JP2001238330A - Junction box - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To arrange internal circuits with high density without having to increase the size of a junction box by improving the case of the junction box. SOLUTION: The case itself of the junction box 10, composed of an upper case 11 and/or a lower case 12, a conductive portion 21 made of high- conductivity resin, embedded in a body portion 20 made of insulating resin with its surface exposed, and is formed integrally. The conductive portion 21 becomes continuous through surface contact by using a short pin 25 and inserting it into a hole 21a formed beforehand, when a circuit is changed, etc.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a shunt box connected to a wire harness for an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the rapid increase of electrical components mounted on automobiles, the number of electric junction boxes for automobiles, especially the circuits accommodated in junction boxes, has rapidly increased, and branch circuits are formed at high density. In addition, the number of parts is very large, and the number of assembling steps is very large.

In a junction box 1 shown in FIG. 5 among electric connection boxes for automobiles, an insulating plate A to 4E is interposed between an upper case 2 and a lower case 3 so that a bus bar 5 is provided.
A to 5D are stacked and arranged. Further, an insulating plate 15 provided with wire guide grooves at both upper and lower ends is disposed, and the insulating plate 15 is provided.
The electric wires 6A and 6B are housed in the upper case 2 and the lower case 3 in the connector housing, the relay housing, the relay 8 fitted in the fuse housing, the fuse, and the terminal of the fuse from the bus bar. Protruding tab 7
And the above-mentioned electric wires 6A and 6B are press-connected to a press-contact terminal (not shown), and the press-connect terminal is connected to a connector,
Connected to terminals of relays and fuses. Although not used in the electric connection box, an FPC having a structure in which a conductor is sandwiched between resin films may be used in combination as an internal circuit.

[0004]

As described above, the junction box 1 is large in size to accommodate a large number of internal circuits. However, there is a limit to the increase in size due to the arrangement space and the like. Therefore, it is demanded that internal circuits can be provided at high density without increasing the size of the junction box.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a high-density internal circuit without increasing the size of a junction box.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention relates to a junction box mounted on a vehicle body by being connected to a wire harness of an automobile, wherein the junction box comprises an upper case and / or a lower case. The case itself is provided with a junction box in which a conductive portion made of a highly conductive resin is embedded in a body portion made of an insulating resin with its surface exposed, and is integrally molded. are doing.

As described above, according to the present invention, the case made up of the upper case and / or the lower case is also provided with a conductive portion so that it can be used as a circuit holder. As a result, the size and weight of the junction box can be reduced. Further, when the size of the junction box is the same, the number of circuit bodies housed therein can be increased.

Preferably, the conductive portion is exposed on the inner surface side of the case. In particular, when connecting only to an internal circuit body such as a bus bar housed inside the case, the conductor is not exposed on the outer surface of the case.

When connecting a connector provided on the outer surface of the case, a connector inserted into the relay or fuse housing, or a terminal of the relay or fuse and the conductive portion provided on the case, the conductive portion is provided on the outer surface of the case. It is exposed at the bottom of the recess. Further, a groove is provided between the conductive portion and the through hole or the main body so that the external terminal is press-fitted into the through hole or the groove to be electrically connected.

[0010] A circuit body is accommodated in a case composed of the upper case and the lower case. The circuit body is provided with a conductive portion made of a highly conductive resin on a substrate made of an insulating resin. It is preferable that the circuit body buried with its surface exposed and integrally formed in a flat plate shape be accommodated in combination with a bus bar or the like or alone. Further, the conductive portions provided in the upper case and / or the lower case are connected to the conductive portions of the circuit body housed in the upper case and the lower case.

The conductive resin constituting the conductive part which becomes a part of the case (and the circuit board) is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2373.
No. 31, JP-A-11-342522, a thermoplastic resin mixed with metal fibers made of copper, nickel, iron or the like, lead-free solder (low melting point solder) and Cu It is made of a conductive resin composition in which a low melting point alloy such as powder is dispersed.

