JP7735028B2 - Electrical junction box - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an electrical junction box installed in an automobile.

As an example of an electrical junction box, Patent Document 1 discloses an electrical junction box in which a fuse puller storage section is integrally formed with a frame to which fuses and relays are attached, and in which a fuse puller is always stored. The fuse puller is a molded resin part and is a tool used to pull the fuse out of the frame.

JP 2010-124561 A

The above-mentioned conventional technology has the problem that the number of parts and assembly steps increase due to the inclusion of a fuse puller as a component of the electrical junction box, resulting in higher costs.

The present invention aims to reduce the manufacturing costs of electrical junction boxes that always have fuse pullers.

The electrical junction box of the present invention comprises a frame, a fuse assembled to the frame, and a fuse puller which is a tool for extracting the fuse from the frame, the fuse puller being integrally molded with the frame, the fuse puller being positioned within a through hole formed in a horizontal wall of the frame, and being connected to the inner surface of the through hole via a weak part which allows the fuse puller to be easily separated, the fuse puller comprising a pair of clamping plates, a spring part connecting the clamping plates together, wing parts extending away from each of the base ends of the pair of clamping plates, and a spring part extending from each of the tips of the pair of wing parts towards the tip ends of the clamping plates. and an extended hook portion, the through hole having a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction in a plan view, and when the fuse puller is not separated from the frame, one wing portion is located at one end side of the through hole in the longitudinal direction and the other wing portion is located at the other end side, the pair of wings are located above the horizontal wall, the dimension between the tips of the pair of wings is larger than the dimension of the through hole in the lateral direction, a pair of second through holes are formed in the horizontal wall on both sides of the through hole in the lateral direction, and the pair of hook portions is designed to be insertable into the pair of second through holes when the fuse puller is separated from the frame .

This invention reduces the manufacturing costs of electrical junction boxes that always have fuse pullers.

1 is a plan view of a conventional electrical junction box that is not the present invention but is a premise of the present invention. 1 is a perspective view showing a main part of an electrical junction box according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the electrical junction box of FIG. 2 . 4A to 4C are diagrams illustrating an example of a method for disconnecting the fuse puller of FIG. 3. 5 shows the fuse puller of FIG. 4 rotated and separated from the frangible portion. FIG. 6 is a view showing the frame in a state where the fuse puller in FIG. 5 has been removed. FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the fuse puller separated from the frame of FIG. 4; 8 is a diagram showing how the separated fuse puller of FIG. 7 is housed in a frame. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the fuse puller of FIG. 8 housed in a frame. FIG.

An "electrical junction box" according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 9.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a conventional electrical junction box that forms the basis of the present invention. This electrical junction box 501 includes a frame 502, resin blocks 503a, 503b, 503c, and 503d attached to the frame 502, electronic components such as fuses and relays attached to the mounting portions 31 and 32 of the resin blocks 503a, 503b, 503c, and 503d, a fuse puller housed in the frame 502, and a cover attached to the top surface of the frame 502 to cover the electronic components.

The frame 502 is a resin-molded product obtained by injection molding using a mold. This frame 502 has a rectangular cylindrical peripheral wall 21, multiple partition walls 22 that divide the inside of the peripheral wall 21 into multiple spaces, and a vehicle body fixing portion 23 provided on the outer surface of the peripheral wall 21. Resin blocks 503a, 503b, 503c, 503d, etc. are assembled into each of the spaces divided by the multiple partition walls 22. Furthermore, the symbol S in Figure 1 denotes dead space where no parts can be assembled. In an electrical junction box 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention, this dead space S is utilized for molding and storing fuse pullers.

The electrical junction box 1 shown in Figures 2 and 3 comprises a frame 2 in which the dead space S has been modified, multiple resin blocks attached to the frame 2, electronic components such as fuses and relays attached to the mounting portions 31 and 32 (see Figure 1) of these resin blocks, a fuse puller 4 which is a tool for pulling out the fuses, and a cover attached to the top surface of the frame 2 to cover the electronic components, fuse puller 4, etc.

Frame 2 has the same configuration as frame 502 in Figure 1, except for the dead space S. The fuse puller 4 is integrally molded with frame 2. That is, it is molded using the same injection mold when frame 2 is injection molded. The fuse puller 4 can be used by separating it from frame 2.

The fuse puller 4 is located inside the partition walls 22 that form the dead space S. More specifically, a horizontal wall 6 that connects the partition walls 22 that form the dead space S is added inside the partition walls 22, and the fuse puller 4 is located in a through-hole 7 formed in this horizontal wall 6.

As shown in FIG. 7, the fuse puller 4 comprises a pair of clamping plates 41, a curved spring portion 42 connecting the base ends 41b of the clamping plates 41, a pair of wings 46, and a pair of hooks 47. The wings 46 extend away from each other from the base ends 41b of the clamping plates 41. The hooks 47 extend from the tips of the wings 46 toward the tip ends 41a of the clamping plates 41. Each wing 46 and each hook 47 form a 90-degree angle. The tip end 41a of each clamping plate 41 is provided with an engaging protrusion 44 that engages with the fuse. This fuse puller 4 is used by clamping a fuse between the tip ends 41a of the pair of clamping plates 41 and pulling the fuse out of the resin block with the engaging protrusions 44 engaged with the fuse.

