JP5880864B2 - Electrical junction box - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrical junction box mounted on an automobile or the like, and more particularly to an electrical junction box provided with a plurality of connector mounting portions to which a plurality of different types of connectors are attached.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an automobile or the like, an electrical junction box such as a relay block, a connector block, or a junction box is used for efficiently arranging electrical components such as a relay and a connector. Some of such electrical junction boxes are provided with a plurality of connector mounting portions in order to attach a plurality of connectors.

  By the way, in the electrical junction box provided with a plurality of connector mounting portions, the position of the connector mounting portion is determined in consideration of the type of connector to be mounted, the surrounding arrangement space, and the like. Therefore, it is necessary to correctly attach a corresponding predetermined type of connector to each connector mounting portion.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-228943 (Patent Document 1) discloses a connector in which a recess having a different opening shape is provided for each of different types of connectors, and a protrusion having a shape corresponding to the recess is provided on the connector mounting portion side. A structure for preventing erroneous connection is disclosed. According to this erroneous connection prevention structure, when an incorrect connector is to be attached, the projection of the connector mounting portion interferes without entering the concave portion of the connector, thereby preventing the erroneous connection of the connector.

  However, in the structure for preventing erroneous connection as described in Patent Document 1, a protrusion having a shape corresponding to the concave portion of each connector has to be formed, resulting in a complicated shape and an increase in manufacturing cost. It was. Moreover, since the protrusion of the connector mounting portion is provided so as to protrude outside the engaging piece that engages with the connector, there is a problem that space efficiency is deteriorated.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-228943

  The present invention has been made in the background of the above-mentioned circumstances, and the problem to be solved is an electrical junction box having a novel structure that can prevent connector misconnection with a very simple structure and space efficiency. Is to provide.

A first aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of connector mounting portions to which a plurality of different types of connectors are attached, and each of the connector mounting portions is formed with an engaging portion that is engaged with a locking claw of the connector. In the electrical junction box, in which an engagement piece and a pair of guide ribs extending in the extending direction of the engagement piece are formed on both sides of the engagement piece, a separation distance between the pair of guide ribs but whereas there is a single in each said connector mounting portion, wherein the length of at least one of the pair of guide ribs are different among the plurality of connector mounting portion, prior Kiko connector pair of the mounting portion on at least one of the length of the guide ribs, when the connector of the normal is attached to the connector mounting portion to permit engagement with the engaging portion of the engaging pieces and the connector, the Contact with the connector on the leading edge of said pair of guide ribs projecting wall projecting from the said connector is the connector mounting portion when in respect connector mounting portion and the connector other than the connector of the regular is attached It is characterized by comprising a misconnection prevention means set to a length dimension that prevents the engagement between the engagement claw and the engagement portion of the connector mounting portion .

  In the electrical connection box structured according to the present invention, when an incorrect connector is to be mounted on the connector mounting portion, before the engagement portion of the connector mounting portion and the connector are engaged, The guide rib abuts against the connector to prevent further insertion, thereby preventing the engagement between the engaging portion and the connector. This makes it impossible to mount the wrong connector and prevents the connector from being connected incorrectly.

  In addition, it is possible to obtain an erroneous connection preventing means with a very simple configuration in which the lengths of the guide ribs provided in the connector mounting portion are different. Furthermore, since only the length of the guide rib is changed, the amount of protrusion to the outside of the connector mounting portion (in the height direction of the guide rib) does not increase, and a means for preventing erroneous connection can be formed in a space efficient manner. I can do it.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the one described in the first aspect, the pair of guide ribs in the connector mounting portions have the same length.

  According to this aspect, since the leading edge portions of the guide ribs on both sides of the engagement piece are positioned equally in the connector insertion direction, the connector can be easily inserted between the guide ribs. In addition, when an erroneous connector is to be attached to the connector mounting portion, the operator can be made to recognize the erroneous connection more clearly by causing the connector to strike both guide ribs simultaneously.

  In the present invention, when an incorrect connector is to be attached by changing the length of the guide rib in the plurality of connector mounting portions, the guide rib contacts the connector to prevent further insertion of the connector. Thus, an erroneous connection preventing means for preventing the engagement between the engagement portion of the connector mounting portion and the connector is provided. Thereby, it is possible to prevent connector misconnection with an extremely simple structure and excellent cost efficiency and space efficiency.

