JP2007048890A - Ecu centralized storage box - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ECU centralized storage box for storing a plurality of ECU substrates which excels in heat dissipation property and can be improved in efficiency by simplifying the structure of each ECU substrate to reduce a dominant space thereof. <P>SOLUTION: The ECU centralized storage box includes a case 3 for storing the plurality of ECU substrates 2A-2C, a common substrate 6 which is formed with a common circuit 5 connected to the circuits inside the ECU substrates 2A-2C, and a connection bus 7 for electrically connecting the common substrate 6 to each of the ECU substrates 2A-2C. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ECU centralized storage box, and more specifically, an ECU that stores a plurality of dispersedly arranged ECUs (electronic control units) in a single storage box and electrically connects the stored ECU boards to each other. Concerning central storage box.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the automobile has a large number of electrical equipment 90A, 90B, etc., and a plurality of ECUs (Electronic Control Units) 91A, 91B,... That electronically control these electrical equipment 90A, 90B,. Each of the ECUs 91A, 91B... Is fixed to the vehicle body while being accommodated in each ECU case, and is connected to each other by a wire harness WHp or the like. Further, in each of the ECUs 91A, 91B..., A surge protection circuit 92 and a voltage generation circuit 93 are connected to a portion connected to the power source by the wire harness WHp, and the CPU 94, the memory 95, the network communication circuit 96, and the electrical equipment 90A, 90B. The necessary power is supplied to the input / output circuit 97.

  Each of the ECUs 91A, 91B,... Is configured to exchange necessary information by communicating with each other via a communication line such as a CAN bus in the wire harness HWp, and to exchange information with an external ECU. ing. In particular, in recent years, telematics services that enable the input of all information in real time by connecting the ECUs 91A, 91B,... To information communication devices such as mobile phones are becoming popular. A communication function for exchanging information with other ECUs 91A, 91B... And the outside is indispensable.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, JP 2003-304083 A (Patent Document 1) describes a plurality of ECUs 91A, 91B... (Hereinafter referred to as ECU boards 91A, 91B. The ECU centralized storage box 98 to be housed is described. In the ECU centralized storage box 98, a circuit for connecting a power source to the ECU boards 91A, 91B,... Is shared by the bus bar 99, and the wire harness WHp is directly connected to each of the ECU boards 91A, 91B,. It is configured not to. Moreover, since the occupied volume can be reduced by collecting a plurality of ECU boards 91A, 91B... In one ECU centralized storage box 98, a narrow space inside the instrument panel can be effectively utilized.

JP 2003-304083 A

  However, the protection circuit 92 is a circuit including a Zener diode 92z, which is a relatively large component. By forming the protection circuit 92 on each ECU board 91A, 91B,. There was a problem. In addition, the manufacturing cost is inevitably increased.

  Similarly, since the voltage generation circuit 93 is formed on each of the ECU boards 91A, 91B,..., The manufacturing cost is increased and the loss generated when the voltage adjustment is performed in each voltage generation circuit 93 increases. Since there is a need to form a heat dissipation device such as a heat sink or a space for heat dissipation on each of the ECU boards 91A, 91B.

  Further, when the voltage generation circuit 93 generates a plurality of voltages, for example, when the ECU board requires power supplies of three voltages of 3.3 V, 5 V, and 9 V, 3 for generating the respective voltages. Needed two voltage regulators. For this reason, the configuration of the voltage generation circuit 93 must be complicated, and there is a problem that the manufacturing cost is increased accordingly.

  In addition, each of the ECU boards 91A, 91B,... Has a communication circuit 96, and each of these communication circuits 96 performs communication using a LAN protocol such as CAN. Is included. In other words, by providing the communication circuit 96 on each of the ECU boards 91A, 91B,..., The manufacturing cost of the ECU boards 91A, 91B,.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described problems, and its purpose is to reduce the occupied space by simplifying the configuration of the ECU board in an ECU centralized storage box that houses a plurality of ECU boards. It is to provide an ECU central storage box that is excellent in heat dissipation and can improve efficiency.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides:
A case for accommodating a plurality of ECU boards;
A common board on which a shared circuit connected to a circuit in each ECU board is formed;
There is provided an ECU centralized storage box having a connection bus for electrically connecting the common board to each ECU board.

