JP2003079029A - Junction box - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the size of a junction box when an optional fuse is not mounted thereto while commonizing the junction box. SOLUTION: The junction box is configured such that: string-shaped vertical busbars 13 are disposed in X directions inside a case; wire connection blocks 15, in which a number of cavities 16 are disposed in parallel on the external surface of the case at a position where the vertical busbars 13 are disposed, are projected in a plurality of rows; the vertical busbars 13 and wire terminals 20 are connected at prescribed cross points and form a circuit, with the vertical busbars 13 and the cavities 16 of the wire connection blocks 15 latticed in the X-Y directions; a part of each vertical busbar 13 is extended so as to form a preliminary circuit 13a; an attachment part 18 for detachably attaching a cassette fuser 50 to the upper part (or lower part or side) of the case in the position where the preliminary circuit 13a is arranged; and a busbar 51 of the cassette fuser 50 is connected to the preliminary circuit 13a.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automobile junction box, and more particularly to miniaturizing the junction box.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, with the rapid increase in electrical components mounted on automobiles, the number of circuits contained in automobile electrical junction boxes, especially junction boxes, has increased rapidly to form branch circuits with high density. Moreover, the number of parts is extremely large, and the number of assembling steps is also very large.

A junction box for an automobile is usually constructed as shown in FIG. In the junction box 1, bus bars 5A to 5D are stacked and arranged between upper case 2 and lower case 3 with insulating plates 4A to 4E interposed. The upper case 2 is provided with a connector accommodating portion 2a, a relay accommodating portion 2b, and a fuse accommodating portion 2c, and the connector 6, the relay 7, and the fuse 8 are provided in these accommodating portions.
Are attached to connect these terminals to the tabs 5e protruding from the bus bars 5A to 5D directly or via relay terminals. The lower case 3 also has a connector housing 3a.
In some cases, the tab 5f of the bus bar is projected downward to connect with the connector.

The bus bars 5A to 5D fixed to the insulating plates 4A to 4E are formed by punching a conductive metal plate into a required circuit shape. This bus bar and the terminal of the wire end of the wire harness W / H which is an external circuit are connected via the connector 6, and the terminal of the wire end is inserted into the cavity of the connector 6, and this connector 6 is connected to the junction box 1. When fitted into the connector housing 2a formed on the outer surface of the case, the tab 5e formed on the bus bars 5A to 5D or the relay terminal connected to the tab and the terminal of the electric wire terminal in the connector 6 are fitted together.

[0005]

As shown in FIG. 9, in the conventional junction box 1, since its internal circuit and the external circuit of the wire harness W / H are connected via a connector, the connector 6 and the wire are connected. There is a problem that connection work with the harness W / H becomes necessary and the number of parts increases. Further, since the busbars 5A to 5D are formed by punching into a circuit shape, it is necessary to re-form the busbar when the circuit is changed, and the die cost for forming the busbar is very high, and the circuit change cannot be flexibly dealt with. There's a problem.
In addition, the yield of the conductive metal plate used as the bus bar material is very low, which causes a cost increase.

Further, in order to share the junction box 1 among different vehicle types, it is necessary to previously provide the fuse accommodation portion 2c with an optional fuse accommodation portion 2d which may not be used depending on the vehicle type. However, in the case of a vehicle model in which an optional fuse is not mounted, there is a problem that the junction box 1 unnecessarily increases in size by the space of the optional fuse accommodating portion 2d.

