JP3477947B2 - Electronic control unit - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic control unit for an automatic transmission, and more particularly to an electronic control unit mounted on a casing of an automatic transmission.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an automatic transmission, a hydraulic control device incorporated in its main body is controlled by an electronic control device,
The automatic transmission main body and the electronic control unit are separately mounted in different parts of the vehicle, and are configured to automatically change gears within a range selected by a driving operation. Both of these devices are individually and individually subject to sufficient quality control, but since they must exhibit the desired performance when they are finally connected, quality control in the connected state is also necessary. Is. By the way, since the connection between the main body of the automatic transmission and the electronic control device is carried out when the vehicle is installed, the automatic transmission main body and the electronic control device to be combined up to that point should be managed in a one-to-one correspondence relationship. However, adjustments must be made to match the two after they are mounted on the vehicle. Under these circumstances, comprehensive quality control of an automatic transmission is difficult and requires many man-hours.

Therefore, attempts have been made to make it possible to mount an electronic control unit on the main body of the automatic transmission and to perform quality control by placing the two in a one-to-one correspondence before mounting them on the vehicle. An example of this is the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-70023. In this technology, in order to output the range position selected by the vehicle driver's selection operation to the electronic control device as an electric signal, the electronic control device is installed in the case of the neutral start switch conventionally mounted on the automatic transmission casing. By incorporating it, the electronic control unit can be attached to the main body of the automatic transmission.

[0004]

As is well known, the electronic control unit is composed of a microcomputer in which a large number of elements are arranged on a circuit board, a solenoid drive circuit, etc. Since there is concern about the reliability of operation, it has been conventionally installed in a vehicle room with a good temperature environment or an engine room in a place with a relatively good temperature condition. Therefore, when the electronic control unit is installed in the casing of the neutral start switch that is installed in the main body of the automatic transmission where the temperature environment is not as good as in such a place, the electronic control unit is installed in the main body of the automatic transmission and other engine rooms. There is a concern that the temperature of the unit to be heated and the heat of the element of the electronic control device itself may increase the temperature.

In consideration of such temperature conditions, the above-mentioned prior art adopts a method of cooling the electronic control unit by a flow of air during traveling of the vehicle. Specifically, in order to enhance the cooling function, The means for providing heat exchange fins is provided on the wall of the case of the neutral start switch that houses the control device. Such a cooling means is certainly effective in releasing the heat transmitted to the case, but the electronic control device, as described above, has each element that generates heat due to the flow of current on the circuit board. Since the amount of heat generated is different for each element, unless the heat from each element acting as a heating element is efficiently transmitted to the case, the temperature around the specific element becomes high and its function deteriorates. There is concern that the function of the control device as a whole may be affected.

Therefore, the present invention improves the cooling effect of the electronic control unit by heat dissipation from the case by improving the heat transfer from the substrate of the electronic control unit to the case, thereby improving the reliability of the operation of the electronic control unit. The first is to improve
The purpose of.

Next, according to the present invention, the heat is diffused over the entire surface of the substrate of the electronic control unit, and the diffused heat is transmitted to the case, so that the cooling effect by the heat radiation from the case can be used more effectively. The second purpose.

A third object of the present invention is to efficiently transfer the heat from the heating element among the elements arranged on both sides of the electronic control unit to the case.

A fourth object of the present invention is to shorten the heat transfer distance from the substrate to the case to transfer heat more efficiently to the case.

Next, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the heat radiating portion of the case is located at a relatively low temperature portion around the automatic transmission so that the cooling effect due to the heat radiating from the case is effectively utilized. To aim.

[0011]

To achieve the above object, the present invention relates to an electronic control device directly or indirectly attached to a casing of an automatic transmission, the electronic control device comprising a case, a cover, The substrate and the one wall are made of a substrate arranged in a first space surrounded by the case and the cover, and at least one wall surrounding the first space is made of a material having good thermal conductivity. The second space formed between and is filled with a resin having good thermal conductivity.

