JP3456187B2 - Electrical junction box - Google Patents

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 containing a busbar and a wiring member connected to each other in a case body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a vehicle such as an automobile, an electric connection box for electrically connecting various electric components has been used. In this kind of electrical junction box, a circuit-shaped metal plate called a bus bar and a flexible printed circuit (FPC: Flexible Printed C
ircuit Board). As a method of connecting the terminal of the bus bar and the conductive portion of the flexible printed board, the terminal and the conductive portion are overlapped with each other, and the overlapped portion is spot-welded or soldered. Are known. Alternatively, as another connection method, there is known a method in which a sandwiching metal piece separate from the case body holds the overlapping portion of the terminal and the conductive portion in a contact state.

[0003]

However, the method of spot welding or soldering for connecting the bus bar and the flexible printed circuit board has a problem that the cost is high and it is not suitable for mass production. Further, when using the holding metal fitting, there is a problem that the number of parts is increased and the manufacturing cost is increased. In addition, since the bus bar and the flexible printed circuit board are connected to each other by the holding metal fittings and then assembled to the case body, there is a problem that it takes time to assemble the bus bar and the flexible printed circuit board.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an electric connection box which can easily connect a bus bar and a circuit board despite low cost. To provide.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the invention described in claim 1, the case body accommodates the bus bar and the circuit board arranged on the insulating plate, and the bus bar is mounted on the bus bar. In an electrical connection box in which the terminals provided and the conductive parts provided on the circuit board are electrically connected, the terminals of the bus bar are separated from the bus bar disposition surface of the insulating plate, and in the gap between the terminals of the bus bar and the insulating plate. An insertion hole that allows the conductive portion of the circuit board to be inserted, holds the terminal and the conductive portion in contact with each other in the inserted state, and allows the terminal of the bus bar to be inserted into the insulating plate.
And place this insertion hole near the conductive part on the circuit board.
Its gist is that it is placed nearby .

[0006]

[0007] According to a second aspect of the invention, in the electrical connection box to claim 1 serial <br/> mounting, wherein the bus bar arrangement surface of the insulating plate is provided with a support protrusion for supporting the circuit board The gist of the invention is that the length of the gap between the supporting protrusion and the terminal of the bus bar is set to be slightly shorter than the thickness of the circuit board.

The "action" of the present invention will be described below. According to the first aspect of the present invention, the terminal provided on the bus bar is inserted into the insertion hole provided on the circuit board. Then, the circuit board is moved in a direction parallel to the surface of the insulating plate on which the bus bar is arranged, and the circuit board is sandwiched between the terminal and the insulating plate. As a result, the terminal and the conductive portion provided on the circuit board are brought into contact with each other, and the bus bar and the circuit board are electrically connected. Connect the conductive part
Before continuing, if the terminal is inserted in the insertion hole,
If the board is installed correctly and cannot be inserted, it will be installed.
It is possible to determine that the orientation is wrong. Essential
However, depending on whether the terminal can be inserted through the insertion hole, the circuit
It is possible to detect whether or not the board mounting direction is correct.
Wear.

[0009]

According to the second aspect of the invention, the length of the gap between the support protrusion and the terminal of the bus bar is set so as to be slightly shorter than the thickness of the circuit board. Therefore, in the state where the conductive part of the circuit board is inserted in the gap,
The terminals of the bus bar and the conductive parts of the circuit board are connected with high contact pressure.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an insulating plate 12 made of synthetic resin is housed in a case body 11 of an electrical junction box 10, and a plurality of flat bus bars 13 are arranged on the upper surface thereof. There is. Bus bar 1
In the middle of 3, the bulging portion 13a protruding in the horizontal direction
Is formed, and the terminal 13b is formed at the center of the bulge 13a.
Is provided. The terminal 13b is formed into a hook shape as a whole by bending the base end portion and the central portion thereof from the insulating plate 12 by a pressing device. Therefore, the tips of the terminals 13b are arranged at a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the insulating plate 12 (the surface on which the bus bar is arranged).

Support projections 15 facing the terminals 13b and parallel to the tips of the terminals 13b are provided on the upper surface of the insulating plate 12 just below the tips of the terminals 13b. The material for forming each support protrusion 15 is
It is a synthetic resin and is formed integrally with the insulating plate 12. A flexible printed circuit board 16 as a circuit board is arranged on each of the support protrusions 15. Since the upper surface of the support protrusion 15 is located higher than the upper surface of the bus bar 13, the flexible printed circuit board 16 is separated from the upper surface of the bus bar 13. Bus bar 13 and flexible printed circuit board 16
The and are separated to ensure their insulation.

The flexible printed board 16 is formed by bonding a conductor pattern 17 made of copper foil and a polyimide film covering the conductor pattern 17 to each other with an adhesive. A part of the conductor pattern 17 is outside, that is, the flexible printed board 16
Of the flexible printed circuit board 16 is exposed to the upper surface of the flexible printed circuit board 16.

