Patent Application
20080200065
This invention relates generally to electrical housings, and more particularly to, a cover lock for electrical housings.
Electrical housings, such as protectors or wire channels, can be used to internally route and protect electrical wires and like components. These housings are commonly used in vehicles like automobiles. The electrical housings are ordinarily fitted with separate covers and cover locks that secure the covers on housing bodies. Some cover lock designs can be easily damaged when unlocked.
One embodiment of the invention can include a cover lock for an electrical housing having a male member disposed on a first member of the electrical housing to be mated with a female member disposed on a second member of the electrical housing for locking the first member to the second member. The male member has a pair of ramps that are spaced horizontally apart to define a vertical slot that is capable of receiving a tool for unlocking the cover lock.
Another embodiment of the invention can include an electrical housing having a body with a side wall, a cover with an edge that fits over the body, and at least one cover lock that secures the cover to the body. The cover lock further includes a male member extending from the cover's edge, a female member extending from the body's side wall, and at least one rib mounted on the body's side wall.
Another embodiment of the invention can include a method having the steps of providing a cover lock with a male member disposed on a first member of an electrical housing, and providing a female member disposed on a second member of the electrical housing. The method also has the steps of locking the first member to the second member by inserting the male member into the female member, and unlocking the first member from the second member by wedging a tool partly within both the male member and the female member to flex the male member and the female member away from each other.
Referring in more detail to the drawings,
Referring now to
Referring now to both
A pair of ramps 28 is provided on the male member 18 for inserting the male member 18 into the female member 20, and to hold the male member therein. The pair of ramps 28 are two distinct ramps that are spaced horizontally apart to define a slot 38 that will be discussed later. And more than a pair of ramps 28 can be provided and still define the slot 38. In any case, each ramp can have a ramp-like shape or similar shapes to allow the male member 18 to be inserted in the female member 20. The ramps 28 protrude from the front surface 30 at an end of the body 26. Each ramp has a ramp surface 40 extending from the bevel 36 to a top surface 42. Each ramp also has at least one side surface 44 that partly defines the slot 38. As shown, each ramp 28 has two side surfaces 44 with only one of them defining part of the slot 38.
Referring now to
The female member 20 receives and releases the male member 18 to respectively lock and unlock the cover lock 10. Like the male member 18, the female member 20 is made out of a suitable plastic like the thermoplastic polypropylene, and is injection molded as part of the electrical housing 12 or formed as a separate piece to be later attached to the electrical housing 12 by welding, fastening, gluing, or the like. The female member 20 can be disposed on either the cover 14 or the body 16, whichever one is opposite the male member 18 in the particular case. As shown, the female member 20 extends from a side wall of the body 16. In order to receive and release the male member 18, the female member 20 defines a passage 46 by a pair of oppositely disposed legs 48 with a beam 50 extending therebetween.
The passage 46 extends completely through the female member 20, and is sized to receive the male member 18. On each side, the legs 48 protrude away from the side wall of the body 16 a sufficient distance to accommodate the ribs 22 and the mated male member 18. The beam 50, on the other hand, extends horizontally between the legs 48 and is slightly raised above them to define an offset or indentation 52 that catches the ramps 28 when the members are mated. The slight raise more evenly distributes stress on the female member 20. The beam 50 has an upper edge with a taper 54 to ease inserting the male member 18 into the female member 20 as will be described later.
As mentioned, the cover lock 10 can optionally include the ribs 22 for fitting the male member 18 with the female member 20 when they are mated. In other words, the ribs 22 can ensure that the ramps 28 are positioned properly to be caught by the indentation 52. The ribs 22 are made of a suitable plastic like the thermoplastic polypropylene, and are injection molded as part of the electrical housing 12 or formed as a separate piece to be later attached by welding, fastening, gluing, or the like. The ribs 22 are disposed on either the cover 14 or the body 16, depending on where the female and male members are located. As shown, the ribs 22 are located adjacent and underneath the female member 20 and protrude away from the side wall of the body 16 and extend from the top of the side wall down past the female member 20. In other embodiments, the ribs 22 could be a single rib similarly situated as the above described pair of ribs. In any case, the ribs 22 define a bearing surface 56 on its front face.
When used with the electrical housing 12 as shown in the figures, the cover lock 10 can selectively lock and unlock the cover 14 to and from the body 16. The cover 14 and the body 16 can be first aligned and brought together as shown in
To unlock the cover lock 10, the male member 18 is removed out of the passage 46 of the female member 20 without damaging either member. To do this, the screwdriver 17 is placed in the slot 38 and at least partly in the passage 46 from either the top direction or the bottom direction. From the top direction, the end of the screwdriver is first wedged through the passage 46 from the taper 54 side and can continue completely through the passage 46 and into the slot 38 to define a fulcrum at about the slot 38 at which to pivot the screwdriver end. The screwdriver end is then pivoted thereat to pry the beam 50 over the ramps 28. Both the beam 50 and the male member 18 flex away from each other so that the male member 18 can be pulled out of the female member 20 and thus the cover 14 can be taken off of the body 16. From the bottom direction, as shown in
It will be readily understood by those persons skilled in the art that the present invention is susceptible of broad utility and application. Many embodiments and adaptations of the present invention other than those described above, as well as many variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements, will be apparent from or reasonably suggested by the present invention and the foregoing description, without departing from the substance or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, while the present invention has been described herein in detail in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that this disclosure is only illustrative and exemplary of the present invention and is made merely for purposes of providing a full and enabling disclosure of the invention. The foregoing disclosure is not intended or to be construed to limit the present invention or otherwise to exclude any such other embodiments, adaptations, variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements, the present invention being limited only by the following claims and the equivalents thereof.
