JP5378938B2 - Harness connection structure using built-in connector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate cost increase accompanying changes of an ECU and a base harness according to a popular car and a luxury car or a grade of a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: A base harness 2 for a low-grade vehicle is connected to an electronic control unit 1 for the low-grade vehicle, a sub harness 5 is connected to the electronic control unit 1 for the low-grade vehicle together with the base harness 2 corresponding to the high-grade vehicle, and the sub harness 5 is connected to a connector with a built-in function 4 which is built-in with an electronic element and capable of multiplex communications. The number of wires of the sub harness 5 is smaller than the number of wires of a location sub harness 6 which is led out from the connector with the built-in function 4 to a load side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a harness connection structure using a function built-in connector that shares an ECU and a wire harness mounted on an automobile or the like with a multiplex communication function of the function built-in connector.

  6 to 7 show various forms of a harness connection structure using a conventional connector.

  The structure of FIG. 6 is obtained by connecting a wire harness 2 with a connector to a low-grade specification ECU (electronic control unit) 1 of an automobile, and the structure of FIG. 7 is provided with a connector of a high-grade specification ECU 31 of an automobile. The wire harness 32 is connected.

  As shown in FIG. 6, one female connector 7 of the base harness 2 is connected to the male connector 8 of the low-grade ECU 1, and one male connector 10 of the location harness 3 is connected to the other female connector 9 of the base harness 2. Each other connector (not shown) of the location harness 3 is connected to each load (not shown) such as a vehicle electrical component or device.

  In this specification, the male connectors 8 and 10 have connector fitting chambers in a connector housing made of insulating resin, and male terminals with electric wires are accommodated in the terminal accommodating chambers in the connector housing. A pin-shaped or tab-shaped electrical contact portion protrudes into the connector fitting chamber. The female connectors 7 and 9 have a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers in a connector housing made of insulating resin, and each terminal accommodating chamber. Means a female terminal with a wire. In short, what has a male terminal is called a male connector, and what has a female terminal is called a female connector.

  Ten male terminals (not shown) are accommodated in the male connector 8 of the low-grade specification ECU 1 in FIG. 6, and each male terminal is connected to an internal circuit of the ECU 1, and is connected to one female connector 7 of the base harness 2. Accommodates seven female terminals with wires (not shown), the remaining three female terminals are not accommodated, and the three female terminal accommodating chambers 10 are empty.

  The other female connector 9 of the base harness 2 accommodates female terminals (not shown) with seven electric wires, and one male connector 10 of the location harness 3 has male terminals (not shown) with seven electric wires. Is housed. The number of the electric wires 2a of the base harness 2 is seven, and the number of the electric wires 3a of the location harness 3 is seven. The location harness 3 means an assignment harness, and the other of the location harnesses 3 is connected to a plurality of male connectors or female connectors (not shown) for connecting each load.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the male connector 33 of the high-grade specification ECU 31 accommodates 13 male terminals (not shown). Each male terminal is connected to an internal circuit of the ECU 31, and one female connector of the base harness 32. A female terminal (not shown) with 13 wires is accommodated in 34, and a female terminal (not shown) with 13 wires is accommodated in the other female connector 35 of the base harness 32. One male connector 37 of 36 accommodates 13 male terminals (not shown) with electric wires. The number of the electric wires 32a of the base harness 32 and the number of the electric wires 36a of the location harness 36 are 13 respectively, and the location harness 36 is connected to a larger number of loads (not shown) than in the low-grade specification of FIG. The

  As a harness connection structure using a connector other than the above, for example, Patent Document 1 describes a relay connector unit incorporating a communication relay device, and the communication relay device has signal address setting means (not shown). Patent Document 2 discloses a terminal arrangement pattern of connectors to be connected to each load device in a configuration in which a control device and a plurality of load devices to be controlled are cable-connected, and a plurality of control signals are transmitted using a common electric wire. Is used to set the signal address of each load device (not shown).