A plurality of rectangular insertion holes 18 having substantially the same projected area as the terminals 13b of the bus bar 13 are formed in the insulating plate 12 at positions near the conductive portions 17a. The insertion holes 18 are arranged irregularly. The terminal 13b of the bus bar 13 can be loosely inserted into the insertion hole 18.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the supporting projection 1
A gap 19 is provided between the upper surface of 5 and the lower surface of the tip of the terminal 13b.
Exists. The conductive portion 17a of the flexible printed board 16 can be inserted into the gap 19. And
In the sandwiched state, the terminal 13b of the bus bar 13 and the conductive portion 17a of the flexible printed board 16 are held in contact with each other. Since the length of the gap 19 is set to be slightly shorter than the thickness of the flexible printed board 16, the terminals 13b of the bus bar 13 and the conductive portion 17a of the flexible printed board 16 are elastically elastic to each other. Press against each other. That is, it is possible to secure a high contact pressure when the terminal 13b and the conductive portion 17a come into contact with each other.

In the electrical connection box 10 configured as described above, the bus bar 13 and the flexible printed circuit board 16 are connected as follows. As shown in FIG. 3, the upper end portion of the terminal 13b of each bus bar 13 is loosely inserted into each insertion hole 18. Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the flexible printed circuit board 1
When 6 is moved in a direction parallel to the upper surface of the insulating plate 12, the conductive portion 17a of the flexible printed board 16 is inserted into the gap 19 between the terminal 13b and the support protrusion 15. As a result, the terminals 13b of the bus bar 13 and the flexible printed board 1
The conductive parts 17a of 6 are in contact with each other. That is, the bus bar 13 and the flexible printed board 16 are electrically connected. Further, when performing maintenance or the like, the flexible printed circuit board 16 is removed from the bus bar 13 by pulling out the terminal 13b from the insertion hole 18 by an operation reverse to the above-described operation.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained. (1) Terminal 13 of bus bar 13 arranged on insulating plate 12
In the gap 19 between the insulating plate 12 and the insulating plate 12, the flexible printed circuit board 1
By inserting the six conductive portions 17a, the terminals 13b and the conductive portions 17a are held in contact with each other. Therefore, the terminal 13b and the conductive portion 17a can be brought into contact with each other without troublesome spot welding or soldering.
Therefore, it is possible to easily connect the bus bar 13 and the flexible printed circuit board 16 to each other, although the cost is low.

(2) The bus bar 13 and the flexible printed board 16 can be connected at the same time when the flexible printed board 16 is assembled. Therefore, the number of steps for assembling the flexible printed board 16 can be reduced, and the cost can be further reduced.

(3) The insulating plate 12 is formed with a plurality of insertion holes 18 through which the terminals 13b of each bus bar 13 are inserted. The insertion holes 18 are formed in the flexible printed circuit board 16.
Is disposed in the vicinity of the conductive portion 17a. Therefore, when the flexible printed circuit board 16 is connected, it is possible to detect whether or not the flexible printed circuit board 16 is assembled in the correct direction depending on whether or not the terminals 13b have been inserted through all the insertion holes 18. That is, when all the terminals 13b are inserted into all the insertion holes 18, it is possible to determine that the flexible printed circuit board 16 is assembled correctly, and when the terminals are not inserted, the assembly direction is incorrect. Therefore, a connection mistake between the bus bar 13 and the flexible printed board 16 can be prevented. Moreover, since the insertion holes 18 have an irregular arrangement pattern, it is possible to further improve the accuracy of detecting a connection error between the bus bar 13 and the flexible printed board 16.

(4) Each insertion hole 18 has a rectangular shape,
It is formed so as to extend along the direction in which the flexible printed circuit board 16 is moved during assembly. Therefore, since the flexible printed board 16 can be guided, the flexible printed board 16 can be reliably moved to the position where the terminal 13b and the conductive portion 17a match.

(5) On the upper surface of the insulating plate 12, a supporting projection 15 for supporting the flexible printed board 16 is provided. The length of the gap 19 between the upper surface of the support protrusion 15 and the terminal 13b of the bus bar 13 is set to be slightly shorter than the thickness of the flexible printed board 16.
Therefore, the contact pressure between the terminal 13b of the bus bar 13 and the conductive portion 17a of the flexible printed board 16 can be further increased. As a result, a poor electrical connection between the terminal 13b and the conductive portion 17a can be almost eliminated, and the reliability can be improved.

(6) Since the support projection 15 is arranged at a position facing the terminal 13b of the bus bar 13, the gap 19 is formed.
Even if the conductive portion 17a of the flexible printed circuit board 16 is sandwiched between the flexible printed circuit board 16 and the terminal 13b, the flexible printed circuit board 16 can be prevented from bending and deforming. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate connection failure and improve reliability, and it is possible to prevent the flexible printed circuit board 16 from being adversely affected.

