JPH10194060A - Center disposition type electrical connection box - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the electrical connection box which is hardly affected adversely by the side collision of a vehicle, water entrance and the like, can simplify harnesses wired around its circumference, and concurrently enable the less kind of harnesses to cope with the difference in specification for the vehicle. SOLUTION: Since the electrical connection box 43 is disposed at a center cluster 5 provided roughly for the center part 11 of the instrument panel 1 of a vehicle, the electrical connection box is thereby disposed at a place parted from the side surface of the vehicle, the effect of vehicle side collision to the electrical connection box 43 can thereby be restrained to a great extent, and concurrently water is effectively prevented from ingressing into the electrical connection box 43. Besides, respective electrical units are electrically connected with the electrical connection box 43 by respective exclusive wire harnesses 72 and 73, and the difference in specification can be satisfied by preparing only the exclusive wire harnesses in response to the kinds of the electrical units.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in an electric junction box for distributing electric power supplied from a power supply unit to a plurality of electric units provided in a vehicle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known in the art, a vehicle is equipped with a plurality of electric units. For example, a vehicle provided in an engine room and an electric power unit such as an alternator are supplied with electric power from a joint box (J). /
The distribution is distributed to the respective electrical units by the electrical junction box B). In particular, as shown in FIG.
A passenger compartment 1 including a driver's seat and a passenger seat disposed behind the vehicle 0
In 10, an electric connection box 43 is provided at an end front position PS in the vehicle body width direction (the left-right direction in the figure), and the electric power distributed by the electric connection box 43 is provided to the instrument panel wire harness 120. It is supplied to each electrical unit, such as a console unit and an air conditioner unit, by a splice provided and a wiring branched from the wire harness.

[0003]

As described above, in the prior art, there are many splices in the instrument panel wire harness 120, and this has been a major obstacle to automation of harness production. Also, with the increase in the number of electrical units, the harness 12
The number of electric wires and the number of connector branches that make up the harness 120 become enormous, resulting in an increase in the size, weight, and complexity of the harness 120, making it difficult to manufacture the harness, and mounting the harness 120 to a vehicle. There was also a problem that the properties deteriorated.

[0004] Further, since the electric connection box 43 is disposed at the end in the vehicle body width direction, that is, at the inner side surface PS of the vehicle,
Various adverse effects may be caused by a collision with the side of the vehicle. For example, when an abnormality such as a short circuit occurs in the electric connection box 43 due to the collision, the fuse and the fusible link (F / L) are blown to supply electric power to the electric unit connected to the electric connection box 43. Stop. For this reason, especially when the power supply unit whose power supply is cut off is an indispensable system for running the vehicle, it is possible to move the vehicle to a safe place etc. even though the system is normal. There was a problem that it disappeared.

When the electric connection box 43 is disposed on the inner side surface PS of the vehicle, water enters the electric connection box 43 from the outside of the vehicle, causing an unexpected short circuit or the like, thus causing the same problem as described above. There was a possibility.

Further, even in the same vehicle, there are many cases where the specifications of the electrical unit differ depending on the grade, the type of air conditioner, and the like, and it is necessary to prepare the instrument panel wire harness 120 according to each specification. For example, as shown in Table 1, “L
"O", "MI", "HI", two types of air conditioners "AUTO", "MANU", and two types according to "A / T" or "M / T". When it is necessary to prepare the respective console units, there are twelve types of specifications depending on their combination, and it is necessary to prepare twelve types of instrument panel wire harnesses 120 according to each specification.

[0007]

[Table 1]

Preparing various kinds of harnesses in advance based on the difference in specifications as described above has been one of the factors for increasing the manufacturing cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and is less susceptible to adverse effects such as a collision with a side surface of a vehicle and intrusion of water, thereby simplifying a harness routed around the periphery. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electric junction box which is capable of coping with a difference in specifications of vehicles with a small number of harness types.