Examples of the thermoplastic resin to which conductive metal fibers are blended include propylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, acrylonitrile / butadiene / styrene resin, modified polyphenylene oxide resin, polybutylene terephthalate resin, polyethylene terephthalate resin, polyamide resin, and aromatic resin. Polyamide resin, polyphenylene sulfide resin, liquid crystal polymer, polyetherimide,
Resins such as polybenzimidazole, polyetheretherketone, and polyethersulfone can be used alone or as a blend, and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin and polybutylene terephthalate resin are particularly preferably used.

As the low melting point alloy to be mixed and dispersed in the thermoplastic resin and to be bonded in a network, an alloy having a melting point of 100 ° C. or higher, preferably 200 ° C. or higher and melting at the time of injection molding is used. System, Sn-Ag
-Pb system, Sn-Bi system, Sn-Bi-In system, Bi-
Pb-based, Bi-Sn-based, Sn-Cu-based, Sn-Cu-N
i-P system, Sn-Ag system, Sn-Bi-Pb system, Sn-
In-based materials may be mentioned.

In the case (and the circuit body) using the highly conductive resin as the conductive portion, the first injection molding (first color) using a mold is performed with an insulating resin to form a main body (substrate portion). An upper case in which the main body (substrate part) and the conductive part are integrated in two steps by performing the second injection molding (second color) with a highly conductive resin in a separate mold for the substrate part in a second mold Alternatively, and / or a lower case (circuit body) is formed.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a junction box 10 connected to an automobile wire harness.
1 is an upper case, 12 is a lower case, and 13 (13
A and 13B) are circuit bodies, 14 is a bus bar, 15 is a single core wire for press contact, 16 is a press contact terminal, and 17 is a conductive pin. Although not shown, an insulating plate is interposed between the circuit body 13 </ b> A and the bus bar 14, which are stacked adjacently.

The bus bar 14 is used as a large current circuit connected to a power supply, the single core wire 15 is used as a medium current circuit, and the circuit body 13 is used as a small current circuit.

As described above, the junction box 1
In the case of 0, an internal circuit composed of the bus bar 14 and the single core wire 15 and the press contact terminal 16 is used together with the circuit body 13, but as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the upper case 11 is provided with a conductive portion 21 made of a highly conductive resin in a required circuit pattern on an inner surface side of a main body portion 20 made of an insulating resin.
The surface of the conductive portion 21 is flush with the inner surface of the main body portion 20,
It is exposed on the inner surface side. In this embodiment, the lower case 12 is formed only of an insulating resin and is not provided with a conductive portion as in the conventional case, but the conductive case 21 may be provided on the lower case 12 as shown in FIG. In addition, a conductive portion may be provided only on the lower case 12 side.

In the method of manufacturing the upper case 11, as described above, an insulating resin is injected into the cavities of the upper and lower molds, and a primary molded article composed of only the main body 20 is injection-molded. In this state, the conductive portion 21 is not provided on the main body 20. Next, the upper die of the upper and lower dies is changed to another die, joined to the lower die, clamped, and a cavity is formed between the main body 20 and the replaced die. The conductive portion 21 is injection-molded by injecting a highly conductive resin into the cavity. Thereby, the upper case 11 provided with the conductive portion 21 having a required circuit shape on the surface of the main body 20 is integrally formed.

The circuit body 13 is molded in the same manner as the upper case 11, and has an integrally molded structure in which a substrate portion 20 'made of insulating resin and a conductive portion 21' are buried in a state where the conductive portion 21 'is exposed on the surface of the main body portion 20'. I have.

As shown in FIG. 1, the above-mentioned circuit body 1 is accommodated in a case composed of an upper case 11 and a lower case 12.
3 is housed together with the bus bar 14 and the like to form the junction box 10.

As described above, the conductive portion 21 is provided in the upper case 11 and used as an internal circuit. The above-mentioned circuit body 1
Since the third conductive portion 21 is used as a circuit body, the bus bar 14 or the circuit body 13 for one layer can be omitted.

The conductive part 2 provided on the upper case 11
In the case where the circuit is changed or the like, the first conductive circuit portion 21-1 is connected to the first conductive circuit portion 21-1 by using the short pin 25 as shown in FIG.
And the second conductive circuit section 21-2. Specifically, the short pin 25 is formed by forming a conductive plate into a U-shape, and has tabs 25a and 25b formed at both ends thereof in advance in the first conductive circuit portion 21-1 and the second conductive circuit portion 21-2. The hole is inserted into the insertion hole 21a, and conduction is achieved by surface contact.

