Electrical connectors – Preformed panel circuit arrangement – e.g. – pcb – icm – dip,... – Within distinct housing spaced from panel circuit arrangement
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-22
2001-11-13
Bradley, Paula (Department: 2833)
Electrical connectors
Preformed panel circuit arrangement, e.g., pcb, icm, dip,...
Within distinct housing spaced from panel circuit arrangement
C439S404000, C439S714000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06315578
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connection box and to its method of manufacture. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a wire connection busbar of an electrical connection box and its production method.
2. Description of the Related Art
A prior art electrical connection box, such as a junction box, contains branch circuits at high density. Wires and push-in terminals may be used singularly or together with a busbar to form circuits in the prior art electrical connection boxes. To accommodate the high density of circuits, wires are laid along the inner surfaces of the lower and upper casings of the electrical connection box. The busbar then is arranged with insulating plates provided between the busbar and the wires in the lower and upper casings. In other words, circuits accommodated in the prior art electrical connection box have a layered construction of the wires, the busbar and more wires.
A prior art electrical connection box, as described above, is manufactured as shown in
FIG. 16
by placing a lower casing
1
and an upper casing
2
side by side on the same plane and spaced apart by a specified clearance C, such that the respective inner surfaces face upwardly. Connectors
3
and
4
are fixed by jigs or like devices in predetermined positions on the upwardly facing inner surfaces of the lower and upper casings
1
and
2
, and push-in terminals
5
are mounted into terminal mount holes of the connectors
3
and
4
. Each terminal
5
has an upwardly facing slot formed with a blade. A strand of wire (single core wire) w is laid between the lower and upper casings
1
and
2
over the clearance C, i.e. from the lower casing
1
to the upper casing
2
and then back from the upper casing
2
to the lower casing
1
, and so on along the inner surfaces of the side by side lower and upper casings
1
and
2
. The wire w is pushed directly into the slots of the push-in terminals
5
mounted in the connectors
3
and
4
of the lower and upper casings
1
and
2
, thereby connecting the wire w and the push-in terminals
5
. The upper casing
2
then is turned onto the lower casing
1
as indicated by an arrow in FIG.
16
. In particular, the upper casing
2
is fitted to the lower casing
1
in such a way that the wire w in the lower casing
1
faces the wire w in the upper casing
2
.
The lower casing
1
to be fitted to the upper casing
2
may be constructed as shown in FIG.
17
. Specifically, an insulating plate
6
is placed on a circuit formed by the wire w and the push-in terminals
5
. A busbar
7
then is placed thereon, and an insulating plate
8
is further placed on the upper surface of the busbar
7
. The lower casing
1
then is fitted to the upper casing
2
to arrange the wire w in the upper casing
2
.
Since the wire w is laid with the lower and upper casings
1
and
2
placed on the same plane as described above, it should be laid over the clearance C defined between the lower and upper casings
1
and
2
. If an attempt is made to fit the lower and upper casings
1
and
2
to each other in this state, a wire portion w-a extends over the clearance C between the lower and upper casings
1
and
2
and must be folded into a U-shape like a hinge as shown in FIG.
22
. This wire portion w-a bulges outwardly and causes a problem.
The busbar
7
may have tabs
7
a
that project in positions near the side of the upper casing
2
toward the lower casing
1
. In such a case, when the lower and upper casings
1
and
2
are rotated to each other, the tabs
7
a
of the busbar
7
may not align properly for insertion into specified mount holes formed in the upper casing
2
.
The present invention was developed in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to prevent a wire from bulging out from an outer surface at one side of a fitting portion of lower and upper casings and to solve a problem that tabs cannot be properly inserted into mount holes of the upper casing when the upper casing is fitted to the lower casing by being turned onto it.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention, there is provided an electrical connection box with a casing assembly comprised of first and second casings. A plurality of wires are laid along or on the inner surfaces of the casings. At least one connection busbar is mounted or mountable on at least one side surface of the first and second casings, such that the second and first wires are connected respectively to the second and the first ends of the connection busbar.
According to a further preferred embodiment, there is provided an electrical connection box with a casing assembly comprised of lower and upper casings. Wires are laid along the inner surfaces of the lower and upper casings and are to be connected with push-in terminals driven into connectors mounted in the lower and upper casings. Insulating coatings of the upper and lower wires to be connected at the same side end of the casing are stripped off to expose the wire cores. A U-shaped connection busbar is mounted on one side surface of the lower and upper casings such that the cores exposed at the ends of the upper and lower wires are welded to the upper and the lower ends of the connection busbar. Accordingly, the present invention preferably enables a variety of connection patterns of wires laid in the lower and upper casings.
The wires laid in the lower and upper casings are connected by the connection busbar that is arranged on the side surface of the casing, as described above. Thus it is not necessary to make the wires in the upper and lower casings continuous. Further, since the necessary wires in the lower and upper casings are connected by the connection busbar, a connection corresponding to a circuit design can be made easily and a design change can be dealt with easily. Furthermore, an electrical connection can be established with enhanced reliability since the connection busbar and the wire can be connected by welding.
The wires may be laid on the inner surfaces of the lower and upper casings by cutting a single strand of wire laid in the side by side lower and upper casings or by laying separate wires in the lower and upper casings. If the single strand of wire is laid in the side by side lower and upper casings, then a wire laying operation becomes easier. Further, since the wire is cut between the lower and upper casings, the above-described problems residing in the prior art can be solved. In particular these prior art problems relate to the fact that the folded portions, which serve as a hinge, bulge out of the casing, and the fact that it is difficult to insert the tabs into the terminal holes formed in the upper casing while the upper casing is turned onto the lower casing. On the other hand, the wire laying operation is even easier if the wires are separately laid in the lower and upper casings.
Preferably, a plurality of connection busbars are provided, and each of the connection busbars connects one or more wires in the lower casing with one or more wires in the upper casing. Specifically, the connection busbar may connect one wire in the lower casing with one wire in the upper casing (in this case, so-called “shorting pin”). If the strand of wire is cut after being laid in side by side casings and the cut ends of the wires in one casing are connected one on one with the corresponding cut ends of the wires in the other casing, the resulting circuit is the same as the one formed by the strand of wire before cutting.
Further, if two wires in the upper casing and one wire in the lower casing are connected by the connection busbar instead of constructing the same circuit as the one before cutting, two wires in the upper casing can be spliced (joined). Similarly, if two or more wires in the lower casing and two or more wires in the upper casing are connected by one connection busbar, a multitude of circuits can be joined.
Circuit construction can be changed easily, thereby improving an operability, if the wires in the respective casings are connected by the
Harrori Yukimitsu
Kasai Koji
Kato Shigeru
Kusumoto Kuniharu
Oishi Akinori
Bradley Paula
Casella Anthony J.
Hespos Gerald E.
Nguyen Truc
Sumitomo Wiring Systems Ltd.
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