1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connection box.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional electrical connection boxes, such as those cars are equipped with, are known to have a structure where a printed circuit board on which connectors for the board have been mounted is included within a case and the connectors face the outside (see, for example, JP-A-2000-21477). Connectors for the board are mounted along the end portions of a printed circuit board in such a manner that the fitting surfaces thereof are aligned along the board surfaces of the circuit boards, and terminal fittings that have been mounted on these connectors are connected to conductive paths of the circuit board by flow soldering, and in addition, this circuit board is contained within a case having an opening in one surface, and the connectors are aligned so as to face the outside from the opening end side of the case.
Here, the connectors for the board are required to have a high holding force, because opposing connectors, such as those which are attached to the terminals of a wire harness, are fit into or removed from the connectors, and therefore, the connectors for the board are fixed by being attached to the opening end of the case with screws.
In a conventional structure of a portion to which connectors for the board are fixed, an attachment plate is provided so as to protrude from the bottom of the sides of the connectors, and this attachment plate is screwed to the opening end of the case, and therefore, there is a possibility that the connectors for the board are displaced in such a manner that the upper side thereof swings in the case where a large force is applied at the time of engagement and removal of opposing connectors. Therefore, the terminal fittings that have been mounted are also affected, and there is a risk that a problem may arise where cracking occurs, for example, in the soldered portion.
It is an object of the present invention to enhance a holding force of the connectors that have been mounted on a circuit forming board to a case.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided an electrical connection box including: a case having an opening, the case housing a circuit forming board including a conductive path; a connector being mounted on the circuit forming board to face an outside from an opening end side of the case, the connector having a fitting surface which faces a board surface of the circuit forming board; a terminal fitting being attached to the connector, the terminal fitting being connected to the conductive path of the circuit forming board by soldering; a cover being attached to the opening of the case, and a restricting member being provided with the cover and the connector, the restricting member capable of restricting a displacement of the connector in a direction where the connector is engaged with an opposing connector.
When a counterpart connector is engaged with or removed from the connector, a pushing or pulling force in a frontward and rearward direction with respect to the connector works on the connector, whereas a restricting member provided between the cover and the connector can restrict a displacement of the connector relative to the circuit forming board in the frontward and rearward direction with respect to the connector. The connector is prevented from being displaced when a terminal fitting is elastically deformed. Therefore, a soldered portion of the terminal fitting can be prevented from being damaged, for example, cracked. As a result, high reliability can be gained in an electrical connection between the connector and the circuit forming board.
According to another aspect of the invention, a protruding portion and a recess portion are capable of fitting together when the cover is attached to the opening of the case. The protruding portion and the recess portion are provided between a rear surface of the cover and an upper surface of the connector.
When the cover is attached to the case, the protruding portion and the recess portion provided on the rear surface of the cover and on the upper surface of the connector fit together, and the connector is restricted so as to be kept from being displaced in the direction of engagement vis-à-vis the counterpart connector.
According to another aspect of the invention, a sandwiching portion for sandwiching both sides of said connector is provided to the cover.
As the cover is attached, the sandwiching portion provided to the cover sandwiches both sides of the connector. Twisting of the connector becomes difficult when, for example, the opposing connector is engaged or removed, and the terminal fitting can be prevented from being elastically deformed.
These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings in which:
In the following, an embodiment of the present invention is described in reference to
As shown in
In the following, the respective members are described, with the front on the front left side and the rear on the right rear side in
As shown in
The circuit board 11 is formed so as to have an outer shape where a front left side corner is cut off from a rectangle, and conductive paths in a predetermined pattern are formed on both surfaces, the front surface and the rear surface, of the circuit board. In addition, through holes 13 into which male terminals 62 of PCB connector 60 are to be inserted (see
Bus bar board 15 is formed by punching a metal plate having excellent conductivity so as to form a predetermined conductive path that becomes a power circuit, and is formed so as to have an outer shape which approximately matches circuit board 11, and where a number of bus bars 16 are aligned so as to protrude from the rear end. Bus bars 16a which are aligned almost throughout the left side region, excluding the leftmost one as viewed from the front, from among the bus bars 16 are bent twice at right angles on the front surface side of circuit board 11, and thereby, the ends of these bus bars protrude laterally toward the rear, and slits into which fuses are inserted are formed at the ends. In addition, the remaining bus bars 16b are bent twice at right angles, and thereby, the ends protrude laterally towards the front. Here, window holes 17 (see
Circuit board 11 and bus bar board 15 adhere to each other via a thin adhesive sheet (not shown) having insulating properties, so as to be integrated.