When connecting to the circuit body 13 housed inside, as shown in FIG. 3, the conductive part 21 of the upper case 11 is provided with a convex part 21b, while the conductive part 21 'of the circuit body 13 is A concave portion 21c 'is provided to fit the concave and convex to achieve conduction. The electrical connection between the conductive portions or between the conductive portions between the case and the circuit body is not limited to the above-described method, and other appropriate connection means may be employed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the terminal 30 of the terminal of the electric wire w in the connector 35 fitted in the connector accommodating portion 11a provided in the upper case 11 is connected to the conductive portion 21 of the upper case 11. ing. That is, the conductive portion 21
Are exposed on the bottom surface of the concave portion 11c opened on the outer surface of the upper case 11, the conductive portion 21 is provided with an insertion hole 21a, and the tab 30a of the terminal 30 is inserted to make surface contact. As shown in FIG. 4B, the conductive part 21 and the main body 20
May be provided with a slit-shaped groove 21c, and the tab 30a of the terminal 30 may be inserted into the groove 21c to make surface contact.

Further, in order to connect the conductive portion 21 of the upper case 11 and the conductive portion 21 'of the circuit body 13 to the terminal 30, a tab 30a is connected to the conductive portion 21 of the upper case 11.
May be inserted into the conductive portion 21 'of the circuit body 13 and then brought into surface contact. Further, the conductive pin 17 shown in FIG.
After passing through the conductive portion 21 ′ of the upper case 11 and the through hole of the conductive portion 21 of the upper case 11 by surface contact, the fitting may be connected to the female terminal. With this configuration, the terminal of the wire terminal can be electrically connected to both the conductive portions 21 and 21 ′ of the upper case 11 and the circuit body 13.

The case where the conductive parts of the upper case and the circuit body are connected to the terminals of the relay and the fuse is the same as above.

[0028]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a conductive portion is provided in a case composed of an upper case and / or a lower case of a junction box and is used as a holder for a circuit. The number of circuit bodies housed in the case can be reduced, and accordingly, the size of the junction box can be reduced, and when the size of the junction box is the same, the number of circuit bodies housed in the case is increased. be able to. Furthermore, the terminal of the wire terminal, the relay terminal,
It is also possible to easily connect the fuse terminal to the conductive portion provided on the case.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a junction box according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2A is a perspective view of the upper case as viewed from the inside, and FIG. 2B is an enlarged sectional view of a main part.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a connection configuration between a conductive portion of an upper case and a conductive portion of a circuit body.

4A is a schematic cross-sectional view of a junction box, and FIG. 4B is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a connection configuration between a conductive portion of an upper case and a terminal of an electric wire terminal.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional junction box.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Junction box 11 Upper case 12 Lower case 13 Circuit body 14 Bus bar 15 Single core wire 17 Conducting pin 20 Main part 21 Conductive part

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yuki Saito, 1-114 Nishisuehirocho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd. (72) Inventor Norifumi Kobayashi 1-114, Nishisuehirocho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie No. Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Inc. F-term (reference) 5G361 BA03 BA07 BB01 BB02 BC01 BC02

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A junction box mounted on a vehicle body by being connected to a wire harness of an automobile, wherein a case made of an upper case and / or a lower case of the junction box is provided with a highly conductive main body made of an insulating resin. A junction box, wherein a conductive portion made of a conductive resin is embedded and integrally molded with its surface exposed. 2. The junction box according to claim 1, wherein the conductive portion is exposed on the inner surface side of the case. 3. The junction box according to claim 2, wherein the conductive portion is exposed on a bottom surface of a concave portion provided on an outer surface side of the case. 4. A circuit body is accommodated inside a case composed of the upper case and the lower case, and the circuit body is provided with a conductive portion made of a highly conductive resin on a substrate made of an insulating resin. 4. A buried structure having its surface exposed and integrally molded into a flat plate shape.
The junction box according to any one of the above. 5. The junction box according to claim 4, wherein a conductive portion provided on the upper case and / or the lower case is connected to a conductive portion of the circuit body housed in the upper case and the lower case.