Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20150245505A1/en
Timestamp: 2018-11-19 14:53:00
Document Index: 241961273

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 40', 'art 40', 'art 40', 'arts 40', 'art 40', 'art 40', 'art 40', 'art 40', 'art 40', 'art 40', 'art 40']

US20150245505A1 - Electrical junction box - Google Patents
US20150245505A1
US20150245505A1 US14432659 US201314432659A US2015245505A1 US 20150245505 A1 US20150245505 A1 US 20150245505A1 US 14432659 US14432659 US 14432659 US 201314432659 A US201314432659 A US 201314432659A US 2015245505 A1 US2015245505 A1 US 2015245505A1
US14432659
US9591774B2 (en )
Particularly, the guiding drain groove is set to have a size in which capillary action can act. Accordingly, it is possible to guide the water in the horizontal direction positively using capillary action, and to effectively prevent the water from climbing. Note that “to guide the water in the horizontal direction” in this aspect means that it is sufficient for the water to be able to be guided with the horizontal direction component, and the guiding drain groove may be provided inclined in the vertical direction. For example, by providing the guiding drain groove that extends in the horizontal direction and is inclined vertically downward, it is possible to exert more effectively an effect of guiding water by effectively using both capillary action and gravity. The guiding drain groove may also be provided on either or both of the main body or the cover.
Furthermore, a side wall 34 a located at one end in the longitudinal direction of the frame 16 has a guide rib 36. The guide rib 36 protrudes outward from the side wall 34 a in the longitudinal direction of the frame 16, and extends in a straight line over substantially the entire length in the vertical direction of the side wall 34 a. On the other hand, a side wall 34 b that is opposite to the side wall 34 a is a flat surface. Accordingly, the guide rib 36 is formed at only one location on the periphery of the main body 12.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the recess-shaped uneven part 40 has the shape of a recess such that the surface 38 is recessed so as to be uneven. The recess-shaped uneven part 40 is formed over the entire width in the width direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 5) of the surface 38 from the side wall 34 a to the center hole 20, and over a predetermined vertical dimension. Furthermore, the recess-shaped uneven part 40 is formed in a lower end portion of the surface 38, extending in a continuous manner from the abutment restricting surface 26.
On the other hand, the cover 14 is a synthetic resin molded article that is formed into one piece. FIG. 7 shows the lower surface of the cover 14. The cover 14 has an elongated rectangular box shape, and has an opening 58 on one side thereof. Among inner surfaces 59 of the cover 14, inner surfaces 59 a and 59 b that oppose the recess-shaped uneven parts 40 of the main body 12 are flat. The upper surface of the cover 14 has a plurality of fuse mounted sections 60 that are formed in one line over substantially half of the upper surface of the cover 14 with respect to the longitudinal direction. Each fuse mounted section 60 has a pair of terminal insertion holes 62 that penetrate through the upper surface of the cover 14 and oppose each other.
Furthermore, external locks 72 are formed on outer surfaces of side walls 70 a and 70 b of the cover 14 that are opposite to each other in the longitudinal direction. The external locks 72 have substantially the same shape, and a pair of guiding sections 76 that have an L-shaped cross section and extend in the vertical direction are formed on the two sides of an elastic piece 74 that protrudes outward from the side wall 70 a (or 70 b) and extends upward. The elastic piece 74 has an engagement protrusion 75.
Furthermore, the side wall 70 a has drain recess grooves 78 a and 78 b, whereas the side wall 70 b has drain recess grooves 78 c and 78 d. These drain recess grooves 78 a to 78 d have substantially the same shape, and have the shape of a groove that opens to the inner surface of the cover 14 by the side wall 70 a (or the 70 b) protruding outward from the cover 14, and extends in a straight line in the vertical direction. Note that the lower end edges of the drain recess grooves 78 a to 78 d open on an open end surface 80 of the cover 14. Furthermore, a distance D1 between the drain recess grooves 78 a and 78 b of the side wall 70 a differs from a distance D2 between the drain recess grooves 78 c and 78 d of the side wall 70 b. The drain recess groove 78 a of the side wall 70 a is formed at a position that corresponds to the guide rib 36 of the main body 12. Accordingly, if an attempt is made to assemble the cover 14 to the main body 12 in the wrong direction, the guide rib 36 of the main body 12 will interfere with the cover 14, preventing a fault in coupling.
