JP2001297684A - Fuse clock and junction box furnished with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a novel fuse with a conductive portion formed of a different material. SOLUTION: The conductive portion 22, formed of a highly conductive resin, is embedded in the inside of a body portion 21 formed of an insulating resin. The conductive portion has a pair of right and left terminal connections 22a, 22b. The terminal connections are tied continually to each other, via a narrow fusible portion 22c.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fuse block and a junction box having the fuse block, and more particularly, to a junction box connected to a wire harness for an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in FIG.
Embeds a conductive material 2 made of a conductive metal material in a main body 3 made of an insulating resin, and the conductive portion 2 has a pair of left and right wide portions 2a,
2b is continued at the fusing portion 2c having a narrow width, and the wide portion 2
Tabs 2d and 2e projecting from the main body 1 are continuously provided on a and 2b.

The fuse 1 is formed by punching a metal plate to form the conductive material 2 and molding the conductive material 2 to form a main body 3.
It is manufactured by molding.

[0004]

As described above, the fuse requires two different kinds of materials (metal and resin), and requires two steps of a step of punching a metal plate and a step of molding with a resin. I have. Further, in order to change the fuse capacity, the shape of the metal plate to be punched must be changed. Particularly, in the case of a mini fuse of 1 amp or less, the fusing portion becomes minute, and there is a problem that strict accuracy is required at the time of punching. .

Furthermore, since the fuse has a shape in which a pair of tabs protrude in parallel from a rectangular main body, it is necessary to connect a mating terminal to a female terminal, and the fuse can be connected only from the same direction. There is a problem that the routing of the conductive material of the other party is regulated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is to provide a novel fuse which is inexpensive and easy to provide and whose connection direction is not restricted, which is completely different from the conventional fuse.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention embeds a conductive portion made of a highly conductive resin inside a main body made of an insulating resin, and the conductive portion is connected to a pair of left and right terminals. It is another object of the present invention to provide a fuse block having a portion and a configuration in which these terminal connection portions are connected via a fusing portion having a narrow width.

A terminal fitting groove is provided in the pair of left and right terminal connecting portions, and the terminal fitting groove is connected to an insertion hole opened in the outer surface of the main body to form a female terminal portion. Alternatively, a tab-shaped male terminal protruding from the outer surface of the main body is provided in the pair of left and right terminal connections.

As described above, the fuse of the present invention uses a highly conductive resin as a conductive material instead of a conventionally used metal plate, and is formed only by resin molding. As described above, a metal plate of a different material is not required, and punching of the metal plate can be eliminated, so that the metal plate can be manufactured at lower cost and easier than before. Also, when changing the cross-sectional area of the fusing portion to change the fuse capacity, it is only necessary to reduce the cross-sectional area of the highly conductive resin portion, so that various types of fuses having different fuse capacities can be easily manufactured. In addition, a fuse having a small capacitance can be manufactured with high precision.

The conductive resin constituting the conductive portion is made of a metal such as copper, nickel, iron or the like in a thermoplastic resin as disclosed in JP-A-10-237331 and JP-A-11-342522. It is made of a conductive resin composition in which fibers are mixed, a lead-free solder (low-melting solder) and a low-melting alloy such as Cu powder dispersed therein.

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.

The low melting point alloy to be mixed and dispersed in the thermoplastic resin and to be bonded in a network is an alloy having a melting point of 100 ° C. or higher, preferably 200 ° C. or higher and melting at the time of injection molding. 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 fuse block using the highly conductive resin as the conductive portion, the first injection molding (first color) using a mold is performed with the highly conductive resin to form a conductive portion, and the conductive portion is formed by another metal. The main body is formed by performing a second injection molding (second color) with a non-conductive resin using a mold to form a fuse block in which the conductive portion and the main body are integrated in two steps.

The main body is a rectangular block, and the pair of female terminals or male terminals is provided in parallel on the same surface. When the tabs constituting the male terminal portions are protruded from the main body, the fuses have the same shape as the conventional fuse. Therefore, the fuse block is fitted into a junction box or a fuse accommodating portion provided in the fuse box in the same manner as in the related art, and is connected to a tab or the like of a bus bar accommodated in the junction box or the like via a female-female relay terminal. . On the other hand, in a fuse block provided with a female terminal, a tab of a bus bar can be inserted directly into an insertion hole of the fuse block to directly connect without passing through a relay terminal. In addition, the terminal portion protruding from the main body is not limited to the tab shape, and can be easily formed into a female terminal shape by resin molding.In this case, it is possible to connect to the bus bar tab without passing through the relay terminal. it can.

Further, one of the pair of female terminal portions or the male terminal portion may be provided on one surface of the rectangular block, and the other of the female terminal portion or the male terminal portion may be provided on the other surface. For example, one and the other of the insertion holes may be provided on the facing surface or the orthogonal surface, or one and the other of the terminal portions may be provided. As described above, if the connection is not limited to the same plane, the connection is facilitated by arranging the circuit connected to the fuse block. When this fuse block is used inside the box instead of fitting it into the fuse accommodating section provided on the outer surface of the junction box or the fuse box, the connection with the pressure contact terminal pressed against the bus bar or electric wire can be made in any direction. It is very easy to use.