  Further, in Patent Document 3, the connector with a communication function includes a microcomputer inside the connector, so that the functions of the ECU, which has been conventionally intensively controlled, can be distributed in the connector, and multiplexing of signal lines can be performed. It is described that the function of the wire harness is simplified by the conversion (not shown).

  Similarly, in Patent Document 3, an IC is mounted on an insulating substrate, and a power line, a signal line, and a grant line following the load control ECU are connected to one terminal of the IC via a pressure contact terminal, and the other terminal of the IC is connected. It is described that a connector with a communication function is configured by connecting a female terminal to each terminal (not shown). Patent Document 4 describes that a power supply superposition multiplexing system that transmits signals without a dedicated communication line can be applied by superimposing communication on a power supply line (not shown).

  In Patent Document 5, the first wire harness is connected to the first connection portion of the relay connector unit, the plurality of second wire harnesses are connected to the second connection portion, and the ECU is connected to the first wire harness and the plurality of electronic devices. Each of the devices is connected to the second wire harness, and only the first wire harness, i.e., three electric wires, is connected to the ECU to simplify the connection structure in the ECU. It is described that the first wire harness between the plurality of relay connector units and the ECU is multiplexed by adding address data to the information and transmitting the information to the ECU (not shown).

JP 2008-293747 A (FIG. 1) Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-285411 (paragraph number 0002) JP 2007-8261 (paragraph number 0004, FIG. 1) JP 2004-268630 A (paragraph number 0046) JP 2008-225673 A (paragraph numbers 0055 to 0056)

  However, in the conventional harness connection structure using the connectors shown in FIGS. 6 to 7, for example, the ECUs 1 and 31 for the passenger car and the luxury car are separately provided according to the functional difference between the passenger car and the luxury car. Even if the vehicle type is the same, there is a problem that the cost is increased by setting a different ECU depending on the functional difference for each grade of the vehicle or installing a function that is not used. In addition, base harnesses 2 and 32 having different sizes of connectors 7, 9, 34, and 35 and the number of electric wires 2a and 32a must be manufactured for a popular car and a luxury car or for each vehicle grade. There was also a problem of incurring a cost increase.

  In view of the above points, the present invention uses a connector with a built-in function that can eliminate the cost increase associated with changing the ECU and the base harness depending on the mass car and the luxury car or the grade of the vehicle, and can reduce the cost. An object is to provide a harness connection structure.

  In order to achieve the above object, a harness connection structure using the connector with a built-in function according to claim 1 of the present invention is such that a base harness for a low-grade vehicle is connected to the electronic control unit for a low-grade vehicle by a connector. Corresponding to the car, the sub-harness is connected to the electronic control unit for the low-grade vehicle together with the base harness, and the sub-harness is connected to the connector with a built-in function capable of multiplex communication incorporating the electronic element. It is characterized by that.

  With the above configuration, the electronic control unit and the base harness are commonly used in the low-grade vehicle and the high-grade vehicle. The base harness is connected to a location harness that follows a load, such as electrical components and equipment for low-grade vehicles. The sub-harness is connected to a location harness following a load such as an electrical component or an equipment for an option for a high-grade vehicle. “Low-grade vehicle” refers to a popular car or a low-grade vehicle of the same vehicle type, and “high-grade vehicle” refers to a luxury vehicle or a high-grade vehicle of the same vehicle type.

  The harness connection structure using the function built-in connector according to claim 2 is the harness connection structure using the function built-in connector according to claim 1, wherein the number of wires of the sub harness is led out from the device built-in connector to the load side. Less than the number of wires in the location sub-harness.

  With the above configuration, in the multiplex communication function of the function built-in connector, the number of terminals of the function built-in connector with respect to the connector of the sub harness is set to be smaller than the number of terminals of the function built-in connector with respect to the connector of the location sub harness. The number of sub-harness wires is less than the number. Each harness is composed of a plurality of insulated wires.

