Patent Application
20200412030
The present disclosure generally relates to a junction box assembly with a terminal assembly configured to prevent a short circuit. The terminal assembly may include a spacer configured to fix a pair of spaced apart terminals in a predetermined position. In one aspect, the spacer may include a plurality of fuses electrically coupled to a corresponding output portion of a terminal. In another aspect, the junction box may include a plurality of ribs configured to retain the plurality of output portions of the terminal in a fixed position relative to each other.
Terminals are used in vehicles such as automotive vehicles to distribute electric power to electrical components. Automotive vehicles include a battery configured to provide electrical power. The battery may be used to provide power to electric components/systems of the automotive vehicle. Examples of electric components/systems include windshield wipers, turn signal devices, power side-view mirrors and a motor to drive the automotive vehicle. The junction box assembly distributes electrical power from the battery, or batteries, to the electric components. The junction box assembly includes a plurality of terminals configured to distribute the power from the battery to the electric components. The terminals are mounted to a bolt and includes an opening wider than the bolt so as to provide installation tolerance. However, the tolerance may be sufficient to allow the terminals to touch, creating a short circuit.
The terminal connectors 208 may include an eyelet configured to receive the bolt 210. The bolt 210 may retain each terminal connector 208 onto each terminal 206 and in electrical contact with each terminal 206. However, due to vehicle movement for example, the terminal connectors 208 may rotate about the bolts. The rotation of the terminal connectors 208 may cause one of the terminal connectors 208 to touch another terminal connector 208 resulting in a short circuit. Additionally, a power surge from the battery may also result in a short circuit.
Accordingly, there remains a need to prevent a short circuit from occurring due to an unintended contact between the connector terminals. There is also a need to protect the electric components from a power surge.
A junction box assembly is provided. The junction box assembly includes a base having a terminal housing configured to house a terminal assembly. In one aspect, the terminal assembly includes a pair of terminals spaced apart from each other. Each of the terminals includes an input portion and an output portion. The output portion is generally orthogonal to the input portion. The terminal assembly may further include a spacer having a slot configured to receive an output portion of each of the spaced apart terminals. The slots may be configured to retain the pair of terminals in a fixed position with respect to each other.
In another embodiment, a terminal housing assembly may house a terminal assembly that includes a terminal having an input portion and a plurality of output portions formed as a unitary piece. The output portions are spaced apart from each other and electrically connected to the input portion. The terminal assembly includes a spacer. The spacer may include a plurality of slots configured to receive a respective output portion of the terminal. The spacer includes a plurality of fuses, and each fuse is electrically connected to a corresponding slot so as to help prevent a power surge through a respective output portion of the terminal.
In another embodiment, the junction box assembly includes a plurality of terminal housings. Each of the terminal housings includes a front wall, back wall and a pair of side walls so as to define a cavity for housing the output portion of the terminal and a corresponding terminal connector. The terminal housing further includes a pair of ribs disposed on a respective side wall of the terminal housing. Each of the ribs are spaced apart from each other so as to accommodate a width of a respective output portion of the terminal and the terminal connector. The ribs have a height which is taller than a height of the terminal connector and the output portion of the terminal when the two are laid on top of each other. Accordingly, the ribs prevent the terminal connectors from coming into contact with each other.
Referring generally to the figures, embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to a junction box assembly and a terminal assembly configured to prevent a short circuit. In one aspect, the terminal assembly includes a pair of terminals and a spacer configured to fix the terminals in a fixed position relative to each other. In another aspect, the terminal assembly includes a spacer having a plurality of fuses configured to regulate voltage along the output portions of a terminal. In yet another aspect, the junction box assembly is configured to prevent terminal connectors from touching each other due to rotation.
With reference now to
With reference now to
The terminal 22 includes a first terminal 22a and a second terminal 22b that are spaced apart from each other. The input portions 26 and output portions 28 of the first and second terminals 22a, 22b are shown as being similar to each other in shape and dimension. However, it should be appreciated that the shape and dimension of the input portions 26 and output portions 28 may differ from each other based upon packaging constraints or technical demands. For instance, it may be desirable to have a particular input or output portion 26, 28 have a smaller length or dimension than what is shown so as to reduce the resistance of the terminal 22.