The embodiment of the present invention may be modified as follows. -As shown in FIG. 5, the terminal 13b in the bus bar 13
A semi-circular protrusion 30 may be formed at the tip of the above by bending it to the lower surface side. With this configuration, the terminal 13b of the bus bar 13 and the conductive portion 17a of the flexible printed board 16 make a line contact, so that the contact pressure can be further increased. Alternatively, the protrusion 30 may be omitted and a protrusion may be formed on the upper surface of the support protrusion 15 instead.

In the above-described embodiment, the flexible printed board 16 is electrically connected to the bus bar 13. Instead of the flexible printed circuit board 16, for example, a rigid printed circuit board (PCB) may be used.

Next, in addition to the technical ideas described in the claims, the technical ideas grasped by the above-described embodiment will be listed below together with their effects. (1) The electrical junction box according to claim 1, wherein the insulating plate is provided with an insertion hole through which a terminal of a bus bar can be inserted.

(2) In the electric connection box according to claim 1, the insertion hole is arranged in the vicinity of the conductive portion of the circuit board. (3) The electric junction box according to claim 2 , wherein the supporting protrusion is arranged at a position facing the terminal of the bus bar. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the circuit board from bending and deforming when the conductive portion of the circuit board is inserted in the gap between the terminal of the bus bar and the insulating plate.

(4) Claim 1 or 2, and (1) to
In any one of (3), a part of the bus bar is punched out, and the punched portion is bent by a pressing device to form a terminal of the bus bar. With this configuration, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

(5) The case body accommodates the bus bar arranged on the insulating plate and the circuit board, and the terminals provided on the bus bar and the conductive portion provided on the circuit board are electrically connected. In the method of connecting electrical components, the terminals provided on the bus bar are inserted into the insertion holes provided on the circuit board, and then the circuit board is moved in a direction parallel to the bus bar disposition surface of the insulating plate to connect the terminal and the insulating plate. A method for connecting electrical equipment, characterized in that a circuit board is sandwiched between the terminals and the conductive portion provided on the circuit board so as to be in contact with each other. According to this connection method, the bus bar and the circuit board can be easily connected.

(6) In a connection structure of an electrical component in which a bus bar is arranged on an insulating plate and a terminal provided on the bus bar and a conductive portion provided on a circuit board are electrically connected, the terminal of the bus bar is insulated. The conductive part of the circuit board can be sandwiched in the gap between the bus bar terminal and the insulating plate, and the terminal and the conductive part are held in contact with each other in the sandwiched state. A characteristic connection structure for electrical components.
With this configuration, the bus bar and the circuit board can be easily connected.

(7) In the above (6), a supporting protrusion for supporting the circuit board is provided on the bus bar disposing surface of the insulating plate, and the supporting protrusion and the tip of the terminal of the bus bar face each other. The connecting structure for electrical equipment is characterized in that the supporting projections and the opposing surfaces of the terminals of the bus bar are formed substantially parallel to each other.

[0031]

As described above in detail, according to the first aspect of the invention, the bus bar and the circuit board can be easily connected to each other at a low cost. Circuit board
It is possible to detect whether the board is installed in the correct direction.
Prevent the connection mistake between the bus bar and the circuit board.
be able to.

[0032]

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the terminals of the bus bar and the conductive portions of the circuit board can be connected to each other with a high contact pressure, so that the electrical connection failure can be almost eliminated and the reliability is improved. Can be connected to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the inside of an electrical junction box according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view before connecting the conductive portion of the flexible printed board to the bus bar.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view in which a conductive portion of a flexible printed circuit board is connected to a bus bar.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an electric junction box according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Case body, 12 ... Insulation plate, 13 ... Bus bar, 1
5 ... Support protrusion, 16 ... Flexible printed circuit board (circuit board), 17a ... Conductive part, 18 ... Insertion hole, 19 ... Gap.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H02G 3/16 H01R 9/03 H01R 12/28 H05K 1/14 H05K 7/06

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electrical connection box in which a bus bar disposed on an insulating plate and a circuit board are housed in a case body, and terminals provided on the bus bar and electrically conductive portions provided on the circuit board are electrically connected to each other. , The terminal of the bus bar is separated from the surface of the insulating plate on which the bus bar is disposed, and the conductive portion of the circuit board can be inserted into the gap between the terminal of the bus bar and the insulating plate, and the terminal and the conductive portion in the inserted state. Hold each other in contact with each other and attach the end of the bus bar to the insulating plate.
An insertion hole through which a child can be inserted is provided, and this insertion hole is used for the circuit board.
An electrical junction box, characterized in that the electrical junction box is arranged in the vicinity of the conductive portion of the plate . 2. A circuit is provided on a surface of the insulating plate on which the bus bar is provided.
A support protrusion for supporting the substrate is provided, and the support protrusion and the front
Note The length of the gap between the busbar terminal and the busbar terminal depends on the thickness of the circuit board.
Is set to be slightly shorter than
The electrical junction box according to claim 1, wherein