[0010]

The invention according to claim 1 is electrically connected to a plurality of electrical units provided in a vehicle,
A centrally arranged electric connection box that distributes electric power supplied from a power supply unit to each electrical unit, and is arranged at a substantially central portion of an instrument panel of the vehicle, in order to achieve the above object, and for each electrical unit. It is electrically connected to the electrical unit by a dedicated wire harness corresponding to the electrical unit.

According to the present invention, the electric connection box is disposed substantially at the center of the instrument panel of the vehicle, and the electric connection box is disposed at a position away from the side surface of the vehicle. The effect on the electrical junction box is greatly suppressed, and water is prevented from entering the electrical junction box from outside the vehicle.

In addition, the electric power supplied from the power supply unit is distributed by the electric connection box disposed substantially at the center. For this reason, simplification of a harness is attained by making a spliceless harness.

Furthermore, a dedicated wire harness is prepared for each electrical unit, and the corresponding electrical unit and the electrical connection box are electrically connected by the dedicated wire harness. For this reason, even if a certain electrical unit has a plurality of types according to the vehicle specifications, it is only necessary to prepare a wire harness for connection between the electrical unit and the electrical connection box only in a type corresponding to the type of the electrical unit. The wiring harness connecting the electrical unit and the electrical junction box is not affected at all.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in one or more of the plurality of wire harnesses, one end of an electric wire constituting the wire harness is directly connected to an electrical unit corresponding to the wire harness. ing.

According to the present invention, one end of the electric wire constituting the wire harness is directly connected to the electrical unit,
The need for connecting parts such as connectors is eliminated.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the electric connection box is disposed in a center cluster provided at a substantially central portion of an instrument panel of the vehicle.

According to the present invention, the electric connection box is disposed in the center cluster provided substantially at the center of the instrument panel of the vehicle, and the electric connection box and the instrument panel harness are assembled before the vehicle is assembled. It becomes possible.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the inside of a vehicle for explaining the background art of a centrally arranged electric junction box according to the present invention, and shows the front side of an instrument panel from a driver's seat. FIG. As shown in the figure, an instrument panel 2 such as a speedometer is attached to an instrument panel 1 on the driver's seat side (the right hand side in the figure). Also,
An air outlet 3 (part of an air conditioner unit) for air-conditioning air is provided at a substantially central portion 11 of the instrument panel 1, and an electric connection box 43 according to the present invention is provided below the air outlet 3. ing.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the electric junction box 43 attached to the substantially central portion 11 of the instrument panel 1 as viewed from the front, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a procedure for attaching the electric connection box 43 to the instrument panel 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the electric connection box 43 is disposed in a cluster (hereinafter, referred to as a “center cluster”) 5 provided at a substantially central portion 11 of the instrument panel 1 in a state where the electric connection box 43 is opposed to the audio unit 44. ing. Specifically, first, by inserting the audio unit 44 from the back side of the instrument panel 1,
The positioning lock portion 441 projecting from the upper surface of the audio unit 44 fits into the concave portion 12 (FIG. 3) provided on the instrument panel 1 corresponding to the upper surface side of the center cluster 5, and the audio unit 44 is inserted into the center cluster 5. Deploy. Subsequently, the electric connection box 43
From the back side of the instrument panel 1. In this embodiment, the audio unit 44
On the back side (the right-hand side in the figure), four positioning rods 442 are erected toward the electric connection box 43, and the electric connection box 43 and the audio unit 44 are fixed at a fixed interval by the positioning rods 442. Only spaced apart.

When the electric connection box 43 is inserted in this manner, the mounting portion 431 projecting from the outer edge on the back side of the electric connection box 43 in the outer peripheral direction comes into contact with the instrument panel 1. Then, in this state, the bolt 6 is inserted into the opening of the mounting portion 431, and the electric connection box 43 is fixed to the instrument panel 1 by the bolt 6.