Furthermore, since the connector, the fuse and the relay are connected to the bus bar which is the internal circuit, the entire internal circuit is changed when the specifications change to change the connection between the fuse and the relay and the internal circuit. However, there is a problem that it is difficult to deal with circuit changes.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is possible to improve the yield of bus bars housed in a junction box, and to realize a connectorless connection with an external circuit and a flexible response to a circuit change. In particular, it is an object to make it possible to reduce the size when the optional fuse is not mounted, while sharing the junction box.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, strip-shaped vertical bus bars in the X direction are accommodated in parallel in the case, and the case where the vertical bus bars are arranged is located. On the outer surface, a plurality of rows of electric wire connection blocks having a plurality of external electric wire terminal connection cavities juxtaposed in the Y direction are projected, and cavities of the vertical bus bars and the electric wire connection blocks arranged in the orthogonal direction are arranged in a XY grid. As a condition,
The vertical bus bar and the electric wire are connected at a required crossing position to form a required circuit, and a part of the vertical bus bar is used as a spare circuit portion, and the lower portion, the upper portion or the case of the position where these spare circuit portions are arranged or There is provided a junction box characterized in that a mounting portion for detachably mounting a cassette fuser is provided on a side portion, and a conductor of the cassette fuser is connected to the spare circuit portion. The junction box is mounted on an automobile, and the spare circuit is an IG (ignition) or ACC.
A circuit connected to the (accessory) circuit is preferable.

With the above construction, the strip-shaped vertical busbars are used as the internal circuit of the junction box and are arranged in parallel inside the case. Therefore, the yield of the conductive metal plate can be 100% and the forming process can be omitted. Moreover, it is possible to perform automatic assembly in a case at once. Further, since the vertical busbars and the cavities of the electric wire connection block are formed in a lattice shape in the XY direction, a required circuit can be formed only by inserting the electric wires into the cavities and connecting them to the vertical busbars. The circuit can be easily changed by changing the connection position between the electric wire and the vertical bus bar. Further, the electric wire can be connected to the vertical bus bar without a connector, and the number of parts and the connector connecting work can be reduced.

Further, the optional cassette fuser is provided separately from the case of the junction box, and the cassette fuser is detachably attached to the attachment portion of the case to form a spare circuit portion of a part of the vertical bus bar. If the conductor of the cassette fuser is connected to, the junction box can be downsized by not attaching the cassette fuser when the fuse for the option is not mounted.

The conductor of the cassette fuser is composed of a bus bar, a terminal having a press-contact slot is provided at the tip of the bus bar, and the spare circuit portion of the vertical bus bar is inserted and connected to the press-contact slot of the terminal. The other end of the bus bar is connected to the input side terminal of the fuse attached to the cassette fuser.

As described above, if the conductor of the cassette fuser is formed by the bus bar, and the terminal having the pressure contact slot at the end of the bus bar is inserted into the vertical bus bar for pressure contact connection, the cassette fuser is connected to the case. Just attach it to the attachment part and you can connect with one touch.

The junction box is divided into a base circuit section connected to an external circuit and a fuse connection circuit section and / or a relay connection circuit section, and a base module having a base circuit section and the fuse connection circuit section or / and A fuse / relay module equipped with a relay connection circuit section is provided, and the junction box is assembled by connecting these modules and connecting the conductors that will become the internal circuits in each module. A bus bar is accommodated, and a connector accommodating portion is provided in the case, a connector connected to an electric wire terminal is fitted in the connector accommodating portion, and a terminal of the electric wire terminal in the connector is connected to the vertical bus bar. .

As described above, when the junction box is divided into modules, only the corresponding module needs to be changed when the specifications are changed.
The entire junction box does not have to be recreated and can be flexibly handled. Further, the required circuit can be formed only by fitting the connector accommodating the terminal of the wire end into the connector accommodating portion. In addition,
It goes without saying that the fuse / relay module may be further divided into a fuse module and a relay module.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the first embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, a junction box 100 connected to an automobile wire harness includes a junction box body 60 including a base module 10 and a fuse relay module 11, and a cassette fuser. And 50.

The base module 10 is an upper case 1
As shown in FIG. 2, a large number of strip-shaped vertical bus bars 13 in the X direction are arranged in parallel inside a case composed of 2 and a lower case 14. The vertical bus bar 13 constitutes a base circuit, and the electric wire connection block 15 provided in the upper case 12
As shown in FIG. 6, the terminal 20 of the electric wire w1 is directly inserted into each of the cavities 16 and is directly connected to the vertical bus bar 13. The fuse / relay module 11 is mounted on one side of the lower case 14 of the base module 10.

