JPH11238492A - Control unit with built-in battery - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control unit of built-in battery type capable of being reduced in size. SOLUTION: A wiring board 22 on which a microcomputer is mounted, is held pinchedly by an upper 24a and a lower case 24b and accommodated in the inside, and an electric wire 50 introduced externally is connected with a terminal table 28 provided in continuity to the wiring board 22, and a housing 24 is provided in such a way that the part over the terminal table 28 is covered with a terminal cover 24c capable of being mounted removably, and an accommodation area 32 for battery 56 is secured in that space of the housing 24 positioned between the electric wire 50 and terminal cover 24c.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control unit with a built-in battery in which a battery for supplying power to a microcomputer as a controller is housed together with a microcomputer in a housing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, controllers using a micro computer have become widespread in various industrial equipments and the like. For example, an automatic meter reading system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-162540 will be described with reference to FIG. 4. In this system, an automatic notification device 1 having a built-in CPU and serving as a controller is attached to a gas meter 2 of a terminal. A configuration is shown in which the automatic notification device 1 is connected to a host computer of an information center 4 via a telephone line via an exchange 3, and reports meter reading data of the gas meter 2 as periodic information or emergency information. Controllers including such a distributed computing environment are widely used, and some of the controller units constituting the controller are provided with a microcomputer and a battery for supplying power to the microcomputer. And with this kind of controller unit, like general equipment,
There is a demand for miniaturization.

In order to cope with miniaturization while incorporating a battery,
Various structures are employed in the prior art. For example, FIG.
In the gas meter shown in (a), since the space in the controller storage section 8 of the meter main body 7 is narrow, the battery 6 is fixed inside the terminal cover 9 attached to the side surface of the meter main body 7. In the structure shown in FIG. 5B, a middle case 12 is further provided inside the upper and lower cases 10 and 11 for accommodating the controller, and the battery 6 is formed in a space formed by partially hollowing out the middle case 12. It is designed to be placed. In addition, although not shown, there are a type in which the battery is directly attached to the substrate, and a type in which the battery is arranged by utilizing an empty area adjacent to the wiring board of the lower case.

[0004]

However, FIG.
In the type shown in (a), the lead wire of the battery 6 is pulled when the terminal cover 9 is detached from the meter body 7, or when the terminal cover 9 is attached, the lead wire is connected to the meter body 7. Frequently, there was trouble such as being caught in the middle, which caused the lead wire to be damaged. On the other hand, in the structure of FIG. 5B, since the battery 6 is accommodated in the space of the middle case 12, the thickness of the middle case 12 is increased, and a holding structure of the middle case 12 is also required. There was a problem of complicating the structure. Also, in the case where the battery is directly mounted, it is naturally impossible to replace the battery alone, so that replacing each substrate has caused a great deal of labor and an increase in cost. In the case of using the empty space of the lower case, since the batteries are arranged with the upper case removed and the wiring board exposed, there is a disadvantage that the wiring board is contaminated or damaged when the battery is mounted. Was. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and can be reduced in size without causing interference with a battery lead wire or the like or an adverse effect on a microcomputer and the like, and can be easily realized by simplifying a housing structure serving as a case. It is an object of the present invention to provide a control unit with a built-in battery.

[0005]

A control unit with a built-in battery according to the present invention for achieving the above object has a wiring board on which a microcomputer is mounted and a battery for supplying power to the microcomputer which are integrally housed in a housing. In a control unit with a built-in battery, the housing includes a first case, a second case engaged with the first case, and a second case.
A terminal cover attached to the case and covering the terminal block connected to the wiring board, and a storage space for the battery is provided in a wiring space of an electric wire that is externally introduced and connected to the terminal block in the terminal cover. It is characterized by having. Alternatively, the control unit with a built-in battery may be characterized in that the wiring board is sandwiched between the first case and the second case. Alternatively, the control unit with a built-in battery holds the battery with a pair of battery locking claws that extend the second case vertically with respect to the first case and sandwich the battery from both sides. It may be characterized by having done.

[0006] The battery is arranged in a region between the terminal cover and the electric wire connected to the terminal block, that is, a wiring space. This wiring space is always formed even if the controller unit is miniaturized, so that the battery storage area is always secured. Moreover, if the battery storage area is secured on the wired electric wires, the battery can be easily mounted simply by removing the terminal cover. Since the wiring board is sandwiched and supported by the first and second covers, the support structure of the housing can be simplified. In addition, the wiring board includes first and second wiring boards.
And is not exposed when the terminal cover is removed, so that it is protected from contamination, breakage and the like. Since the battery locking claw is formed by extending the second cover, it can be easily provided by integral molding,
Moreover, since the battery is sandwiched from both sides, the battery can be securely held.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, (a) is a plan view of a control unit with a terminal cover removed,
2B is a sectional view, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part. The battery built-in control unit 20 includes an input / output interface for exchanging data with a microcomputer (not shown) and the outside,
Alternatively, a wiring board 22 on which an actuator drive circuit and the like are mounted is housed in a housing 24 and configured.

The housing 24 includes a lower case (first case) 24a, an upper case (second case) 24b fitted to the lower case 24a, and a terminal cover 24c. That is, the lower case 24a is
b and the terminal cover 24c cover the entire area. In this embodiment, the housing 24 forms a case of the microcomputer gas meter.

