1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical junction box mounted on an automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
In detail, as shown in
However, the above wiring method requires a component for restricting the wiring route, such as the clip 102 or the protector 104, in addition to the electrical junction box 100. Additionally, a worker has to fix the wire harness W on a vehicle body by means of the clip 102, the protector 104 or the like. Thus, this wiring method is apt to be expensive in terms of a production (i.e. parts and working) cost.
Japanese Patent Application (heisei) Laid-open No. 9-247823 proposes a concrete example of the above-mentioned countermeasure.
In the electrical junction box 200 of
In the electrical junction box 300 of
Under the circumstances, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an electrical junction box which facilitates a worker's wiring of a wire harness without using a superfluous component and which allows the workability in assembling the electrical junction box as well as that in disassembling to be improved.
An aspect of the present invention is an electrical junction box comprising, a box body configured to accommodate an electrical component; and a cover mounted on an exterior surface of a lateral side of the box body after a wire harness is wired to the box body, wherein the box body has a frontal-open type wiring groove formed on the exterior surface of the lateral side of the box body to accommodate the wire harness drawn out of the lateral side of the box body and further led from an upper part of the lateral side downwardly, the wiring groove having a U-shaped cross section, the wiring groove is defined by left and right sidewalls projecting from the exterior surface of the lateral side of the box body, the left and right sidewalls of the wiring groove have, at respective leading ends thereof, temporary locking parts projecting inside with each other for restricting slipping of the wire harness out of the wiring groove, and the cover has restricting walls configured to restrict outward deflection of the left and right sidewalls of the wiring groove by being respectively positioned outside the left and right sidewalls of the wiring groove on condition that the cover is mounted to the box body.
According to the aspect of the invention, since the cover is mounted upon engaging the wire harness into the wiring groove, it is possible to automatically determine the wiring route for harnesses without using any superfluous component, such as clip and protector, allowing a reduction of a worker's burden in assembling the wire harness.
As the temporary engagement for wire harnesses is accomplished by the temporary locking parts at the same time of mounting the wire harness into the wiring groove, it is possible for a worker to fix the cover in the fixed position on the box body without feeling nervous above rebound phenomenon of the wire harnesses, allowing a reduction in both assembling labor and time.
Furthermore, as the deflection of the left and right sidewalls of the wiring groove is restricted by the restricting walls of the cover, the wire harness could be supported strongly and certainly even if an external force is applied on the wire harness. That is, with the implementation of double locking by both the temporary locking parts and the restricting walls, it is possible to increase holding power of the electrical junction box for the wire harness.
Additionally, since the wire harness is protected by the cover, it is possible to enhance the water proofing property of the electrical junction box.
Still further, as the wire harness can be detached from the box body by only detaching the cover and successively pulling out the wire harness, the electrical junction box of the embodiment is superior to disassembling property, providing a contribution in aspect of the recycling of resources.
The temporary locking parts may be formed by tip inclined parts resulting from inclining leading edges of the left and right sidewalls of the wiring groove inwardly, and the restricting walls of the cover may include withstanding parts configured to prevent the tip inclined parts from being deflected outside by contacting with respective outsides of the tip inclined parts.
With the above configuration, since the withstanding parts of the cover prevent the leading edges of the left and right sidewalls of the wiring groove from being deflected outside, it is possible to hold the wire harness more strongly.
The cover may be configured to be mounted onto the exterior surface of the lateral side of the box body by a sliding movement from an upside of the box body, and the box body and the cover may respectively have slide guides configured to guide the sliding movement of the cover.
With the above configuration, since the provision of the slide guides of both the cover and the box body allows the cover to be slidable in a direction to intersect with the mounting direction of the wire harness into the wiring groove, there is no possibility of the cover being detached from the box body due to the resilience of the wire harness.
Additionally, as only the cover's downward sliding through the guidance of the slide guides allows the cover to be mounted or fitted in a fixed position on the lateral side of the box body, it is possible to provide the electrical junction box allowing the cover to be attached to the box body easily and smoothly.
The wiring groove on the exterior surface of the box body may comprise a plurality of wiring grooves juxtaposed to each other, the restricting walls of the cover may include left and right sidewalls of the cover restricting an outward deflection of leftmost and rightmost sidewalls of the left and right sidewalls of all of the wiring grooves, and the restricting wall except the left and right sidewalls of the cover may be formed by a rib formed on an interior surface of the cover so as to be inserted between two opposing sidewalls of the adjoining wiring grooves.