As shown in FIG. 1, the cover 14 is externally fitted to the main body 12 from above. Note that, by the guide rib 36 provided on the side wall 34 a of the main body 12 being inserted into the drain recess groove 78 a provided on the side wall 70 a, the cover 14 can be guided in the vertical direction, which is the direction in which the cover is externally fitted to the main body 12, and can be externally fitted smoothly to the main body 12. The extent to which the cover 14 is externally fitted to the main body 12 is defined by the open end surface 80 of the cover 14 abutting against the abutment restricting surface 26 of the main body 12. Moreover, the cover 14 is fixed to the main body 12 by the engaging claws 66 of the main locks 64 provided inside the cover 14 respectively engaging with the main locking claws 30 of the main body 12, and a plurality of sub lock holes 68 of the cover 14 respectively engaging with the sub locking claws 32 of the main body 12. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 8, the main body 12 and the cover 14 are assembled to each other in the state in which the portion of the main body 12 that is located above the abutment restricting surface 26 is accommodated in the cover 14, and thus the electrical junction box 10 is formed. Furthermore, the plurality of fuse terminals 46 (see FIG. 1 and the like) provided on the main body 12 are inserted into the terminal insertion holes 62 of the fuse mounted sections 60 provided on the cover 14, and are arranged in the fuse mounted sections 60.
In the electrical junction box 10 having the structure according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, by the cover 14 being assembled to the main body 12, the surface 38 of the main body 12 opposes the inner surface 59 of the cover 14. An opposing distance Si between the surface 38 of the main body 12 and the inner surface 59 of the cover 14 is set to be very small since an unnecessary space is not provided between the main body 12 and the cover 14, and is set to about 0.2 mm in, for example, the present embodiment. Furthermore, the recess-shaped uneven part 40 on the surface 38 is spaced from the inner surface 59 a (or 59 b) of the cover 14 that the recess-shaped uneven part 40 opposes, and an opposing distance S2 is larger than the opposing distance S1. The opposing distance S2 between the recess-shaped uneven part 40 and the inner surface 59 a (or 59 b) is set to a distance at which no capillary action acts, and to about 0.5 mm in the present embodiment, for example.
Accordingly, even in the case where water enters the cover 14 from, for example, a micro-gap between the opening end surface 80 of the cover 14 and the abutment restricting surface 26 of the main body 12, the recess-shaped uneven part 40 prevents the water that has entered the cover 14 from climbing within the cover 14 (moving vertically upward) since the opposing distance S2 between the recess-shaped uneven part 40 and the inner surface 59 a (59 b) of the cover 14 is set to a distance at which no capillary action acts. As a result, it is possible to prevent the water that has entered the cover 14 from reaching the printed-circuit board 18, and to prevent a short circuit or corrosion of the printed-circuit board 18 due to the printed-circuit board 18 getting wet. Particularly, in the present embodiment, the recess-shaped uneven part 40 is formed in a continuous manner from the abutment restricting surface 26. Accordingly, at the time when water enters the gap between the abutment restricting surface 26 and the cover 14, the recess-shaped uneven part 40 can prevent the water from further climbing, and thus it is possible to effectively prevent the entering of the water.
Furthermore, since the drain recess grooves 78 a to 78 d are formed on the side walls 70 a and 70 b of the cover 14, opposing distances between the drain recess grooves 78 a to 78 d and the corresponding side walls 34 a and 34 b of the main body 12 are large. As a result, capillary action between the side walls 70 a, 70 b of the cover 14 and the side walls 34 a, 34 b of the main body 12 can be prevented in the drain recess grooves 78 a to 78 d, making it possible to capture water moving between the side walls 70 a, 70 b and the side walls 34 a, 34 b in the drain recess grooves 78 a to 78 d, and to achieve a further improvement in the effect of preventing entering of the water.
a main body including a circuit board;
a cover externally fitted to the main body and assembled in a state in which the main body is accommodated in the cover,
wherein at least one of an outer surface of the main body and an inner surface of the cover that oppose each other in a state in which the cover is assembled is provided with a recess-shaped uneven part that extends in a vertical direction and has a shape of a recess that is spaced from the corresponding opposing inner surface of the cover or opposing outer surface of the main body, and
the recess-shaped uneven part is provided with a guiding drain groove for guiding water in a horizontal direction using capillary action.
3. The electrical junction box according to claim 1, wherein the main body includes an abutment restricting surface that protrudes outward from the main body and opposes an opening end surface of the cover, and
the recess-shaped uneven part is formed in a continuous manner from the abutment restricting surface.
US14432659 2012-10-04 2013-09-24 Electrical junction box Active US9591774B2 (en)
JP2012-222259 2012-10-04
JP2012222259A JP5936065B2 (en) 2012-10-04 2012-10-04 Electrical junction box
PCT/JP2013/075743 WO2014054463A1 (en) 2012-10-04 2013-09-24 Electrical junction box
US20150245505A1 true true US20150245505A1 (en) 2015-08-27
US9591774B2 US9591774B2 (en) 2017-03-07
ID=50434792
US14432659 Active US9591774B2 (en) 2012-10-04 2013-09-24 Electrical junction box
US (1) US9591774B2 (en)
JP (1) JP5936065B2 (en)
CN (1) CN104704693B (en)
WO (1) WO2014054463A1 (en)
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Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:ANAMI, SHUICHI;REEL/FRAME:035302/0284