The wiring board 22 is disposed on a substantially plate-like lower case 24a, and is housed in the housing 24 by being covered with a substantially lid-like upper case 24b.
The bolt 26 penetrating from the back side of the upper case 24b is connected to the upper case 24b.
Is supported by the housing 24 while being sandwiched between the cases 24a and 24b.

At the end of the wiring board 22, a terminal block 28 connected to the wiring board 22 is disposed on the lower case 24a.
An electric wire 50 introduced into the housing 24 from the outside is connected to the terminal block 28.

A terminal cover 24c formed in substantially the same lid shape as the upper case 24b is provided above the lower case 24a (the lower part in the figure) where the terminal block 28 is disposed.
4b is provided instead. This terminal cover 24c
It is connected to an end of the upper case 24b and is detachably attached to the upper case 24b. Therefore, the terminal cover 24
When c is removed from the upper case 24b, the housing portion including the terminal block 28 is exposed.

The electric wire 50 is connected to the housing 2 through the notch 30 formed on one side wall (the lower surface in the figure) of the terminal cover 24c.
4, and the end of the electric wire 50 is fixedly connected on the terminal block 24c. The electric wire 50 passed through the notch 30 and the terminal cover 2 covered so as to cover the electric wire 50
4c, a storage area 32 for storing a battery 56 to be described later is formed. That is, the battery 56
Is formed using the wiring space.

The battery 56 is a lithium battery for supplying electric power to the microcomputer. In this embodiment, a lithium battery having a diameter of 20 mm and a length of 60 mm is used.

As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of paired battery locking claws 34 serving as battery fixing portions are formed in the storage area 32 of the battery 56. The battery locking claw 34 is
b is extended vertically with respect to the lower case 24a to
6 has a rib shape sandwiching both side surfaces (upper and lower surfaces of the illustrated battery).

In the control unit 20 with a built-in battery having the above-described configuration, the wiring board 22 on which a microcomputer or the like is mounted
The upper and lower cases 24a and 24b are protected in a housing 24 formed by overlapping them. Then, the battery 56 is mounted on the control unit 20 previously fixedly connected to the terminal block 28 by removing the terminal cover 24c and introducing the electric wire 50 from the outside, and removing the battery 56 from the terminal cover 24c. This is achieved by engaging the battery locking claws 34 in the exposed storage area 32. That is, the battery 56
It is built into the control unit 20 by effectively utilizing the wiring space of the electric wire 50. As a result, when the outer shape of the control unit 20 of the present embodiment is compared with that of the conventional model, as shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the length of the embodiment can be reduced by shortening the length in the vertical direction.

In the above embodiment, one battery 56 has been shown and described. However, by providing a plurality of pairs of battery locking claws 34, a series type using two batteries can be fixed. In this case, if the overall size of the battery is about 20 mm in diameter and about 100 mm in length, a control unit with a built-in battery can be configured with a housing having substantially the same shape as the above embodiment. In the above embodiment,
Although the control unit 20 with a built-in battery has been described as being attached to the microcomputer gas meter, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to other control devices.

[0017]

As described above in detail, according to the control unit with a built-in battery according to the present invention, the housing area of the battery is secured by effectively utilizing the wiring space of the electric wire connected to the terminal block. Because of this, it can respond to the miniaturization of the control unit. In addition, since the battery is mounted on the electric wire, the terminal cover is prevented from interfering with the electric wire, so that inconvenience such as pinching the electric wire when the terminal cover is mounted can be solved. In addition, since the terminal cover does not hold the battery, there is no trouble such as pulling the lead wire of the battery when removing the terminal cover. Also, since the battery is provided so that it can be mounted freely by the battery locking claw,
Can be easily replaced. Further, since the wiring board on which the microcomputer or the like is mounted is always housed in the housing and is not exposed, regardless of the removal of the terminal cover, contamination and damage are prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1A and 1B show a controller unit with a built-in battery according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein FIG. 1A is a plan view of the controller unit with a terminal cover removed, and FIG.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the appearance of a controller unit with a built-in battery according to an embodiment of the present invention in comparison with a conventional model;
Shows a conventional model, and (b) shows this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an automatic meter reading system.

5A and 5B show an example of a conventional controller unit with a built-in battery. FIG. 5A is a partially cutaway perspective view of a microcomputer gas meter, and FIG. 5B is an exploded perspective view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 control unit with built-in battery 22 wiring board 24 housing 24a lower case (first case) 24b upper case (second case) 24c terminal cover 28 terminal block 32 battery storage area 34 battery retaining claw 50 electric wire 56 battery

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A control unit with a built-in battery in which a wiring board on which a microcomputer is mounted and a battery for supplying power to the microcomputer are integrally housed in a housing, wherein the housing is associated with a first case and the first case. A second case to be fitted and a terminal cover mounted on the second case and covering the terminal block connected to the wiring board, and wiring of electric wires to be introduced from the outside and connected to the terminal block in the terminal cover A control unit with a built-in battery, wherein a storage area for the battery is provided in a space. 2. The control unit with a built-in battery according to claim 1, wherein the wiring board is sandwiched between the first case and the second case. 3. The battery according to claim 1, wherein the second case extends vertically with respect to the first case, and is held by a pair of battery locking claws sandwiching the battery from both sides. The control unit with a built-in battery according to claim 1.