Waterproof structure of electronic parts-containing box

Details Waterproof structure of electronic parts-containing box Waterproof structure of electronic parts-containing box

2002-11-22

2004-07-27

Patel, Dhiru R (Department: 2831)

Electricity: conductors and insulators

Boxes and housings

C174S053000, C174S058000, C174S060000, C220S004020

Reexamination Certificate

active

06768054

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a waterproof structure of an electronic parts-containing box such as a connector block mounted in a panel hole in a vehicle body panel of a vehicle or the like.
Many wire harnesses are installed, for example, on a vehicle body of a vehicle, and among these wire harnesses, there are some each passing through a panel hole in a vehicle body panel separating the inside and outside of a car room from each other. Thus, the wire harness is passed through the panel hole, and this wire harness is installed at the inside and outside of the car room, and therefore has a large overall length, and can not be easily handled, and besides there is a possibility that the wire harness is passed through the panel hole in the wrong direction. Therefore, it has been proposed to connect an inside wire harness at the inside of the car room to an outside wire harness at the outside of the car room by the use of connectors (JP-B-4-38468U).
More specifically, as shown in
FIG. 11
, a connector block
40
is passed through a panel hole
42
in a panel
41
from the outside of a car room, and a flange
44
is abutted against a face of the panel
41
through a packing
43
, and the flange
44
is fixedly secured to the face of the panel
41
by bolts
45
and nuts
46
. A connector
48
, connected to an inside wire harness
47
(installed at the inside of the room), is attached to the connector block
40
at the inside of the room, and a grommet
51
on an outside wire harness
50
(installed at the outside of the room) is mounted in a grommet mounting portion
49
, and a connector
52
, connected to the outside wire harness
50
, is fitted relative to the inside connector
48
to be electrically connected thereto. Then, retaining holes
55
, formed in a cover
54
having a packing
53
affixed to an inner side thereof, are engaged respectively with retaining projections
56
on the connector block
40
, thereby attaching the cover
54
to the connector block
40
, and in this manner the two wire harnesses
47
and
50
can be electrically connected together in the interior of the connector block
40
sealed in a waterproof manner.
Thus, for attaching the cover
54
to the connector block
40
, the retaining holes
55
in the cover
54
are engaged respectively with the retaining projections
56
on the connector block
40
, and the packing
53
is compressed to form a seal between the cover
54
and the connector block
40
, thereby ensuring the waterproof effect. In some cases, however, the rate of compression of the packing
53
is low with the engagement (resin locking) between the retaining holes
55
and the retaining projections
56
, and in such a case there is a possibility that water intrudes through a gap between the cover
54
and the connector block
40
.
Therefore, as shown in
FIG. 12
, there has been proposed a construction in which a cover
60
and a connector block body
62
are fastened together by screw members (not shown), thereby sufficiently compressing a packing
61
, interposed between the cover
60
and the connector block body
61
, so as to enhance a waterproof performance.
Although a waterproof seal between the cover
60
and the connector block body
62
is enhanced by the packing
61
sufficiently compressed upon fastening by the screw members, through holes
63
for the insertion (or passage) of the screw members therethrough must be formed in the cover
60
, and therefore there is a possibility that water intrudes into the interior of the connector block body
62
through a gap in each through hole
63
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a waterproof structure of an electronic parts-containing box which suppresses the intrusion of water through a gap in a through hole.
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a waterproof structure of an electronic parts-containing box comprising:
a containing box body; and
a front cover, mounted on the containing box body so as to cover a opening portion thereof;
wherein either the containing box body or the front cover has a through hole; and
wherein a water intrusion suppressing portion is formed on a face of either the containing box body or the front cover so as to suppress an intrusion of water which flows on the face into the through hole.
In this configuration, the intrusion of the water into the through hole is suppressed by the water intrusion-suppressing portion, and therefore the water is prevented from intruding into the containing box body through a gap in the through hole.
Preferably, the water intrusion suppressing portion is a guide wall which is formed on the face of either the containing box body or the front cover, and is disposed near to the through hole, so as to guide the water in a direction which is different from a direction in which the water flows toward the through hole.
Here, it is preferable that the guide wall is a peripheral wall which surrounds at least a part of a circumference of the through hole.
Here, it is preferable that the guide wall is a peripheral wall in which a lower part of the peripheral wall is open in a direction of gravity when the face of either the containing box body or the front cover is inclined.
In this configurations, the water intrusion-suppressing portion is thus formed by the guide wall, and therefore the water, flowing in the direction toward the through hole, is guided in the different direction by the guide wall, and therefore the intrusion of the water into the containing box body through the gap in the through hole is suppressed with this simple construction.
Preferably, the waterproof structure comprising a fastening member, which threads through the through hole to fasten the front cover and the containing box body. The water intrusion suppressing portion is a rib which formed around at least a part of a circumference of the through hole. The rib is crushed by an abutment face of the fastening member so as to seal a gap between the face and the abutment face of the fastening member when the containing box body and the front cover are fastened together by the fastening member.
In this configuration, the water intrusion-suppressing portion is formed by the rib, and therefore when the containing box body and the front cover are fastened together by the fastening member, the rib is crushed to seal the gap between the face of the one member (having the through hole) of either the containing box body or the front cover and the abutment face of the fastening member, and therefore the intrusion of the water into the containing box body through the gap in the through hole is suppressed with this simple construction.
Preferably, the fastening member includes a bolt and a nut. Either the bolt or the nut is secured to either the containing box body or the front cover which does not have the through hole.
In this configuration, the fastening member includes the bolt and the nut, and therefore the containing box body and the front cover can be positively firmly fastened together with this simple construction.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5608611 (1997-03-01), Szudarek et al.
patent: 5837933 (1998-11-01), Fligelman
patent: 5962811 (1999-10-01), Rodrigues et al.
patent: 6069315 (2000-05-01), Tang
patent: 6555748 (2003-04-01), Gul
patent: 4-38468 (1992-09-01), None

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