  According to the invention described in claim 1, since the electronic control unit and the base harness are commonly used in the low-grade vehicle and the high-grade vehicle, there is no need to prepare an expensive electronic control unit for the high-grade vehicle. The electronic control unit can be inexpensive, and by manufacturing a large number of one type of base harness, the manufacturing cost and management cost of the base harness can be reduced, and the cost of the vehicle circuit system can be reduced as a whole.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the number of wires in the sub-harness is smaller than the number of wires in the location sub-harness, so that the sub-harness can be wired in a narrow space such as an engine room with good workability and space-saving. At the same time, environmental problems at the time of disposal of the wire harness can be reduced.

It is a perspective view which shows one form of the harness connection structure for low grade vehicles in this invention. It is a perspective view which shows one Embodiment of the harness connection structure using the function built-in connector for high grade vehicles which concerns on this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows one form of a connector with a built-in function. It is a perspective view which similarly shows the assembly state of a function built-in connector. It is a perspective view which shows the other form of a connector with a built-in function. It is a perspective view which shows one form of the conventional harness connection structure for low grade vehicles. It is a perspective view which shows one form of the conventional harness connection structure for high grade vehicles.

  1 to 2 show an embodiment of a harness connection structure using a connector with a built-in function according to the present invention.

  The structure of FIG. 1 is obtained by connecting a normal wire harness (base harness 2 and location harness 3) with connectors to a low-grade ECU (electronic control unit) of an automobile, as in the conventional structure of FIG. The structure of FIG. 2 uses a low-grade ECU 1 similar to FIG. 1 corresponding to a high-grade specification automobile, and the low-grade ECU 1 is connected to the same wire harness (base harness 2 and location as in FIG. 1). A harness 3) and a wire harness (sub-harness 5 and location sub-harness 6) using a new function-incorporated connector 4 are connected by a common female connector 7.

  In FIG. 1, one female connector 7 of the base harness 2 is connected to the male connector 8 of the low-grade ECU 1, and one male connector 10 of the location harness 3 is connected to the other female connector 9 of the base harness 2. The other connectors (not shown) of the location harness 3 are connected to loads (not shown) such as vehicle electrical components and equipment.

  Each male connector 8, 10 is composed of an insulating resin connector housing having a connector fitting chamber (represented by reference numerals 8, 10) and male terminals (not shown) housed in parallel in the connector housing. Each of the female connectors 7 and 9 is composed of an insulating resin connector housing (represented by reference numerals 7 and 9) and female terminals (not shown) accommodated in the terminal housing chambers parallel to the connector housing. Yes. The same applies hereinafter.

  For example, 10 male terminals (not shown) are accommodated in the male connector 8 of the low-grade ECU 1 shown in FIG. 1, and each male terminal is connected to an internal circuit (not shown) of the ECU 1. One female connector 7 accommodates seven female terminals with wires (not shown), the remaining three female terminals are not accommodated, and the three female terminal accommodating chambers 10 are empty. In addition, when connecting the electric wire 2a of the base harness 2 to the female terminal by pressure contact instead of crimping, the remaining three female terminals can be accommodated in the terminal accommodating chamber 10 without the electric wire 2a.

  The other female connector 9 of the base harness 2 accommodates female terminals (not shown) with seven electric wires, and one male connector 10 of the location harness 3 has male terminals (not shown) with seven electric wires. Is housed. The number of the electric wires 2a constituting the base harness 2 is seven, and the number of the electric wires 3a constituting the location harness 3 is seven. The other of the location harnesses 3 is connected to a plurality of male connectors or female connectors (not shown) for connecting each load.