  According to the above configuration, since a circuit that can be shared from each ECU board in the case can be omitted, the configuration can be simplified. Further, by simplifying each ECU board, the ECU board can be made smaller accordingly, so that the case for accommodating a plurality of ECU boards can also be made smaller.

  The ECU board connected to the case is preferably an ECU board closely related to each other. For example, as an instrument panel system inside an instrument panel, a meter ECU that controls an instrument panel meter, an airbag ECU, and an air conditioner control It is conceivable to comprise an air conditioner ECU or the like that performs the above. In addition, various configurations such as an ECU for controlling mobile communication means (such as a mobile phone) for realizing a telematics service and an ECU for controlling a navigation system and an audio system are conceivable.

  The connection bus is preferably a bus bar formed of a plurality of plate-like conductors and formed with pressure contact tabs for electrical connection with the common board and the ECU board. As a result, the common board and the ECU board can be electrically connected by the connection bus only by being accommodated in the case. Further, even if the current flowing through the connection bus is increased, sufficient heat dissipation can be performed.

  Preferably, the connection bus includes a power connection line, and the shared circuit includes an overvoltage protection circuit connected to the power connection line. According to the above configuration, each ECU board is simply connected to the power supply connection line in the connection bus, and without forming an overvoltage protection circuit including an element such as a relatively large Zener diode on each ECU board. Circuits in the substrate can be protected from overcurrent. That is, each ECU board can be reduced in size efficiently.

  Preferably, the connection bus includes a power supply connection line, and the shared circuit includes an overvoltage protection circuit connected to the power supply connection line and a voltage generation circuit that generates a predetermined voltage. According to the above configuration, the overvoltage protection circuit including a relatively large element and the voltage generation circuit for generating a predetermined voltage are formed on the common board as a shared circuit, so that each ECU board can be efficiently reduced in size. The conversion efficiency can be increased as compared with the case where the voltage generation circuit is distributed over a plurality of ECU boards. Accordingly, since the amount of heat generated can be reduced, it is not necessary to form a heat dissipation mechanism such as a heat sink.

  For example, shared circuits made of DC voltage sources of 12V, 9V, 5V, and 3.3V are connected to the power supply connection line. That is, each ECU board can receive electrical energy of a predetermined voltage from the shared voltage generation circuit only by connecting to the power supply connection line provided in the connection bus, so that low voltage output can be easily performed.

  Preferably, the connection bus includes a serial communication line, and the shared circuit includes a network communication circuit that inputs / outputs information transmitted / received via a network communication line to / from each ECU board via the serial communication line. According to the said structure, since it is not necessary to form a complicated network communication circuit in ECU board | substrate, the manufacturing cost can be reduced. In particular, most of the recent CPUs mounted on the ECU board are equipped with a serial input / output unit. By simply connecting this directly to the serial communication line, input / output of information from the outside via a network is possible. Can also be done.

  As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of ECU boards can be accommodated in one case, and a function common to the plurality of ECU boards can be realized by a shared circuit in the common board. Can be achieved.

In particular, since the overvoltage protection circuit is a circuit including relatively large electronic components, the size reduction can be easily achieved by providing the overvoltage protection circuit in a common substrate.
The voltage generation circuit generates heat when the loss is large, but does not generate heat in each ECU board, so that the efficiency is improved and the amount of generated heat can be suppressed.

  Furthermore, when a network communication circuit that needs to perform complex signal processing is shared by a plurality of ECU boards, the configuration of the ECU board that requires a communication function with the outside can be extremely simplified, Cost can be reduced.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an ECU central storage box 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 includes a case 3 for accommodating a plurality of ECU boards 2A, 2B, and a common board 6 on which a shared circuit 5 connected to a circuit in each ECU board 2A, 2B is formed. , And a connection bus 7 for electrically connecting the common board 6 to each of the ECU boards 2A, 2B.

  The ECU boards 2A, 2B... Are connected to a plurality of electrical devices 8A, 8B... And electrically control them. For example, the voltage generation circuit 10, the CPU 11, the memory 12, and the network communication circuit 13 are connected. And an input / output circuit (interface) 14 for inputting and outputting signals and electric power to and from the electrical equipment 7A, 7B.