When a connector 72C for connecting a wire harness is provided on the front side of the electric connection box 43, that is, on the side facing the audio unit 44, as shown in FIG. It is necessary to connect the harness 72 to at least the connector 72C before attaching the wire harness 72 to the ment panel 1. Except for this point, the wiring of the wire harness is optional.

The procedure and method of attaching the electric connection box 43 to the instrument panel 1 are not limited to those described above.
May be inserted from the front side of the instrument panel 1 and arranged on the center cluster 5. Also,
The electric connection box 4 may be fixed to the body side.

Next, the connection relationship and functions of various harnesses to the electric connection box 43 attached to the center cluster 5 of the instrument panel 1 as described above will be described with reference to FIG. This electric connection box 43
Is provided with a connector 71C of an engine room harness 71, and a power supply unit (not shown) such as a battery and an alternator disposed in the engine room 100.
Is supplied to the electric connection box 43 through the engine room harness 71. The electric power thus supplied is distributed by the electric connection box 43 and the electric connection box 43
Are connected to a plurality of electrical units typified by an air conditioner unit and a console unit. In addition,
Here, the wire harness 72 is a dedicated wire harness for electrically connecting the electric connection box 43 and the air conditioner unit, and the wire harness 73 is connected to the electric connection box 4.
A dedicated wire harness for electrically connecting the console unit 3 to the console unit, and a wire harness 74 is an instrument panel wire harness.

As described above, the wire harness 72 dedicated to the air conditioner and the wire harness 72 dedicated to the console unit are provided.
73, an air conditioner and a console unit corresponding to the dedicated wire harnesses 72 and 73,
Since the electric connection box is electrically connected to each other, for example, as shown in Table 1, when it is necessary to prepare two types of air conditioners “AUTO” and “MANU” due to a difference in specifications, the air conditioner unit is simply provided. It is sufficient to prepare two types of dedicated wire harnesses 72 for "AUTO" and "MANU".
It is not necessary to change 3, 74,... According to the type of the air conditioner. The same applies to the grade and the difference between “A / T” and “M / T”. Therefore, (1) three types of instrument panel wire harness 74 and (2) "AUT" as the type of air conditioner in order to correspond to three types of "LO", "MI" and "HI" according to the grade.
O ”and“ MANU ”, two types of wire harness 72 dedicated to air conditioner unit, (3)
Console units for "A / T", "M /
In order to cope with the two types for the "T", two types of wire harnesses 73 dedicated to the console unit are prepared, and they are combined to obtain 12 (= 3 × 2 ×
2) It can correspond to various types of specifications. That is, 12
Conventionally, twelve types of harnesses had to be prepared in advance in order to cope with the type specifications, but according to the present embodiment, it is possible to prepare by preparing seven types of harnesses in advance. In addition, it is possible to cope with a difference in vehicle specifications with a small number of harness types.

In this embodiment, the electric connection box 43
Are arranged in the center cluster 5 and the electric connection box 4
3 is far from the side of the vehicle, even if a collision with the side of the vehicle occurs, the probability of occurrence of an abnormality such as a short circuit in the electric connection box 43 is significantly higher than that of the conventional example which is disposed close to the side of the vehicle. And the adverse effects of the collision can be suppressed. In addition, water does not enter the electric connection box 43 from outside the vehicle, and the same effect as described above can be obtained.

As is clear from FIG. 4, the electric power supplied from the power supply unit is distributed by the electric connection box 43 arranged in the center cluster 5, and the electric power is supplied to each electric unit. Splicelessness can be achieved, and as a result, the manufacture of the harness becomes easy.

Although the electric connection box 4 can be fixed to the body side, in the present embodiment, since the electric connection box 4 is arranged particularly in the center cluster 5, the following specific characteristics are provided. Has an effect. That is, in this case, the electric connection box 4 and the instrument panel harness can be assembled in advance, and the assembly of the electric connection box 4 and the instrument panel harness on the vehicle assembly line becomes unnecessary. As a result, the vehicle assembly line Reduced man-hours,
Further, the line can be shortened.

