Patent ID: 7369398

Claim:
A terminal box for mounting on a surface of an electric or electronic device, comprising a base plate having an outer surface facing outwardly on the terminal box and an opposite inner surface facing into the terminal box, at least one through hole formed through the base plate between the outer surface and the inner surface, terminal plates arranged on the inner surface of the base plate for electrically connecting positive and negative electrodes of an electric or electronic module, at least one rectifying device spanning between the terminal plates for bypass at a time of an inverse load, at least one heat discharging element attached to the rectifying device and disposed at least partly in the through hole in the base plate, the heat discharging element having a heat discharging surface facing outwardly from the terminal box at the through hole for discharging heat generated by the rectifying device, and a substantially transparent resin layer provided on at least part of the outer surface of the base plate and projecting beyond the outer surface of the base plate farther than the heat discharging surface of the heat discharging element, whereby the resin layer can be mounted on the surface of the electronic or electronic device with the heat discharging surface of the heat discharging element being opposed to and spaced from the electric or electronic device.