JP6406110B2 - Electric heater - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electric heater.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, some automobiles are provided with an electric heater so that air in a vehicle compartment can be warmed even when the engine is stopped when the heating capacity in the vehicle compartment is insufficient during cold weather, for example. . As an example of such an electric heater, Patent Document 1 discloses a device including a heating element formed by laminating a PTC element (positive temperature characteristic thermistor), which is a heating element, an electrode plate, a radiation fin, and the like. In this electric heater, the heating element is pressed by a U-shaped pressing member so as to be gripped from both sides in the stacking direction, and the stacked state is maintained. The heating element is provided with a terminal for connecting to the connector, and a resin cover for covering the terminal is attached. The pressing member is accommodated in the resin cover.

JP 2007-196952 A

  A certain amount of clearance is provided between the resin cover and the pressing member in consideration of assembly workability and dimensional tolerances, but in the initial assembly state, the pressing member is configured to abut against the inner wall of the resin cover. ing. However, after being mounted on the vehicle, the resin cover or the pressing member is slightly displaced due to the propagation of engine vibration or physical impact received by the vehicle, and the pressing member is separated from the resin cover. It may become. In such a state, the pressing member easily swings so as to rotate around an axis passing through a pair of abutting portions that abut and press against the heating element. Therefore, with the vibration of the vehicle, the problem that the pressing member repeatedly collides with the inner wall of the resin cover and abnormal noise may occur.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electric heater in which the generation of abnormal noise is suppressed.

One embodiment of the present invention includes a heating element that generates heat when energized, a holder that holds the heating element, a terminal portion to which electric power is input and an electrode plate that supplies the electric power to the heating element, and the heating element A heating element formed by laminating a plurality of fin members each having a heat dissipating fin that dissipates heat generated from the element;
A pair of laminated frames respectively disposed at both ends in the laminating direction of the heating elements;
A pressing member that presses the pair of laminated frames against the heating element to maintain the laminated state of the heating element;
A cover that covers the terminal part and is attached to the heating element so as to accommodate the pressing member;
A cap that is electrically connected to external power and is attached to the cover, and is configured to electrically connect the connector and the terminal portion;
In an electric heater having
The pressing member includes a main body portion extending in the stacking direction of the heating elements, a pair of pressing pieces that are bent at both ends of the main body portion and press the heating elements by contacting the pair of stacked frames, respectively. Have
The aforementioned cover and / or the cap, the body portion housing portion that said body portion is accommodated is provided on the inner wall of the body portion housing portion, restraining the swing the upper Symbol pressing member abuts on the main body An electric heater is characterized in that a swinging movement restricting portion is formed.

  In the electric heater, the swinging movement restricting portion is in contact with the main body portion of the pressing member, so that the pressing member is restricted from swinging. For this reason, even after the electric heater is mounted on the vehicle, even if the engine vibration or physical impact received by the vehicle propagates to the electric heater and a slight displacement occurs, Accordingly, the pressing member is prevented from repeatedly colliding with the inner wall of the cover. As a result, the occurrence of abnormal noise is suppressed.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an electric heater in which the generation of abnormal noise is suppressed.

1 is a front view of an electric heater in Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is an exploded front view of the electric heater according to the first embodiment. The front view (a) of the pressing member in Example 1, a side view (b), and a bottom view (c). The side view of the cover in Example 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged schematic top view illustrating a cover attachment mode in the first embodiment. Sectional drawing of the cover in the VI-VI line position in FIG. FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged view of the cross section of the cover at the position of the line VII-VII in FIG. 6. Fig. 7 is a partially enlarged view of the cross section of the cover at the position of the line VIII-VIII in Fig. 6. The side view of the electric heater in the state which removed the cap in Example 1. FIG. FIG. 10 is a partially enlarged view of the cross section of the electric heater at the position of line XX in FIG. 9. FIG. 10 is a partially enlarged view of the cross section of the electric heater at the XI-XI line position in FIG. 9. FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view corresponding to the position of line VIII-VIII in FIG. 6 in a state where the cover is attached to the heating element in the first embodiment. The upper surface partial penetration enlarged view of the electric heater in the state where the cap was removed in Example 1. FIG. FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged view of a cross-section corresponding to the position of the line VIII-VIII in FIG. FIG. 10 is a partially enlarged view of a cross section of the electric heater corresponding to the position of line XX in FIG. FIG. 10 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of an electric heater corresponding to the position of line XX in FIG. 9 in a modification of the second embodiment.