More specifically, on one side of the upper surface of the upper case 12 of the base module 10, a plurality of electric wire connection blocks 15 are projected in parallel rows over substantially the entire length in the Y direction, and the electric wire connection blocks 15 of each row are provided. Has a large number of cavities 16 serving as terminal insertion portions arranged in parallel in the Y direction. In addition, a plurality of connector accommodating portions 1 is provided on one side of the wire connection block 15.
7, and a mounting portion 18 for a cassette / fuser is provided.

As shown in FIG. 3, the inner surface of the upper case 12 is provided with a large number of grooves 12a for fixing the vertical bus bars 13 arranged in parallel at equal pitches. Each of these grooves 1
2a has a bottom opening of the cavity 16 of the wire connection block 15 and a bottom opening of the connector accommodating portion 17 which are continuous with each other, and the vertical bus bar 13 is inserted into each groove 12a for positioning and holding. The groove for positioning and holding the vertical bus bar 13 may be provided on the lower case side as well.

The vertical bus bar 13 inserted and fixed in each groove 12a is a continuous strip-shaped vertical bus bar 13-1.
And a plurality of vertical bus bars 13-2 which are continuous with a gap between them. Further, the portion located in the mounting portion 18 for the cassette fuser has a spare circuit portion 1
3a. Vertical bus bar 13 arranged in the X direction
The terminals 20 of the electric wires w1 inserted into the cavities 16 juxtaposed in the Y direction are arranged in a grid pattern in the XY direction as shown in FIG. 5, and the vertical bus bar 13 and the terminals 2 are arranged at required positions.
0 and 0 are connected to form a required circuit.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a bus bar 40 for fuse relay is installed between the fuse / relay module installation portion 22 extending from one side of the lower case 14 and the case 25. The terminal portion 40a at one end of the bus bar 40 is bent vertically to make a pressure contact with the vertical bus bar 13, and the terminal portion 40b at the other end is also bent vertically to fuse the fuse housing portion 28, the relay housing portion 27, and the connector housing portion. The relay mounted on the portion 23, the fuse, and the terminal of the power supply connector are pressure-connected.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, the lower case 14 fitted with the upper case is provided with a fuse / relay module installation portion 22 projecting from one end of the fitting portion with the upper case 12. ing. The fuse / relay module installation portion 22 is provided with a connector accommodating portion 23 and a terminal hole 24. The case 25 of the fuse / relay module 11 is assembled under the fuse / relay module installation portion 22. Case 2
5, the terminal accommodating portion 26 that fits into the terminal hole 24 is projected upward, and the relay accommodating portion 27 and the fuse accommodating portion 28 are protruded downward.

After assembling the junction box body 60 as described above, the cassette fuser 50 is attached to the attachment portion 18 of the upper case 12 so that the optional fuse 70 and the vertical bus bar 13 mounted on the cassette fuser are installed. A fuse 70 is added to the IG (ignition) circuit c1 and the ACC (accessory) circuit c2 by connecting to the spare circuit section 13a.

Specifically, the cassette fuser 50
Is a fuse accommodating portion 52 on the upper surface, and the fuse accommodating portion 5
An input side terminal accommodating chamber 54 and an output side terminal accommodating chamber 55 are provided below 2, and a locking wall 56 having an inverted L-shaped cross section is projected to the outer wall of the input side terminal accommodating chamber 54, while the output is provided. The peripheral wall 57 of the side terminal accommodating chamber 54 extends downward. In addition, the press contact slot 51a-on one end of the bus bar 51
The terminal portion 51a having 1 protrudes downward along the locking wall 56, and the terminal portion 51b at the other end of the bus bar 51 is bent upward and accommodated in the input side terminal accommodating chamber 54.

The cassette fuser 50 is attached to the mounting portion 18 of the upper case 12 by locking the locking wall 56, and at the same time, the terminal portion 51a of the bus bar 51 is passed through the terminal insertion hole 18a of the mounting portion 18, The terminal portion 51a and the auxiliary circuit portion 13a of the vertical bus bar 13 are pressure-connected to each other. A terminal 55 crimped to the end of the electric wire w3 is inserted and locked in the output-side terminal accommodating chamber 53 from below. Then, the optional fuse 70 is attached to the fuse accommodating portion 52.
By mounting the fuse 70 on the input side terminal 70a of the fuse 70 and the terminal portion 51b, the output side terminal 7 of the fuse 70 is connected.
0b is connected to the terminal 55.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the terminal 20 crimped to the end of the electric wire w1 to be inserted into each of the cavities 16 is provided with a pair of holding pieces 20a, and the vertical bus bar 13 is provided with a pair of holding pieces 20a of the terminal 20. It is sandwiched and connected by. Further, the terminal 20 has a core wire barrel 20b and a holding piece 2
The locking recess 20c is provided at a position between 0a and the inner wall of the cavity 16 for locking.

