Mounting structure for vehicle electrical connection box

• US 20020061677A1
• Filed: 11/16/2001
• Published: 05/23/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Yazaki Corporation
• Original Assignee: Yazaki Corporation
• Inventors: Iwata, Yoshifumi
• Granted Patent: US 6,796,802 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 439/475
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 2201/26 for vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H01R 9/2416 Means for guiding or retaining wires or cables connected to terminal blocks

Abstract

An electrical connection box 20 is arranged rearward of and in the vicinity of a dash panel 13, and is fixed to a cowl side panel 15 via mounting members 23, 24 extended from a box body 21. The box body 21 of the electrical connection box 20 is formed with a protruding member 22 for receiving impact from the dash panel 13 before the box body 21 does upon collision of the vehicle. The mounting members 23, 24 are formed to have such a rigidity as to allow the members 23, 24 to be broken to prevent the box body 21 from being crushed when the protruding member 22 receives impact, and load exceeding a predetermined limit is applied to the box body 21. The breakage of the electrical connection box upon collision of the vehicle is thereby minimized.

Claims

1. A mounting structure for a vehicle electrical connection box, for protecting the electrical connection box upon collision of the vehicle, comprising:

a protruding member provided to a box body of the electrical connection box, the protruding member being arranged to receive the impact of a collision before the box body does; and

at least one mounting member extended from the box body and fixed to a part of the vehicle at a front end thereof;

wherein,

a portion of force of the impact received by the protruding member acts on the mounting member in a direction that intersects with the longitudinal direction of the mounting member.

4. A mounting structure according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the line of action of impact received by the box body extends off the center of rotation of the box body.

5. A mounting structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the protruding member is provided with at least one reinforcing rib extending along the direction in which the impact is transmitted.

6. A mounting structure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least a portion of the mounting member extends in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the impact is transmitted upon collision of the vehicle.

2. A mounting structure for a vehicle electrical connection box which is arranged rearward of and in the vicinity of a dash panel serving as a partition between an engine space of the vehicle and an adjacent compartment, comprising:

a protruding member provided to a box body of the electrical connection box, the protruding member being arranged to receive the impact of a collision of the vehicle before the box body does; and

at least one mounting member extended from the box body and fixed to a part of the vehicle at a front end thereof, wherein;

the electrical connection box is fixed to a cowl side panel through the mounting member extended from the box body; and

a portion of force of the impact received by the protruding member acts on the mounting member in a direction intersecting a longitudinal direction of the mounting member.

3. A mounting structure for a vehicle electrical connection box, for protecting the electrical connection box when the vehicle receives impact, a box body of the electrical connection box being arranged to receives a portion of the impact from a part of the vehicle, comprising

at least two mounting members extended from the box body, each mounting member being fixed to a part of the vehicle at a front end thereof, each mounting member being formed to have high geometrical rigidity in a longitudinal direction;

wherein,

a portion of the impact received by the electrical connection box acts on each mounting member in a direction that intersects with the longitudinal direction of the mounting member.