JP7276222B2 - In-vehicle device - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to an in-vehicle device.

An in-vehicle device for using ETC and ETC2.0 has a configuration in which a circuit board is housed in a case. The case is formed with an opening for exposing the connector to the outside so that a cable can be connected to the connector mounted on the circuit board from the outside. The opening is generally formed on the side of the case opposite to the operation surface of the in-vehicle device. ETC and ETC2.0 are registered trademarks.

The in-vehicle device as described above is sometimes installed by being incorporated into an instrument panel (hereinafter also referred to as an instrument panel) of a vehicle. Specifically, the in-vehicle device is incorporated into the instrument panel such that the operating surface is exposed to the outside through an opening formed in the instrument panel, and most of the other parts are located inside the instrument panel. At this time, for example, if there is an air conditioner duct above the in-vehicle device inside the instrument panel, water droplets generated on the surface of the air conditioner duct due to condensation may drip onto the in-vehicle device. There is a possibility that water will enter the inside of the in-vehicle device through the gap. If water enters the vehicle-mounted device, the circuit board may be exposed to water.

Therefore, for example, Patent Document 1 proposes an in-vehicle device in which a canopy is provided above an opening to prevent water from entering through a gap between a connector and a case.

JP-A-2008-130359

However, in the in-vehicle device described in Patent Literature 1, when a cable is connected to or disconnected from a connector, the visor interferes with a worker's finger or the like, hindering work.

Therefore, it is conceivable to reduce the infiltration of water through the gap by making the gap between the connector and the case as small as possible. A certain amount of clearance is necessary for reasons such as assembly of the in-vehicle device, but it is possible to design the clearance to be as small as possible.

However, as a result of detailed examination by the inventor, when the in-vehicle device is incorporated in the instrument panel so that the operation surface side is lower when viewed from the side, the opening formed on the side opposite to the operation surface faces upward. , there is a possibility that water droplets may drip directly from the air conditioner duct to the opening, and even if the gap is made as small as possible, the momentum of the droplets will make it easier for water to enter.

One aspect of the present disclosure is an in-vehicle device that is incorporated in an instrument panel in a state in which the operation surface side is inclined so that it is lowered in side view, and suppresses water from entering through an opening formed on the opposite side of the operation surface. provide technology that can

One aspect of the present disclosure is an in-vehicle device (1) that is incorporated in an instrument panel (100) of a vehicle and installed in an inclined state so that the operation surface (10) side exposed in the vehicle interior is lowered in side view. ). The in-vehicle device includes a circuit board (12) mounted with a connector (121) for connecting a cable from the outside, and a case (16) housing the circuit board. The case also has a rear wall (164) formed with an opening (168) for exposing the connector on the side opposite the operating surface. The rear wall has an outer wall surface (171), an opening surface (172) and a connecting surface (174). The outer wall surface is a wall surface forming the outer surface of the case. The opening surface is a wall surface facing the connector at the portion where the opening is formed. The connection surface is a wall surface having a chamfered connection portion between the outer wall surface and the opening surface.

According to such a configuration, in the in-vehicle device incorporated in the instrument panel in a state in which the operation surface side is inclined so as to be lower in side view, water can be prevented from entering through the opening formed on the side opposite to the operation surface. can be suppressed.

1 is a side view of an in-vehicle device mounted in a vehicle; FIG. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the in-vehicle device as seen from the rear side; It is a top view of a lower case. FIG. 4 is a sectional view along IV-IV in FIG. 3; It is a rear view of an in-vehicle device. FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 5; 7 is an enlarged view of a portion where the case and the connector in FIG. 6 face each other; FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII of FIG. 5; FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a case and a connector when water droplets are dropped from above the in-vehicle device; FIG. 10 is another schematic cross-sectional view of the case and the connector when water droplets are dropped from above the in-vehicle device;

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described below with reference to the drawings.
[1. composition]
An in-vehicle device 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a device for using ETC and ETC2.0. By inserting an IC card into the in-vehicle device 1 and reading the information recorded in the IC card by the in-vehicle device 1, ETC and ETC 2.0 can be used.