  In the present embodiment, the ECU board 2A is a meter ECU that controls a meter formed in the instrument panel, and the ECU board 2B is an airbag ECU that controls an airbag. The ECU board 2C is an air conditioner ECU that controls the indoor air conditioning. These communicate data with each other, and are configured so that more comfortable control can be performed. Needless to say, the present invention does not limit the types of ECU boards accommodated in the ECU centralized storage box 1. That is,

WH1 is a wire harness formed by bundling electric wires for connecting the electrical devices 8A, 8B... To the ECU boards 2A, 2B. It is a wire harness formed by bundling electric wires for connecting to a CAN bus Cb that performs in-vehicle LAN communication by CAN (Controller Area Network). In the present invention, in-vehicle LAN communication is not limited to CAN, but LIN (Local
Needless to say, the present invention can be directly applied to other in-vehicle LANs that perform communication conforming to (Interconnect Network) and FlexRay. That is, various configurations are conceivable, such as communication between a plurality of ECU boards grouped for each function in order to realize a telematics service.

  The case 3 accommodates the ECU boards 2A, 2B,... And the common board 6 stacked vertically or in parallel in the horizontal direction. As shown in FIG. 2, the configuration includes a case main body 3A having an opening 3a formed on one side surface and a lid 3B that is detachably attached to the opening 3a. The interior of the case main body 3A is an ECU board. 2A, 2B, 2C and the common substrate 6 are partitioned so as to be accommodated from one end side.

  The lid 3B has an opening 3c configured to connect the wire harnesses WH1 and WH2 to the connectors 2a and 6a formed on one end of each of the substrates 2A, 2B, 2C and 6, respectively, and a lid Ribs 3d that stably hold the substrates 2A, 2B, 2C, and 6 with the body 3B closed are formed. In addition, 3e and 3f are engaging portions for detachably attaching the lid 3B to the case main body 3A.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the shared circuit 5 in this embodiment includes a backflow preventing diode D arranged so that a current flowing from the battery B side to the electrical equipment 7A, 7B,... An overvoltage protection circuit (hereinafter referred to as an overvoltage protection circuit 5), which is a combination of a voltage protection Zener diode Dz attached to a ground potential (ground potential with respect to the vehicle body) so as to set an upper limit on the voltage on the downstream side of D. ). That is, all the ECU boards 2A, 2B... Are connected to a power source such as a battery via the overvoltage protection circuit 5.

  That is, the common board 6 includes the overvoltage protection circuit 5 as a shared circuit connected to the circuits in the ECU boards 2A, 2B, and 2C, whereby all the ECU boards 2A, 2B, and 2C are overloaded by a surge or the like. It protects against current.

  The connection bus 7 is a bus bar that is fitted into a plurality of slits 3g formed on the other end side of the case body 3A, and the connection bus 7 has one end side in accordance with the distance between the substrates 2A, 2B, 2C, and 6. Four pressure contact tabs 7a are provided. On the other hand, on the other end side of the substrates 2A, 2B, 2C, 6 are formed conductor end portions 2b, 6b that fit into the pressure contact tabs 7a, respectively. The number of the pressure contact tabs 7a is formed in accordance with the number of the substrates 2A, 2B, 2C, 6 accommodated in the case 3.

  In other words, the substrates 2A, 2B, 2C, and 6 are electrically connected to each other by connecting the pressure contact tab 7a and the conductor end portions 2b and 6b so as to be conductive. The connection bus 7 of the present embodiment has a power supply connection line Lp. The power supply connection line Lp is an IGN connection line Lpi connected to an ignition power supply, an ACC connection line Lpa connected to an accessory power supply, a battery. And a battery connection line Lpb connected to the positive electrode. The connection bus 7 includes a GND connection line Lg connected to the negative electrode of the battery and a CAN connection line Lc connected to the CAN bus Cb.

  In the ECU centralized storage box 1 configured as in the present embodiment, a circuit that must be relatively large like the overvoltage protection circuit 5 is not provided in each of the ECU boards 2A, 2B, and 2C, but a common board. 6, the configuration of the ECU boards 2A, 2B, 2C can be simply formed, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced accordingly. Further, the occupied space of each ECU board 2A, 2B, 2C can be reduced (downsized).