Further, in the electric junction box 43 according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a maintenance target area 432 in which a fuse and a fusible link (F / L) which need to be replaced as appropriate is provided. The ashtray 13 is detachably attached to the instrument panel 1, and is configured to be accessible from the front side of the instrument panel 1 when the ashtray 13 is removed from the instrument panel 1. For this reason,
For example, when the fuse blows, the ashtray 13 is pulled out of the instrument panel 1 and the maintenance target area 43 is removed.
2 can be replaced with a normal fuse, and maintenance work can be performed efficiently.

In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, connectors are attached to both ends of the electric wires constituting the wire harnesses 72 and 73, and each connector is inserted into the corresponding connector to be electrically connected. However, the ends of the wires on the electrical unit (air conditioner and console unit) side may be connected directly to the electrical unit without the use of connectors or other connecting parts. In this case, no connector is required And the cost can be reduced by reducing the number of parts.

In the above description, only two types of electrical units, an air conditioner unit and a console unit, are shown, and the configuration and the like of the present invention have been described in detail. However, the type and number of electrical units are limited to the above embodiment. Not a thing, it is optional.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the electric connection box is disposed substantially at the center of the instrument panel of the vehicle, the electric connection box is disposed at a position distant from the side of the vehicle. As a result, the influence on the electric junction box due to the collision with the side of the vehicle can be significantly suppressed, and water can be effectively prevented from entering the electric junction box from outside the vehicle.

Further, since the electric power supplied from the power supply unit is distributed by the electric connection box arranged at the substantially central part,
The spliceless harness can be used, and the harness can be simplified.

Also, a dedicated wire harness is prepared for each electrical unit, and the corresponding electrical unit and the electrical connection box are electrically connected by the dedicated wire harness. Even if there are a plurality of types, it is only necessary to prepare a wire harness for connection between the electrical unit and the electrical connection box only in a type corresponding to the type of the electrical unit,
The wiring harness that connects another electrical unit and the electrical junction box is not affected at all, so that it is possible to cope with the difference in the specifications of the vehicle with a small number of harness types.

Furthermore, by connecting one end of the electric wire constituting the wire harness directly to the electrical unit, no connecting parts such as a connector are required, and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the inside of a vehicle for explaining the background art of a centrally arranged electric junction box according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the electric connection box attached to a substantially central portion of the instrument panel as viewed from the front.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a procedure for attaching the electric connection box to the instrument panel.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an electrical connection relationship between the electric connection box and various harnesses in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional electrical connection relationship between an electric junction box and various harnesses.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Instrument panel 2 Instrument panel 5 Center cluster 11 Approximately central part (of instrument panel) 43 Electrical connection box 72 Wire harness (for exclusive use of air conditioner unit) 73 Wire harness (for exclusive use of console unit) 74 Instrument panel wire harness

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Miya ▲ saki ▼ Junnoyuki 1-7-10 Kikuzumi, Minami-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi Harness Research Institute, Inc. (72) Inventor Hiroshi Sudo Minami-Nagoya, Aichi 1-7-10 Kikuzumi-ku, Harness Research Institute

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A centrally arranged electric connection box electrically connected to a plurality of electric units provided in a vehicle and distributing electric power supplied from a power supply unit to the respective electric units, wherein the instrument for the vehicle is provided. A centrally arranged electrical connection box, which is arranged at a substantially central portion of a panel and electrically connected to the electrical unit by a dedicated wire harness corresponding to the electrical unit for each electrical unit. 2. An at least one wire harness of the plurality of wire harnesses, wherein one end of an electric wire forming the wire harness is directly connected to an electrical unit corresponding to the wire harness. 2. The centrally located electrical junction box according to 1. 3. The centrally located electrical junction box according to claim 1, wherein the centrally located electrical junction box is located in a center cluster provided at a substantially central portion of an instrument panel of the vehicle.