JP2006033942A - Electric connection box - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the size of an electric connection box by employing a pin-shaped terminal connected with the conductor of a printed board as the external connection terminal of a low current circuit out of the internal circuits of the electric connection box. <P>SOLUTION: A printed board 30 is contained, as a circuit material, in the case of an electric connection box 10 being connected with wire harness W/H for automobile. A pin-shaped external connection terminal 100 is stood on the conductor 32 of the printed board 30 while being connected electrically. Cross-sectional aspect ratio of the external connection terminal 100 in the direction intersecting the axial direction perpendicularly is set in the range of 0.50-0.80 mm. Distal end of the external connection terminal 100 is projected into a connector fitting portion 11a provided on the outer surface of the case and fitted to a small size female terminal 71 contained in the connector 70 of a wire harness terminal being fitted to the connector fitting portion 11a. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrical connection box, and more specifically, an external connection terminal projecting from an internal circuit side of the electrical connection box is miniaturized and can be connected to a small-sized female terminal in a connector of a wire harness terminal.

Conventionally, an electric junction box mounted on an automobile has an internal circuit formed by a laminated body in which a conductive metal plate is punched into a required shape and a laminated body in which bus bars and insulating plates are alternately laminated, or a printed circuit board in which a conductor is formed on the surface of the board. Is configured.
As such an electrical junction box, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-18726 (Patent Document 1) provides an electrical junction box 1 shown in FIG. In the electrical junction box 1, as an internal circuit housed in a case composed of an upper case 2 and a lower case 3, a large current circuit is formed by a thick bus bar 4, and a small current circuit is formed by a thin bus bar 5. A current circuit is constituted by a conductor (not shown) of the substrate 6 and a conductive material corresponding to the current value is used.

  The connection between the internal circuit of the electrical connection box 1 and the wire harness of the external circuit is performed by the connector connection by the connector fitting portion 2a provided on the outer surface of the case and the connector of the wire harness terminal, in order to connect with the terminal in the connector. The tab 4a is formed by bending the end of the bus bar 4 by press working.

  In press working for forming a tab, at least the width of the bus bar 4 (surface in the direction orthogonal to the thickness of the bus bar) is required to be 1.0 mm or more. Therefore, when the connector is connected to the wire harness terminal, even if the external circuit is a small current circuit, the tab width is set to 1 mm or more. As a result, the size of the female terminal on the connector side becomes larger than necessary, each connector fitting portion becomes larger, and consequently the electrical connection box becomes larger.

Even in the electrical junction box 1 provided in Patent Document 1, the thickness of the bus bar is made thicker and thinner corresponding to the energization current amount, but the tab width of the bus bar is more than 1.0 mm as described above. It cannot be made smaller. Therefore, when the bus bar width is the same as the tab width, the bus bar width becomes unnecessarily large, and the arrangement density of the bus bars cannot be improved. In addition, since a metal material is used more than necessary, there are problems of high cost and weight. Further, since the width of the tab 3a is large, the connector accommodating portion provided on the outer surface of the case also becomes large, and there is a problem that the electrical connection box is enlarged.
Further, in Patent Document 1, the minute current circuit is formed by a conductor of a substrate, and the connection between the conductor and another circuit is performed by soldering a connection pin to the conductor and connecting the connection pin to the bus bar via a relay terminal. The bus bar is connected to an external circuit, the conductor of the board is not directly connected to the external circuit, and the electrical connection configuration is complicated.
JP 2003-18726 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems. When the female terminal of the connector of the wire harness terminal has a small size that can be less than 1 mm, the small female connector is connected to the connector fitting portion of the case. An object is to project a male terminal (connecting pin) having a width of less than 1 mm corresponding to the terminal from the internal circuit side so that the connector fitting portion and the connector can be made smaller, and thus the electric connection box can be miniaturized.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is to stand up by accommodating a printed circuit board as a circuit material inside a case of an electrical connection box connected to an automobile wire harness and electrically connecting an external connection terminal to a conductor of the printed circuit board. The vertical and horizontal dimensions of the cross section perpendicular to the axial direction of the external connection terminal are 0.50 mm or more and 0.80 mm or less,
The front end of the external connection terminal protrudes into a connector fitting portion provided on the outer surface of the case, and is fitted to a small-sized female terminal housed in the connector of the wire harness terminal fitted to the connector fitting portion. An electrical junction box characterized by being configured to be connected is provided.