As shown in
The entirety of case 20 is formed in a shallow plate form, in order to include circuit forming board 10, and has a structure where heat radiating plate 40 is fit into and placed on the bottom of side frame 21 that corresponds to the surrounding walls.
Frame 21 is made of a synthetic resin, and, as shown in
Positioning pins 22 are made to stand on the upper surface of the four corners of frame 21. Positioning holes 18 into which positioning pins 22 are to be fit are opened in corresponding positions of bus bar board 15 and bus bars 16 of the circuit forming board 10.
Heat radiating plate 40 is provided in order to radiate heat that is generated in electrical parts 12, and is formed of a metal plate, such as aluminum, having high heat conductance, in a form which is approximately the same as the outer shape of frame 21, as shown in
Here, an attachment piece 45 is formed on the rear end of heat radiating plate 40 in a diagonally downward and outward protrusion.
Here, PCB connector 60 that has been mounted on the circuit forming board 10 is placed along a region on the front end side of frame 21 of case 20, specifically, a region from the right end of the front end to a portion that is slightly on the diagonal portion where the left corner is cut off, as shown in
Fitting protrusions 26 in short columnar form are formed on the respective attachment surfaces 25. Screw holes 27 (downward holes) are formed in the upper surfaces of fitting protrusions 26, in the downward direction. Tapping screws 30 with heads 30A can be screwed into these screw holes 27, as shown in
Meanwhile, as shown in
Here, it should be noted that the plate thickness s of attachment plates 70 is set to a value that is smaller than that of the height h of the fitting protrusions 26 by a predetermined value. In other words, in the case where fitting protrusions 26 are fitted into through holes 71 so that the lower surfaces of attachment plates 70 hit attachment surfaces 25, a clearance of the predetermined value is secured between the corners of through holes 71 on the upper side and heads 30A of tapping screens 30 that have been screwed to the maximum into fitting protrusions 26, according to this setting.
In addition, a measure for enhancing the holding force of PCB connector 60 in the case where an opposing connector is engaged with and removed from the PCB connector is taken using cover 50.
Cover 50 is made of a synthetic resin, and can be attached so as to almost completely cover the opening on the upper surface of case 20, as shown in
Here, as shown in
In contrast, three engaging pieces 73 are formed on the back surface side of PCB connector 60, as shown in
In addition, as shown in
Fuse Box 80 is made of a synthetic resin and formed in laterally long form so as to cover the rear surface side of frame 21 along he entirety of the length, as shown in
A number of attachment holes 82A to which fuses 84 are attached are provided in fuse attachment part 82 so as to open on the rear surface side, as shown in
A relay connector 90 can be coupled to the front surface of the region that ranges from fuse attachment part 82 and terminal including part 83 in fuse box 80, and the upper sides of connection terminals 85 and bus bars 16B that protrude to the front from fuse attachment part 82 and terminal including part 83 enter into an engagement portion 91 which opens in the front portion of relay connector 90.
Next, an example of a manufacturing process for an electrical connection box is described. A bus bar substrate 15 is formed by carrying out a pressing process on a metal plate material, and a circuit board 11 is made to adhere to the upper surface of this bus bar substrate 15 via an insulating adhesive sheet (not shown) so as to be integrated, and thus, a circuit forming board 10 is formed. At this time, bus bars 16 that protrude from the rear end of bus bar substrate 15 are bent and processed into the form. After that, electrical parts 12 are mounted on the conductive paths of circuit board 11 and bus bar substrate 15 by reflow soldering.
Next, as shown in
As described above, circuit forming board 10 on which PCB connector 60 has been mounted is assembled from the above into frame 21, as shown in
Next, an insulating adhesive 44 is applied to the entirety of the upper surface of heat radiating plate 40, and, as shown in
Subsequently, PCB connector 60 is secured to frame 21. Namely, as shown at the right side of
Here, in the case where, for example, PCB connector 60 is shifted in position in the direction where it is lifted from circuit forming board 10 and attachment plate 70 is simply screwed to attachment surface 25, the front end side of PCB connector 60 that is not supported by an attachment leg 66 is displaced in a manner where it sinks when the form of male terminals 62 is elastically changed.
In the present embodiment, however, the plate thickness s of attachment plates 70 is set at a value that is smaller than that of height h of engaging protrusions 26, and therefore, even in the case where PCB connector 60 is shifted in position in the direction where it is lifted from circuit forming board 10, clearances still remain between heads 30A of tapping screws 30 and the ends of through holes 71, as shown in the enlarged view of
When screwing in PCB connector 60 is completed, a potting agent, such as a gel (not shown), is put into frame 21, so that the surface of circuit board 11 is coated with the potting agent, and thus, water repelling properties are secured.
