Abstract:
An electrical junction box comprises a junction box body and a cover which houses and holds the junction box body. A guide rail groove is provided on any one of an inner surface of the cover and an outer surface of the junction box body, and a guide rail guided by the guide rail groove is provided on the other thereof. Further, the junction box body is held in the cover at a slant with respect to the guide rail and the guide rail groove.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to an electrical junction box in which a junction box body is freely housed and drawn out by sliding against a cover.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    There is the earlier technology shown in FIG. 1 as the subject type of electrical junction box. As shown in FIG. 1, this electrical junction box  1  includes a waterproof cover  2  located, for example, within an engine compartment. The waterproof cover  2  is constituted by a lower cover  2   a  and an upper cover  2   b . The lower cover  2   a  is fixed to a vehicle body (not shown). The upper cover  2   b  covers the top opening of the lower cover  2   a  and is provided so as to be freely detachable from the lower cover  2   a . On the mutually opposed inner sides of the lower cover  2   a , a pair of guide rail grooves  3  is provided, and a pair of guide rails  5  of a junction box body  4  is engaged with the guide rail grooves  3 .  
           [0005]    One surface of the junction box body  4  is formed as a maintenance surface  4   a , on which a fuse, a relay, a connector and the like are mounted. The junction box body  4  slides in a vertical direction S because the pair of guide rail grooves  3  of the lower cover  2   a  guides a pair of rails  5 . Due to this sliding movement, the junction box body  4  is provided so as to be freely inserted to and drawn out from the lower cover  2   a.    
           [0006]    Meanwhile, a peripheral part  6  is located in an appropriate position in the periphery of the electrical junction box  1  as illustrated in FIG. 1. Therefore, there is a limitation on a range where a maintenance inspector can view the maintenance surface  4   a , and thus the orientation of the junction box body  4  is set so as to be perpendicular to a viewing direction A. By setting the orientation of the junction box body  4  in this way, it becomes possible to view the maintenance surface  4   a  in a position where the junction box body  4  is drawn out from the lower cover  2   a . This makes it easier for the maintenance inspector to view the maintenance surface  4   a  and to conduct a replacement of a fuse or the like.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    However, the periphery part  6  varies depending on the model and grade of the vehicle, the installation position of the electrical junction box  1 , or the like. Accordingly, the viewing direction A with respect to the junction box body  4  drawn out from the lower cover  2   a  also varies. It is thus necessary for the junction box body  4  to change the orientation thereof corresponding to the viewing direct on. For example, when a periphery part  7  is present as in FIG. 1, the viewing direction A of the maintenance inspector is altered to a direction B. Therefore, an appropriate measure has been required for changing the orientation of the junction box body  4  in order to correspond to the viewing direction changes.  
           [0008]    The present invention was made in consideration of the above-described problems. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical junction box in which the orientation of a junction box body can be easily changed to a desired orientation.  
           [0009]    According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electrical junction box, comprising: a junction box body; and a cover which houses and holds the junction box body, wherein a guide rail groove is provided on any one of an inner surface of the cover and an outer surface of the junction box body, and a guide rail guided by the guide rail groove is provided on the other thereof; and the junction box body is held in the cover at a slant with respect to the guide rail and the guide rail groove. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an electrical junction box of the earlier technology;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an electrical junction box, in which a junction box body is located at a position where the junction box body is housed within a waterproof cover, of the first embodiment according to the present invention;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the electrical junction box, in which the junction box body is located at a position where the junction box body is drawn out from the waterproof cover, of the first embodiment according to the present invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the electrical junction box, in which the junction box body is completely drawn out from the waterproof cover, of the first embodiment according to the present invention;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the electrical junction box, in the state where the junction box body is completely drawn out from the waterproof cover and moved closer to a maintenance inspector, of the first embodiment according to the present invention;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the electrical junction box of the first embodiment according to the present invention;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the housed junction box body of the electrical junction box of the first embodiment according to the present invention;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the junction box body of the electrical junction box of the first embodiment according to the present invention;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 9A is a plan view illustrating the state of a wire harness housed within the lower cover according to the first embodiment;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 9B is a rear view illustrating the state of the junction box body in which the wire harness is fixed according to the first embodiment;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 10 is a side view illustrating an engagement state of a guide rail groove within the lower cover and a guide rail of a frame according to the first embodiment;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating a housed junction box body of an electrical junction box of the second embodiment according to the present invention;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the junction box body viewed from a rear surface side with respect to a drawing-out direction according to the second embodiment;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of the junction box body of the electrical junction box of the second embodiment according to the present invention;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 14A is a plan view illustrating the state of a wire harness housed within a lower cover according to the second embodiment; and  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 14B is a rear elevation view illustrating the state of the junction box body in which the wire harness is fixed according to the second embodiment. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0027]    Hereinafter, description will be made of embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings.  