In order to achieve the second object, the substrate is made of a material having good thermal conductivity.

In order to achieve the third object, the substrate has elements arranged on both sides thereof, and a heating element is arranged on a surface of the substrate forming the second space. .

In order to achieve the fourth object, the surface of the one wall forming the second space is kept as small as possible in the surface of the substrate forming the second space. The structure to face each other is adopted.

In order to achieve the fifth object, the one wall is a wall other than the wall on the side facing the casing of the automatic transmission.

[0016]

According to the present invention, the electronic control unit comprises the case, the cover and the substrate arranged in the first space surrounded by the case, the cover and the case or the cover surrounding the first space. At least one of the walls is formed of a material having good thermal conductivity, and the second space between the substrate and the one wall is filled with a resin having good thermal conductivity. The heat generated by the operation is
It is transmitted to the wall through the resin having good heat conductivity filled in the second space. In this way, the heat generated in the substrate is transferred to the one wall, which is the heat dissipation member, more efficiently than in the air, so that the heat dissipation effect of the electronic control device is further enhanced and the reliability of its operation is improved as compared with the conventional technology. Can be improved.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, by making the substrate a substrate having good thermal conductivity, heat is diffused over the entire substrate and is transmitted to the resin and further to the wall through a large heat transfer area. Therefore, the thermal conductivity is further improved, and the heat dissipation effect of the electronic control device is enhanced.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, among the elements arranged on both sides of the substrate, the element generating a large amount of heat is arranged on the surface of the substrate forming the second space, so that heat is generated. The heat transfer from the element to the case can be further improved.

According to the structure of claim 4,
According to the height of the element arranged on the surface of the substrate forming the second space, the surface of the one wall forming the second space is brought as close as possible to the substrate. Since the face-to-face distance becomes short and a conductor with good thermal conductivity cannot be used, the heat conduction distance through the resin portion used is shortened, and the substrate and heating element can be more effectively transferred to the case. Heat conduction can be performed efficiently.

Further, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, by making one wall a wall other than the wall on the side facing the automatic transmission casing, a low temperature portion far from the main body of the automatic transmission which becomes high in temperature can be provided. The heat radiating surface of the case can be positioned so that the heat radiating effect can be further enhanced.

[0021]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in the cross section in FIG. 1, this electronic control unit (ECU) is indirectly attached to the automatic transmission casing C via a neutral start switch (NSW), and the device is a neutral start switch. A case 10 that also serves as a (NSW) case, a cover 20 thereof, a cover 30 on the electronic control device side that functions as a wall W on the side opposite to the side facing the automatic transmission casing C, a switch rotor 40, and an electronic device. It is composed of a controller board 50. Hereinafter, these components and their mutual relations will be described in detail in order.

First, the case 10 is made of a resin material having a good electrical insulation property, and as shown in the front and back of FIGS. 2 and 3, a fan-shaped switch chamber 11 enclosing a switch space S1 on the back side and a front side. A rectangular electronic control unit room 1 surrounding the electronic control unit space S2 that constitutes the first space according to the present invention
2 are combined with each other, and a partition wall 13 (see FIG. 1) separates the both chambers. Switch room 1 of case 10
1, the fan-shaped key portion is displaced from the electronic control unit chamber 12, the sleeve shaft portion 43 (see FIG. 1) of the switch rotor 40 is inserted into the position of the key portion, and the periphery is further sealed. A stepped hole 19 for inserting and inserting the oil seal 6 (see FIG. 1) is formed. on the other hand,
On the electronic control unit room 12 side, integrally molded connectors 14 and 15 for transmitting and receiving signals, which are provided from two sides of the rectangle.
Are formed. A pair of mounting flanges 16 formed with bolt insertion holes for fixing the case 10 to the automatic transmission casing C (see FIG. 1) are provided at substantially diagonal positions in the electronic control unit chamber 12 so as to project therefrom.

