Branch joint box
AssigneeSumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd.
InventorsMakoto Kobayashi, Tsutomu Naitou, Kazunori Kurata
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A branch joint box comprising: a base plate; and a pair of connector coupling portions which are, respectively, formed on opposite faces of the base plate so as to confront each other; the base plate being formed with a plurality of insertion openings for inserting therethrough bus bars each including an elongated base portion and at least one pair of tabs extending from opposite sides of the base portion, respectively; the insertion openings extending through the base plate so as to communicate the connector coupling portions with each other; wherein the bus bars are secured in the insertion openings, respectively such that the tabs project into the connector coupling portions, respectively.
Claims11
A bus bar blank formed of an electrically conductive metal plate, comprising:
- an elongated carrier having a longitudinal direction;
- a plurality of pairs of opposite coupling portions, each pair extending perpendicularly from respective opposite sides of the carrier at a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction of the carrier;
- a pair of opposite connecting portions, each having a predetermined length and extending from respective distal ends end of each of the pairs of the opposite coupling portions in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the carrier;
- a pair of opposite first terminal portions which extend perpendicularly from respective opposite connecting portions of each pair thereof;
- a pair of opposite second terminal portions which extend perpendicularly from respective opposite connecting portions of each pair thereof, such that the first and second terminal portions are disposed symmetrically with respect to a center of the respective coupling portions;
- and
- a pair of opposite third terminal portions which extend perpendicularly from respective opposite connecting portions, of each pair thereof at a location outside the respective first and second terminal portions and spaced a predetermined distance from at least one of the first and second terminal portions and spaced the predetermined distance from the respective first and second terminal portions;
- wherein the bus bar blank includes a plurality of bus bar sets each including a pair of .the opposite coupling portions, a pair of the opposite connecting portions and a pair of the opposite first, second and third terminal portions;
- wherein at a boundary of neighboring bus bar sets, a first boundary of one of the first, second and third terminal portions of one of the neighboring bus bar sets lies next to an opposed boundary of one of the first, second and third terminal portions of the other of the neighboring bus bar sets and a gap is formed between the first boundary and the opposed boundary of the first, second and third terminal portions, such that a bus bar is formed from one of the bus bar sets or a plurality of the bus bar sets by cutting the carrier;
- and
- wherein by cutting off an unnecessary one of the first, second and third terminal portions from the bus bar, a bus bar of a different pattern, can be formed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.