Chemistry: electrical current producing apparatus – product – and – Terminal protector other than seal through casing
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-29
2004-12-07
Kalafut, Stephen J. (Department: 1745)
Chemistry: electrical current producing apparatus, product, and
Terminal protector other than seal through casing
C429S121000, C439S522000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06828058
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVNETION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a battery connecting portion-protecting cover which is used for a battery terminal or a fuse unit, connected to a battery post mounted on a vehicle, for the purpose of preventing the short-circuiting, developing upon contact with an external object, and the corrosion due to the intrusion of waterdrops.
2. Related Art
An on-vehicle battery includes a pair of battery posts made of a lead alloy. A battery terminal for supplying electric power from the battery to an auxiliary equipment or the like, a fuse unit, or others is connected to the battery post. The battery terminal or the fuse unit is protected by a protecting cover in an insulated manner for the purpose of preventing the short-circuiting, developing upon contact with an external object, and the corrosion due to the intrusion of waterdrops.
In view of the need for attachment/detachment of the battery terminal during the assembly of the vehicle and the need for exchange and visual inspection of fuses, the protecting cover is separate from the battery terminal and the fuse unit, and can be opened and closed, and is detachably mounted on the battery terminal or the fuse unit by suitable engagement means.
FIGS. 8 and 9
show one conventional protecting cover disclosed in JP-A-2000-340214. This illustrated protecting cover
101
is used for a battery terminal
102
(FIG.
10
), and is mounted on the battery terminal in such a manner that this protecting cover can be pivotally opened and closed about a hinge portion
107
.
The battery terminal
102
, shown in
FIG. 10
, is made of electrically-conductive metal, and includes a wire connection portion
102
a
for being press-fastened to that portion of a conductor
104
, exposed by removing a sheath of a wire
103
at a distal end portion thereof, and a clamp portion
102
b
for connection to a battery post (not shown). This clamp portion
102
b
includes a fastening ring
105
of a generally short cylindrical shape for being fastened to the battery post. A pair of extension piece portions
105
a
project forwardly from the fastening ring
105
, and a fastening bolt
106
is mounted on distal ends of these extension piece portions. The fastening ring
105
can be decreased in diameter by tightening the fastening bolt
106
, and by doing so, the battery terminal
102
can be fastened to the battery post.
As shown in
FIG. 8
, the protecting cover
10
is molded entirely of a synthetic resin, and has an integral construction, and this protecting cover includes a cover body
101
a
for holding the wire connecting portion
102
a
and the fastening ring
105
in a generally embracing manner, and a cover piece portion
101
b
which is connected to the cover body
101
a
through the hinge portion
107
so as to cover the upper side and opposite sides of the clamp portion
102
b.
The cover body
110
a
has a generally U-shaped cross-section, and has an open bottom and open opposite ends, and the battery terminal
102
and part of the distal end portion of the wire
103
can be fitted into this cover body through the bottom opening thereof. The front end portion of the cover body
101
a
is slightly increased in width to provide an annular holding portion
108
for receiving the fastening ring
105
of the battery terminal
102
. An inner surface of the annular holding portion
108
is so formed as to be disposed in substantially intimate contact with the outer peripheral surface of the fastening ring
105
. The width of a rear portion of the cover body
101
a
, extending rearwardly from the annular holding portion
108
, is generally equal to the width of the wire connection portion
102
a.
The cover piece portion
101
b
is connected to the cover body
101
a
through the hinge portion
107
so as to be opened and closed relative to the cover body
101
a
. A step
109
is formed on an upper surface of the cover body
101
a
such that a rear portion of this upper surface is higher than a front portion thereof. The hinge
107
is provided at that portion of the higher rear portion of this upper surface, disposed near to the step
109
, and extends in the direction of the width of the cover body.
In the above construction, for opening the cover piece portion
101
b
, an operating piece portion
112
, formed integrally at the front end of the cover piece portion
101
b
, is lifted. For closing the cover piece portion
101
b
, the cover piece portion
101
b
is pressed down, so that claws
110
a
of retaining arms
110
, formed within the cover piece portion
101
b
, are brought into engagement respectively with retaining reception portions
11
formed in the cover body portion
101
a.
However, the above conventional protecting cover has the following problems which should be solved.
Although the closed condition of the openable/closable cover piece portion
101
b
is maintained by the lock means comprising the retaining arms
110
and the retaining reception portions
111
, there is encountered a problem that the open condition of the cover piece portion
101
b
can not be maintained since any lock means for this purpose is not provided at the cover piece portion
101
b
and the cover body portion
101
a.
Namely, when the battery terminal
102
(to be connected to the battery post) or various connection terminals (to be connected to the battery post through a fuse unit) are to be attached and detached, and when fuses, provided within the fuse unit, are to be exchanged with new ones, these operations need to be carried out while holding the cover piece portion
101
b
in the open condition. However, the cover piece portion
101
b
to be opened is connected to the cover body
101
a
through the elastic hinge portion
107
, and this cover piece portion is opened while elastically deforming the hinge portion
107
of an arcuate cross-section in a direction of reverse warping of this hinge portion. Therefore, the cover piece portion
101
b
tends to be elastically returned into its closed condition, and therefore the operator must effect the operation while holding the cover piece portion
101
b
with one hand. In this case, the operator must tighten and loosen the fastening bolt
106
with the other (empty) hand, and therefore there has been encountered a problem that the efficiency of the attaching/detaching operation and other operations is low
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
With the above problems in view, it is an object of this invention to provide a battery connecting portion-protecting cover in which the protecting cover can be held in an open condition so as to enhance the efficiency of an operation, such as an operation for attaching and detaching a battery terminal, various connection terminals or others, and a fuse-exchanging operation, and a hinge portion exhibits high durability against repeated bending.
The above object has been achieved by a battery connecting portion-protecting cover of the invention comprising a cover body portion for covering a battery terminal, connected directly to a battery post, or a fuse unit, and a cover opening/closing portion which is connected to the cover body portion through a hinge portion, and can be pivotally opened and closed about the hinge portion; characterized in that an insertion piece portion is formed on that portion of the cover opening/closing portion disposed near to the hinge portion, and has a retaining portion formed at a distal end thereof; and the cover body portion has an insertion hole portion into which the insertion piece portion can be fittingly inserted.
In this construction, the insertion piece portion for locking purposes is formed on the cover opening/closing portion, and the insertion hole portion for the insertion piece portion is formed in the cover body portion. When the cover opening/closing portion is lifted, and is pivotally moved through about 90 degrees about the hinge portion, the insertion piece portion of the cover opening/closing portion is inserted into the insertion hole portion in the cover body portion, and at a predetermined o
Atago Yoshinori
Kajii Tomoaki
Matsumura Norio
Nakadouzono Hiroshi
Ohtsuka Haruhito
Sughrue & Mion, PLLC
Yazaki -Corporation
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