Further, according to the present invention, the fuse block is accommodated in a fuse accommodating portion provided on an outer surface of a case of a junction box or / and inside the case, and a bus bar, an electric wire, and a F of an internal circuit in the junction box are provided.
A junction box including a fuse block connected directly or via a relay terminal to a terminal of a circuit body having a conductive portion formed of PC, PBC, or a highly conductive resin is provided.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a fuse housing 1 provided in an upper case 11 of a junction box 10 connected to a wire harness for a vehicle.
1a, a fuse block 20 is fitted therein, and the bus bars 12, 1 stacked and accommodated in the junction box 10
The third tabs 12 a and 13 a are connected to the conductive portions of the fuse block 20. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 15 denotes a lower case, 16 denotes a single core wire, and a press contact terminal (not shown) connected to the single core wire may be connected to the conductive portion of the fuse block 20.

FIG. 3 shows the fuse block 20, and FIG.
In (A), a conductive portion made of a highly conductive resin is indicated by cross hatching. In the fuse block 20, a substantially H-shaped conductive portion 22 made of a highly conductive resin is embedded in a rectangular parallelepiped main body portion 21 made of an insulating resin. The conductive portion 22 includes a pair of left and right terminal connection portions 22a and 22.
b is continuous through a fusing portion 22c having a narrow width.

The pair of left and right terminal connection portions 22a and 22b
Are provided with terminal fitting grooves 22d and 22e.
insertion holes 21 with d and 22e opened on the outer surface of main body 21
The insertion holes 23 and 24 for inserting the tabs of the bus bar are formed in parallel on one surface of the main body so as to communicate with the a and b.

The width S of the fusing portion 22c is set according to the allowable current value. In this embodiment, when a current of 1 amperage or more flows, as shown in FIG. Fuse block.

Lock claws 21c, 21 are fixed to the left and right outer surfaces of the main body 21 so as to be fixed in the fuse accommodating portion 11a.
d is provided.

First, the fuse block 20 shown in FIG.
The conductive part 22 made of a highly conductive resin is molded using a mold 30 composed of upper and lower molds 30A and 30B shown in FIG. A cavity 31 is provided in the lower mold 30B, the upper and lower molds are hermetically sealed, and the cavity 31 is filled with a highly conductive resin, so that a pair of left and right terminal connection portions 22a and 22b and the fusing portion 2 are formed.
A primary molded product made of 2c is injection-molded. Then
Using another upper and lower mold, the above-mentioned primary molded product is supported by a pin at an intermediate portion of the cavity of the upper and lower molds, and is filled with an insulating resin to form a main body portion 21 in which the conductive portion 22 is molded. And the fuse block 20 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the fuse block 20 is fitted in a fuse accommodating portion 11a provided in the upper case 11 of the junction box 10, and has locking claws 21c and 21d provided in the fuse accommodating portion 11. It engages with the pawl and is fixed in the fuse accommodating portion 11a. The tabs 12a and 13a of the busbars 12 and 13 housed in the junction box 10 are protruded in advance in the fuse housing 11a, and the conductive parts 22 are inserted through the insertion holes 21a and 21b of the main body of the fuse block 20.
The tabs 12a and 13a are inserted into the terminal fitting grooves 22d and 22e, and are electrically connected.

The bus bar 12 and the fuse block 20
When the current flowing to the conductive portion 22 and the bus bar 13 exceeds the allowable current amount (1 amp in this embodiment), the fusing portion 22c of the fuse block 20 is blown to cut off the circuit.

FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the fuse block. The terminal connection portions 22a 'and 22b' of the conductive portion 22 'of the fuse block 20 are extended to the outer surface of the main body portion 21' to constitute a male terminal. Tabs 22f 'and 22g' protrude from main body 21 '. With this shape, the fuse has the same shape as the conventional fuse, and the conventional conductive metal plate is changed to a highly conductive resin.

As shown in FIG. 7, the fuse block is fitted into a fuse accommodating portion 11a provided in the upper case 11 of the junction box, and the tabs 12a, 13a of the internal bus bars 12, 13 and the female-female relay terminals 26A, 26B.

FIGS. 8A and 8B show a third embodiment.
The fuse block 20 ″ is a junction box 1
An insulating plate 40 accommodated in a case formed by an upper case and a lower case, on which the busbars 12 and 13 are placed.
It is designed to be mounted on the upper surface of.

The fuse block 20 "has a rectangular parallelepiped shape that is relatively thin and wide in the horizontal direction, and the insertion holes 21a" and 21b "provided in the main body 21" are opened at positions facing left and right. The fuse block 20 ″ is fitted in a fitting recess 40a provided in the insulating plate 40 and is housed and fixed in the junction box. In this state, the unbent tabs 12a and 13a of the left and right bus bars 12 and 13 are inserted. The terminal connection part 22 is inserted into the holes 21a ″ and 21b ″.
a ", 22b".