The in-vehicle device 1 is configured such that the operation surface 10 is exposed to the outside from an opening formed in an instrument panel 100 (hereinafter also referred to as an instrument panel 100) of the vehicle, and many other parts are positioned inside the instrument panel 100. , installed in the instrument panel 100 . At this time, the in-vehicle device 1 is incorporated into the instrument panel 100 in a state in which the side of the operation surface 10 exposed to the interior of the vehicle is inclined to be lower when viewed from the side. Hereinafter, the operation surface 10 side of the in-vehicle device 1 will be described as the front of the in-vehicle device 1 .

As shown in FIG. 2, the in-vehicle device 1 includes a card holding member 11, a circuit board 12, a key member 13, a lens member 14, an eject button 15, and a case 16 for accommodating them. The case 16 includes an upper case 16A and a lower case 16B, as will be described later. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the in-vehicle device 1 viewed from the rear side, that is, the side opposite to the operation surface 10 of the in-vehicle device 1. FIG.

The card holding member 11 is a member that holds an IC card inserted into the in-vehicle device 1 inside the in-vehicle device 1 . The card holding member 11 has a locking mechanism for locking the position of the IC card within the vehicle-mounted device 1, an ejection mechanism for ejecting the IC card to the outside of the vehicle-mounted device 1 by operating the eject button 15, and the like. The card holding member 11 is arranged between the circuit board 12 and the lower case 16B.

The circuit board 12 is a printed circuit board on which a plurality of electronic components are mounted. The circuit board 12 also has a plurality of connectors 121A, 121B, and 121C (hereinafter also referred to as connectors 121 when the individual connectors are not distinguished) for connecting cables from the outside of the in-vehicle device 1 . The connector 121 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The connector 121 is located on the back side of the in-vehicle device 1 on the circuit board 12 . The circuit board 12 is fixed to the card holding member 11 with a plurality of screws.

The key member 13 includes a button for adjusting the volume of a warning sound emitted by the in-vehicle device 1, a button for checking the usage history of ETC and ETC2.0, and the like. The key member 13 is arranged between the circuit board 12 and the upper case 16A.

The lens member 14 includes a lens or the like for covering a light-emitting component that indicates the operating state of the in-vehicle device 1 . The light-emitting component is one of a plurality of electronic components mounted on circuit board 12 . A part of the lens member 14 is exposed to the outside of the in-vehicle device 1 through an opening formed in the front wall 163 of the case 16, as will be described later. Thereby, it is possible to confirm whether or not the light-emitting component emits light from the outside of the in-vehicle device 1 .

The eject button 15 is a button for ejecting the IC card held by the card holding member 11 to the outside of the in-vehicle device 1 . The eject button 15 is arranged on the right side of the card holding member 11 when viewed from the rear side of the in-vehicle device 1 .

The case 16 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and includes an upper case 16A and a lower case 16B. In this embodiment, the upper case 16A constitutes the ceiling wall 161, the front wall 163, the rear wall 164, and part of each of the two side walls in the case 16. As shown in FIG. The lower case 16B constitutes the bottom wall 162, the rear wall 164 and the rest of the two side walls of the case 16 not formed by the upper case 16A. The front side and the rear side of the case 16 refer to the front side and the rear side of the in-vehicle device 1, respectively. Further, the case 16 is configured to be fixable to the mounting stay 2 with a plurality of screws. The mounting stay 2 is a member for installing the in-vehicle device 1 inside the instrument panel 100 .

The front wall 163 of the case 16 has an opening for inserting and removing an IC card, and openings for exposing a part of each of the key member 13 , the lens member 14 and the eject button 15 to the front of the in-vehicle device 1 . part is formed. The front wall 163 is exposed to the outside through an opening formed in the instrument panel 100 when the in-vehicle device 1 is installed in the instrument panel 100 . That is, the front wall surface of the in-vehicle device 1 in the front wall 163 corresponds to the operation surface 10 of the in-vehicle device 1 .