Each of the pair of terminals 22a, 22b are generally planar members may include one input portion 26 and at least a pair of output portions 28. The pair of output portions 28 may be generally orthogonal to the input portion 26. Each pair of terminals 22a, 22b are fixedly coupled to the spacer 24 so as to be spaced apart from each other in a fixed manner.
The spacer 24 is formed of a non-conductive material and includes a plurality of slots 36 configured to accept each of the output portions 28 of the pair of terminals. Non-conductive material which may be used to form the spacer 24 includes, but is not limited to a plastic based material such as polypropylene configured to meet flammability standards for horizontal burn and/or vertical burn (HB or VO) such as materials commonly known as Polylac PA-765, Vectra E130i, Maxxam FR PP 301 and the like. The spacer 24 may be an elongated member. The slots 36 are shown as being generally equally spaced apart from each other. The slots 36 define an open first end and second end of the spacer 24 and extend along an axis defined by the width “W” of the spacer 24.
With reference now to
The spacer 24 is formed of a non-conductive material and includes a plurality of slots 36 configured to accept each of the output portions 28 of the pair of terminals. The spacer 24 may be an elongated member. The slots 36 are shown as being generally equally spaced apart from each other. The slots 36 define an open first end and second end of the spacer 24 and extend along an axis defined by the width “W” of the spacer 24.
In one aspect, the spacer 24 may include a plurality of fuses 38. Each fuse 38 is configured to prevent a power surge along a corresponding output portion 28. In a preferred embodiment, the fuses 38 are integrally formed to the spacer 24. As such, it may be that the fuses 38 have the same resistance or may have different resistances based upon the desired property of the output portion 28. The fuses 38 are disposed on the spacer 24 so as to be open to the slots 36. As such, each fuse 38 is in electric communication with a corresponding output portion 28 disposed in a respective slot 36.
With reference again to
With reference now to
The base 16 illustratively shows an embodiment wherein four (4) terminal housings 18 are provided. Each terminal housing 18 is configured to house a terminal assembly 20 and a terminal connector 30. The terminal connectors 30 are laid on top of a respective output portion 28 of the terminal 22 and secured thereto by a threaded engagement of a nut onto the bolt 34.
The terminal housing 18 includes a pair of side walls 18a, a back wall 18b and a floor 18c so as to define a cavity 18d having an open top and an open front. The side walls 18a include a rib 40 disposed on a top edge of the side wall 18a. The rib 40 extends a height at least as high as the combined height of the output portion 28 and terminal connector 30 when the two are laid on top of each other. Thus, rotation of the terminal connector 30 is limited by engagement of the terminal connector 30 with the rib 40. In one aspect, the rib 40 includes a top portion 40a and a bottom portion 40b, wherein the top portion 40a is disposed on the side wall 18a of the terminal housing 18 and the bottom portion 40b is disposed on a front wall 16c of the base 16.
The junction box may be configured to accept power from two different power sources. For example, the junction box may be configured to accept power from a first battery (omitted from view) and a second battery (omitted from view). The first battery may be a 12V battery, and the second battery may be a 48V battery. The first battery may be electrically connected to a first input portion 26a of the terminal 22, and the second battery may be electrically connected to a second input portion 26b of the terminal 22. The first input portion 26a may be configured to conduct power to the output portions 28a and 28b, while input portion 26b conducts power to output portions 28c, 28d. The spacer 24 may include a plurality of fuses 38. The fuses 38 may have different resistances, or may have the same resistance based upon engineering requirements.
It should be appreciated that the base 16 may be configured to house an embodiment of a terminal assembly 20 wherein the terminal 22 includes a first terminal 22 and a second terminal 22b. In such an embodiment, the spacer 24 is configured to fix the first and second terminals 22a, 22b with respect to each other and the ribs 40 are configured to prevent the terminal connectors 30 from touching each other. In such an aspect, the spacer 24 may also include fuses 38 configured to prevent a power surge.
While particular embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be understood that various other changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed subject matter. Moreover, although various aspects of the claimed subject matter have been described herein, such aspects need not be utilized in combination. It is therefore intended that the appended claims cover all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of the claimed subject matter.
