Patent Publication Number: US-2023163576-A1

Title: Relay module structure

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Technical Field 
     The disclosure relates to a relay, particularly to a thin-type relay structure. 
     Related Art 
     A switching of electric signals of an electronic circuit may be controlled by using a relay module for the transmission of electric signals. Also, the related-art compact relay module is usually installing a relay into a relay seat with a handle structure. When the relay is being separated from the relay seat, toggling the handle atop the relay seat can eject the relay from the relay seat to take the relay out. 
     However, the handle structure of the related-art relay module is hard to be toggled and causes inconvenience in using. In addition, when the relay is assembled in the relay seat, the metal pins are hard to be aligned with and inserted into terminal holes of the relay seat. That causes difficulty in assembling. Therefore, how to improve the usage of the relay module and simplify the assembling process is the purpose of the disclosure. 
     In view of this, the inventors have devoted themselves to the above-mentioned related art, researched intensively and cooperated with the application of science to try to solve the above-mentioned problems. 
     SUMMARY 
     An object of the disclosure is to provide a relay module structure, which improves the use of a relay module and simplifies the assembling process. 
     To accomplish the above object, the disclosure is a relay module structure, which includes a relay, a loading box, and a relay seat. The relay includes a main body and multiple pins connected to the main body. The loading box includes a box body receiving the main body and a flexible latch portion connected to the box body. The box body has a force exerting portion and multiple slots. The pins project from the slots. The relay seat includes a seat body. The seat body has a recess, a positioning portion, and multiple terminal holes. The positioning portion and the terminal holes are disposed in the recess. The loading box is inserted in the recess by engagement between the flexible latch portion and the positioning portion. The pins projecting from the slots are inserted in the terminal holes. The flexible latch portion is separated from the positioning portion by exerting an external force on the force exerting portion of the box body to make the loading box receiving the relay separate from the relay seat. 
     In comparison with the related art, the relay module structure of the disclosure receives the relay in the loading box and is connected in the relay seat. The loading box includes a flexible latch portion, and the flexible latch portion may be flexibly deformed by an externally-exerted force. Also, the relay module allows a screwdriver to reach the force exerting portion of the loading box to make the flexible latch portion of the loading box be flexibly deformed so as to be separated from the positioning portion and the relay seat. This increases convenience in using. In addition, the relay module structure of the disclosure omits a handle structure to reduce the overall height, simplify the assembling structure and improve utility in using. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is an exploded view of the relay module structure of the disclosure; 
         FIG.  2    is an assembled view of the relay and the loading box of the disclosure; 
         FIG.  3    is a cross-sectional view of the relay module structure of the disclosure; 
         FIG.  4    is a schematic view of the relay module structure of the disclosure with a screwdriver being inserted thereto; 
         FIG.  5    is a schematic view of the relay module structure of the disclosure with the screwdriver being operated thereon; 
         FIG.  6    is a schematic view of separation of the loading box and the relay seat of the disclosure; and 
         FIG.  7    is an exploded schematic view of another embodiment of the relay module structure of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION The technical contents of this disclosure will become apparent with the detailed description of embodiments accompanied with the illustration of related drawings as follows. It is intended that the embodiments and drawings disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive. 
     Please refer to  FIGS.  1 - 3   , which are an exploded view of the relay module structure, an assembled view of the relay and the loading box and a cross-sectional view of the relay module structure of the disclosure. The disclosure is a relay module structure  1 , which includes a relay  10 , a loading box  20  and a relay seat  30 . The relay  10  is received in the loading box  20  and connected in the relay seat  30  through the loading box  20  so as to constitute the relay module structure  1 . The detailed description of the relay module structure  1  is described below. 
     The relay  10  includes a main body  11  and multiple pins  12  connected to the main body  11 . In the embodiment, the pins  12  are disposed spacedly on the bottom of the main body  11 . 
     The loading box  20  includes a box body  21  for receiving the main body  11  and a flexible latch portion  22  connected to the box body  21 . The flexible latch portion  22  may be flexibly deformed by an externally-exerted force. The box body  21  has a force exerting portion  211  and multiple slots  212 . The main body  11  is received in the box body  21 . The pins  12  project from the slots  212 . 
     In detail, the box body  21  is formed with a flexible arm  23  on an outer surface  201 . A flexible space  200  is defined between the flexible arm  23  and the outer surface  201 . The flexible latch portion  22  is located on the flexible arm  23 . In addition, the outer surface  201  of the box body  21  is formed with a protrusion  24  over the flexible latch portion  22 . An engaging trough  25  is defined between the protrusion  24  and the flexible latch portion  22 . In some embodiments, the top of the protrusion  24  is flush with the top of the box body  21 . In the embodiment, the force exerting portion  211  is located on the bottom of the protrusion  24  and forms an indent, but not limited thereto. 
     In the embodiment, the main body  11  has two marking surfaces  111  opposite to each other. The box body  21  has two openings  210  opposite to each other. The main body  11  is received in the box body  21  and the two marking surfaces  111  are exposed from the two openings  210 . The two marking surfaces  111  may be disposed with markings such as characters or icons (patterns) for recognition or description. 
     The relay seat  30  includes a seat body  31 . The seat body  31  has a recess  311 , a positioning portion  312  and multiple terminal holes  313 . The positioning portion  312  and the terminal holes  313  are disposed in the recess  311 . The loading box  20  is inserted into the recess  311  by engagement between the flexible latch portion  22  and the positioning portion  312 . The pins  12  projecting from the slots  212  of the box body  21  are inserted into the terminal holes  313 . 
     In the embodiment, the flexible latch portion  22  includes a hook, and the positioning portion  312  is a notch. In addition, the seat body  31  has a slant trough  314  adjacent to the engaging trough  25 . Also, the seat body  31  is formed with a guide sheet  315  on an edge of the recess  311 . As a result, the loading box  20  may be inserted into the recess  311  along the guide sheet  315 . 
     In addition, the box body  21  is disposed with multiple latching blocks  213  for latching the relay seat  30  to prevent the relay seat  30  from escaping from the loading box  20 . 
     Please refer to  FIGS.  4 - 6   , which are a schematic view of the relay module structure of the disclosure with a screwdriver being inserted thereto, a schematic view of the relay module structure of the disclosure with the screwdriver being operated thereon and a schematic view of separation of the loading box and the relay seat of the disclosure. The relay module structure  1  of the disclosure may be inserted by a screwdriver  2  and exerted with a force on the loading box  20  to separate the loading box  20  from the relay seat  30 . 
     When using, the screwdriver  2  is inserted into the engaging trough  25  along the slant trough  314  of the seat body  31  and reaches the force exerting portion  211 . Thus, the flexible latch portion  22  of the loading box  20  is flexibly deformed by an externally-exerted force on the force exerting portion  211  of the box body  21  to be separated from the positioning portion  312 . As a result, the loading box  20  receiving the relay  10  is separated from the relay seat  10 . 
     Please  FIG.  7   , which is an exploded schematic view of another embodiment of the relay module structure of the disclosure. This embodiment is similar to the above embodiment. The difference therebetween is that the box body  21  is additionally disposed with a handle  211   a . The handle  211   a  is located on the top of the box body  21  and exposed from the relay seat  30 . As a result, a user may hold the handle  211   a  and exert a force to make the flexible latch portion  22  of the loading box  20  be flexibly deformed and be separated from the positioning portion  312  so as to separate the loading box  20  from the relay seat  30 . 
     While this disclosure has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of this disclosure set forth in the claims.