  In addition, as the ECU boards 2A, 2B, and 2C become smaller, the partition corresponding to the ECU boards 2A, 2B, and 2C of the case 3 can be made smaller, so that the overall size of the case 3 is reduced. can do. That is, it can be inserted into a narrow space in the automobile such as the space inside the instrument panel.

  Each ECU board 2A, 2B, 2C is connected to each other by the CAN connection line Lc by being housed in the ECU centralized storage box 1, so that information can be exchanged bidirectionally using this CAN connection line Lc. it can. For example, finer control can be performed by mutual communication, such as monitoring the speed signal from the meter ECU 2A by inputting it to the airbag ECU 2B.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the ECU central storage box 20 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 3, the same or equivalent parts as those in FIGS.

  The ECU central storage box 20 shown in the second embodiment houses a plurality of ECU boards 21A, 21B, 21C and a common board 22 electrically connected to the ECU boards 21A, 21B, 21C in the case 3. A connection bus 23 is provided for electrically connecting the common board 22 and the ECU boards 21A, 21B, and 21C. In addition to the overvoltage protection circuit 5, the common board 22 includes a voltage generation circuit 24 that supplies a predetermined voltage to the ECU boards 21A, 21B, and 21C as a shared circuit.

  The ECU boards 21A, 21B, 21C are obtained by omitting the voltage generation circuit 10 from the ECU boards 2A, 2B, 2C, and are electrically connected to the connector 21a connected to the wire harness WH1 and the connection bus 23. A conductor end 21b is formed.

  Similarly, the common substrate 22 is formed with a connector 22a connected to the wire harness WH2 and a conductor end portion 22b electrically connected to the connection bus 23.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the connection bus 23 is composed of a bus bar having substantially the same shape as that of the connection bus 7 of the first embodiment, and is a pressure contact tab having a shape for holding the conductor end portions 21b and 22b so as to be sandwiched vertically. 23a is a plate-like conductor formed.

  The power supply connection line Lp constituting the connection bus 23 includes power supply connection lines Lp12, Lp9, Lp5, and Lp3 that serve as voltage sources of different predetermined voltages (12V, 9V, 5V, and 3.3V in this embodiment). Is. Note that the power supply connection line Lp of this embodiment can also have the IGN connection line Lpi, the ACC connection line Lpa, and the battery connection line Lpb shown in FIG. 1, but the description thereof is omitted here. .

  Although various forms can be considered for the voltage generation circuit 24, in this embodiment, at least the dielectric 24a and the various predetermined voltages (12V, 9V, 5V, and 3.3V in this embodiment) are output. Switching element 24b, and has a current capacity sufficient to supply a current sufficient to drive the three ECU boards 21A, 21B, and 21C. Note that the voltages (12V, 9V, 5V, 3.3V) supplied in the power supply line Lp shown in the present embodiment are merely examples given for easy explanation of the present invention, and therefore include a boost to 24V. Needless to say, various voltages can be selected.

  By using the ECU centralized storage box 20 configured as in the present embodiment, not only the relatively large overvoltage protection circuit 5 but also the voltage generation circuit 24 can be combined into one, so that loss due to voltage conversion can be reduced. Can be reduced. In other words, it is possible to increase the efficiency by providing one voltage generation circuit 24 having a somewhat larger capacity than providing the small voltage generation circuit 10 (see FIG. 1) on each ECU board.

  Further, since it is not necessary to provide the voltage generation circuit 10 on each of the ECU boards 21A, 21B, and 21C, circuits that require a heat dissipation mechanism (such as a heat sink) are formed on the circuits on the ECU boards 21A, 21B, and 21C. The size of the ECU boards 21A, 21B, and 21C can be reduced accordingly. Further, when there is no large heat dissipation mechanism that requires the installation of a heat sink in each ECU board 21A, 21B, 21C, there is an advantage that the interval between the ECU boards 21A, 21B, 21C can be reduced. . That is, it is possible to achieve downsizing that much, and it is suitable for placement in a narrow vehicle.

  In addition, since the power supply connection lines Lp12, Lp9, Lp5, and Lp3 that are voltage sources of various predetermined voltages are formed in the power supply connection line Lp, it is easy to output a low voltage such as 3.3V.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the ECU central storage box 30 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 5, the same or equivalent parts as in FIGS.