Next, the cover 20 on the switch chamber 11 side is
It is made of the same material as the case 10, and as shown in the inner surface of FIG. 4, has a fan shape that is the same as the outer shape of the switch chamber 11 of the case 10, and has a shape that is fitted and positioned in the case 10 by a spigot connection. . Similar to case 10,
The switch rotor 40 is also attached to the cover of the fan of the cover 20.
The sleeve shaft portion 43 is inserted, the stepped hole 21 for inserting the oil seal 6 that seals the periphery thereof is formed, and the integrally molded connector 22 is formed to project. Then, a seal ring groove 23 for fitting an O-ring is formed around the peripheral edge of the case 10 with the switch chamber 11.

In this embodiment, the cover 30 on the side of the electronic control unit chamber 12 forming the wall W on the side opposite to the side facing the automatic transmission casing C is made of a metal material such as aluminum having good heat conductivity. It is configured in a rectangular plate shape as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7 for the outer surface, the inner surface, and the side surface, a large number of parallel heat radiation fins 31 are provided on the outer surface, and the cover 50 having good thermal conductivity is provided on the inner surface of the substrate 50 as little as possible. A heat transfer protrusion 32 for keeping a gap and facing each other is integrally formed and protruded. Further, the mating surface edge of the case 10 on the inner surface side with the electronic control unit chamber 12 is for fitting an O ring around the periphery. A seal ring groove 33 is formed. The plurality of mounting flange portions 34, which are formed to intermittently project along the peripheral edge, can be fastened to the front side of the case 10 by screwing.

The switch rotor 40 is made of the same material as the case 10, and has a sleeve shaft portion 4 having a hole 42 for inserting a manual shaft at one end of a plate-shaped arm portion 41.
3 is provided. The hole 42 has a cylindrical shape in a portion having a length approximately half the axial length thereof, and has a remaining half length having a two-face width in which the opposite circumferential surfaces of the cylinder are cut out in parallel. In the switch rotor 40, the sleeve shaft portion 43 is rotatably fitted in the stepped hole 19 of the case 10 and the stepped hole 21 of the cover 20 on the switch chamber 11 side, and the arm portion 41 is formed between the case 10 and the cover 20. They are arranged in a sandwiched manner in a switch space S1 surrounded by them. Then, the shaft circumference of the sleeve shaft portion 43 and the stepped hole 1
A pair of oil seals 6 seal the gaps between the first and second oil seals 9 and 21. In addition, an electrically insulating grease is filled in the space to wear the first and second switch parts SW1 and SW2,
That is, the fixed contacts Pp, Ps, Ps ′, Pr and the rotor 4
0 acts as a lubricant for preventing abrasion with a conductor (not shown) provided on the disk. Since the grease covers the first and second switch parts SW1 and SW2 as a lubricant, short-circuiting of the contacts does not occur even if water or dust enters the space.

As shown in FIG. 1, a first switch section SW1 is formed between the switch rotor 40 and the cover 20. The first switch portion SW1 is formed by stamping from a strip-shaped connecting line 24 embedded in the cover 20 and is exposed on the inner surface of the cover 20 as shown in FIG.
A pair of starter motor circuit contacts Ps, Ps', a pair of reverse lamp lighting circuit contacts Pr, and a conductor fixed to the arm portion 41 of the switch rotor 40 and connecting these pairs of contacts (not shown). It is composed of and).
In this embodiment, the connecting wire 24 is the connector 22 as it is.
Is led to the inside of and is used as a terminal 28. Thus, the connecting wire 24 is connected to the connector terminal 28 inside the cover 20.
To the same terminal, and constitutes a circuit which is independent of the case 10 and is completed only by the cover 20 on the switch chamber 11 side.