  According to the above configuration, the external connection terminal for connecting the wire harness of the external circuit and the internal circuit of the electrical connection box is not formed into a tab shape by bending the bus bar by pressing, but is formed into a pin shape on the conductor of the printed circuit board. This pin-shaped terminal is an external connection terminal that is connected to a terminal (female terminal) in the connector of the wire harness terminal, so that the external connection terminal is the minimum necessary according to the amount of energization current. Can be size. Therefore, the external connection terminal and the connector fitting portion provided on the outer surface of the case projecting from the external connection terminal can be reduced to reduce the size of the electrical connection box.

In other words, when the bus bar is pressed as described above and the tab is provided, the bus bar cannot be pressed unless the bus bar width is 1.0 mm or more. It is necessary to use a bus bar having a width larger than the width of the bus bar. However, in the present invention, since the external connection terminal is a pin-shaped terminal made of a press-fit terminal that is soldered to a conductor of a printed circuit board or press-fitted into a terminal hole, no press working is required, and depending on the energization current value In addition, it is possible to employ a terminal having a minimum necessary size.
The external connection terminals may have any of a square shape, a rectangular shape, and a circular shape (that is, a round pin shape) as long as the cross-sectional areas are substantially equal. In the case of a circular cross section, the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the cross section indicate the radial dimensions of the circular cross section.

The external connection terminal is formed by punching a conductive metal plate having a thickness of 0.64 mm with a width of 0,64 mm to form a square with a cross-sectional dimension of 0.64 mm, and inserting the external connection terminal into a terminal hole of the printed circuit board. It is erected from the printed circuit board by solder connection or pressure connection with the conductor.
The female terminal in the connector that fits the pin-shaped male terminal with a square section of 0.64 mm on one side is the smallest size female terminal as a wire crimping female terminal that is currently used. It is connected.

The printed circuit board on which the external connection terminals are erected is preferably used, for example, in an electrical connection box having the following configuration, and protrudes from a terminal hole of a connector fitting portion provided on the outer surface of the case of the electrical connection box. Used.
That is, a branch circuit unit, a multi-function relay unit, and a relay unit are stored in parallel in the case in order,
The branch circuit unit includes a multilayer body in which bus bars and insulating plates are alternately disposed, a conductor disposed on both the front and back sides of the multilayer body, and a relay pin connected to the conductor. It consists of a first printed circuit board protruding to the side,
The multi-function relay unit includes a second printed circuit board on which electronic components are mounted, and a relay connector that is attached to an opening formed in the second printed circuit board through a stepped protrusion. The connector includes a first relay terminal that connects the relay pin inserted from both sides, and a second relay terminal that connects the relay pin inserted from one side to the conductor of the second printed circuit board,
In the relay unit, a plurality of relays are mounted on a third printed circuit board, a relay pin is connected to the conductor connected to the relay, and the relay pin protrudes toward the multifunction relay unit side. And
The relay pin between the branch circuit unit and the relay unit is connected to the first relay terminal of the multi-function relay unit, and any one of the relay pins and the conductor of the second printed circuit board are connected via the second relay terminal. And connecting the external connection terminal to the conductor of the first printed circuit board or / and the second printed circuit board, and being connected to the connector fitting portion via the external connection terminal; It is configured to connect.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the external connection terminals that connect the wire harness of the external circuit and the internal circuit of the electrical connection box are not formed into a tab shape by bending the bus bar by press working, A printed circuit board is provided as a circuit material, a pin-shaped terminal that does not require pressing is connected to the conductor of the printed circuit board, and the pin-shaped terminal is connected to a terminal (female terminal) in the connector of the wire harness terminal Since the connection terminal is used, the external connection terminal can be made to have a minimum width of 1 mm or less according to the amount of energization current. Therefore, the external connection terminal and the connector fitting portion provided on the outer surface of the case projecting from the external connection terminal can be reduced to reduce the size of the electrical connection box.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 and 2 show a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a connection structure between an internal circuit of the electrical junction box 10 and the wire harness W / H, and FIG. It is a perspective view of the external connection terminal 100 which connects an internal circuit and wire harness W / H.

  The electrical junction box 10 is formed by assembling an upper case 11 having a connector fitting portion 11a on the outer surface and a lower case (not shown), and conductors 32 such as copper foil are provided on both sides of the insulating substrate 31 inside the case. The printed circuit board 30 formed in a shape is accommodated and fixed. A plurality of terminal holes 30 a are formed in the printed circuit board 30, the external connection terminals 100 shown in FIG. 2 are passed through the terminal holes 30 a and soldered to the conductors 32, and are erected upward on the printed circuit board 30. is doing. The distal end side of the external connection terminal 100 connected to the wire harness W / H is passed through the through hole 11a-2 of the bottom wall 11a-1 of the connector fitting portion 11a provided in the upper case 11, and is inside the connector fitting portion 11a. The female terminal 71 in the connector 70 of the wire harness W / H terminal fitted into the connector fitting portion 11a is connected to the male and female.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the external connection terminal 100 has a cross section S perpendicular to the axial direction as a square shape having a vertical and horizontal dimension L = 0.64 mm. On the other hand, the female terminal 71 in the connector 70 is a small-sized female terminal (terminal size 025) that can be male-female mated with the external connection terminal 100, and is crimped to the electric wire w of the wire harness W / H.