The disassembled perspective view which shows together the electrical-connection box and connector as one Embodiment of this invention. The side view of the electric junction box shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a top view of the electrical junction box shown in FIG. 1. The side view of the double insertion connector shown in FIG. The side view of the single insertion connector shown in FIG. Sectional drawing which shows the VI-VI cross section in FIG. 2 in a connector mounting state. Sectional drawing which shows the VII-VII cross section in FIG. 2 in a connector mounting state. The VIII arrow directional view in FIG. 2 in a connector incorrect connection state. IX-IX sectional drawing in FIG. 2 in a connector incorrect connection state.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  First, FIG. 1 shows a relay block 10 as an electrical connection box as one embodiment of the present invention, and a double-insertion connector 12 and a single-insertion connector 14 attached to the relay block 10. In FIG. 1, electric wires extending from the male connector 48 connected to the both-insertion connector 12 and the single-insertion connector 14 are omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the relay block 10 is an integrally molded product made of synthetic resin, and has a box-like shape with a long rectangular shape as a whole. A plurality of relay mounting portions 16 are formed inside the relay block 10, and a plurality of relays 18 can be mounted on each relay mounting portion 16.

  Connector mounting portions 22a to 22c are integrally formed on the side wall 20a extending in the longitudinal direction of the relay block 10 (left and right direction in FIG. 3). A connector mounting portion 22d is integrally formed on the side wall 20b extending in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the relay block 10. Thus, a total of four connector mounting portions 22a to 22d are integrally formed in the relay block 10.

  The connector mounting portion 22 a has a structure in which a pair of guide ribs 26 and 26 are formed on both sides of the engagement piece 24. The engagement piece 24 has a tongue-like shape extending in the thickness direction (vertical direction in FIG. 2) of the relay block 10 with a gap with respect to the side wall 20a. On the other hand, the leading edge 30 is a free end. Slits 32a and 32b extending in directions approaching from each of the base end edge 28 and the front end edge 30 are formed in an intermediate portion of the engagement piece 24 in the width direction (left and right direction in FIG. 2). A connecting portion between the slit 32 a and the slit 32 b is an engaging portion 34. That is, the engagement piece 24 of the present embodiment is divided in the width direction by the slits 32 a and 32 b and is connected in the width direction at the engagement portion 34.

  Guide ribs 26 are formed on both sides of the engagement piece 24 in the width direction (left-right direction in FIG. 2). The guide ribs 26 are extended in the extending direction of the engaging piece 24 (up and down direction in FIG. 2) with a gap from the engaging piece 24. Thereby, slide grooves 36, 36 are formed between the guide ribs 26, 26 and the engagement piece 24. Further, the length dimension Ls of the guide ribs 26 and 26 in the present embodiment is equal to each other, and the length dimension Ls of the guide ribs 26 and 26 of the connector mounting portion 22a is substantially the same as the length dimension of the engagement piece 24. Are equal. As a result, the leading edge portions 38, 38 of the guide ribs 26, 26 are set at substantially the same position as the leading edge portion 30 of the engaging piece 24 in the extending direction of the engaging piece 24 (vertical direction in FIG. 2). ing. The guide ribs 26, 26 are formed with tapered surfaces 40, 40 that expand toward the front edge portions 38, 38 on the front edge portions 38, 38 side, so that the connector can be easily inserted. Yes.

  In the connector mounting portion 22a, a pair of approach guide ribs 42, 42 are formed between the engagement piece 24 and the side wall 20a. The approach guide ribs 42, 42 protrude from the side wall 20 a toward the engagement piece 24, face the engagement piece 24 with a gap, and extend in the extending direction of the engagement piece 24 (in FIG. 2). (Vertical direction). The front end portions of the approach guide ribs 42 are set at a position substantially equal to the front end edge 30 of the engagement piece 24 in the extending direction of the engagement piece 24. Furthermore, a taper 44 is formed at the distal end portions of the approach guide ribs 42, 42 so that the projecting dimension from the side wall 20a increases toward the base end edge portion 28 side of the engagement piece 24.

  On the other hand, since the connector mounting portions 22b to 22d have the same shape, the connector mounting portion 22b will be described below as an example. Further, since the connector mounting portions 22b to 22d have substantially the same shape as the connector mounting portion 22a, the same reference numerals as those of the connector mounting portion 22a are attached to the same portions as the connector mounting portion 22a. Therefore, the description is omitted.