         [0028]    A first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.  2  to  10 .  
         [0029]    As shown in FIGS.  2  to  5 , an electrical junction box  10  is located within an engine compartment (not shown). Periphery parts including a cowl top  11  and a relay box  12  are located around the electrical junction box  10 . The cowl top  11  is located at a position over the electrical junction box  10 . Therefore, the front area of a junction box body  14  in a drawing-out direction is restricted to a given dimension due to the cowl top  11 . The relay box  12  is provided adjacent to the electrical junction box  10  and protrudes slightly beyond the top surface of the electrical junction box  10 . The space between the relay box  12  and cowl top  11  is the only space that can be used for maintenance inspection of the electrical junction box  10 . A direction in which a maintenance inspector views through this space is regarded as a viewing direction D toward the junction box body  14 .  
         [0030]    As shown in FIG. 6, main components of the electrical junction box  10  are a waterproof cover  13  and the junction box body  14 . The waterproof cover  13  has an approximately rectangular shape and is made of synthetic resin, and the junction box body  14  made of synthetic resin is housed inside the waterproof cover  13 .  
         [0031]    The waterproof cover  13  is fixed to a vehicle body (not shown), and includes a lower cover is and an upper cover  16 . The lower cover  15  has a rectangular shape and the top surface thereof is entirely open. The upper cover  16  covers the top surface of the lower cover  15  and is provided so as to be freely detachable from the lower cover  15 . There are notches for harnesses  17 , respectively formed at two places in the lower cover  15 . The top ends of the notches  17  are opened, and the bottom ends of the notches  17  are respectively provided with lower harness protecting walls  18 , each protruding in a semicircular shape. Sliding-and-engaging grooves  17   a  are respectively formed in the bilateral surfaces of the notch  17 , Auxiliary sliding covers  19  are provided so as to be freely slidable by being engaged with respective sliding-and-engaging grooves  17   a.    
         [0032]    Each of the auxiliary sliding covers  19  includes a plate part  19   a  and an upper harness protection wall  19   b . The plate part  19   a  covers the notch  17  where a wire harness WH is inserted, and areas except for a harness housing space in the lower harness protection wall  18 . The upper harness protection wall  19   b  has a semicircular shape and is provided to integrally protrude at the bottom end of the plate part  19   a . These lower and upper harness protection walls  18  and  19   b  form an approximately cylindrical harness insertion slot, through which one end of each wire harness WH is housed within the waterproof cover  13 . The harness insertion slots in two places at the front and back are positioned on the side of a maintenance surface  14   a  and the opposite surface side thereof, respectively, with respect to the junction box body  14 .  
         [0033]    Moreover, a pair of guide rail grooves  20  is provided on the mutually opposed inner sides of the lower cover  15 . As shown in FIG. 10, the pair of guide rail grooves  20  respectively include a straight groove part  20   a  extending in a vertical direction and a curved groove part  20   b  having a circular arc shape, in which the inlet is gradually enlarged. In addition, locking grooves  21  are formed in the inner sides of the guile rail grooves  20 , respectively. A latching projection  21   a  is provided in the vicinity of the inlet of each of the locking grooves  21 .  
         [0034]    As shown in FIG. 6, a bracket  22  is provided, protruding on the front side of the lower cover  15 . The relay box  12  is fixed using this bracket  22 .  
         [0035]    As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the junction box body  14  has a flat rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the surface on the front side thereof is formed as the maintenance surface  14   a . The maintenance surface  14   a  is provided with multiple fuse mounting parts  23 , relay mounting parts  24 , and connector mounting parts  25 . The fuse mounting parts  23  are arrayed in a row, forming a group, and these groups are located at two places. Each of the rows extends in a horizontal direction of the junction box body  14 . Further, the relay mounting parts  24  are arrayed in a row, forming a group, and these groups are located at two places. Each of the rows extends in a horizontal direction of the junction box body  14 .  
         [0036]    There is an area in a part of the maintenance surface  14   a  where the fuse mounting parts  23 , relay mounting parts  24 , and connector mounting parts  25  are not located. In this area, a harness clip  26  is provided as a wire harness fixing mechanism, and a harness fixing hole  27  is formed, to which the harness clip  26  is attached in a freely detachable manner.  