  According to the above-described configuration, the external connection terminals for connecting the wire harness W / H of the external circuit and the internal circuit of the electrical connection box 10 are not formed into a tab shape by bending the bus bar by press working. The external connection terminal 100 is connected to the conductor 32, and the external connection terminal 100 is connected to the female terminal 71 in the connector 70 of the wire harness terminal. Since the external connection terminal 100 does not need to be pressed, the external connection terminal 100 can be reduced to the minimum size according to the amount of energization current, and the external connection terminal 100 and a connector fitting provided on the outer surface of the case protruding from the external connection terminal 100 can be provided. It is possible to reduce the size of the electrical junction box by reducing the joint portion 11a.

  FIG. 3 shows a modification of the first embodiment, in which the external connection terminal 100 is press-fit and connected to the printed circuit board 30 as a press-fit terminal. That is, copper plating is performed from the entire inner peripheral surface of the terminal hole 30a of the printed circuit board 30 to the surface of the printed circuit board 30, and the conductive layer 30b is provided by performing tin plating or solder plating on the surface of the copper plating. 30 b is joined to the conductor 32. On the other hand, the external connection terminal 100 is provided with a press-fit portion 100a that is struck out and made thin. The press-fit portion 100a is press-fitted into the terminal hole 30a of the printed circuit board 30 and connected to the conductor 32.

  Even in the above-described configuration, the external connection terminal 100 is press-fitted and connected to the conductor 32 of the printed circuit board 30 and the external connection terminal 100 is connected to the female terminal 71 in the connector 70 of the wire harness terminal. Does not require pressing, and can be made the minimum size according to the amount of energization current.

3 to 9 show a second embodiment of the present invention.
The electrical connection box 10 of the present embodiment employs a structure that connects an internal circuit similar to that of the first embodiment and the wire harness W / H.
As shown in FIG. 4, the electrical junction box 10 is formed by assembling an upper case 11, an intermediate case 12, and a lower case 13, and a branch circuit unit 20, a multi-function relay unit 40 that constitutes an internal circuit in the case, The relay unit 50 is accommodated and fixed in parallel with an interval in the vertical direction.

The branch circuit unit 20 includes a laminated body 23 in which bus bars 21 and insulating plates 22 formed by punching conductive metal plates into a required shape are alternately laminated, and conductors 32 such as copper foil on both surfaces of the insulating substrate 31. A first printed circuit board 30 (corresponding to the “printed circuit board 30” in the first embodiment) formed in a circuit shape is arranged adjacently in parallel.
In the present embodiment, a branch circuit is formed by two layers of bus bars 21 and one first printed board 30.
In addition, a current circuit of 20 amperes or more among the internal circuits is constituted by the bus bar 21, while a current circuit smaller than 20 amperes is constituted by the conductor 32 of the first printed circuit board 30.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, the board relay 36 is mounted on the first printed circuit board 30. However, since the first printed circuit board 30 is mainly provided for a branch circuit, the electronic component or the like is not mounted. Also good.

An external connection terminal 100 similar to that of the first embodiment is connected to the conductor 32 of the first printed circuit board 30 by soldering. The external connection terminal 100A projecting upward from the first printed circuit board 30 has its tip projected into the connector fitting portion 11a, and the connector of the wire harness W / H terminal fitted into the connector fitting portion 11a. The female terminal 71 in the 70 is connected to male and female.
In addition, in this embodiment, since the laminated body 23 is arrange | positioned on the 1st printed circuit board 30, the external connection terminal 100 is penetrated to the laminated body 23 as shown in FIG.

Conversely, the external connection terminal 100B projecting downward from the first printed circuit board 30 also projects its tip into a connector fitting portion 13a provided on the outer surface of the lower case 13, as shown in FIG. It connects with the female terminal in the connector (not shown) of the wire harness terminal fitted in the fitting part 13a.
Through holes 11a-2 and 13a-2 for penetrating the external connection terminals 100 are provided in the bottom walls 11a-1 and 13a-1 of the connector fitting portions 11a and 13a. The through holes 11a- 2, 13a-2 has a square shape in plan view that is set slightly larger than the cross section S of the external connection terminal 100. From a through hole 11a-3 that passes through a tab 21d, which will be described later, formed by bending the bus bar 21 by pressing. There are also small through holes.
In this embodiment, since the cross section of the external connection terminal 100 is square, the through holes 11a-2 and 13a-2 for penetrating the external connection terminal 100 are also square, but the cross section of the external connection terminal Is rectangular or circular, the shape of the through hole is also rectangular or circular in accordance with the cross-sectional shape of the external connection terminal.