With the above configuration, it is possible to wire a plurality of wire harnesses about the electrical junction box in the same way as above.
The temporary locking parts may be formed in only respective middle portions of the left and right sidewalls of the wiring groove in a longitudinal direction of the left and right sidewalls of the wiring groove.
With the above configuration, since the temporary locking parts are formed in only respective middle portions of the sidewalls in the longitudinal direction of the wiring groove, it is possible to moderate the restriction for the wire harness in both upper and lower portions of the wiring groove. Accordingly, if mounting the wire harness into the wiring groove through its upper portion, the wire harness can be easily mounted into the groove under no influence of the temporary locking parts on both sides at the initial stage of mounting operation. Thus, the temporary locking parts become effective only after the wire harness has been mounted into the groove to some extent degree. Also, when pulling the wire harness out of the groove through the lower portion, the wire harness can be pulled out smoothly since the temporary locking parts do not make resistance at the initial stage of a worker's pulling operation.
The left and right sidewalls of the wiring groove may have top corners cut in a slanted shape or in a curved shape, and the cover may have a slanted or curved part according with the slanted shape or the curved shape.
With the above configuration, since the left and right sidewalls of the wiring groove have the top corners cut out slantingly or in a curve, a worker can mount the wire harness into the wiring groove easily without fearing that the wire harness might hook on the corners accidentally. In connection, as the cover is formed with the slanted wall according with the so-formed corners, it is possible to bear down on the wire harness appropriately.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompany drawings.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In these figures,
This electrical junction box E comprises a plastic (synthetic resin) box body 10 in which electrical components etc. are accommodated and a plastic cover 50 which is mounted onto an exterior surface of one side of the box body 10 after wiring wire harnesses.
The cover 50 comprises a slidable waterproof member that can be mounted onto the exterior surface of a lateral side of the box body 10 by sliding the member from an upside of the box body 10. In order to allow the sliding movement of the cover 50, the box body 10 is provided, on both sides of its lateral opening 11, with respective slide guides 12, as shown in
While allowing the cover 50 to freely slide in an up-and-down direction (i.e. the sliding direction) to the box body 10 in assembling, these slide guides 12, 52 carry out a function of restricting movement of the cover 50 in the other directions. The slide guides 12, 52 are respectively provided with stoppers (not indicated with reference numerals) that restrict further downward movement of the cover 50 after its arrival at a fixed position.
On the exterior surface of the box body's part (10) below the lateral opening 11, a pair of “frontal-open type” wiring grooves 20A, 20B having U-shaped sections are formed to accommodate wire harnesses W, W (
The wiring groove 20A is defined by left and right sidewalls 21, 22 projecting from the exterior surface of the side of the box body 10. Similarly, the other wiring groove 20B is defined by left and right sidewalls 22, 21 projecting from the exterior surface of the side of the box body 10. Each of the sidewalls 21, 22 is provided, at a tip (projecting end) thereof, with a temporary locking part 23 that restricts slipping of the wire harness W out of the wiring groove 20A (20B). In the embodiment, the temporary locking part 23 is formed by a tip inclined part resulting from inclining the leading edge of the sidewall 21 (22) inwardly. Further, in the longitudinal direction of the wiring groove 20A (20B), the temporary locking part 23 is formed in the middle portion of the sidewall 21 (22).
As shown in
Inside the cover 50, as shown in
Additionally, the restricting walls 71, 72 are provided, at respective base portions, with withstanding parts 73 that contact with or abut on the temporary locking parts 23 (
In the sidewalls 21, 22 on both sides of the wiring grooves 20A, 20B, as shown in
In order to reinforce the above-mentioned slide guides 12, 52, the box body 10 and the cover 50 are respectively provided with second slide guides (14, 54). In the box body 10, the second slide guides 14, 14 are arranged on the exterior surfaces of the outermost sidewalls 21, 21, in the form of grooves, as shown in
As shown in
The above-mentioned elements forming the electrical junction box E operates as follows.
When assembling the electrical junction box E, as shown in
Next, it is performed to attach the cover 50 to the box body 10. In detail, the cover 50 is slid downwardly while maintaining a condition that the slide guides 52, 54 are engaged with the slide guides 12, 14 of the box body 10. In the final state of the sliding of the cover 50, the locking mechanisms 30, 80 are locked up. In this way, as the cover 50 can be fixed in a fixed position of the box body 10 by only sliding the cover 50 downwardly with the aid of guidance by the slide guides 12, 52, 14 and 54, it is possible to attach the cover 50 to the box body 10 easily and smoothly.