  The ECU central storage box 30 shown in the third embodiment houses a plurality of ECU boards 31A, 31B, 31C and a common board 3 electrically connected to the ECU boards 31A, 31B, 31C in the case 3. A connection bus 33 for electrically connecting the common board 32 and the ECU boards 31A, 31B, 31C is provided. In addition to the overvoltage protection circuit 5 and the voltage generation circuit 24, the common board 32 serves as a shared circuit, and a serial input / output unit Tx such as a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) of the CPU 11 in each of the ECU boards 31A, 31B, 31C. , Rx, a network communication CPU 34 having a plurality of serial input / output units T1 to T3, R1 to R3.

  The ECU boards 31A, 31B, and 31C are obtained by further omitting the network communication circuit 13 from the ECU boards 21A, 21B, and 21C, and are electrically connected to the connector 31a connected to the wire harness WH1 and the connection bus 23. A conductor end 31b is formed. Similarly, the common substrate 32 is formed with a connector 32a connected to the wire harness WH2 and a conductor end portion 32b electrically connected to the connection bus 23. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the connection bus 33 is composed of a bus bar having substantially the same shape as the connection buses 7 and 32 of the first embodiment and the second embodiment, and has a plate-like shape formed with a pressure contact tab 33a. It is a conductor.

  In the case of the present embodiment, serial communication lines Lta to Ltc connected to the serial input / output units Tx and Rx of the CPU 11 in the ECU boards 31A, 31B, and 31C are provided as the connection bus 33, respectively.

  By using the ECU centralized storage box 30 configured as in the present embodiment, the network communication circuit can also be omitted from each of the ECU boards 31A, 31B, and 31C. Therefore, the configuration of each of the ECU boards 31A, 31B, and 31C Can be made extremely simple and compact. In particular, the network communication circuit needs to perform complex signal processing at high speed, so that it requires an arithmetic means capable of performing high-speed processing and increases its manufacturing cost. Thereby, the manufacturing cost of each ECU board | substrate 31A, 31B, 31C can be reduced significantly.

  Since the general input / output units Tx and Rx are usually formed in the general CPU 11 in recent years, the CPU 11 and the network communication are simply connected to the CPU 34 for network communication almost directly. Serial communication with the CPU 34 can be performed. Further, the ECU boards 31A, 31B, 31C are communicably connected via the network communication CPU 34, so that necessary data can be exchanged.

It is a figure which shows the circuit structure of the ECU concentration storage box which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. It is a perspective view which decomposes | disassembles and shows the structure of the said ECU concentration storage box. It is a figure which shows the circuit structure of the ECU concentration storage box which concerns on 2nd Example. It is a perspective view which decomposes | disassembles and shows the structure of the said ECU concentration storage box. It is a figure which shows the circuit structure of the ECU concentration storage box which concerns on 5th Example. It is a perspective view which decomposes | disassembles and shows the structure of the said ECU concentration storage box. It is a figure which shows the connection structure of conventional ECU. It is a figure explaining the structure of the conventional ECU concentration storage box.

Explanation of symbols

1 ECU central storage box 2A to 2C ECU board 3 Case 5 Overvoltage protection circuit (shared circuit)
6 Common Board 7 Connection Bus 20 ECU Centralized Storage Box 21A-21C ECU Board 23 Connection Bus 24 Voltage Generation Circuit (Shared Circuit)
30 ECU centralized storage boxes 31A to 31C ECU board 33 Connection bus 34 Network communication CPU (shared circuit)
Lp power supply line Lta-Ltc Serial communication line

Claims (4)

A case for accommodating a plurality of ECU boards;
A common board on which a shared circuit connected to a circuit in each ECU board is formed;
An ECU centralized storage box having a connection bus for electrically connecting the common board to each ECU board.   The ECU centralized storage box according to claim 1, wherein the connection bus includes an overvoltage protection circuit including a power supply connection line and a shared circuit connected to the power supply connection line.   The ECU centralized storage box according to claim 1, wherein the connection bus includes a power supply connection line, and the shared circuit includes an overvoltage protection circuit connected to the power supply connection line and a voltage generation circuit that generates a predetermined voltage.   4. The network apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the connection bus includes a serial communication line, and includes a network communication circuit that inputs and outputs information transmitted and received by the shared circuit via a network communication line to and from each ECU board via the serial communication line. ECU concentrated storage box of any one of these.

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