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the case 16 is formed with a drain hole 166, which is a through hole connecting the inside and the outside of the case 16, on the rear side of the in-vehicle device 1 in the bottom wall 162 thereof. The drain hole 166 is formed substantially in the center of the bottom wall 162 in the short side direction. Although the shape of the drain hole 166 is not limited, the drain hole 166 in this embodiment has a substantially square shape when viewed from the bottom of the in-vehicle device 1 . Further, the inner wall surface of the case 16 in the bottom wall 162 is inclined toward the drain hole 166 .

The case 16 has a shielding portion 167 that protrudes inside the case 16 from the rear wall 164 and covers the drain hole 166 from above. As described above, in the in-vehicle device 1, the card holding member 11 is arranged between the circuit board 12 and the lower case 16B, that is, between the circuit board 12 and the bottom wall 162 of the case 16. , where the drain hole 166 is formed, is not covered with the card holding member 11 and faces the circuit board 12 . In other words, in the case 16 , the shielding portion 167 is provided between the portion of the bottom wall 162 where the drainage holes 166 are formed and the circuit board 12 .

Although the shape of the shielding portion 167 is not limited, the shielding portion 167 in this embodiment has a pentagonal prism shape having an axis perpendicular to the rear wall 164 of the case 16 . One of the five side surfaces of the shielding portion 167 faces the drainage hole 166 and is perpendicular to the axis of the drainage hole 166 . Two of the other side surfaces of shielding portion 167 face circuit board 12 . Specifically, the shielding portion 167 has a mountain-shaped portion facing the circuit board 12 . The remaining two sides of shield 167 are parallel to the axis of drain hole 166 . In addition, when viewed along the axis of the drain hole 166, the shielding part 167 in this embodiment has a rectangular shape in which the length of one side and the length of the short side of the substantially square drain hole 166 are substantially the same. That is, the shielding portion 167 is larger than the drain hole 166 when viewed along the axis of the drain hole 166 .

As shown in FIG. 5, the rear wall 164 of the case 16 in this embodiment is composed of a rear wall 164A of the upper case 16A and a rear wall 164B of the lower case 16B. A rear wall 164 of the case 16 has a plurality of openings 168A, 168B, 168C (hereinafter also referred to as openings 168 when the individual openings are not distinguished) for exposing the plurality of connectors 121A, 121B, 121C, respectively. ) is formed. The opening 168 has a substantially rectangular shape when viewed from the rear of the in-vehicle device 1 . Further, the upper portion and left and right portions of the opening 168 are formed by the rear wall 164A of the upper case 16A. A lower portion of the opening 168 is formed by a rear wall 164B of the lower case 16B.

The case 16 will be described below using the connector 121A and the opening 168A as representative examples of the plurality of connectors 121A, 121B, 121C and the plurality of openings 168A, 168B, 168C.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the rear wall 164 of the case 16 includes an outer wall surface 171, which constitutes the outer surface of the case 16, and a wall surface facing the connector 121A exposed from the opening 168A with a gap therebetween. and an opening surface 172 which is The opening surface 172 has a first opening surface 172A which is a wall surface facing the upper surface of the connector 121A, two second opening surfaces 172B which are wall surfaces facing the two side surfaces of the connector 121A, and a lower surface of the connector 121A. and a third opening surface 172C, which is a wall surface that opens.

A gap between the connector 121A and the opening surface 172 is a gap that is required for reasons such as assembly of the in-vehicle device 1 . The size of the gap between the connector 121A and the opening surface 172 in this embodiment, that is, the gap is 1 mm as a design value. Also, the outer wall surface 171 and the opening surface 172 in this embodiment are both planar wall surfaces and are perpendicular to each other.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the rear wall 164 of the case 16 has connecting surfaces 174 which are chamfered connecting portions between the outer wall surface 171 and the second opening surface 172B at the left and right portions of the opening 168A. have The shape in which the connection portion between the outer wall surface 171 and the second opening surface 172B is chamfered is a shape in which the ridgeline where the outer wall surface 171 and the second opening surface 172B intersect is cut off, in other words, the outer wall surface 171 and the second opening It is a shape in which the dihedral angle formed with the surface 172B is cut. Further in other words, the chamfered shape is a shape in which the portion where the dihedral angle should exist in the rear wall 164 of the case 16 is lost. Further, the left and right portions of the opening 168A refer to the portions forming the left and right sides of the opening 168A, which are substantially rectangular when viewed from the rear of the in-vehicle device 1 . The connection surface 174 in this embodiment is provided over the entire portion forming the left and right sides of the opening 168A in the rear view of the in-vehicle device 1, that is, over the upper end to the lower end of the portion. The connection surface 174 in this embodiment is a planar wall surface.