  The connector mounting portion 22b has the same shape as the connector mounting portion 22a except that the lengths of the guide ribs 26, 26 of the connector mounting portion 22a are different. The length dimension L1 of the guide ribs 26, 26 of the connector mounting portion 22b is set to be larger than the length dimension Ls of the guide ribs 26, 26 of the connector mounting portion 22a (see FIG. 2). , In the vertical direction). As a result, the leading edge portions 38, 38 of the guide ribs 26, 26 of the connector mounting portion 22b are longer than the leading edge portion 30 of the engaging piece 24 in the extending direction of the engaging piece 24 (the vertical direction in FIG. 2). It protrudes and is located equally to the edge part 46 of the side wall 20a in this embodiment. Therefore, only the length dimension of the guide ribs 26 and 26 of the connector mounting part 22a among the connector mounting parts 22a to 22d is shorter than the length dimension of the guide ribs 26 and 26 of the connector mounting parts 22b to 22d. And the distance: Db from the front end edge 30 of the guide rib 26 in the connector mounting portions 22b to 22d to the engaging surface with the engaging claw 54 in the engaging portion 34 is different from the protruding wall 56 in the double insertion connector 12 described later. The distance between the engaging claw 54 and the engaging surface with the engaging portion 34 is larger than Dc (see FIG. 4).

  And the connector mounting part 22a, 22b, 22c is formed in the side wall 20a, and the connector mounting part 22d is formed in the side wall 20b. These connector mounting portions 22a to 22d are formed by alternately changing the opening direction. Thereby, in the side wall 20a, the connector mounting portion 22a and the connector mounting portion 22c are formed to open in the same direction (upward in FIG. 2), while the connector mounting portion 22b is in the opposite direction (lower in FIG. 2). It is formed to open. Further, the connector mounting portion 22d of the side wall 20b is formed to open in the same direction (downward in FIG. 2) as the connector mounting portion 22b.

  The double insertion connector 12 is attached to such a connector attachment portion 22a, and the single insertion connector 14 can be attached to the connector attachment portions 22b to 22d. FIG. 4 shows the double insertion connector 12. Both insertion connectors 12 can be connected to each other by inserting male connectors 48 and 48 (see FIG. 1) from both sides (upper and lower sides in FIG. 4). A pair of slide ribs 50, 50 extending in parallel with each other with an L-shaped cross section are formed on the outer surface of the both insertion connectors 12. A protruding piece-shaped engaging piece 52 that is elastically deformable is formed between the slide ribs 50, 50, and a locking claw 54 is formed on the inner surface of the engaging piece 52. Further, in the both-insertion connector 12, projecting walls 56, 56 projecting perpendicular to the extending direction of the slide ribs 50, 50 (vertical direction in FIG. 4) are formed at the base end portions of the slide ribs 50, 50. Has been. The projecting walls 56 are formed at both ends of the insertion connector 12 in the width direction (left-right direction in FIG. 4).

  On the other hand, the male connector 48 can be inserted into only one side of the single insertion connector 14. The single insertion connector 14 is formed with slide ribs 50, 50 similar to the double insertion connector 12, an engagement piece 52 and an engagement claw 54. The single-insertion connector 14 is not formed with the protruding walls 56 and 56 of the double-insertion connector 12, and the protruding shape at the base end portion of the slide ribs 50 and 50 such as the protruding wall 56 is only the double-insertion connector 12. Is formed.