  The electric heater of the present invention can be used for automobiles.

Example 1
The electric heater according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
The electric heater 1 of this example includes a heating element 10, a pair of laminated frames 20, a pressing member 30, a cover 40, and a cap 50.
The heating element 10 is formed by laminating a plurality of heating elements 11, holders 12, electrode plates 13, and fin members 14. The heating element 11 generates heat when energized. The holder 12 holds the heat generating element 11. The electrode plate 13 has a terminal portion 131 to which electric power is input and supplies the electric power to the heating element 11. The fin member 14 includes heat radiating fins 141 that dissipate heat generated from the heating element 11.

The pair of laminated frames 20 are disposed at both ends of the heating element 10 in the lamination direction Y, respectively.
The pressing member 30 presses the pair of laminated frames 20 against the heating element 10 to maintain the laminated state of the heating elements 10.
The cover 40 is attached to the heating element 10 so as to cover the terminal portion 131 and accommodate the pressing member 30.
The cap 50 includes a connector 51 that is electrically connected to external power, and is attached to the cover 40 so that the connector 51 and the terminal portion 131 are electrically connected. It is configured to be housed and held in the connector 51.

The pressing member 30 includes a main body portion 31 and a pair of pressing pieces 32. The main body 31 extends in the stacking direction Y of the heating elements 10. The pair of pressing pieces 32 are bent at both ends of the main body 31, and are in contact with the pair of laminated frames 20 to press the heating element 10.
Further, the cover 40 and / or the cap 50 is formed with a swinging movement restricting portion 60 that contacts the main body portion 31 and restricts the pressing member 30 from swinging.

Hereinafter, the electric heater 1 of this example will be described in detail.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the heating element 10 is formed by stacking five heating elements 11, a holder 12, an electrode plate 13, and fin members 13 in the stacking direction Y. ing. The heating element 10 is formed in a flat plate shape extending in the width direction X orthogonal to the stacking direction Y and the thickness direction Z.

  In this example, a PTC thermistor element (hereinafter referred to as a PTC element) having a PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient) characteristic that increases in resistance as the temperature rises is used as the heating element 11. A PTC element has a property of self-heating due to a sudden increase in electrical resistance when energized to a specific temperature or higher. When the heat generation temperature exceeds the temperature of the prosthesis, the electric resistance becomes excessively high and the current hardly flows. Therefore, by using a PTC element as the heating element 11, the electric heater 1 can be efficiently heated and excessive heat generation of the electric heater can be prevented.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the heating element 11 is embedded and held in a holder 12. In this example, in each holder 12, two heating elements 11 are arranged in the width direction X at a predetermined interval. As shown in FIG. 2, the electrode plate 13 is disposed so that the terminal portion 131 is located on one side X <b> 1 in the width direction X. The terminal part 131 protrudes to the one side X1. A fin member 14 is bonded onto the electrode plate 13. In the present example, the heater element 11 is not embedded in the holder 12 positioned at the lowest position in the stacking direction Y.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a laminated frame 20 is disposed at each end of the heating element 10 in the lamination direction Y. Each of the pair of laminated frames 20 is made of stainless steel, and has a long plate-like horizontal plate 21 that is in contact with the end face of the heating element 10 and extends in the width direction X, and a thickness direction end of the horizontal plate 21 in the lamination direction Y. They are erected, extend in the width direction X, and face each other. As shown in FIG. 9, the pair of laminated frames 20 has a U-shaped cross section.