The angle formed by each of the outer wall surface 171 and the second opening surface 172B and the connection surface 174 is from 30 degrees to 60 degrees from the viewpoint of suppressing water from entering through the gap between the connector 121A and the second opening surface 172B. degree is preferred. The angle formed by each of the outer wall surface 171 and the second opening surface 172B and the connection surface 174 in this embodiment is 45 degrees. Moreover, the width of the connection surface 174 as viewed along the axis of the opening 168A is preferably 0.5 mm or more from the viewpoint of suppressing the infiltration of water. The width of the connecting surface 174 viewed along the axis of the opening 168A in this embodiment is 1 mm.

As shown in FIG. 8, in the rear wall 164 of the case 16, a recess is formed in the upper portion of the inner wall surface of the case 16 in the portion forming the lower portion of the opening 168A. Therefore, in the recessed portion of the rear wall 164, the inner side of the case 16 is closer to the outer side of the case 16, in other words, the lower side of the connector 121A is closer to the rear side of the rear wall 164 than the outer wall surface 171 side. The distance from the wall 164 is large. That is, the third opening surface 172C has a portion with a narrow interval from the lower surface of the connector 121A and a portion with a large interval. Hereinafter, with regard to the third opening surface 172C, a portion with a narrow distance from the lower surface of the connector 121A is also referred to as a first facing surface 173A, and a portion with a wide distance is also referred to as a second facing surface 173B. The second facing surface 173B faces the lower surface of the connector 121A inside the case 16 with respect to the first facing surface 173A.

Although the configuration of the portion of the case 16 where the opening 168A is formed has been described in detail, the portions of the case 16 where the opening 168B and the opening 168C are respectively formed have the same configuration.

[2. effect]
According to the embodiment detailed above, the following effects are obtained.
(2a) The case 16 of the in-vehicle device 1 has a rear wall 164 formed with an opening 168 for exposing the connector 121 on the side opposite to the operation surface 10 . The rear wall 164 includes an outer wall surface 171 which is a wall surface forming the outer surface of the case 16, an opening surface 172 which is a wall surface facing the connector 121 at a portion where the opening 168 is formed, the outer wall surface 171 and the opening surface 172. and a connecting surface 174 which is a chamfered wall surface.

When the in-vehicle device 1 is installed in the instrument panel 100, the opening 168 formed on the side opposite to the operation surface 10 faces upward. Moreover, a gap exists between the connector 121 exposed to the outside through the opening 168 and the case 16 as described above. Therefore, for example, when water droplets are generated above the in-vehicle device 1 due to the presence of an air conditioner duct in the instrument panel 100 , the water droplets may drop directly into the gap in the in-vehicle device 1 .

When a water drop is dropped from above the in-vehicle device 1, the water drop has momentum due to the drop. For this reason, considering the state at one point in time when a water droplet is dropped into the gap, as shown in FIGS. is acting toward the inside of the case 16. FIGS. 9 and 10 are top view schematic diagrams of cut surfaces assuming that the case 16 and the connector 121 are cut parallel to the ceiling wall 161 of the case 16 at one point in time. It is considered that a reaction force F acting against the load Q is applied to the dropped water droplets from the surface of the case 16 in a direction perpendicular to the surface. The portion of the water droplet on which the reaction force F acts is the portion whose length is wx along the outer wall surface 171 of the case 16 excluding the portion of the water droplet facing the gap between the case 16 and the connector 121 . w and x refer to the width of the water droplet and the width of the gap between case 16 and connector 121, respectively, viewed along the axis of opening 168; wx is the difference between w and x. 9 and 10, the load Q and the reaction force F are indicated by arrows, respectively. Dropped water droplets are indicated by a deformed ellipse D. FIG.

Here, when the case 16 does not have the connection surface 174 as shown in FIG. 9, the reaction force F acts on the water droplet in the direction perpendicular to the outer wall surface 171 . That is, the reaction force F acts on the water droplet in the direction opposite to the load Q. As shown in FIG. Therefore, the load Q and the reaction force F generate a shearing force on the water droplets, and the water droplets may be divided. If the water droplet is split by the shearing force, the split water droplet may enter the inside of the case 16 through the gap between the case 16 and the connector 121 .

On the other hand, when the case 16 has a connection surface 174 as shown in FIG. Acts vertically. That is, the reaction force F that acts on the water droplet in the direction perpendicular to the connection surface 174 acts on the portion of the water droplet on the side of the gap between the case 16 and the connector 121 to cancel the load Q. Therefore, compared to the case 16 having no connection surface 174, the load Q and the reaction force F are less likely to generate a shearing force on the water droplets, and the water droplets are less likely to be split. Therefore, in the in-vehicle device 1 incorporated in the instrument panel 100 in a state in which the operation surface 10 side is inclined so as to be lower in side view, the entry of water from the opening 168 formed on the side opposite to the operation surface 10 can be suppressed. can be done.

(2b) The connection surface 174 is planar. According to such a configuration, in the in-vehicle device 1 incorporated in the instrument panel 100 in a state in which the operation surface 10 side is inclined so that the operation surface 10 side is lowered when viewed from the side, water flows from the opening 168 formed on the side opposite to the operation surface 10. intrusion can be suppressed.

(2c) the connecting surface 174 has a width of 0.5 mm or more along the axis of the opening 168;
As described above, the reaction force F acting to cancel the load Q acts on the water droplets from the surface of the connection surface 174 . Therefore, the larger the width of the connecting surface 174 seen along the axis of the opening 168, the greater the action of the reaction force F to cancel the load Q. Therefore, according to the configuration as described above, in the in-vehicle device 1 which is incorporated in the instrument panel 100 in a state in which the operation surface 10 is inclined so that the operation surface 10 is lowered in side view, the opening 168 is formed on the side opposite to the operation surface 10 . It is possible to further suppress the infiltration of water from the

(2d) The opening surface 172 has a first facing surface 173A facing the lower surface of the connector 121 and a second facing surface 173B facing the lower surface of the connector 121 inside the case 16 from the first facing surface 173A. . The second opposing surface 173B is spaced from the lower surface of the connector 121 wider than the first opposing surface 173A.

As described above, the reaction force F acts to cancel the load Q, so that the dripped water droplets are not separated, and the water droplets do not enter the case 16 through the gap between the case 16 and the side surface of the connector 121. , the water droplet travels downward on the surface of the case 16 as indicated by an arrow Y in FIG. At this time, water droplets running down the surface of the case 16 may enter the inside of the case 16 through the gap between the case 16 and the lower surface of the connector 121 . According to the configuration described above, the case 16 has a recess formed in the upper part of the inner wall surface of the case 16 in the portion forming the lower part of the opening 168, so that the case 16 and the lower surface of the connector 121 are in contact with each other. Even if water enters the inside of the case 16 through the gap, the water that has entered is guided below the circuit board 12 as indicated by the arrow Y. As shown in FIG. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the circuit board 12 from being exposed to water.

(2e) The case 16 includes a bottom wall 162 extending from the lower portion of the rear wall 164 toward the operation surface 10 and having a drain hole 166 formed thereon, a portion of the bottom wall 162 having the drain hole 166 formed therein, and a circuit board. 12 and a shielding portion 167 that covers the drain hole 166 from above. The shielding part 167 has the same or larger size than the drain hole 166 when viewed along the axis of the drain hole 166 .

