Electrical junction box

Details Electrical junction box Electrical junction box

1998-09-04

2001-05-01

Patel, Tulsidas (Department: 2839)

Electrical connectors

With circuit component or comprising connector which fully...

Connector includes or covers additional component

C439S949000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06224426

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrical junction box which is arranged, for instance, in the engine room of an automobile.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 9-239908, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in
FIG. 2
, an electrical junction box
20
arranged in an engine room of an automobile comprises a body
25
including an inserting section
23
in which the fusible link
21
is insertable and fixing sections
24
and
24
in which cables
22
and
22
can be fixed. In the electrical junction box
20
, a plurality of cables
22
and
22
is electrically connected through a fusible link
21
to each other.
The fusible link
21
has a pair of terminals
21
A and
21
A that are inserted in the inserting section
23
from above in
FIG. 2
so as to penetrate the body
25
. On the other hand, the cables
22
and
22
have connecting terminals at their ends, and are inserted into the fixing sections
24
and
24
from below in FIG.
2
.
The fusible link
21
is electrically connected to the cables
22
in the body
25
as follows: The terminals
21
A and the connecting terminals
22
A are initially laid one on another. Under this condition, fixing bolts
26
are respectively passed through those terminals
21
A and
22
A. Then, the fixing bolts
26
are respectively engaged with nuts
27
.
Incidentally, a bus bar insert-molded in the body
25
may be provided between the terminals
21
A of the fusible link
21
and the connecting terminals
22
A of the cables
22
.
In the above-described conventional electrical junction box
20
, with respect to the body
25
, the inserting section
23
and the fixing sections
24
and
24
are arranged in opposite direction, Therefore, if the body
25
is so arranged in the engine room that a worker operates downward the connection and disconnection of the fusible link
21
or the cables
22
, then such operation is considerably troublesome.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing, an object of the invention is to provide an electrical junction box with which the connection and disconnection of the fusible link and the cables can be easily achieved.
In order to achieve the foregoing object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electrical junction box for electrically connecting a plurality of cables through at lease one fusible link, which comprises: a body; an inserting section into which the fusible link is insertable; and fixing sections to which the cables can be fixed; wherein the inserting section and the fixing sections are so arranged on the body that the inserting section and the fixing sections face in the same direction.
In the body, the bus bars may be insert-molded to couple the inserting section and the fixing section to one another. The body is optional in configuration.
In the case where the body is substantially rectangular, the inserting section and the fixing sections may be arranged on one and the same surface of the body, or the inserting section and the fixing sections may be arranged on the side surfaces of the body which are adjacent to each other. All that is necessary is that the directions of insertion of the fusible link and the cables are the same.
In the electrical junction box, the inserting section and the fixing sections are arranged in the same direction; in other words, the fusible link and the cables are inserted in the same direction.
Accordingly, in the case where, for instance, in the engine room of an automobile, the body is so arranged that the inserting section and the fixing sections face upwardly, the engagement and disengagement of the fusible link and the cables can be easily achieved. That is, the electrical junction box is much higher in workability than the conventional one. Incidentally, the cables may be connected to terminals, and the terminals may be fixed to the fixing sections.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the electrical junction box is formed to further comprise a cover section covering the inserting section and the fixing sections, the cover section having at lease two inserting holes through which the cables are passable, the inserting holes being communicated with a periphery portion of the cover section.
The cover section may be in the form of a bottomed cylinder, a roof, a pyramid, or a flat plate. That is, the configuration of the cover section is not particularly limited—all that is necessary for the cover is that the cover is able to cover the inserting section and the fixing sections as one unit. In addition, the inserting holes may be substantially U-shaped so that they correspond to the sectional configuration of the cables and that the configuration of the opening thereof is continuous to the periphery of the cover section. That is, the inserting holes may be defined by U-shaped edges formed along the periphery portion of the cover section, respectively.
In the electrical junction box thus constructed, the inserting holes formed in the cover section are continuous to the periphery of the cover section. Therefore, when the cover is engaged with or disengaged from the body, the cables may be moved from the inserting holes to the periphery of the cover section. That is, with the cables secured to the fixing sections, the cover may be disengaged from or engaged with the body.
In other words, with the electrical junction box, even if the connectors are connected to the ends of the cables, the cover section may be smoothly engaged with or disengaged from the body. This means that the work with respect to the electrical junction box can be achieved with high efficiency.
That is, the cover section is detachably attached to the body. Also, the cover section may have a engaging portion, and the body may have a retaining portion so that the engaging portion and the retaining portion are detachably engaged with each other.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4097109 (1978-06-01), Cross
patent: 4213013 (1980-07-01), Perna et al.
patent: 4221455 (1980-09-01), Cairns et al.
patent: 4923411 (1990-05-01), Hayashi et al.
patent: 4940419 (1990-07-01), Kurita et al.
patent: 5171155 (1992-12-01), Mendoza
patent: 5403193 (1995-04-01), Ito et al.
patent: 5877944 (1999-03-01), Onizuka
patent: 5995380 (1999-11-01), Maue et al.
patent: 3-57852 (1991-06-01), None
patent: 5-33444 (1993-04-01), None

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Electrical junction box does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Electrical junction box, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Electrical junction box will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2520686