JP2002051429A - Electrical connection box - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electrical connection box whose general versatility is enhanced. SOLUTION: The electrical connection box 11 is composed of an upper case 12 and a lower case 13. In the upper case 12, a bus-bar laminate 14 and a printed wiring board 15, which functions as an ECU unit can be housed. On the printed board 15, a relay mounting part 19, on which a mounting-type turn hazard relay 18 is mountable, is formed. In the lower case 13, a relay-attaching part 27, to which a detachable turn hazard relay 26 is attachable, is formed. A wiring route to be connected to the mounting part 19 and a wiring route to be connected to the attaching part 27 are arranged, so as to be in parallel in a part between an input and an output.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric junction box mounted on, for example, an automobile, and more particularly to an electric junction box in which a bus bar laminate and a printed wiring board are housed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, electrical components such as various electronic parts for automobiles are mounted in a vehicle while being mounted on an electrical junction box.

Conventionally, as such an electric connection box, there is one in which a bus bar and a printed wiring board are mounted inside.
In this type of electrical junction box, various electrical components are electrically connected to the bus bar. An electrical component mounting portion to which an electrical component can be attached and detached is formed in a case forming the electrical connection box, and a bus bar terminal is arranged in the electrical component mounting portion. Therefore, the connection terminal of the electrical component and the bus bar are connected by mounting the electrical component on the electrical component mounting portion.

Some electrical components can be mounted on a printed wiring board. That is, some of the electrical components have a detachable type that can be attached to and detached from the electrical component mounting portion and a type that can be mounted on the printed wiring board. These electrical components have the same function and performance,
In many cases, the mounting type and the detachable type have different shapes, sizes and prices, and the mounting type is usually smaller and less expensive. Therefore, electrical components that do not require much maintenance are mounted on the printed wiring board. Therefore, in a conventional electrical junction box on which mounting type electrical components are mounted, an electrical component mounting portion is formed on a printed wiring board instead of the electrical component mounting portion formed on the case.

[0005]

However, in the case of electrical components such as turn hazard relays, a mounting type can be used when mounted on an electrical junction box for a vehicle for domestic use, but a vehicle for European and US markets can be used. It is necessary to use a detachable type when it is mounted on an electrical junction box for use. That is,
In some electrical components, it is necessary to selectively use a mounting type and a detachable type in some cases. However, in such a case, in the conventional electric connection box, it is necessary to separately prepare an electric connection box in which mountable electric components can be mounted and an electric connection box in which a detachable electric component can be mounted. For this reason, there has been a problem that the versatility of the electric connection box is low, and the manufacturing cost and management cost of the electric connection box increase.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electric junction box capable of improving versatility.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a first case and a second case are provided.
A busbar laminate comprising a busbar and an insulating base material is accommodated in a case body constituted by a case, and a printed wiring board on which various electronic components and connection terminals are mounted is arranged on the busbar laminate, And a male tab protruding from the bus bar by connecting the printed wiring board and the bus bar laminate to each other in an electric connection box, and a wiring path connected to a predetermined electrical component is formed. An electrical component mounting portion capable of mounting the electrical component is provided on the printed wiring board, and the first wiring route is connected to the electrical component mounting portion. In addition, it is necessary that at least one of the two cases is provided with an electrical component mounting portion to which the electrical component can be attached and detached and that the second wiring path is connected to the electrical component mounting portion. To.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the electrical junction box according to the first aspect, each of the wiring paths is constituted by the bus bar and a printed wiring pattern formed on the printed wiring board, and And a connecting portion for connecting the bus bar and the printed wiring pattern.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the electrical junction box according to the first or second aspect, the electrical component is a turn hazard relay. Hereinafter, the “action” of the present invention will be described.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the wiring path connected to the electrical component is branched into two paths, that is, a first wiring path and a second wiring path. The printed wiring board is provided with an electrical component mounting portion to which the first wiring route is connected, and the case is provided with an electrical component mounting portion to which the second wiring route is connected. For this reason, it is possible to selectively attach an electric component to one of the electric component mounting portion and the electric component mounting portion.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, by connecting the bus bar to the connection portion, the bus bar and the printed wiring board pattern are connected via the connection portion.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment in which the present invention is embodied in an electric junction box for a vehicle will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the electric junction box 1
Reference numeral 1 denotes an upper case 12 as a first case and a lower case 13 as a second case.
As shown in FIG. 3, the upper case 12 is fitted to the lower case 13 in a state in which the bus bar laminate 14 and the printed wiring board 15 functioning as an ECU unit are housed.