The bus bar 21 of the laminated body 23 of the branch circuit unit 20 is provided with a tab 21a by bending a required portion downward, and the tab 21a projects into the connector fitting portion 12a provided in the intermediate case 12 to be connected to the power line terminal. The branch circuit unit 20 is supplied with power by being connected to a connector (not shown).
The connection between the bus bar 21 of the laminate 23 and the conductor 32 of the first printed circuit board 30 employs a method of directly connecting the bus bar 21 and the conductor 32 and a method of connecting via a fuse (not shown). . That is, in the direct connection method, as shown in FIG. 1, the tab 21 b provided by bending the bus bar 21 downward is soldered and connected to the conductor 32 of the first printed circuit board 30. On the other hand, a method of connecting via a fuse is to input a fuse (not shown) by projecting a pressure contact tab 21c provided by bending the bus bar 21 upward and projecting it into a fuse accommodating portion 11b provided in the upper case 11. While connecting to the terminal portion, the press-contact tab 37 soldered to the conductor 32 of the first printed circuit board 30 is protruded into the fuse accommodating portion 11b and connected to the output terminal portion of the fuse (not shown), and the fuse is interposed. The bus bar 21 and the conductor 32 are connected.
In addition, the bus bar 21 that is directly connected to the external circuit without being connected to the conductor 32 of the first printed circuit board 30 is refracted with the front end of the bus bar 21 upward to form a tab 21d. The upper case 11 protrudes into the connector fitting portion 11a through the through hole 11a-3 and is connected to a connector (not shown).

  As described above, the external connection terminal 100 is connected to the conductor 32 of the first printed circuit board 30 and is connected to the wire harness W / H of the external circuit via the external connection terminal 100. External conductor tabs 38 and 39 wider than the external connection terminal 100 are connected to the conductor 32 through which a current exceeding the allowable current value is passed by soldering, and protrudes into the connector fitting portion 11a so that a required connector (FIG. (Not shown).

In the multi-function relay unit 40, a large number of electronic components 44 for multiplex communication are mounted on a second printed circuit board 43 in which a conductor 42 such as copper foil is formed in a required circuit shape on the upper surface of an insulating substrate 41. 44 terminals are half-attached to the conductor 42 and connected.
Further, the external connection terminal 100 is also connected to the conductor 42 of the second printed circuit board 43 by soldering, protrudes into the connector fitting portion 13a provided on the outer surface of the lower case 13, and is fitted to the connector fitting portion 13a. (Not shown).

  In the relay unit 50, a substrate relay 54 is disposed on the upper surface of a third printed circuit board 53 in which a conductor 52 such as a copper foil is formed in a required circuit shape on the lower surface of the insulating substrate 51, and a terminal 55 of the substrate relay 54 is disposed on the substrate. 51 and the conductor 52 are penetrated and soldered to be connected to the conductor 52.

The conductors 32, 42, 52 of the first to third printed circuit boards 30, 43, 53 are connected via a relay connector 45 assembled to the second printed circuit board 43 of the multi-function relay unit 40.
As shown in FIG. 7, the housing 46 of the relay connector 45 includes a long portion 46a that is long in the vertical direction and a short portion 46b that is short in the vertical direction, and the first terminal accommodating portion 47 that is long in the vertical direction on the long portion 46a. Are provided in a series arrangement, while the second terminal accommodating part 48 that is short in the vertical direction is provided in the short part 46b in a series arrangement. The long portion 46a protruding in a step shape passes through an opening provided in the insulating substrate 41, and the upper surface of the short portion 46b is brought into contact with the lower surface of the insulating substrate 41 and fixed with bolts (not shown).