  In FIG. 2, for example, ten male terminals (not shown) are accommodated in the male connector 8 of the low-grade ECU 1, and each male terminal is connected to an internal circuit (not shown) of the ECU 1. Seven male terminals in parallel from the right end side of the ten male terminals are connected to seven female terminals (not shown) in parallel from the right end side of the common female connector 7, and seven female terminals are connected. The terminal is connected to one end of each of the seven electric wires (insulation-coated electric wires) 2a of the base harness 2 by crimping or pressure welding.

  Further, of the 10 male terminals in the male connector 8 of the ECU 1, three parallel male terminals (not shown) from the left end side are parallel to the three female terminals in parallel from the left end side of the common female connector 7. The three female terminals are connected to one end of each of the three electric wires (insulation-coated electric wires) 5a of the sub-harness 5 by crimping or pressure welding.

  The other ends of the seven wires 2a of the base harness 2 are connected to seven female terminals (not shown) in parallel in the female connector 9 by crimping or pressure contact, and the female terminals in the female connector 9 are connected. Is connected to each of seven male terminals (not shown) in parallel in one male connector 10 of the location harness 3, and each male terminal is crimped to each of the seven electric wires (insulation-coated electric wires) 3a of the location harness 3. Or it is connected by pressure welding or the like. The location harness 3 is connected to each load by each other connector (not shown).

  Three parallel female terminals (not shown) in the female connector 11 are connected to the other end of each of the three electric wires 5a of the sub-harness 5 by pressure bonding or pressure contact, and the female connector 11 has a built-in function. The three female terminals in the female connector 11 are inserted and connected to the three male terminals 13 on the front side of the functional module 12 (FIG. 3) having the electronic elements in the function built-in connector 4. The six terminals 14 on the rear side of the functional module 12 are directly or indirectly connected to one end of each of the six electric wires (insulation-coated electric wires) 6 a of the location sub-harness 6.

  The other end of the location sub-harness 6 is connected to an optional load (not shown). The connector housing 16 made of insulating resin of the function built-in connector 4 includes a base portion (represented by reference numeral 16) and a cover portion (lid wall) 17.

  3 to 4 show one form of the connector with a built-in function. The function built-in connector 4 includes a functional unit main body (instead of reference numeral 15) formed by accommodating and insulating various electronic elements (not shown) constituting an IC, a microprocessor, and the like inside a plate-like insulating resin body 15, Three pin-like front male terminals 13 connected in parallel to each electronic element in the insulating resin body 15 and projecting from the front end of the insulating resin body 15, and six projecting from the rear end of the insulating resin body 15 A pin-shaped parallel male terminal 14 on the rear side is provided in a connector housing 16 made of insulating resin.

  The rear male terminal 14 is inserted and connected to a female terminal 19 in a female terminal accommodating portion 18 in the connector housing 16, and the female terminal 19 is connected to each electric wire 6 a of the location sub harness 6 by crimping or pressure contact. . The number of rear male terminals 14 and the number of female terminals 19 are equal.

  The number of front male terminals 13 is reduced from the number of rear male terminals 14 by using the front male terminals 13 for multiplex communication by a control function or the like using an electronic element. Accordingly, the number (three) of the wires 5a of the sub-harness 5 (FIG. 2) connected to the front male terminal 13 is illustrated from the number (13) of the conventional high-grade base harness shown in FIG. The number of wires in the base harness for low-grade 6 (7) is less than the number (6) reduced, saving space, reducing costs and weight, and reducing environmental problems when discarding wires. It is said.

  Further, since the functional module 12 has an ECU, that is, an electronic control function, even if the low-grade ECU 1 is used, a control function equivalent to that of the conventional high-grade ECU (FIG. 7) can be exhibited.

  If the multiplex communication function of the functional module 12 is enhanced, the number of the wires 5a of the sub-harness 5 (FIG. 2) (the number of the male terminals 13 on the front side of the functional module 12) is not limited to three, and may be two. Thus, the number of male terminals in the male connector 8 of the ECU 1 or the number of female terminals in the common female connector 7 can be changed from three to two.