The horizontal wall 6 faces the cover attached to the frame 2. The horizontal wall 6 has the through hole 7 and a pair of second through holes 8 formed therein. The through hole 7 is rectangular in plan view (meaning a view of the top surface of the frame 2 from above, as shown in Figures 3 to 6). That is, the through hole 7 has a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction in plan view. The through hole 7 has inner surfaces 71 and 72 that form the long sides of the rectangle, and inner surfaces 73 and 74 that form the short sides. The dimension between the tips of the pair of wing portions 46 is smaller than the longitudinal dimension of the through hole 7 and larger than the lateral dimension of the through hole 7.

The fuse puller 4 is connected to the inner surfaces 71, 72 of the through hole 7 via a pair of weak portions 5a, 5b that allow the fuse puller 4 to be easily separated. Each weak portion 5a, 5b is formed as a tapered protrusion, with the fuse puller 4 connected to its tip. The fuse puller 4 is connected to the inner surfaces 71, 72 of the through hole 7 with one wing portion 46 located at one longitudinal end of the through hole 7 (the inner surface 73 side) and the other wing portion 46 located at the other longitudinal end (the inner surface 74 side), with the pair of wing portions 46 and the pair of hook portions 47 positioned above the horizontal wall 6. One weak portion 5a protrudes from the inner surface 71 and is connected to one of the clamping plates 41. The other weak portion 5b protrudes from the inner surface 72 and is connected to the other clamping plate 41. The line connecting the pair of weak portions 5a, 5b passes through the center of the fuse puller 4.

A pair of second through holes 8 are formed on both short sides of the through hole 7. Each second through hole 8 has a rectangular shape in plan view. Each second through hole 8 has inner surfaces 81, 82 that form the long sides of the rectangle and inner surfaces 83, 84 that form the short sides. The inner surfaces 81, 82 of each second through hole 8 are parallel to the inner surfaces 71, 72 of the through hole 7. As shown in Figures 8 and 9, a pair of hooks 47 of the fuse puller 4 separated from the frame 2 can be inserted into these pair of second through holes 8.

When separating the fuse puller 4 from the frame 2, for example, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, the fuse puller 4 can be separated by grasping the portion of the fuse puller 4 above the horizontal wall 6 and rotating the fuse puller 4 90 degrees. This allows for easy separation without the use of tools. Furthermore, the pair of wing portions 46 of the separated fuse puller 4 overlaps with the horizontal wall 6, preventing the fuse puller 4 from falling below the through-hole 7.

This type of electrical junction box 1 is shipped with the fuse puller 4 attached to the frame 2, and when a fuse replacement is required, the user separates the fuse puller 4 from the frame 2. After the fuse puller 4 has been used to replace the fuse, as shown in Figures 8 and 9, the tip ends 41a of the pair of clamping plates 41 are inserted into the through-hole 7, and the pair of hooks 47 are inserted into the pair of second through-holes 8, and the fuse puller 4 is stored in the dead space S. In this way, the fuse puller 4 is always kept inside the frame 2 except when the fuse is being replaced.

By integrally molding the fuse puller 4 into the frame 2, the electrical junction box 1 eliminates the need to separately manufacture, manage, and assemble the fuse puller 4 into the frame 2, thereby reducing manufacturing costs. Furthermore, in this example, the fuse puller 4 is provided in the dead space S of the conventional electrical junction box 501, so the above structure can be achieved with minimal modifications.

Note that the pair of second through holes 8 and the pair of hooks 47 are not essential components of the present invention, but their presence allows the separated fuse puller 4 to be stored in the dead space S without falling below the through holes 7.

In the above-described embodiment, the fuse is assembled to the frame via a resin block, but in the present invention, the fuse may be assembled directly to the frame.

The above-described embodiment merely illustrates a typical form of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. In other words, the present invention can be implemented in various modifications without departing from the gist of the invention. As long as such modifications still comprise the configuration of the present invention, they are of course included within the scope of the present invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Electrical junction box 2 Frame 4 Fuse puller 5a, 5b Weak portion 6 Horizontal wall 7 Through hole 41 Clamping plate 42 Spring portion 46 Wing portion

Claims (1)

The fuse puller includes a frame, a fuse mounted in the frame, and a fuse puller that is a tool for pulling out the fuse from the frame.
the fuse puller is integrally molded with the frame, and is positioned within a through-hole formed in a horizontal wall of the frame and is connected to an inner surface of the through-hole via a weakened portion that allows the fuse puller to be easily separated;
the fuse puller includes a pair of clamping plates, a spring portion connecting the clamping plates together, wing portions extending away from the base ends of the pair of clamping plates, and hook portions extending from the tips of the pair of wing portions toward the tip ends of the clamping plates ,
the through hole has a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction in a plan view, and when the fuse puller is not separated from the frame, one wing portion is located at one end side of the through hole in the longitudinal direction, and the other wing portion is located at the other end side, and the pair of wing portions are located above the horizontal wall,
a dimension between the tips of the pair of blades is larger than a dimension of the through hole in the short direction;
a pair of second through holes are formed on both sides of the through hole in the short direction in the horizontal wall,
The pair of hooks are designed to be insertable into the pair of second through holes when the fuse puller is separated from the frame.
An electrical junction box characterized by: