JPH0328883B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an electrical connection box used, for example, as a joint box, fuse box, or relay box for automobiles.

(Prior Art) A conventional electrical connection box has a structure in which a large number of bus bars of various shapes are stacked and housed in a chamber formed by an upper case and a lower case with insulating plates interposed therebetween. In this case, the bus bar was formed into the desired shape by punching out a conductor plate using a press.

However, electrical junction boxes with this type of structure require very complicated press dies to punch out the busbars, making it difficult to adapt to each design change, and the die costs are high, resulting in high depreciation costs. big,
There were drawbacks that increased product costs.

Furthermore, an electrical connection box has been proposed in which a grid-like conductor is punched out of a metal plate in the form of a grid, and the intersections are separated to obtain the required circuit shape according to the required circuit. An electrical junction box having such a structure has the advantage that any electrical circuit can be formed as required.

However, in the case of such a structure, there is a drawback that the cutting operation to form the lattice-like conductor into a required shape is extremely troublesome and time-consuming.
In addition, such a structure has the disadvantage that once the circuit is formed, it is not possible to change the circuit during subsequent use, or if a mistake is discovered.

(Object of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connection box that is easy to manufacture, can easily accommodate design changes, and can easily form necessary circuits. .

(Structure of the Invention) The electrical junction box according to the present invention includes a plurality of first strips facing in a first direction and parallel to each other in a unit case.
and a plurality of parallel second conductive wires facing in a second direction crossing the first conductive wires are housed insulated from each other, and the first conductive wires and the second conductive wires are insulated from each other. The present invention is characterized in that plug-in cross connectors are fitted to specific crossing portions of the conducting wires, respectively, for making cross connections by being plugged into these portions.

(Example) Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 7 show a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the electrical connection box of this embodiment has a unit case 1 made of an insulating material in the form of a grid. This unit case 1 is
A plurality of first support frames 2 facing in a first direction and parallel to each other; and a plurality of second supports facing in a second direction orthogonal to the first support frames 2 and parallel to each other. It has a structure in which the frame 3 is integrally molded in a lattice shape. first support frame 2
In the part of the second support frame 3 that exists in between,
First conducting wire fitting grooves 4 are formed respectively, and first conducting wires 5 are fitted and supported in these grooves 4, respectively. A portion of the first support frame 2 existing between the second support frames 3 has a second
Conductive wire fitting grooves 6 are formed, and second conductive wires 7 are respectively fitted and supported in these grooves 6. The first conducting wire fitting groove 4 is formed deeper than the second conducting wire fitting groove 6, so that the second conducting wire 5 and the second conducting wire 7 do not come into contact with each other at their intersections. . In this embodiment, the first and second conductive wires 5 and 7 have an inverted U-shaped cross section. In order to connect the crossing portions of the first and second conductive wires 5 and 7 to form a necessary circuit, in this embodiment, a plug-in cross connector 8 for cross connection between the lines is used.
is used. This plug-in cross connector 8 is
A cross-connection conductor 9 formed from a metal plate into an L-shape is provided, and a first conductor insertion connection groove 10 is formed in the lower part of one piece of the cross-connection conductor 9 to be inserted and connected to the first conductor 5. At the bottom of the other piece is a second
A second conductive wire insertion connection groove 11 is formed to be plug-connected to the conductive wire 7 . The width w' of these grooves 10 and 11 is selected to be smaller than the outer width w of the first and second conducting wires 5 and 7, which have an inverted U-shaped cross section, that is, w>w'. In addition, in this embodiment, in order to connect the crossing parts of the first and second conductive wires 5 and 7 to form a necessary circuit, and to connect a female coupler of an external electric wire, a cross connection between the wires with a male terminal is provided. A plug-in cross connector 12 is used. This plug-in type cross connector 12 includes a cross connection conductor 13 formed from a metal plate into an L shape.
A first conducting wire insertion groove 14 is formed in the lower part of one piece to be plug-connected to the first conducting wire 5, and a second conducting wire insertion groove 14 is formed in the lower part of the other piece to be plug-connected to the second conducting wire 7. A connection groove 15 is formed, and a male terminal 16 is provided protruding from the upper end of the cross connection conductor 13. In this case, the relationship between the width w' of the grooves 14 and 15 and the outer width w of the first and second conductive wires 5 and 7 is also w>
w′ is selected.

When such an electrical junction box is used, the plug-in cross connectors 8, 12, etc. are connected to the first and second conductors 5, 7.
A required electrical circuit can be easily formed by plugging and connecting the required intersections. Furthermore, if it becomes necessary to change the circuit, the plug-in cross connectors 8, 12, etc. can be pulled out and connected by plugging into other crossing sections, thereby making it easy to change the circuit. In this case, in this embodiment, since the first and second conductive wires 5 and 7 have an inverted U-shaped cross section, they have a spring action due to their cross-sectional shape, and can be connected to the plug-in cross connectors 8 and 12. Good electrical contact can be achieved. The electrical connection box and the external electric wire can be connected by inserting a female contact attached to the external electric wire into the male terminal 16 of the plug-in cross connector 12.

Note that the plug-in cross connectors 8 and 12 are not limited to those shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, and as shown in FIGS.
It is also possible to use a structure in which the member has a rectangular cylindrical shape and has grooves 10, 11, 14, and 15 in the lower part of the opposing piece, respectively. In this way, contact resistance can be reduced.

As the plug-in cross connector, a plug-in cross connector 17 for cross connection between wires with female terminals as shown in FIG. 10 or 11 can also be used. The plug-in cross connector 17 shown in FIG. 10 has a first conducting wire plug-in connection groove 19 formed at the bottom of one piece of a cross-connection conductor 18 formed in an L-shape, and a first conductor plug-in connection groove 19 at the bottom of the other piece. 2 conductor insertion connection grooves 20 are formed, and the cross connection conductor 1
A female terminal 21 is integrally protruded from the upper part of the terminal 8. In the plug-in type cross connector 17 shown in FIG. 11, the cross connection conductor 18 has a rectangular cylindrical shape, and grooves 19 and 20 are formed in the lower parts of the opposing pieces, respectively.
This is different from the one shown in FIG. 10 in that a structure having the following structure is used.

FIG. 12 shows another embodiment of the electrical connection box according to the present invention. In this example, the first and second
This figure shows an example in which a wire with a circular cross section is used as the conducting wire 5. Note that 22 and 23 are an upper connecting hook and a lower connecting hook that are made of protrusions protruding from different side surfaces of the unit case 1.

FIG. 13 shows an example of a completed state of one unit of the electrical connection box according to the present invention. That is, in this electrical junction box, a lower cover 24 as shown in FIG. It is attached by locking it to. Note that 26 is a terminal insertion hole provided in the lower cover 24. An upper cover 27 is placed on the upper surface of the unit case 1, and a loop-shaped connecting piece 28 protruding from the side surface of the upper cover 27 is secured to the upper connecting hook 22 of the unit case 1. On the upper surface of the upper cover 27 is a top-open male housing 29 that surrounds the outer periphery of the gathering portion of the male terminals 16 of the unit case 1, and a male housing 29 that surrounds the gathering portion of the female terminals 21 (not shown in FIG. 13). A closed female housing 30 is provided in a protruding manner. A terminal insertion hole 31 is formed in the upper surface of the female housing 30 to correspond to the female terminal 21 . male terminal 1
For example, a female terminal (not shown) of a female coupler 33 attached to the electric wire 32 is connected to 6, and a female terminal (not shown) in the female housing 30 is connected to, for example, a blade type fuse 3 through a terminal insertion hole 31.
4 blade terminals 35 are plugged and connected.

FIG. 15 shows an example of a completed state of two units of the electrical connection box according to the present invention. That is, this embodiment shows an example in which two unit cases 1 are stacked one on top of the other, the lower cover 24 is attached to the lower surface thereof, and the upper cover 27 is attached to the upper surface thereof.

In this case, for electrical connection between the upper and lower unit cases 1, inter-unit connectors 36 and 37 as shown in FIGS. 16 to 19 are used, for example.
The inter-unit connector 36 shown in FIG. 16 has a structure in which conducting wire insertion connection grooves 39 and 40 are provided above and below an inter-unit connecting conductor 38 having a U-shaped cross section. In such an inter-unit connector 36, the first or second conductor 5 or 7 in the upper unit case 1 is inserted into the upper groove 39, and the first or second conductor in the lower unit case 1 is connected to the lower groove 40. The upper and lower unit cases 1 are electrically connected by inserting and connecting the first or second conducting wire 5 or 7.