  And the pressing member 30 is provided in the both ends of the width direction X of the heat generating body 10. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3A, the pressing member 30 is substantially U-shaped when viewed from the front. As shown in FIG. 3 (b), the pressing member 30 includes a main body 31 that extends in the stacking direction Y and is inclined toward the thickness direction Z at both ends thereof, and FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (c). As shown in FIG. 4, the main body 31 includes a pair of pressing pieces 32 that are bent from both ends in the width direction X. The pair of pressing pieces 32 are separated by a distance Y <b> 2 shorter than the length Y <b> 1 of the heating element 10 in the stacking direction Y before being attached to the heating element 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the pair of pressing pieces 32 are elastically deformed so as to be separated from each other by the length Y1 in the stacking direction Y, and between the pair of standing wall portions 22 (see FIG. 9) in the pair of stacked frames 20. And is attached to the heating element 10 so as to contact the contact portion 21a of the horizontal plate 21 in the pair of laminated frames 20. Accordingly, the heating element 10 is pressed in the stacking direction Y via the pair of stacked frames 20 based on the restoring force generated in the pair of pressing pieces 32, and the stacked state of the heating elements 10 is maintained.

  And as shown in FIG. 1, the main-body part 31 of the press member 30 is accommodated in the resin-made cover 40 with the terminal part 131. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, a through part 41 through which the heating element 10 can penetrate and a main body storage part 42 that stores the main body part 11 of the pressing member 30 are formed inside the cover 40. The main body portion storage portion 42 is erected on the bottom portion 422 so as to face the inner wall 421 of the cover 40, the bottom portion 422 formed adjacent to the through portion 41, and the inner wall 421. It is formed as a space surrounded by a partition wall 423 that partitions the portion 42.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the cover 40 has a heating element 10 as shown in FIG. 5B from the side opposite to the side where the terminal part 131 projects in the heating element 10 toward the terminal part 131 side. Is inserted through the penetrating portion 41. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 5C, the terminal portion 131 is located in the cover 40, and the main body portion 31 of the pressing member 30 is accommodated in the main body portion accommodating portion 42. Then, the return prevention claws 221 formed on the side surfaces of the pair of laminated frames 20 engage with the edge portion 40a on the opposite side of the terminal portion 131 in the cover 40, so that the cover 40 returns to the opposite side of the terminal portion 131. Is preventing. As shown in FIG. 5D, a cap 50 described later is attached to the cover 40.

  And in this example, as shown in FIG. 6, the rocking | fluctuation movement control part 60 is formed in the partition 423 which forms the main-body part accommodating part 42. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the swinging movement restricting portion 60 is formed near both ends of the partition wall 423 in the stacking direction Y. In this example, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a base 61 having a rectangular cross section is formed on the partition wall 423 so as to protrude. The swinging movement restricting portion 60 is formed so as to protrude from the base portion 61 into a rib shape in which a cross-sectional shape in a cross section perpendicular to the thickness direction Z forms a substantially triangular shape. Both side surfaces 602 of the swinging movement restricting portion 60 are curved so that the inclination with respect to the bottom portion 422 and the partition wall 423 becomes gentler toward the bottom portion 422 and the partition wall 423. The surface 601 opposite to the bottom 422 in the swinging movement restricting portion 60 is inclined so as to approach the bottom 422 as the distance from the partition wall 423 increases.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the swing movement restricting portion 60 is separated from the inner wall 421. The distance W1 between the swing movement restricting portion 60 and the inner wall 421 at the center position in the stacking direction Y of the swing motion restricting portion 60 is based on the width of the main body 31 of the pressing member 30 (diameter R, see FIG. 3A). It is slightly smaller. The distance W2 between the inner wall 421 and the partition wall 423 is greater than the width R of the main body 31. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, when the cover 40 is attached to the heating element 10, the tip 60 a of the swinging movement restricting portion 60 is crushed by the main body portion 31. As a result, the swinging movement restricting portion 60 is surely brought into contact with the main body 31 and the inner wall 421 facing the shaking motion restricting portion 60 is also reliably brought into contact with the main body 31. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 13, the swinging movement restricting portion 60 has a virtual axis line 21 b (see FIG. 1) passing through the pair of contact portions 21 a in the pair of pressing pieces 32 and the pair of laminated frames 20 as an axis. The pressing member 30 is restricted from rotating in the shaft rotation direction Q.