FIG. 9 shows a modification of the third embodiment, in which insertion holes 21a "and 21b" are provided in a fuse block 20 ".
Are opened on the surface in the orthogonal direction. With this structure,
The tabs 12a and 13a of the bus bars 12 and 13 are inserted from the orthogonal direction, and the terminal connection portions 22 of the fuse block 20 ″ are inserted.
a ", 22b".

FIG. 10 shows the fuse block 2 shown in FIG.
This shows a modification in which 0 ″ is used upright, in which the conductive portions of the fuse block 20 ″ are connected to bus bars 120 and 130 that are vertically stacked. That is, the upwardly bent tab 120a of the lower bus bar 120 is inserted into the insertion hole 21a ", and the downwardly bent L-shaped tab 130a of the upper bus bar 130 is inserted into the insertion hole 21b".

As shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, when the fuse block is housed inside the junction box and arranged at a required position, the connection path with the bus bar can be shortened, and the bus bar can be connected from any direction. Can be.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and it goes without saying that the tab of the press contact terminal connected to the electric wire accommodated in the junction box may be connected to the fuse block. Further, a terminal welded to the conductor of the FPC or PCB may be connected to the fuse block, and a circuit body having a conductive portion formed of a highly conductive resin is provided. The terminal portion formed on the conductive portion is connected to the fuse block. You can also connect.

[0033]

As is apparent from the above description, in the fuse block of the present invention, the conductive portion made of a metal plate of the conventional fuse is formed of a highly conductive resin, and the material of the body of the insulating portion is made of the same type. Since it is made of resin, a fuse block can be formed only by resin molding, and the number of processing steps can be reduced. In addition, since resin molding is used, it is easy to change the cross-sectional area of the fusing portion of the conductive portion, and it is also possible to easily change the connection direction with the external terminal, and various types of fuses having different capacities and connection directions. Blocks can be provided simply and inexpensively.

Further, since the conventional fuse has a structure in which a tab protrudes from the main body, the external terminal is connected via a female-female relay terminal when the external terminal is a tab. However, in the fuse block of the present invention, an insertion hole is formed. Since the female terminal can have a female terminal shape, it is possible to directly insert and connect the tabs of the bus bar and the press contact terminal without using the relay terminal.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a fuse block is housed in a fuse housing portion and connected to a bus bar.

FIG. 3 shows a fuse block, (A) is a perspective view,
(B) is a vertical sectional view, and (C) is a bottom view.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a blown state of a conductive portion of the fuse block.

FIG. 5A is a perspective view of a lower mold for molding a fuse block conductive part, and FIG. 5B is a schematic cross-section showing a state in which the upper and lower molds are closed to form a conductive part with a highly conductive resin. FIG.

FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the fuse block,
(A) is a vertical sectional view, and (B) is a side view.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a connection state between a fuse block and a bus bar according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 8A is a schematic plan view showing a connection state between a fuse and a bus bar according to a third embodiment, and FIG. 8B is a schematic vertical sectional view.

FIG. 9 is a partial cross-sectional schematic plan view showing a modification of the third embodiment.

10 is a schematic perspective view, partly in cross section, showing a state in which a usage pattern of the fuse block of FIG. 9 is changed.

FIG. 11 is a schematic sectional view showing a conventional fuse.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Junction box 11 Upper case 11a Fuse accommodating part 12 13 Bus bar 12a, 13a Tab 20 Fuse block 21 Main part 21a, 21b Insertion hole 22 Conductive part 22a, 22b Terminal connection part 22c Fusing part 22d, 22e Terminal fitting groove 40 Insulating plate

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Noriko Kobayashi 1-14 Nishisuehirocho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie Sumitomo Wiring Systems, Ltd. (72) Inventor Norifumi 1-14 Nishisuehirocho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie Sumitomo Wiring Systems F term in the company (reference) 5G361 BA04 BB01 BB03 BC01 5G502 AA01 BA05 BB03 BB09 BC05 BC06 CC25

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A conductive portion made of a highly conductive resin is buried in a body portion made of an insulating resin. The conductive portion has a pair of left and right terminal connection portions, and these terminal connection portions have a narrow width. The fuse block is configured to be continuous through the fusing section. 2. The female terminal portion according to claim 1, wherein a terminal fitting groove is provided in the pair of left and right terminal connecting portions, and the terminal fitting groove is connected to an insertion hole opened in the outer surface of the main body portion. Fuse block as described. 3. The fuse block according to claim 1, wherein a tab-shaped male terminal protruding from an outer surface of the main body is provided in the pair of left and right terminal connections. 4. The fuse block according to claim 2, wherein said main body portion is a rectangular block, and said pair of female terminal portions or male terminal portions are provided in parallel on the same surface. 5. The main body section is a rectangular block, one of the pair of female terminal sections or the male terminal section is provided on one surface, and the other of the female terminal section or the male terminal section is provided on the other surface. The fuse block according to claim 2, wherein the fuse block is provided. 6. The fuse block according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the fuse block is housed in a fuse housing portion provided on an outer surface of a case of a junction box or / and inside the case, and the inside of the junction box is provided. A junction box provided with a fuse block connected directly or via a relay terminal to a bus bar of a circuit, an electric wire, an FPC, a PBC, or a terminal of a circuit body having a conductive portion formed of a highly conductive resin.