  In the relay block 10 of the present embodiment, the both-insertion connector 12 can be attached only to the connector attachment portion 22a. That is, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, when the both-insertion connector 12 is mounted on the connector mounting portion 22a, the slide ribs 50, 50 of the both-insertion connector 12 are connected to the slide grooves 36, 36 (see FIG. 2 and the like), and both insertion connectors 12 are slid along the slide grooves 36 and 36. Then, the engaging claw 54 of the engaging piece 52 of the both-insertion connector 12 gets over and engages the engaging portion 34 of the engaging piece 24, whereby the both-insertion connector 12 is mounted on the connector mounting portion 22a.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the double-insertion connector 12 is to be attached to the connector attachment portions 22b to 22d (the connector attachment portion 22c is shown as an example in FIGS. 8 and 9) other than the connector attachment portion 22a. In this case, the projecting walls 56 of the both-insertion connectors 12 abut against the guide ribs 26 before the locking claws 54 of the both-insertion connectors 12 get over the engagement portions 34 of the engagement pieces 24. Therefore, the insertion connector 12 cannot be further inserted into the connector mounting portion 22b, and the locking claw 54 is prevented from getting over the engaging portion 34, and the engagement between the locking claw 54 and the engaging portion 34 is prevented. Match is prevented.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the length of the guide ribs 26, 26 of the connector mounting portions 22b to 22d is made larger than the length of the guide ribs 26, 26 of the connector mounting portion 22a. The misconnection prevention means which blocks | fastens mounting | wearing except 12 connector mounting parts 22a is comprised. Further, it is possible to obtain an erroneous connection preventing means with a very simple structure in which the lengths of the guide ribs 26 and 26 are made different. In addition, as for the protruding dimensions of the connector mounting portions 22b to 22d to the outside of the side walls 20a and 20b of the guide ribs 26 and 26 (downward in FIG. 3 with respect to the side wall 20a and rightward in FIG. 3 with respect to the side wall 20b). Since it is the same as 22a, the amount of protrusion outward from the side walls 20a, 20b is not increased, and a means for preventing erroneous connection can be realized with high space efficiency.

  Furthermore, in each of the connector mounting portions 22a to 22d, the lengths of the pair of guide ribs 26 and 26 are equal to each other. As a result, the positions of the front edge portions 38, 38 of the guide ribs 26, 26 are equally positioned in the sliding direction (vertical direction in FIG. 2) of the both-insertion connector 12 and the single-insertion connector 14. It is possible to easily insert the double insertion connector 12 and the single insertion connector 14 therebetween. Further, when the wrong double insertion connector 12 is to be attached to the connector attachment portions 22b to 22d, both the guide ribs 26 and 26 are simultaneously brought into contact with the projecting walls 56 and 56 of the connector 12. Thus, it is possible to make the worker recognize the misassembly more clearly.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was explained in full detail, this invention is not limited by the specific description. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the lengths of the guide ribs 26 and 26 are set to two types, but three or more types of length are set to form a misconnection prevention means for three or more types of connectors. Of course, it is also possible. Further, the length dimension of the pair of guide ribs provided in the connector mounting portion is not necessarily set to be equal, for example, only one length dimension of the pair of guide ribs is different among the plurality of connector mounting portions. May be.

  Further, the engagement piece is not limited to the one in which the slits 32a and 32b are formed as in the above-described embodiment, and the engagement portion 34 is formed in the non-formation portion of the slits 32a and 32b. For example, the slits 32a and 32b are formed. You may form an engaging part with the protrusion which protrudes inside, without having. Furthermore, the connector mounting portion may be formed inside the electrical connection box and mount the connector in a state of being accommodated in the electrical connection box.

10: Relay block (electric connection box), 12: Double insertion connector, 14: Single insertion connector, 18: Relay, 22a to d: Connector mounting portion, 24: Engagement piece, 26: Guide rib, 34: Engagement portion, 36: slide groove, 48: male connector, 50: slide rib, 52: engagement piece, 54: locking claw, 56: protruding wall

Claims (2)

A plurality of connector mounting portions to which a plurality of different types of connectors are attached are provided, each connector mounting portion including an engagement piece formed with an engagement portion that is engaged with a locking claw of the connector , and the engagement In the electrical junction box having a structure in which a pair of guide ribs extending in the extending direction of the engagement piece is formed on both sides of the piece,
While the separation distance between the pair of guide ribs is single in each of the connector mounting portions, the length of at least one of the pair of guide ribs is different between the plurality of connector mounting portions,
At least one of the length of the pair of guide ribs before Kiko connector mounting portion, when the connector of the normal is attached to the connector mounting portion with the engaging portion of the engaging pieces and the connector While allowing the engagement of
Contact with the said tip edges of the pair of guide ribs projecting wall projecting from the said connector is the connector mounting portion when the connector other than the connector of the regular is mounted to the connector mounting portion An electrical junction box, comprising: an erroneous connection preventing means set to a length dimension for preventing the engagement between the engaging claw of the connector and the engaging portion of the connector mounting portion . The electrical junction box according to claim 1, wherein lengths of the pair of guide ribs in each connector mounting portion are equal to each other.

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