         [0037]    The wire harness WH is attached to the junction box body  14  through the harness clip  26 , and thereby the routing path of the wire harness WH within the waterproof cover  13  is restricted. Brief description of the routing path of the wire harness WH is as follows. As illustrated in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the wire harness WH which is mounted on the connector mounting part  25  is inserted from the harness insertion slot positioned on the side of the surface opposed to the maintenance surface  14   a . The wire harness WH passes through a space on the side opposed to the maintenance surface  14   a  and is led to the side of the maintenance surface  14   a  from the side of the rear surface  14   b . The branched ends of the wire harness WH are connected to the connector mounting parts  25 , respectively. The wire harness WH routed in this way is fixed on the side of the junction box body  14  using the harness clip  26 , thereby restricting the routing path of the wire harness WH on the side of the rear surface  14   b  in an oblique direction. By restricting the wire harness WH in such routing path as above, the wire harness WH inserted from the harness insertion slot is largely folded on the opposite side of the maintenance surface  14   a . Further, the routing path on the side of the maintenance surface  14   a  leads the wire harness WH to each of the connector mounting parts  25  without passing through a path over the fuse mounting parts  23  and relay mounting parts  24 .  
         [0038]    As shown in FIG. 8, a frame  30  in a quadrate shape is attached to the circumference of the junction box body  14 . The frame  30  has arm locks  31  provided in appropriate places thereof. Each of the arm locks  31  is elastically deformed to be engaged with a projection  32  of the junction box body  14 , and thereby the frame  30  is attached to the junction box body  14 . A pair of guide rails  33  is provided on the bilateral surface sides of the frame  30 . These guide rails  33  are engaged with the guide rail grooves  20  of the lower cover  1 S. Since guide rails  33  are guided by the guide rail grooves  20 , the junction box body  14  can slide within the lower cover  15 . By the sliding of the junction box body  14  as above, the junction box body  14  is provided so as to be freely inserted to and drawn out from the lower cover  15 . The employed frame  30  has the pair of guide rails  33  at a predetermined inclination angle α. Specifically, the inclination of each guide rail  33  is set to the inclination angle α so that the orientation of the maintenance surface  14   a  becomes perpendicular to a viewing direction D. Accordingly, the maintenance surface  14   a  is adapted to slide within the lower cover  15  while being slanted at the inclination angle α with respect to a sliding direction S.  
         [0039]    Locking projections  34  are provided on the frame  30  in the vicinity of each guide rail. The pair of locking projections  34  is latched to respective latching projections  21   a  of the lower cover  15 . Therefore, the junction box body  14  housed in the lower cover  15  is adapted to be locked to the lower cover  15 .  
         [0040]    Next, a maintenance inspection operation for a fuse or the like in the electrical junction box  10  in the foregoing structure will be described. In the state illustrated in FIG. 2, a maintenance inspector removes the upper cover  16  from the lower cover  15 . As shown in FIG. 2, the maintenance inspector can view the maintenance surface  14   a  slanted at the inclination angle α with respect to the sliding direction S. Therefore, checking of the fuse condition and replacement of the fuse can be carried out easily by the maintenance inspector.  
         [0041]    Next, for replacement of a relay, the junction box body or the like, the locks to the lower cover  15  are released, and the junction box body  14  is drawn out from the lower cover  15 . This junction box body  14  is drawn out in the sliding direction S because the guide rails  33  are guided by the guide rail grooves  20  of the lower cover  15 . As shown in FIG. 3, the junction box body  14  after being drawn out is slanted at the inclination angle α with respect to a sliding direction S. Thus, the maintenance surface  4   a  becomes perpendicular to a viewing direction D. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, checking of the fuse condition and replacement of the fuse on the maintenance surface  14   a  can be easily carried out even in the state where the junction box body  14  is drawn out. Further, the orientation of the junction box body  14  in the drawn-out state can be changed by virtue of the curved groove parts  20   b  of the guide rail grooves  20 . Therefore, the maintenance inspector can carry out the operation while slanting the junction box body  4  in the orientation at which the operation can be easily conducted.  
         [0042]    Next, the harness clip  26  is detached from the junction box body  14  which is drawn out from the lower cover  15 . The wire harness WH is then released from the routing restriction and becomes free. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the orientation of the junction box body  14  in the drawn-out state can be changed by the curved groove parts  20   b  as mentioned earlier. Therefore, the maintenance inspector can remove the harness clip  26  while bringing the junction box body  14  to the orientation at which the harness clip  26  can be easily removed.  