The bus bar laminate 14 has a substantially rectangular shape as a whole. As shown in FIG. 3, the bus bar laminate 14 includes a plurality of bus bars 1 made of a conductive metal plate.
6 and an insulating substrate 17 made of synthetic resin are alternately laminated. The bus bar laminate 14 includes
A plurality of male tab portions 16a formed by bending a part of the bus bar 16 of each layer are provided upright. These male tab portions 16a are provided upright facing the upper case 12 side.

The printed wiring board 15 is a bus bar laminated body 1
It has a substantially rectangular shape slightly smaller than 4. The printed wiring board 15 is arranged above the bus bar laminate 14. Various electronic components (not shown, such as an IC package such as a CPU and a ROM, a resistor, and a capacitor) are mounted on the printed wiring board 15. Further, the printed wiring board 15 is provided with a relay mounting portion 19 as an electrical component mounting portion on which a mounting type turn hazard relay 18 as an electrical component can be mounted. The relay mounting section 19 is constituted by four first plated through holes 19a formed in the printed wiring board 15. These first plated through holes 19a are formed at positions corresponding to the connection terminals 18a formed on the relay 18. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, in the vicinity of one side edge of the printed wiring board 15, through holes 20 through which the male tab portions 16a can be inserted are respectively provided through. In the vicinity of each insertion hole 20, a second plating through hole 21 is formed. The first side of the printed wiring board 15 is
A printed wiring pattern 41 that conducts between the plated through hole 19a and the second plated through hole 21 is formed.

On the upper surface of the printed wiring board 15, a plurality (seven in this case) of relay terminals 22 are provided as connection portions. These relay terminals 22 are provided at locations corresponding to the respective insertion holes 20. Each relay terminal 22 is a female terminal into which the male tab portion 16a of each bus bar 16 can be inserted.
As shown in FIG. 3, one insertion leg piece 23 is formed on the side surface of each relay terminal 22. Each insert leg piece 2
Reference numeral 3 denotes a base end 23a extending obliquely downward from the side surface of the relay terminal 22, and a tip 23b extending downward from the tip of the base end 23a. Each insertion leg piece 23 is formed narrower than the width of each relay terminal 22, and is inserted into the second plated through hole 21 and soldered. Thereby, the relay terminal 22 and the second plated through hole 21 are electrically connected. At the same time, each relay terminal 22 is fixed on the printed wiring board 15. Further, each relay terminal 22 is formed with a fitting hole 24 capable of fitting with the male tab portion 16a. A pair of flexible pieces 25 are formed on the lower end side in the fitting hole 24.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the lower case 1
3 is a detachable turn hazard relay as an electrical component.
6 is a relay mounting section 27 as a detachable electrical component mounting section.
Are formed. As shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 7 is formed on the lower surface of the lower case 13 and includes a relay housing 27a and a terminal housing 27b. A male tab portion 16b formed by bending a part of each bus bar 16 is accommodated in the terminal accommodating portion 27b. Each male tab 16b has a connection terminal 26
A relay terminal 28 that can be fitted with a is mounted. For this reason, when the relay 26 is mounted on the relay mounting portion 27,
Each connection terminal 26a is electrically connected to the corresponding male tab portion 16b via the relay terminal 28.

An alignment board 30 is provided between the bus bar laminate 14 and the printed wiring board 15. A terminal insertion portion 31 as an alignment member is formed at a position corresponding to each relay terminal 22 on the upper surface side of the alignment substrate. This terminal insertion portion 31
Are formed integrally with the alignment substrate 30.

The outer peripheral edge of the upper end portion 32 of the terminal insertion portion 31 has a taper 33 converging toward the tip of the terminal insertion portion 31. The taper 33 prevents the upper portion of the terminal insertion portion 31 from coming into contact with the solder portion at the tip 23 b of the insertion leg 23. The terminal insertion portion 31 is provided with an insertion hole 34 as an alignment hole through which the male tab portion 16a can be inserted. In the electric connection box 11 according to the present embodiment, the insertion holes 34 are provided at seven positions. The insertion hole 34 is linear and penetrates the center of the terminal insertion portion 31 in the vertical direction. Insertion hole 34
Has a rectangular cross section. The width of the insertion hole 34 is substantially equal to the width of the male tab portion 16a. Thus, the terminal insertion portion 31 has a function of accurately arranging the male tab portion 16a. The length of the insertion hole 34 is sufficiently larger than the thickness of the alignment substrate 30. In the present embodiment, the length of the insertion hole 34 is set to be about eight times the thickness of the alignment substrate 30. The lower end opening of the insertion hole 34 is an invitation taper 35. Invitation taper 35
Extends toward the lower end opening of the insertion hole 34. The length of the portion where the guiding taper 35 is located is sufficiently smaller than the length of the insertion hole 34.