When the cover 50 is mounted in the fixed position, the restricting walls (the sidewalls 71, the center wall 72) of the cover 50 are arranged outside the sidewalls 21 of the wiring grooves 20A, 20B and also inserted into the deflection space 25 between the sidewalls 22, while the withstanding parts 73 contact with or abut on respective outside surfaces of the temporary locking parts 23. Consequently, outward bending of the sidewalls 21, 22 is suppressed by the restricting walls 71, 72 and additionally, outward deflection of the temporary locking parts 23 can be prevented by the withstanding parts 73.
Thus, according to the embodiment, it is possible to ensure holding of the electrical junction box against the wire harnesses W strongly. Namely, with the implementation of double-engagement by both the temporary locking parts 23 of the box body 10 and the restricting walls (the sidewalls 71, the center wall 72) of the cover 50, it is possible to improve retaining force of the electrical junction box E against the wire harnesses W.
Further, as the provision of the slide guides 12, 52, 14 and 54 allows the cover 50 to be slidable in a direction (i.e. the sliding direction X) to intersect with the mounting direction Y of the wire harnesses W into the wiring grooves 20A, 20B, there is no possibility of the cover 50 being detached from the box body 10 due to the resilience of the wire harnesses W.
With the structure where the cover 50 is mounted upon engaging the wire harnesses W into the wiring grooves 20A, 20B, since the wiring route for harnesses is automatically determined without using any superfluous component (e.g. clip, protector), it is possible to reduce a worker's burden in assembling the wire harnesses as well as its manufacturing cost.
As the temporary engagement for wire harnesses is accomplished by the temporary locking parts 23 at the same time of mounting the wire harnesses W into the wiring grooves 20A, 20B, it is possible for a worker to fix the cover 50 in the fixed position on the box body 10 without feeling nervous above rebound phenomenon of the wire harnesses, saving assembling labor and time.
Additionally, since the wire harnesses W are protected by the cover 50, it is possible to enhance the water proofing property of the electrical junction box E.
Still further, as the wire harnesses W can be detached from the box body 10 by only detaching the cover 50 and successively pulling out the wire harnesses W, the electrical junction box of the embodiment is superior to disassembling property, providing a contribution in aspect of the recycling of resources.
In the embodiment, since the temporary locking parts 23 are formed in only respective middle portions of the sidewalls 21, 22 in the longitudinal direction of the wiring grooves 20A, 20B, it is possible to moderate the restriction for the wire harnesses W in both upper and lower portions of the wiring grooves 20A, 20B. Accordingly, if mounting the wire harness W into the wiring groove 20A (20B) through its upper portion, the wire harness W can be easily mounted into the groove 20A (20B) under no influence of the temporary locking parts 23 on both sides at the initial stage of mounting operation. Thus, the temporary locking parts 23 become effective only after the wire harness W has been mounted into the groove 20A (20B) to some extent degree. Also, when pulling the wire harness W out of the groove 20A (20B) through the lower portion, the wire harness W can be pulled out smoothly since the temporary locking parts 23 do not make resistance at the initial stage of a worker's pulling operation.
Further, since the sidewalls 21, 22 of the wiring grooves 20A, 20B have the top corners 21a, 22a cut out obliquely (in a slanted shape) or in a curve (in a curved shape), a worker can mount the wire harnesses W, W into the wiring grooves 20A, 20B easily without fearing that the wire harnesses W might hook on the corners 21a, 22a accidentally. In connection, as the cover 50 is formed with the slanted wall 74 according with the so-formed corners 21a, 22a, it is possible to bear down on the wire harnesses W, W appropriately.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing descriptions are nothing but one embodiment of the disclosed electrical junction box and therefore, various changes and modifications may be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, although the illustrated box body 10 is provided with two wiring grooves 20A, 20B, the box body 10 may be provided with a single wiring groove. Alternatively, the same body 10 may be provided with three or more wiring grooves.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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P2006-344217 | Dec 2006 | JP | national |
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Number | Date | Country |
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9-247823 | Sep 1997 | JP |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20080149386 A1 | Jun 2008 | US |