  As described above, the pressing member 30 is attached to the heating element 10 by separating the pair of pressing pieces 32 from the state before the attachment. Therefore, when attached to the heating element 10, the main body 31 is bent so that the central part in the stacking direction Y bulges toward the heating element 10. Thus, as shown in FIG. 9, in the state where the pressing member 30 is stored in the main body storage portion 42 of the cover 40, the main body portion 31 is at the bottom portion in the central portion in the stacking direction Y as shown in FIG. Although it is in contact with the bottom contact part 422a of 422, in other parts, for example, as shown in FIG. 11, the main body part 31 is separated from the bottom contact part 422a of the bottom part 422.

  In this example, a resin cap 50 is attached to the cover 40 as shown in FIGS. A connector (not shown) on the external power side is connected to the cap 50 to form a connector 51 that electrically connects the external power and the terminal portion 131. As shown in FIG. 1, the cap 50 is formed with an engaging claw 52 that engages with an engaging protrusion 43 formed on the cover 40. The cap 50 is attached to the cover 40 by the engagement claw 52 engaging with the engagement protrusion 43. As shown in FIG. 5D, a cap protrusion 53 is provided on the inner side of the cap 50 so as to protrude toward the main body storage portion 42 formed on the inner side of the cover 40. The cap protruding portion 53 is separated from the main body portion 31. However, in the unlikely event that the pressing member 30 is greatly displaced, the cap protrusion 53 is prevented from coming into contact with the main body 31 and falling off from the main body storage portion 42.

Next, the effect in the electric heater 1 of this example is explained in full detail.
According to the electric heater 1 of this example, the swinging movement restricting portion 60 is in contact with the main body portion 31 of the pressing member 30 so that the pressing member 30 is restricted from swinging. Therefore, after the electric heater 1 is mounted on the vehicle, vibrations of the engine, physical shocks received by the vehicle, etc. are propagated to the electric heater 1 and the pressing member 30 or the cover 40 is slightly displaced. Even so, the pressing member 30 is prevented from repeatedly colliding with the inner wall of the cover 40 due to the vibration of the vehicle or the like. As a result, the occurrence of abnormal noise is suppressed.

  Further, in this example, the swinging movement restricting unit 60 is configured such that the pressing member 30 is in the axial rotation direction about the virtual axis line 21b passing through the pair of contact portions 21a in the pair of pressing pieces 32 and the pair of laminated frames 20. It is restricted from rotating. Thereby, the shaking movement of the pressing member 30 is further prevented, and the generation of abnormal noise is further suppressed.

  In this example, the cover 40 is provided with a main body storage portion 42 in which the main body portion 31 is stored, and a swinging movement restricting portion 60 is formed on the inner wall 421 of the main body storage portion 42. Thereby, formation of the shaking movement control part 60 becomes easy. Further, in this example, the swinging movement restricting portions 60 are respectively formed on both end sides of the main body storage portion 42 in the stacking direction Y, and are provided in two places in total. For this reason, for example, the swinging movement of the pressing member 30 is further prevented as compared with the case where the swinging movement restricting portion 60 is provided in one place. Thereby, generation | occurrence | production of abnormal noise is suppressed further.

  In this example, the swinging movement restricting portion 60 is formed on the partition wall 423, but instead, the swinging motion restricting portion 60 may be formed on the inner wall 421. Further, the swinging movement restricting portion 60 may be formed on both the partition wall 423 and the inner wall 421 facing the partition wall 423. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, a swing motion restricting portion 65 is formed on the inner wall 421 at a position facing the swing motion restricting portion 60 formed in the partition wall 423, and the swing motion restricting portions 60 and 65 cause the main body portion 31 to rotate in the axial direction. You may be comprised so that it may pinch | interpose from both the 1st direction Q1 and 2nd direction Q2 in Q (refer FIG. 13). In this case, when the cover 40 is attached, the contact area between the main body 31 of the pressing member 30 and the cover 40 can be further reduced, so that the cover 40 can be easily attached and the assembly workability is improved.