After that, as shown in
Meanwhile, as shown in
Subsequently, fuse box 80, to which connection terminals 85 have been attached in advance, is assembled into the rear end of case 20.
Accompanying the assembly of fuse box 80, bus bars 16A, which are provided so as to protrude from bus bar substrate 15, enter into and are attached to the lower side of the corresponding attachment holes 82A in fuse attachment part 82, as shown in
In this electrical connection box, fuses 84 are attached from the rear surface to respective attachment holes 82A of fuse attachment part 82. In addition, opposing connectors (not shown) are engaged from the front surface with PCB connector 60 and relay connector 90. In addition, this electrical connection box is included within the casing of a relay box, in a state where it is placed in the longitudinal direction with PCB connector 60 facing downward, and attached in this state to a car panel in the engine room on the fender side via attachment piece 45 of heat radiating plate 40.
In particular, when an opposing connector is engaged with PCB connector 60 and removed for the purpose of maintenance, a pushing or pulling force in the forward and backward direction is applied to PCB connector 60. Here, though attachment plate 70 of PCB connector 60 on both sides are screwed, the PCB connector 60 can be slightly displaced in the upward and downward direction, and therefore, there is a possibility that the PCB connector 60 is displaced in a manner where the upper side swings to the front and to the rear. However, standing part 73A of engaging piece 73 that has been provided on the rear side of PCB connector 60 enters into engaging trench 56 on the rear side of cover 50 that has been secured to frame 21, and therefore, the displacement of PCB connector 60 in a manner where the upper side swings to the front and to the rear can be restricted. That is to say, PCB connector 60 can be prevented from being displaced to the front and to the rear when the form of male terminals 62 is elastically changed.
In addition, sandwiching part 58 that is provided in cover 50 sandwiches the two sides of PCB connector 60, and thereby, twisting becomes difficult when an opposing connector is engaged or removed, and thus, the form of male terminals 62 can be prevented from being changed. Accordingly, in the same manner, soldered portions 65 of male terminals 62 can be prevented from being damaged, for example, cracked.
As described above, according to the present Embodiment, standing parts 73A of engaging pieces 73 which are provided on the rear side of PCB connector 60 are fitted into engaging trenches 56 which are provided on the rear side of cover 50, and thereby, shifting of PCB connector 60 in the forward and backward direction can be restricted. That is to say, in the case where pushing or pulling force in the forward and backward direction is applied to PCB connector 60 when an opposing connector is engaged or removed, displacement of PCB connector 60 in a manner where it swings to the front and to the rear can be restricted. Therefore, a change in the form of male terminals 62 can be prevented, and soldered portions 65 of male terminals 62 can be prevented from being damaged, for example, cracked. As a result, high reliability can be gained in an electrical connection between PCB connector 60 and circuit forming board 10.
In addition, restriction in the movement of PCB connector 60 in the forward and backward direction can be automatically achieved when cover 50 is attached, and therefore, production efficiency is high.
In addition, sandwiching part 58 that is provided to cover 50 sandwiches the two sides of PCB connector 60, and thereby, twisting of the PCB connector becomes difficult when an opposing connector is engaged and removed, and thus, the form of male terminals 62 can be prevented from being changed, in the same manner. As a result of this, effects of preventing damage in soldered portions 65 of male terminals 62 can be achieved.
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described in the above with reference to the drawings, but rather, the following embodiments, for example, are also included in the technical scope of the present invention, and in addition to the following, the invention can be implemented by modifying the embodiments in a variety of manners, within a scope where the spirit of the invention does not deviated from.
(1) An engaging piece may be formed on the cover side and an engaging trench may be formed on the PCB connector side in a manner opposite that of the above-described embodiment.
(2) Protruding portion and recess portion as a restricting member may be pins and holes into which the pins are fitted.
(3) Surface mounting by reflow soldering may be used as the means for connecting a terminal fitting of the PCB connector to a conductive path of the circuit forming board. Such an embodiment is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(4) Though in the embodiment, the above-described bottom plate of the case is formed of a heat radiating plate, the bottom plate of the case may be provided separately from the heat radiating plate.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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P2004-227146 | Aug 2004 | JP | national |
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4729740 | Crowe et al. | Mar 1988 | A |
5928004 | Sumida et al. | Jul 1999 | A |
6116916 | Kasai | Sep 2000 | A |
6290509 | Hattori et al. | Sep 2001 | B1 |
6511331 | Saito et al. | Jan 2003 | B1 |
6590777 | Morino et al. | Jul 2003 | B1 |
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Number | Date | Country |
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2000-021477 | Jan 2000 | JP |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20060030173 A1 | Feb 2006 | US |