Further, a second switch section SW2 is formed between the switch rotor 40 and the case 10.
The second switch unit SW2 is the switch chamber 1 of the case 10.
It is composed of a large number of contacts Pp formed by stamping from a strip-shaped connecting wire 17 fixed to the inner surface of the switch 1 and a conductor (not shown) fixed to the arm portion 41 of the switch rotor 40. The connection line 17 integrated with the contact point Pp is led out to the board connecting pad portion in the electronic control unit space S2 through the partition wall 13 of the case 10, where the electronic control unit board 50 is formed by means of wire bonding or the like. It is connected to the terminal part of. As described above, the connection line 17 is connected to the position detection device (NSW) and the electronic control device (EC) in the case 10.
U) to directly connect with.

The electronic control unit substrate 50 is made of a material having good thermal conductivity such as ceramics, and the elements 51 and 52 are arranged on both sides of the substrate. Then, it is positioned so as to be in contact with the step portion in the electronic control unit space S2, and is connected to the terminal connection wire group 18 of the two connectors 14 and 15 at the pad portion by the same means such as wire bonding. Each terminal connection wire group 18 passes through the inside of the case 10 and is led out into the connectors 14 and 15 to serve as their connection terminals. These connectors 14 and 15 are connected to a solenoid valve and various sensors of a hydraulic control device arranged in the main body of the automatic transmission, sensors of various parts of the vehicle, and an engine control device.

A second space S2 'is formed between the cover 50 and the substrate 50 mounted in the electronic control device space S2, which is the first space, according to the present invention. The space is filled with a resin R having good thermal conductivity. This resin R has a thermal conductivity of 1.0 × 10 ^−3, for example.
It is more effective to use cal / (cm · sec · ° C) or more. The gap between the substrate 50 and the cover 30 is filled with the resin R, and there is no air layer in the middle. In the present embodiment, the heat generating element 52 is arranged closer to the cover 30 by disposing the heat generating element 52 on the surface of the substrate on the second space S2 ′ side, and heat transfer from the heat generating element 52 to the case is improved. You can Further, the surface of the heat transfer protrusion 32 formed on the inner surface of the cover 30 has the substrate 50
Since they are placed in a state of being extremely close to each other within a range that does not cause a short circuit of the surface of the sheet, they have better thermal conductivity than the air layer, but through a resin R layer, which is inferior to a metal having good thermal conductivity, The heat transfer can be supplemented.

The electronic control unit thus configured is fixed to the automatic transmission casing C as shown in FIG. 1, and the shift lever on the shift unit side is shown in FIG. The rotation of L about the axis X is transmitted to the outer lever A on the main body of the automatic transmission through the control wire T, and the manual shaft S rotates. Then, the rotation of the manual shaft S causes the switch rotor 40 (shown by an imaginary line in the drawing) attached thereto to rotate. The figure shows the state in which the shift lever L is in the neutral range “N” position. From this state, when the lever L is pushed forward, that is, in the reverse range “R” or parking range “P” position direction, the wire T is pushed. Then, the outer lever A rotates in the direction of the outlined arrow, and when the lever L is pulled rearward, that is, in the drive range "D", the third range "3", the second range "2", and the low range "L" position direction, the wire T Outer lever A pulled by
Rotates in the direction of the black arrow shown in the figure. With such an operation, a switching operation of the switch portion of the neutral start switch (NSW) and a sliding switching operation of the manual valve M in the valve body V of the hydraulic control device occur.

In such an operation, on the neutral start switch (NSW) side, the starter contacts Ps, Ps' shown in FIG. 4 are closed at the neutral range "N" and the parking range "P" positions, and the reverse range "N". At the "R" position, the reverse contact Pr is closed,
In parallel, the second switch unit SW2 outputs the corresponding neutral range “N”, parking range “P” position signal or reverse range “R” position signal to the electronic control unit substrate 50 by closing the similar contacts. . In addition, the drive range "D" position and other ranges "3", "2", "L"
At the position, only the second switch section SW2 is activated, and the closing of those contacts outputs the corresponding position signal to the electronic control unit substrate 50 via the connection line 17.