The first terminal accommodating portion 47 of the relay connector 45 accommodates a long first relay terminal 60 having female terminal fitting portions 60a at both upper and lower ends. As shown in FIG. 8, a relay pin 33 soldered and connected to the conductor 32 of the printed circuit board 30 is inserted from above to connect to the upper female terminal fitting portion 60a, and the conductor 52 of the third printed circuit board 53 from below. The relay pin 56 soldered and connected is inserted to connect to the lower female terminal fitting portion 60a, and the relay pins 33 and 56 are connected to the conductor 32 of the first printed circuit board 30 via the first relay terminal 60. The conductor 52 of the third printed circuit board 53 is electrically connected.
On the other hand, in the second terminal accommodating portion 48 of the short portion 46b, as shown in FIG. 9, the second relay terminal 61 provided with one female terminal fitting portion 61a and a connecting piece 61b directly connected to the conductor of the board is provided. Contained. As shown in FIG. 9 (A), the relay pin 34 soldered to the conductor 32 of the first printed circuit board 30 is provided in the second terminal accommodating portion 48 from above or as shown in FIG. 9 (B). Further, the relay pin 57 soldered to the conductor 52 of the third printed circuit board 53 is inserted from below and connected to the female terminal fitting portion 61a of the second relay terminal 61, and the relay pin 34 or the relay pin 57 is the second one. It is connected to the conductor 42 of the second printed circuit board 43 via the relay terminal 61. Thereby, the conductor 32 of the first printed circuit board 30 and the conductor 52 of the third printed circuit board 53 are electrically connected to the conductor 42 of the second printed circuit board 43, respectively.

  As described above, the power supplied from the bus bar 21 of the multilayer body 23 of the branch circuit unit 20 to the conductor 32 of the first printed circuit board 30 is connected to the second printed circuit board 43 and the third printed circuit via the relay pin and the relay connector 45. It is supplied to the substrate 53. The power supplied to the third printed circuit board 53 is supplied to the second printed circuit board 43 through the printed circuit board relay 54 and the relay pins 57 and the relay connector 45 again. The power supplied to the second printed circuit board 43 is supplied to the wire harness (not shown) side of the external circuit via the external connection terminal 100 connected to the conductor 42 of the second printed circuit board 43, to each electrical component. Distributed.

According to the above configuration, since the same structure as in the first embodiment and the wire harness of the external circuit are connected by the pin-like external connection terminal, the external connection terminal 100 and the external connection terminal 100 are connected. It is possible to reduce the size of the electrical connection box by reducing the connector fitting portions 11a and 13a provided on the protruding outer surface of the case.
In addition, although the connection structure of 1st Embodiment is employ | adopted for the electrical junction box of this embodiment, the structure using the external connection terminal which consists of a press fit terminal shown in the modification of 1st Embodiment is employ | adopted. May be.

It is sectional drawing which shows the connection structure of the conductor of the printed circuit board of 1st Embodiment of this invention, and a wire harness. It is a perspective view of an external connection terminal. It is drawing which shows the modification of 1st Embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the electrical-connection box of 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of an electrical junction box. It is sectional drawing which shows the connection structure of the conductor and wire harness of a 1st printed circuit board. It is a front view of a relay connector. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which connected the conductor of the 1st printed circuit board, and the conductor of the 3rd printed circuit board via the relay connector. (A) is sectional drawing which shows the state which connected the conductor of the 1st printed circuit board and the conductor of the 2nd printed circuit board via the relay connector, (B) is the conductor and 3rd of the 2nd printed circuit board via the relay connector. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which connected the conductor of the printed circuit board. It is drawing which shows a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Electrical connection box 11a Connector fitting part 11a-2 Through-hole 20 which lets an external connection terminal pass Branch circuit unit 21 Bus bar 23 Laminated body 30 First printed circuit board 32 Conductor 33, 34 Relay pin 40 Multifunctional relay unit 42 Conductor 43 Second Printed circuit board 45 Relay connector 50 Relay unit 52 Conductor 53 Third printed circuit board 54 Board relay 56, 57 Relay pin 60 First relay terminal 61 Second relay terminal 70 Connector 71 Female terminal 100 External connection terminal

Claims (2)

A printed circuit board is accommodated as a circuit material inside a case of an electrical connection box connected to an automobile wiring harness, and an external connection terminal is electrically connected to a conductor of the printed circuit board, and the axis of the external connection terminal The cross-sectional vertical and horizontal dimensions orthogonal to the direction are 0.50 mm or more and 0.80 mm or less,
The front end of the external connection terminal protrudes into a connector fitting portion provided on the outer surface of the case, and is fitted to a small-sized female terminal housed in the connector of the wire harness terminal fitted to the connector fitting portion. An electrical junction box characterized by being configured to be connected.   The external connection terminal is formed by punching a conductive metal plate having a thickness of 0.64 mm with a width of 0.64 mm to form a square with the cross-sectional dimension of 0.64 mm, and inserting the external connection terminal into a terminal hole of the printed circuit board. The electrical connection box according to claim 1, wherein the electrical connection box is erected from a printed circuit board by solder connection or pressure connection with a conductor.

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