         [0043]    Next, the junction box body  14  in the drawn-out state is further drawn out from the lower cover  15  while being slanted toward the side of the maintenance inspector, and thereby the junction box body  14  is completely drawn out from the lower cover  15 . Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 5, the junction box body  14  being drawn out from the lower cover  15  is moved to a position near the maintenance inspector, and a complicated operation for maintenance inspection such as replacement of a relay or the junction box body is carried out. After the operation is completely finished, the junction box body  14  is replaced to the waterproof cover  13  in the reverse procedure to that mentioned above, and thereby the whole procedure is completed.  
         [0044]    Incidentally, the viewing direction D with respect to the junction box body  14  drawn cut from the lower cover  15  varies the position where the electrical junction box  10  is installed, or the like depending on the model and grade of the vehicle, Therefore, the orientation of the maintenance surface  14   a  is required to change corresponding to the viewing direction D. In this electrical junction box  10 , the orientation change of the junction box body  14  is realized by replacing the frame  30  with another one having guide rails  33  at a desired inclination angle α. Therefore, the orientation of the maintenance surface  14   a  can be easily changed to the desired orientation without replacing the junction box body  14  itself. Consequently, the inclined orientation of the junction box body  14  can be changed at very low cost.  
         [0045]    Furthermore, arm locks  31  are provided in the frame  30 . Since each of the arm locks  31  is elastically deformed to engage with a projection  32 , the frame  30  is attached to the junction box body  14 . Therefore, when the frame  30  fits the circumference of the junction box body  14 , the frame  30  is attached to the junction box body  14 . Therefore the attachment operation of the frame  30  can be easily conducted.  
         [0046]    In the above embodiment, the guide rail grooves  20  are provided on the inner surfaces of the lower cover  15 , and the guide rails  33  are provided on the frame  30  of the junction box body  14 . However, contrary to this, the guide rails  33  may be provided on the inner surfaces of the lower cover  15 , and the guide rail grooves  20  may be provided on the frame  30 . In addition, it is certainly possible to provide the guide rail grooves  20  or the guide rails  33  on the junction box body  14  directly, without providing the frame  30  therebetween.  
         [0047]    Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.  11  to  14 B. With regard to a structure of an electrical junction box of this embodiment, the parts the same as those in the first embodiment are denoted with the same referential numerals to omit duplicated description.  
         [0048]    In this embodiment, a harness fixture  35  is provided instead of the harness clip  26  and the harness fixing hole  27  provided in the first embodiment as the wire harness fixing mechanism, The harness fixture  35  as the wire harness fixing mechanism will be described.  
         [0049]    As shown in FIG. 12, a wire harness WH is fixed by the harness fixture  35  on a rear surface  30   b  (a part of a rear surface  14   b ) with respect to a direction in which a frame  30  is drawn out. The harness fixture  35  includes a harness clip  36  which holds the wire harness WH, and the harness fixing part  37  provided to protrude at the center of the rear surface  30   b . The harness clip  36  is attached to the harness fixing part  37  in a freely detachable manner. The harness clip  36  includes a portion for fastening the bundled wire harness WH, and another portion which is elastically deformable for engagement. The harness fixing part  37  has a harness restricting plate  37   a , which is slanted in an oblique direction with respect to the rear surface  30   b . A clip latching hole  37   b  is formed in the harness restricting plate  37   a . In addition, the harness clip  36  holding the wire harness WH is engaged with the clip latching hole  37   b , and thereby the wire harness WH is attached on the side of a junction box body  14 . Consequently, the routine path of the wire harness WH within a waterproof cover  13  is restricted.  
         [0050]    Specifically, as shown in FIG. 14A, the wire harness WH mounted on a connector mounting part  25  is inserted from a harness insertion slot positioned on the side of the surface opposed to a maintenance surface  14   a . The wire harness WH passes through a space on the side opposed to the maintenance surface  14   a  and is led to the side of the maintenance surface  14   a  from the side of the rear surface  14   b . The branched ends of the wire harness WH are then connected to the connector mounting parts  25 , respectively.  
         [0051]    The harness fixture  35  restricts the routing path of the wire harness WH in an oblique direction with respect to the longitudinal direction of the rear surface  14   b  by abutting the wire harness WH, which passes on the side of the rear surface  14   b , along the harness restricting plate  37   a . Moreover, due to the restriction of the wire harness WH in such routing path, the wire harness WH inserted from the insertion inlet slot is restricted in the routing path in which the wire harness WH is largely bent on the side opposed to the maintenance surface  14   a . The routing path on the side of the maintenance surface  14   a  leads the wire harness WH to each connector mounting part  25  without passing through the path over fuse mounting parts  23  and the relay-mounting parts  24 .  