As described above, in summary, in this embodiment, the electronic control unit (ECU) includes the case 10, the cover 30, and the case 1.
0 and a cover 30 which is surrounded by a first space S2 and is formed of a board 50 having good thermal conductivity. The case 10 and the cover 30 which form the inside of the first space S2 have a casing C of an automatic transmission. Cover 30 on the opposite side to the facing side
Is made of a metal material having good thermal conductivity, the second space S2 ′ between the substrate 50 and the wall W is filled with a resin R having good thermal conductivity, and further heat transfer is performed. Since the substrate 50 and the wall W are extremely close to each other at the protrusion 32 and especially the heating element 52 is arranged on the side facing the wall W, the heat generated by the operation of the electronic control circuit, particularly the heating element 52, is generated. Are dispersed over the entire substrate 50 and are transferred to the wall W through a large heat transfer area of the entire substrate 50 via an extremely thin layer of the resin R having good thermal conductivity. Therefore, the heat generated in the substrate 50 is more efficiently transferred to the wall W which is the heat dissipation member, and it is possible to cool the electronic control device that more effectively uses the heat dissipation effect as compared with the conventional technique.

The present invention has been described above in detail based on one embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the disclosure of the above embodiment, and various details can be obtained within the scope of the matters described in the claims. It goes without saying that the specific configuration can be changed and implemented. Particularly, in the above-described embodiment, only the mode in which the electronic control device is indirectly attached to the automatic transmission casing via the neutral start switch is illustrated, but the electronic control device is housed in its own case and directly attached to the automatic transmission casing. It will be apparent from the above description that the implementation can also be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of an electronic control device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the case in the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the case.

FIG. 4 is an inner view of the switch cover in the above embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an external view of the electronic control device cover in the above embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an inner view of the electronic control unit cover.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the electronic control unit cover.

FIG. 8 is a layout explanatory view showing a connection relationship between the automatic transmission main body and the shift device of the electronic control device of the above embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

ECU electronic control unit C automatic transmission casing 10 cases 30 covers 50 substrates 51 elements 52 Heating element S2 Electronic control unit space (first space) S2 'Second space W wall R resin

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Toshiya Morishita 10 Takane, Fujii-cho, Anjo City, Aichi Prefecture, Aisin AW Co., Ltd. (72) Naoto Ogasawara 10 Takane, Fujii-cho, Anjo City, Aichi Prefecture Aisin・ AW Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Naotaka Murakami 10 Takane, Fujii-cho, Anjo City, Aichi Prefecture Aisin AW Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Ken Kiyama 10 Takane, Fujii-cho, Aichi Prefecture Aisin・ AW Co., Ltd. (56) Reference Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-136356 (JP, A) Actually open 4-116183 (JP, U) Actually open 59-36254 (JP, U) Japanese Patent Publication 5- 70023 (JP, B2) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F16H 61/26-61/36 F16H 63/00-63/38 B60K 20/00-20/08 F16H 59/00 -61/12 F16H 61/16-61/24 F16H 63/40-63/48

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electronic control device mounted directly or indirectly to a casing of an automatic transmission, wherein the electronic control device is arranged in a case, a cover, and a first space surrounded by the case and the cover. At least one wall surrounding the first space is made of a material having good thermal conductivity, and the second space formed between the substrate and the one wall has a heat An electronic control device characterized by being filled with a resin having good conductivity. 2. The electronic control device according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is made of a material having good thermal conductivity. 3. The electronic control device according to claim 1, wherein elements are arranged on both surfaces of the substrate, and heating elements are arranged on a surface of the substrate forming the second space. 4. The surface of the one wall that forms the second space faces the surface of the substrate that forms the second space with a gap as small as possible.
Electronic control device as described. 5. The electronic control device according to claim 1, wherein the one wall is a wall other than a wall facing a casing of the automatic transmission.