Next, a procedure for assembling the bus bar laminate 14 and the printed wiring board 15 will be described. Here, as shown in FIG. 2, each male tab portion 16 a is inserted from below into an insertion hole 34 provided in the terminal insertion portion 31. Since the male tab portion 16a is corrected by advancing into the insertion hole 34 while abutting on the guiding taper 35, the male tab portion 16a is easily guided into the insertion hole 34. Therefore, each male tab 16a is correctly erected, and the alignment of the male tabs 16a is maintained at a constant interval. Then, each male tab 16a is inserted into the insertion hole 20 of the printed wiring board 15 from below. At this time, each male tab 16 a is inserted into each relay terminal 22, and is sandwiched and held by each flexible piece 25. As a result, each male tab 16a and the corresponding relay terminal 22 are electrically connected, and each male tab 16a and the corresponding printed wiring pattern 41 are connected.
Are conducted. The printed wiring board 15 is supported in a state in which it contacts the upper end 32 of the terminal insertion portion 31. The electric connection box 11 assembled in this manner is mounted in an engine room or the like of a vehicle.

In the electric junction box 11 constructed as described above, as shown in FIG.
9, the first wiring path 42 connected to the
Is connected in parallel between one input and output. In other words, the wiring route wired between one input and output is branched into two routes, the first wiring route 42 and the second wiring route 43. Then, the first wiring path 42 is connected to the relay mounting section 19,
The second wiring path 43 is connected to the relay mounting section 27. More specifically, the first plated through hole 19a to which the coil of the relay 18 is connected and the male tab 16b to which the coil of the relay 26 is connected are connected to the input side in a state of being connected in parallel. The first plated through hole 19a to which the contact of the relay 18 is connected and the male tab 16b to which the contact of the relay 26 is connected are connected to the output side in a state of being connected in parallel. Therefore, if the corresponding relays 18 and 26 are selectively attached to one of the relay mounting section 19 and the relay mounting section 27, the relays 18 and 26 can be driven to obtain a predetermined output. Become.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. (1) The corresponding relays 18 and 26 can be selectively attached to the relay mounting section 19 or the relay mounting section 27. For this reason, it is not necessary to provide the electrical connection box 11 separately for the one that can use the mounted turn hazard relay 18 and the one that cannot use the relay 18.
Therefore, the versatility of the electric connection box 11 can be improved, and an increase in manufacturing cost and management cost of the electric connection box 11 can be prevented.

(2) The printed wiring board 15 is provided with a relay terminal 22 as a connecting portion. Therefore, the printed wiring pattern 41 and each male tab 16a can be electrically connected only by fitting the male tab 16a to the relay terminal 22. Therefore, the printed wiring pattern 41 and each male tab 16a can be easily conducted.

(3) Turn hazard relays 18, 26 are used as electrical components that can be selectively attached to the relay mounting portion 19 or the relay mounting portion 27. In general, the turn-hazard relays 18 and 26 can use the mounted relay 18 for the domestic electrical connection box 11, but cannot use the relay 18 for the European and American electrical connection box 11. For this reason, the electric junction box 1 to be mounted on vehicles of the same type and grade
1, the mounting manner of the relays 18 and 26 is different. Therefore, by using the turn hazard relays 18 and 26 as electric components, the electric connection box 11 to be mounted on vehicles of the same vehicle type and the same grade can be surely shared.

(4) A terminal insertion portion 31 is provided between the bus bar laminate 14 and the printed wiring board 15. The male tab portion 16a is inserted into an insertion hole 34 provided in the terminal insertion portion 31. Therefore, each male tab 1
6a stands upright at the correct position, and the alignment between the male tab portions 16a is maintained at a constant interval. Therefore, the positional relationship between the male tabs 16a is accurately maintained without being affected by the width of the male tabs 16a. Therefore, workability in configuring the electric connection box 11 can be improved. When fitting the lower case 13 to the upper case 12, the upper case 1
2 and the upper end of the relay terminal 22 may come into contact with each other. In this case, from the upper case 12 to the relay terminal 22
Is applied to the printed wiring board 15 via the terminal insertion portion 31. Therefore, the male tab 16
a can be prevented from being bent. Further, the male tab portion 16a is covered by the terminal insertion portion 31. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the male tab portions 16a from being deformed and the adjacent male tab portions 16a from conducting with each other.