As shown in FIG. 7, a connector 30 in which a terminal 31 of the electric wire w2 terminal is inserted and locked is fitted into the connector accommodating portion 17 provided in the upper case 12, and a lock claw 30a outside the connector 30 is fitted. And the locked portion 17a on the inner wall of the connector accommodating portion 17 are lock-coupled. A vertical bus bar insertion groove 30b is provided in the connector 30 so that the vertical bus bar 13 is inserted into the connector, and terminals 31 in the connector are sandwiched between the vertical bus bar 13 for connection.

In the junction box 100 having the above structure, a strip-shaped vertical bus bar 13 is used as an internal circuit.
Since they are arranged in parallel with each other, the yield of the conductive metal plate can be 100%, and it is also possible to carry out automatic assembly at once in the case. In addition, the vertical bus bar 13
Since the cavities 16 of the electric wire connection block 15 and the cavities 16 of the electric wire connection block 15 are formed in a lattice shape in the XY direction, a required circuit can be formed only by inserting the terminal 20 of the electric wire w1 into the cavity 16 and pressure-connecting the vertical bus bar 13. The electric wire w1 can be connected to the vertical bus bar 13 without a connector, and the number of parts and the connector connecting work can be reduced.

Further, the optional cassette fuser 50 is provided as a separate body from the case of the junction box body 60, and the cassette fuser 50 is detachably attached to the attachment portion 18 of the upper case 12 so that the vertical bus bar 13 can be attached. Since the bus bar 51 of the cassette fuser 50 is connected to a part of the spare circuit portion 13a, in the case of a vehicle model in which the optional fuse 70 is not mounted, the junction box 100 can be installed by not mounting the cassette fuser 50. The size of only the junction box body 60 can be made, and the size can be reduced.

The above junction box 100
Then, the circuit can be easily changed by changing the connection position between each electric wire w1 and the vertical bus bar 13. Also, the base module 10 and the fuse relay module 11
And the bus bar 40 for fuse relay of the fuse relay module 11 is connected to the vertical bus bar 13, the fuse relay can be used only when the connection form between the base circuit and the external electric wire is changed. Module 1
1 can be shared. Similarly, if only the fuse connection circuit of the fuse / relay module 11 is changed, the base module 10 can be shared.

In this embodiment, the mounting portion 18 for the cassette / fuser is provided at the upper portion of the upper case 12, but it may be provided at the lower portion or the side surface of the lower case 14. Further, the fuse / relay module may not be integrated, but may be divided into a fuse module and a relay module.

FIG. 8 shows a second embodiment. The difference from the first embodiment is that the other vertical bus bar 13B 'is slightly shorter than the vertical bus bar 13A' having the auxiliary circuit section 13A-1 'arranged in the mounting portion 18 for the cassette fuser. is there.

With the above construction, the vertical bus bar 13B 'is set to the minimum required length and no extra length is provided, so that the material cost of the conductive metal plate as the material of the vertical bus bar 13B' can be reduced. it can. Particularly, in the junction box 100 of the present invention, a large number of the vertical bus bars 13B 'are used, which contributes to cost reduction.

From this point of view, the terminal portion 51a of the cassette fuser 50 of the vertical bus bar 13A 'arranged in the cassette fuser mounting portion 18 is actually used.
If only those connected to the long circuit provided with the auxiliary circuit portion 13A-1 'are expected to further reduce the material cost. Furthermore, the upper case (and the lower case) generated by making the vertical bus bar 13B 'short.
The extra space 12b of 12 may be reduced, and only the mounting portion 18 for the cassette / fuser may be projected.

