward the second resin body in the assembly direction when the second resin body is separated from the first resin body in the assembly direction; The first wall portion is The first engaging portion is provided at the one end in the first direction, a second locking portion that is locked to the locked portion is provided at the other end in the first direction, At the one end in the first direction, the inclined surface of the locking projection of the first locking portion is formed so as not to face parallel to a lower end surface of the locked projection, At the other end in the first direction, an upper end surface of the locking projection of the second locking portion is formed to face parallel to a lower end surface of the locked projection of the locked portion. Electrical junction box.

2. 2. The electrical junction box according to claim 1, The second wall portion has a pair of the recesses are provided so as to be spaced apart from each other in a second direction intersecting the assembly direction and the first direction; Electrical junction box.

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