  The number of the electric wires 2a of the base harness 2 (FIG. 2) is appropriately set according to the number of the electric wires 3a of the location harness 3, that is, the number of loads. The number of the electric wires 6a of the location sub-harness 6 is appropriately set according to the number of optional loads (not shown), and the sub-harness 5 is formed by a smaller number of electric wires 5a than the number of the electric wires 6a of the location sub-harness 6. Is done.

  In FIG. 2, one male connector 8 of the ECU 1 is divided into two parallel male connectors (not shown), and a large female connector (7) of the base harness 2 is fitted and connected to one large male connector. It is also possible to fit and connect the small female connector (7) of the sub-harness 5 to the other small male connector. Further, the male connector 8 of the ECU 1 can be replaced with a female connector, and the female connector 7 of the base harness 2 or the sub-harness 5 can be replaced with a male connector.

  3 to 4, the male terminals 13 and 14 and the female terminals 19 are mixed and used. However, unlike the function-incorporated connector 4 'shown in FIG. It is also possible to press-connect and connect the electric wire 6a to the press contact terminal 20 using the terminal 20 on the rear side of 12 'as the press contact terminal. This simplifies the structure compared to the example of FIG. The internal configuration of the functional module 12 'is the same as that of the functional module 12 of FIG. It is also possible to connect the male terminal 14 on the rear side of the functional module 12 to the electric wire 6a by welding or the like.

  In any case, after the functional modules 12 and 12 'are assembled to the connector housings 16 and 16' and fixed to each other by locking means (not shown) such as protrusions and recesses, the lid wall 17 (FIG. 2) is closed. A connector fitting chamber 21 for the mating female connector 11 (FIG. 2) is formed in the connector housings 16 and 16 ′.

  According to the above embodiment, the ECU 1 can be standardized by effectively using the function built-in connector 4 (4 ′) capable of controlling a plurality of applications (electrical components, devices, etc.) by multiplex communication or the like. Thereby, the cost of the circuit system including the ECU 1 can be reduced. Even if the functions of the same vehicle are different depending on the grade, it is not necessary to mount an excessively functioning ECU or a separate ECU for the same vehicle type, and the cost of the circuit system including the ECU 1 is reduced.

  In addition, by making one or a plurality of input / output signals function using multiplex communication, optional components due to different grades can be used by the function-incorporated connector 4 at a low cost. That is, by using the function built-in connector 4, a high-grade vehicle can be handled by the low-grade ECU 1, and a circuit system can be realized at a low cost.

  Moreover, since it becomes possible to incorporate the subharness 5 in addition to the base harness 2 as a wire harness form, the ease of making a wire harness is improved. That is, by adopting the form of the base harness 2 + the sub-harness 5 for the option, since the base harness 2 is common among the grades of the vehicle, the manufacture of the wire harness is facilitated and the cost is reduced. In addition, since the optional function is realized by the function built-in connector 4 using multiplex communication, the number of the wires 5a between the ECU 1 and the wire-to-wire connectors 7 and 11 is reduced, and the structure is friendly to the environment at the time of disposal, etc. Become.

  The harness connection structure using the connector with a built-in function according to the present invention can be used to construct an automobile circuit system at low cost by sharing an ECU and a wire harness according to the grade of the automobile.

1 Electronic control unit 2 Base harness 4, 4 'Function built-in connector 5 Sub harness 6 Location sub harness

Claims (2)

  The base harness for the low-grade vehicle is connected to the electronic control unit for the low-grade vehicle, and the sub-harness is connected to the electronic control unit for the low-grade vehicle together with the base harness for the high-grade vehicle, A harness connection structure using a connector with a built-in function, wherein the sub-harness is connected to a connector with a built-in function capable of multiplex communication with a built-in electronic element.   The harness connection structure using the function built-in connector according to claim 1, wherein the number of electric wires of the sub harness is smaller than the number of electric wires of the location sub harness led out from the function built-in connector to the load side.

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