[0035]

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, since the strip-shaped vertical bus bar is used as the internal circuit of the junction box, the yield of the conductive metal plate can be 100%. The forming process can be omitted. Further, the electric wire can be connected to the vertical bus bar without a connector, the work of connecting the electric wire to the connector can be eliminated, and the number of parts can be reduced. Furthermore, when changing the circuit, it is possible to easily cope with the change by simply changing the connection position between the electric wire and the vertical bus bar.

Further, when the optional cassette fuser is provided separately from the case of the junction box and is detachably attached to the mounting portion of the case, when the optional fuse is not mounted. By not installing the cassette fuser,
The junction box can be miniaturized.

Further, the junction box is divided into a base module which constitutes the base circuit section and a fuse / relay module having the fuse / relay connection circuit section, so that when the specification is changed. In this case, since only the corresponding module needs to be changed, it is not necessary to remake the entire junction box, and flexible correspondence is possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a junction box according to a first embodiment of the present invention viewed from above.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a junction box body.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of the junction box viewed from below.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a junction box.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a circuit connection state of a junction box.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a connection state of a terminal of an electric wire terminal and a vertical bus bar.

FIG. 7A is a perspective view of a connector to which an electric wire is connected, and FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the connector is fitted in the connector accommodating portion.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of essential parts of the junction box of the second embodiment as seen from below.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a conventional junction box.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 junction box 10 base module 11 Fuse module 12 upper case 12a groove 13 Vertical bus bar 13a spare circuit section 14 lower case 15 Electric wire connection block 16 cavities 17 Connector housing 18 Mounting part 20 terminals 22 Fuse and relay module installation section 25 cases 30 connectors 30b Bus bar insertion groove 40 Bus bar for fuse and relay 50 cassette fuser 51 cassette fuser bus bar 52 fuse housing 53 Output side terminal accommodating chamber 54 Input-side terminal accommodating chamber 60 Junction box body 70 Fuse for option C1 ACC circuit C2 IG circuit w1, w2, w3 electric wire

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yoshihiro Isshiki             Sumitomo Den 1-14 Nishi-Suehiro-cho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie Prefecture             Sozo Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5G361 BA02 BB01 BC01

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An X-direction strip-shaped vertical bus bar is arranged in parallel inside the case, and a large number of cavities for connecting external electric wire terminals are provided in the Y-direction on the outer surface of the case where the vertical bus bar is arranged. A plurality of rows of wire connection blocks juxtaposed in parallel are projected, and the vertical bus bars and the cavities of the wire connection blocks arranged in the orthogonal direction are formed in a grid shape in the XY direction.
The vertical bus bar and the electric wire are connected at a required crossing position to form a required circuit, and a part of the vertical bus bar is used as a spare circuit part, and the lower part, the upper part or the case of the position where these spare circuit parts are arranged or A junction box characterized in that a mounting portion for detachably mounting a cassette fuser is provided on a side portion, and a conductor of the cassette fuser is connected to the spare circuit portion. 2. A conductor of the cassette fuser comprises a bus bar, a terminal having a press contact slot is provided at the end of the bus bar, and a spare circuit portion of the vertical bus bar is inserted into the press contact slot of the terminal for connection. The junction box according to claim 1, wherein the other end of the bus bar is connected to an input side terminal of a fuse attached to a cassette fuser. 3. The junction box according to claim 1, wherein the junction box is mounted on an automobile, and the standby circuit is a circuit connected to an IG and ACC circuit. 4. A base module provided with a base circuit part, wherein the junction box is divided into a base circuit part connected to an external circuit and a fuse connection circuit part and / or a relay connection circuit part, and the fuse connection circuit part. Or / and a fuse with a relay connection circuit
A relay module is provided, and a junction box is assembled by connecting these modules and connecting conductors that are internal circuits in each module. The vertical bus bar is housed inside the case of the base module, and 4. A connector accommodating portion is provided, a connector connected to an electric wire terminal is fitted into the connector accommodating portion, and a terminal of the electric wire terminal in the connector is connected to the vertical bus bar. The junction box according to item 1.