Electrical connectors – Preformed panel circuit arrangement – e.g. – pcb – icm – dip,... – Within distinct housing spaced from panel circuit arrangement
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-15
2004-08-24
Duverne, J. F. (Department: 2839)
Electrical connectors
Preformed panel circuit arrangement, e.g., pcb, icm, dip,...
Within distinct housing spaced from panel circuit arrangement
Reexamination Certificate
active
06780026
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical junction box such as a junction box and a relay box which are used for electrical wiring, for example, of an automotive vehicle. The present invention relates particularly to an electrical junction box having a construction which allows an easy combining work of a lower cover, a wiring sheet, etc. thereof.
2. Related Art
Referring to
FIG. 9
, a conventional junction box X or a conventional electrical junction box such as a relay box and components including a distributing board
4
of the box will be briefly discussed hereinafter.
FIG. 9
is an exploded perspective view of the conventional electrical junction box X which comprises an upper cover
1
, a distributing board
4
, a wiring sheet
6
, routing conductors
9
and a lower cover
10
. The electrical junction box X has a junction box main body consisting of the upper cover
1
and the lower cover
10
which are made of a synthetic resin material. The junction box main body accommodates the distributing board
4
consisting of busbars, a circuit board, etc. Terminals constituted by the busbars are disposed in a connector provided on the upper cover. The electrical junction box X shown in
FIG. 9
may be called as a busbar assembly including the distributing board
4
and the wiring sheet
6
.
The upper cover
1
has a mini fuse accommodation section, a connector housing, etc. and also protects internal components including the distributing board, the busbars, and terminals, for example, female terminals for mini fuses. The upper cover
1
is a main cover. Alternatively, the lower cover may be a main cover in accordance with applications and operational conditions thereof.
The lower cover
10
has a mini fuse accommodation section, a connector housing, etc. and also protects internal components including the distributing board, the busbars, and terminals, for example, female terminals for mini fuses. Generally, the lower cover is combined to the upper cover
1
to define the electrical junction box X. The lower cover
10
is also called as an underside cover.
These female terminals will be discussed herein. The female terminal has each end provided with a receptacle-type connection portion, for example, which is called as a fuse F—F terminal when it connects a busbar with a fuse and as a relay F—F terminal when it connects a busbar with a relay. F—F shows two female-type contacts.
Such junction boxes, junction blocks, or electrical junction boxes X like a relay box include integrated block components defined by combining a plurality of connectors, relays, and fuses into an electrical circuit having electrical wires, busbars, and etc. Generally, such boxes are utilized to divide a wiring harness. The distributing board
4
is an insulating plate which can retain busbars and electrical wires. The busbar is made of a conductivity metal plate and has a lot of electrical contacts to divide an electrical circuit into a plurality of circuits.
As illustrated in
FIG. 9
, the lower cover
10
has a bottom wall provided with a through-hole portion
8
c
having an alignment enhancing through-hole
8
a
. The alignment enhancing through-hole
8
a
is slightly apart inside from a side wall of the lower cover
10
. The distributing board
4
consists of a distributing board
4
a
disposed on the upper cover
1
and a distributing board
4
b
disposed in a side of the wiring sheet
6
. On an underside of the distributing board
4
, there is provided a busbar associated with the alignment enhancing through-hole
8
a
of the lower cover
10
.
The wiring sheet
6
is disposed under the distributing board
4
. Under the wiring sheet
6
, electrical wires
9
having curved portions such as routing conductors are attached to the wiring sheet
6
at predetermined positions. Next, referring to
FIG. 10
, a step for inserting the busbar into the alignment enhancing through-hole
8
a
of the through-hole portion
8
c
formed in the lower cover
10
will be discussed.
FIG. 10
is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the conventional alignment enhancing through-hole
8
a
and a surrounding part thereof and shows a busbar
5
, particularly a terminal portion
5
′ of a connector busbar
5
c
. The connector busbar
5
c
has a tab tip portion
5
b
allowing an easy insertion of the busbar
5
into the alignment enhancing through-hole
8
a.
The lower cover
10
is constituted by a bottom wall
10
a
and side walls
10
b
, and the bottom wall
10
a
is compensated by ribs
10
k
. The bottom wall
10
a
is formed with the through-hole portion
8
c
having the alignment enhancing through-hole
8
a.
The alignment enhancing through-hole
8
a
formed in the lower cover
10
has an upper insertion opening
8
f
and an intermediate tapered portion
8
e
for an easy insertion of the connector busbar
5
c
into the alignment enhancing through-hole
8
a
. The alignment enhancing through-hole
8
a
has a lower exit opening
8
g
for extending the busbar
5
therefrom. Below the alignment enhancing through-hole
8
a
, that is, under the lower cover
10
, there is provided a connector housing
8
. The distributing board
4
, the wiring sheet
6
having the routing conductors
9
, and the lower cover
10
, which are illustrated in
FIG. 9
, are combined with each other, so that the connector busbar
5
c
shown in
FIG. 10
is inserted into the alignment enhancing through-hole
8
a
to pass through the alignment enhancing through-hole
8
a
so as to extend toward the connector housing
8
. This defines a male connector which is connected to another electrical component such as a wiring harness having a receptacle connector.
FIG. 11
is a bottom view showing a wiring area A and a neighboring area thereof in respect of the conventional wiring sheet
6
of the distributing board. The bottom view is a general illustration of the wiring sheet
6
provided with the routing conductors
9
, which is taken upward from the bottom wall of the lower cover
10
. The wiring sheet
6
is mounted on the lower cover
10
so as not to interfere with the through-hole portion
8
c
and the alignment enhancing through-hole
8
a
of the lower cover
10
.
The wiring sheet
6
has a base plate
6
a
on which a lot of the routing conductors
9
are mounted. The routing conductors
9
are arranged in the wiring area A so as to have adequate curved portions. The routing conductors
9
are electrically connected in a pattern by a predetermined large number of press-fit terminals
15
disposed on an underside surface of the distributing board. Further, the base plate
6
a
of the wiring sheet
6
is formed with a plurality of positioning holes
6
c
for accurately combining the wiring sheet
6
with the upper cover
1
, the lower cover
10
having the side wall
10
b
, and the distributing board
4
.
Referring to a prior art, Japanese Utility Model No. 3-40048 discloses an electrical junction box used for connection of wiring harnesses. The electrical junction box accommodates a busbar wiring pattern having tab terminals which are accurately vertically extended to achieve an improved connection with an associated connector.
Generally, the busbar terminals attached on the distributing board are not accurately oriented with variations in orientation thereof. Thus, the insertion opening
8
f
of the alignment enhancing
8
a
(
FIGS. 9 and 10
) of the lower cover
10
must have a larger size so that the terminal
5
′ of the busbar
5
ununiformly attached in the distributing board
4
may be easily insertable into the alignment enhancing through-hole
8
a
of the lower cover
10
as illustrated in FIG.
10
.
However, the alignment enhancing through-hole
8
a
shown in
FIG. 10
must have the tapered portion
8
e
of a comparatively longer length because of an easy insertion of the terminal
5
′ of the connector busbar
5
c
, resulted in a larger size of the through-hole portion
8
c
. As illustrated in
FIG. 10
, The through-hole portion
8
c
including the alignment enhancing
LandOfFree
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.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3338128