         [0052]    A maintenance inspection operation can be conducted in a similar manner to that in the first embodiment using the electrical junction box of this embodiment. Specifically, a maintenance inspector removes an upper cover  16  from a lower cover  15 , and releases locks to the lower cover  15  to remove the junction box body  14  from the lower cover  15 . Thereafter, checking of a fuse condition and replacement of the fuse are carried out.  
         [0053]    As shown in FIG. 4, in order to conduct a complicated operation of maintenance inspection such as replacement of a relay and the junction box body  14 , the junction box body  14  being drawn cut from the lower cover  15  is moved backward, orienting the rear surface  14   b  toward the side of the maintenance inspector, and then the harness clip  36  is detached. The wire harness WH is released from the routing restriction and becomes free. Thereafter, the junction box body  14  is drawn out and moved to a position near the maintenance inspector, and the maintenance inspection operation is carried out. After the operation is completely finished, the junction box body  14  is replaced to the waterproof cover  13  in the reverse procedure to that mentioned above, and thereby the whole procedure is completed.  
         [0054]    As heretofore described, in the electrical junction box  10 , the wire harness WH is fixed to the frame  30 , which makes it possible to fix the end-side portion of the wire harness WH. In addition, the wire harness WH moves together with the junction box body  14  while the end-side portion of the wire harness WH is restricted by the routing. Therefore, the routing path of the end-side portion of the wire harness WH is certainly restricted without interfering with the sliding movement of the junction box body  14 .  
         [0055]    Moreover, the maintenance surface  14   a  is provided with the connector mounting parts  25  to which each end-side of the wire harness WH is connected, and the fuse mounting parts  23  on which each fuse is mounted. The harness fixture  35  restricts the routing path so that the wire harness WH does not pass over the fuse mounting parts  23  and is led to the connecting mounting parts  25 . Therefore, it is possible to certainly prevent a situation in which the fuse cannot be viewed due to the wire harness WH, thus enabling easy checking of the fuse condition.  
         [0056]    Furthermore, the harness fixture  37  is provided at the center of the rear surface  14   b  and restricts the routing path of the wire harness WH, which passes on the side of the rear surface  14   b , in an oblique direction. Hence, the space on the side of the rear surface  14   b  is an effective space for accommodating the wire harness WH, which contributes to housing the extra-long portion of the wire harness WH within a small space.  
         [0057]    Moreover, the harness fixture  35  is constituted by the harness clip  36  which holds the wire harness WH, and the harness fixing part  37  to which the harness clip  36  is fixed in the freely detachable manner. Therefore, when the junction box body  14  is drawn out from the lower cover  15 , the harness clip  36  is detached from the junction box body  14  to release the routing path restriction of the wire harness WH, and thereby the junction box body  14  is drawn out with the wire harness WH being free. Accordingly, the extra-long portion of the wire harness WH can be shortened, resulting in a short dimension of the wire harness WH, a smaller accommodating space for the harness and the like. When the extra-long portion of the wire harness WH is long enough, the junction box body  14  can be drawn out from the lower cover  15  without detaching the harness clip  36 . Therefore the operation for drawing out the junction box body  14  can be simplified.  
         [0058]    Moreover, the wire harness WH is inserted into the lower cover  15  from the opposite side of the maintenance surface  14   a . The wire harness WH is then routed through the space on the side opposed to the maintenance surface  14   a , and is routed to the side of the maintenance surface  14   a  from the rear surface  14   b . Therefore, the wire harness WH can be housed in a manner so that the junction box body  14  is surrounded by the wire harness WH. Accordingly, the extra-long portion of the wire harness WH can be housed within the waterproof cover  13  without difficulty.  
         [0059]    In the above embodiment, the harness fixing part  37  is provided on the frame  30  which is attached to the circumference of the junction box body  14 . However, the harness fixing part  37  may also be provided on the junction box body  14  itself.  
         [0060]    The entire content of a Japanese Patent Application No. P2002-219753 with a filing date of Jul. 29, 2002 and a Japanese Patent Application No. P2002-231930 with a filing date of Aug. 8, 2002 is herein incorporated by reference.  
         [0061]    Although the invention has been described above by reference to certain embodiments of the invention, the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above will occur to these skilled in the art, in light of the teachings. The scope of the invention is defined with reference to the following claims.