  In this example, the swinging movement restricting portion 60 is formed so as to protrude in a rib shape in which a cross-sectional shape in a cross section perpendicular to the thickness direction Z forms a substantially triangular shape. Instead, the cross-sectional shape forms a trapezoid. The protrusion may be formed in a rib shape or may be formed in a hemispherical shape. Further, in this example, the swinging movement restricting portion 60 is formed so as to protrude from the base 61 provided on the partition wall 423, but may be formed directly on the partition wall 423 without providing the base 61.

  As described above, according to this example, it is possible to provide the electric heater 1 in which the generation of abnormal noise is suppressed.

(Example 2)
In the electric heater 1 of this example, as shown in FIG. 15, the cover 40 and the cap 50 are provided with a main body storage portion 420 that stores the main body portion 31 of the pressing member 30. Specifically, the main body storage portion 420 is formed as a space surrounded by a first recess 421 formed on the inner wall of the cover 40 and a second recess 521 formed on the inner wall of the cap 50. . A swing movement restricting portion 611 protrudes from the wall surface of the first recess 421, and a swing motion restricting portion 612 protrudes from the wall surface of the second recess 521.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the swinging movement restricting portions 611 and 612 are both in the same shape as the swinging motion restricting portion 60 (see FIG. 10) in the first embodiment. The swinging movement restricting portions 611 and 612 are formed at the same position in the stacking direction Y so as to be continuous with each other. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the structural member equivalent to Example 1, and the description is abbreviate | omitted. Also, the electric heater 1 of this example has the same effects as those of the first embodiment.

  As a modification, the cap 50 may be provided with a main body storage portion 420 that stores the main body portion 31 of the pressing member 30. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 16, in this modification, the cover 40 is not formed with the first recess 421 (see FIG. 15), and the cap 50 has the third recess 523 formed on the inner wall. Yes. A main body storage portion 420 is formed by the third recess 523, and a swinging movement restricting portion 620 is formed to protrude from the wall surface of the third recess 523. Also in this case, the same effects as those of the first embodiment are obtained.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electric heater 10 Heating body 11 Heating element 12 Holder 13 Electrode plate 14 Fin member 20 Laminated frame 30 Pressing member 31 Main body part 32 Pressing piece 40 Cover 42, 420 Main body part accommodating part 50 Cap 60, 65, 611, 612, 620 Shaking movement control part

Claims (3)

A heating element (11) that generates heat when energized, a holder (12) that holds the heating element (11), and a terminal portion (131) to which electric power is input, and the electric power to the heating element (11). A heating element (10) formed by laminating a plurality of electrode members (13) to be supplied and a fin member (14) provided with heat radiation fins (141) that dissipate heat generated from the heating element (11). ,
A pair of laminated frames (20) respectively disposed at both ends in the laminating direction of the heating element (10);
A pressing member (30) for pressing the pair of laminated frames (20) against the heating element (10) to maintain the laminated state of the heating element (10);
A cover (40) that covers the terminal portion (131) and is attached to the heating element (10) so as to accommodate the pressing member (30);
It has a connector (51) that is electrically connected to external power and is attached to the cover (40) so that the connector (51) and the terminal portion (131) are electrically connected. A cap (50),
In the electric heater (1) having
The pressing member (30) is formed to be bent at both ends of the main body (31) extending in the stacking direction of the heating element (10) and the main body (31), and is respectively formed on the pair of stacked frames (20). A pair of pressing pieces (32) that contact and press the heating element (10),
The cover (40) and / or the cap (50 ) is provided with a main body storage section (42, 420) for storing the main body section (31), and the main body storage section (42, 420). the inner wall, characterized in that the body portion (31) for restricting the upper Symbol pressing member (30) swings to contact with the oscillatory movement restricting portion (60,65,611,612,620) is formed Electric heater (1).   In the swing movement restricting portions (60, 65, 611, 612, 620), the pressing member (30) is a pair of abutting portions (a pair of the pressing pieces (32) and the pair of laminated frames (20)). 2. The electric heater (1) according to claim 1, wherein the electric heater (1) is restricted from rotating in an axial rotation direction about a virtual axis (21 b) passing through 21 a). 3. The electric heater according to claim 2 , wherein the swinging movement restricting portion (60, 65, 611, 612) is configured to sandwich the main body portion (31) from both sides in the axial rotation direction. (1).

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