According to such a configuration, even if water enters the inside of the case 16 through the gap between the case 16 and the lower surface of the connector 121, the entering water can be discharged to the outside. In addition, since the shielding portion 167 covers the upper side of the drain hole 166 , it is possible to prevent dirt, dust, etc. from entering from the outside of the case 16 into the inside through the drain hole 166 and adhering to the circuit board 12 . Adhesion of dirt, dust, etc. to the circuit board 12 is one of the factors that cause malfunction of the circuit board 12 .

[3. Other embodiments]
Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, it is needless to say that the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments and can take various forms.

(3a) In the above embodiment, the in-vehicle device 1 is a device for using ETC and ETC2.0, but the application of the in-vehicle device 1 is not limited to this.
(3b) In the above embodiment, the opening 168 is constituted by the rear wall 164A of the upper case 16A and the rear wall 164B of the lower case 16B, but the number of members constituting the opening 168 is particularly limited. isn't it. The opening 168 may be composed of one member, or may be composed of a plurality of members, for example.

(3c) In the above embodiment, the rear wall 164 of the case 16 has the connecting surfaces 174 on the left and right sides of the opening 168, but the positions where the connecting surfaces 174 are provided are not limited to this. The connection surface 174 may be provided, for example, on either one of the left and right portions of the opening 168 , or may be provided on the top or bottom of the opening 168 in addition to the left and right portions of the opening 168 . Also, for example, the connection surface 174 may be provided in each of the upper portion, the lower portion, and the left and right portions of the opening 168 .

(3d) In the above embodiment, the connection surface 174 is a planar wall surface, but the shape of the connection surface 174 is not limited to this. The connection surface 174 may be, for example, a curved wall surface curved toward the outside of the case 16 or a wall surface having a plurality of surfaces.

(3e) The function of one component in the above embodiments may be distributed as multiple components, or the functions of multiple components may be integrated into one component. Also, part of the configuration of the above embodiment may be omitted. Also, at least a part of the configuration of the above embodiment may be added, replaced, etc. with respect to the configuration of the other above embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Vehicle-mounted apparatus 12... Circuit board 16... Case 121, 121A, 121B, 121C... Connector 164... Rear wall 166... Drainage hole 167... Shielding part 168, 168A, 168B, 168C... Opening part, 171... Outer wall surface, 172... Opening surface, 174... Connection surface.

Claims (5)

An in-vehicle device (1) incorporated in an instrument panel (100) of a vehicle and installed in an inclined state so that an operation surface (10) side exposed in the vehicle interior is lowered when viewed from the side,
a circuit board (12) on which a connector (121) for connecting a cable from the outside is mounted;
a case (16) housing the circuit board;
with
The case has a rear wall (164) formed with an opening (168) for exposing the connector on the side opposite to the operation surface,
The rear wall is
an outer wall surface (171) which is a wall surface constituting the outer surface of the case;
an opening surface (172), which is a wall surface facing the connector in the portion where the opening is formed;
a connection surface (174), which is a wall surface with a chamfered connection portion between the outer wall surface and the opening surface;
In-vehicle device. The in-vehicle device according to claim 1,
An in-vehicle device, wherein the connection surface is planar. The in-vehicle device according to claim 1 or claim 2,
The in-vehicle device, wherein the connecting surface has a width of 0.5 mm or more when viewed along the axis of the opening. The in-vehicle device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The opening surface is
a first facing surface (173A) facing the lower surface of the connector;
a second facing surface (173B) facing the lower surface of the connector inside the case with respect to the first facing surface;
has
An in-vehicle device, wherein the second facing surface has a wider distance from the lower surface of the connector than the first facing surface. The in-vehicle device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Said case is
a bottom wall (162) formed with a drainage hole (166) extending from the lower portion of the rear wall toward the operation surface;
a shielding part (167) provided between the portion of the bottom wall where the drain hole is formed and the circuit board and covering the upper part of the drain hole;
further having
The in-vehicle device, wherein the shielding part has a size that is the same as or larger than that of the drain hole when viewed along the axis of the drain hole.

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