The embodiment of the present invention may be modified as follows. In the above embodiment, the four connection terminals 18a and 26a
Are used. However, the present invention is not limited to the turn-hazard relays 18 and 26 having four connection terminals 18a and 26a. For example, a turn-hazard relay having three terminals in which one terminal of the coil unit and one terminal of the contact are common. May be used.

Not only the turn hazard relays 18 and 26 but also other relays having five or more connection terminals, such as a latching relay, may be used. In the above embodiment, the turn hazard relays 18 and 26 are used as electrical components. However, as electrical components,
For example, electrical components other than relays such as fuses may be used.

The relay mounting section 27 is not limited to the lower case 13 but may be provided on the upper case 12. -In the said embodiment, the relay terminal 22 is used as a connection part. However, a connector, for example, may be used as the connection part.

In the above embodiment, the bus bar laminate 1
4 and printed wiring board 15 between alignment substrate 30
Is arranged. However, instead of the alignment substrate 30, a simple plate-shaped insulating substrate from which the terminal insertion portions 31 are omitted may be used.

Next, in addition to the technical ideas described in the claims, technical ideas grasped by the above-described embodiment will be enumerated below. (1) In the electrical junction box according to claim 1, the electrical component is a relay.

(2) Claims 1 to 3, Technical idea (1)
In the electrical junction box according to any one of the above, an alignment member having an alignment hole through which the male tab portion can be inserted is provided between the insulating base material and the printed wiring board. According to the invention described in the technical concept (2), the male tab portions can be aligned and accurately arranged at predetermined positions.

(3) A busbar laminate composed of a busbar and an insulating base material is accommodated in a case body constituted by the first case and the second case, and various electronic components and connection terminals are mounted on the busbar laminate. By placing the printed wiring board to be connected, by connecting the connection terminal and the male tab portion protruding from the bus bar, in the electrical junction box electrically connected to the printed wiring board and the bus bar laminate, The printed wiring board is provided with an electrical component mounting portion capable of mounting the electrical component, and at least one of the two cases is provided with an electrical component mounting portion capable of attaching and detaching the electrical component, wherein the electrical component mounting portion is provided. The circuit is configured such that the first wiring path to be connected and the second wiring path to be connected to the electrical component mounting portion are present in parallel between one input and output.

[0033]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
The versatility of the electric junction box can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an electric connection box according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the electric connection box of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic circuit configuration diagram showing a part of the circuit configuration of the electric junction box of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Electric connection box, 12 ... Upper case as 1st case, 13 ... Lower case as 2nd case, 14 ... Busbar laminated body, 15 ... Printed wiring board, 16 ... Busbar, 16a, 16b ... Male tab part, 18 ... Mounting type turn-hazard relay as electrical components, 19 ... Relay mounting portion as electrical components mounting portion, 22 ... Relay terminal as connection portion,
26 ... Removable turn hazard relay as electrical components,
27: Relay mounting section as electrical component mounting section.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A busbar laminate comprising a busbar and an insulating base material is accommodated in a case body constituted by a first case and a second case, and various electronic components and connection terminals are mounted on the busbar laminate. An electric junction box electrically connecting the printed wiring board and the bus bar laminate by disposing a printed wiring board and connecting the connection terminal and a male tab protruding from the bus bar. A wiring path connected to the electrical component is divided into two paths, a first wiring path and a second wiring path, and an electrical component mounting portion capable of mounting the electrical component is provided on the printed wiring board. The first wiring path is connected to a component mounting portion, and at least one of the two cases is provided with an electrical component mounting portion to which the electrical component can be attached and detached. Electrical connection box, characterized in that connecting the second wiring path. 2. Each of the wiring paths is constituted by the bus bar and a printed wiring pattern formed on the printed wiring board, and a connection portion for connecting the bus bar to the printed wiring pattern is provided on the printed wiring board. The electrical junction box according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The electrical junction box according to claim 1, wherein the electrical component is a turn hazard relay.