The unit-to-unit connector 36 shown in FIG. 17 is an example in which the unit-to-unit connection conductor 38 has a rectangular cylindrical shape, and grooves 39 and 40 are provided at the top and bottom of a pair of opposing pieces, respectively.

The inter-unit connector 37 shown in FIG. 18 has a first conducting wire insertion connection groove 42 in the upper part of one piece of the inter-unit connecting conductor 41 having an L-shaped cross section, and a second conductor insertion groove 42 in the lower part of the other piece. It has a structure in which a connecting groove 43 for inserting a conductive wire is provided.

The inter-unit connector 37 shown in FIG. 19 has an inter-unit connecting conductor 41 shaped like a rectangular cylinder, with a first conductor insertion connection groove 42 provided in the upper part of one opposing piece, and a first conductor insertion connection groove 42 in the lower part of the other opposing piece. This figure shows an example in which two conductive wire insertion connection grooves 43 are provided.

Note that the connection between the external electric wire 32 and the conductors 5 and 7 inside the unit case is not only made using the plug-in cross connectors 12 and 17 as described above, but also by connecting only one of the conductors 5 or 7 by plug-in. The second
It is also possible to use a plug-in single wire connector 45 having a conductor plug connection groove 44 as shown in FIG.

Furthermore, if it becomes necessary to connect adjacent conductors 5 or 7 in the same direction, a plug-in type co-directional conductor interconnection having a conductor insertion groove 46 as shown in FIG. 21 or 22 may be used. The connection can be made using the child 47.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, the electrical junction box according to the present invention has first conducting wires that are arranged parallel to each other facing the first direction and parallel wires facing the second direction. The second conducting wire is housed in a manner that is mutually insulated, and a desired electrical circuit is formed by connecting the required crossing portions of these first and second conducting wires with a plug-in cross connector. Compared to conventional methods in which electrical circuits are formed by cutting off unnecessary parts of grid-shaped conductors, this method has the advantage that the electrical circuit can be easily formed because all that is required is insertion. Further, according to the present invention, even after forming an electric circuit once, there is an advantage that if the circuit is changed or a mistake is discovered, the electric circuit can be formed any number of times. Further, according to the present invention, various types of circuits can be formed using the same parts, so that costs can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part of an embodiment of an electrical junction box according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a plug-in cross connector for cross connection between lines used in this embodiment. Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the width of the groove of this cross connector and the width of the conductor; Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of a plug-in cross connector for cross connection between wires with male terminals; Figure 5 is a plan view showing the connection state between this plug-in cross connector for cross connection between wires with male terminals and the first and second conductor wires, and Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A' in Figure 5. , Figure 7 is B- in Figure 5.
8 is a perspective view showing a modification of FIG. 2, FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a modification of FIG. 4, and FIGS. 10 and 11 are wire cross sections with female terminals. FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing two types of plug-in cross connectors for connection; FIG. 12 is a perspective view of main parts showing another example of the electrical junction box according to the present invention; FIG. 13 is a one-unit case. FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing an example of an electrical connection box according to the present invention in a completed state, FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing an example of a lower cover, and FIG. 15 is an example of an electrical connection box according to the invention formed of two units. FIGS. 16 to 19 are perspective views showing four types of inter-unit connectors; FIG. 20 is a perspective view showing an example of a plug-in single wire connector; FIGS.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view and a cross-sectional view of two examples of plug-in co-conductor interconnects. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Unit case, 2... First support frame, 3... Second support frame, 4... First conducting wire fitting groove, 5... First conducting wire, 6... Second conducting wire fitting groove, 7... Second conducting wire, 8... Plug-in cross connector for cross connection between lines, 9... Cross connection conductor, 10
...First conducting wire insertion connection groove, 11...Second conducting wire insertion connection groove, 12...Plug-in type cross connector for cross connection between wires with male terminal, 13...Cross connection conductor, 14...First conducting wire insertion connection Groove, 15...2nd
Conductor insertion connection groove, 16...male terminal, 17...insertion type cross connector for cross connection between wires with female terminal, 21...female terminal, 24...lower cover, 27
...Atsupah cover.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Inside the unit case, a plurality of first conductive wires facing in a first direction and parallel to each other, and a plurality of second conductive wires facing in a second direction and parallel to each other intersecting these first conductors. are housed insulated from each other, and plug-in cross connectors are fitted into specific crossing portions of the first conductor and the second conductor to respectively plug and connect them to make a cross connection. An electrical connection box characterized by: