KR100264849B1 - Junction box and pcb assembly therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a junction box and a substrate assembly thereof having a simple configuration, low cost, and easy assembly.

The junction box 10 includes a housing 20 and a substrate assembly 30 accommodated therein. The substrate assembly 30 has at least two equally shaped PCBs 31 and 32, an insulating separator 50 and a connecting pin 40 therebetween. A plurality of through holes 34 and 35 are formed in at least one of the PCBs 31 and 32, and the connection pins 40 are inserted and electrically and mechanically integrated by, for example, soldering parts. The interval between the PCBs 31 and 32 is determined by the height of the ribs 52 formed on the insulation separator 50 side.

Description

Junction box and its substrate assembly

1 is an exploded perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the junction box according to the present invention.

2 is an exploded perspective view of Example 1 of the substrate assembly of the present invention.

3 is a perspective view of an insulating separator used in the substrate assembly of FIG.

4 is a front view of an insulating separator used in the substrate assembly of FIG.

5 is a partial cross-sectional view of a modification of the substrate assembly using a compliant connecting pin.

6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a substrate assembly.

7 is a plan view of a substrate assembly PCB of another embodiment.

8 is a plan view of an insulating separator of the substrate assembly of another embodiment.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

10: junction box 20: housing

30,30 ': substrate assembly 31, 31', 32, 33: substrate (PCB)

40,40 ′: Pin 50,50 ′: Insulated separator

52: rib

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a junction box and a substrate assembly thereof for use in an electric wiring unit, particularly an electric wiring unit such as an automobile.

Electronic technology is very widely used in various devices and systems. A typical example is a car. As a result of significant advances in semiconductor technology, microprocessors have been applied to automobiles to control engines, side mirrors, windows, safety devices and audio equipment. For this reason, there are many wirings for power and signals, and various electric and mechanical parts such as connectors and fuses are required for the convenience or improvement of assembly, maintenance service, and safety.

In a conventional junction box, some wirings require a large current capacity of 10 A or more, so that it is common to directly coat and bond a copper plate having a predetermined shape on the insulating plate to obtain a sufficient current capacity.

Alternatively, the use of at least one printed circuit board (PCB) as a main component of the junction box is also limited. Another example of the junction box is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-7448. For example, two PCBs are housed in a housing in parallel and interconnected by a series of terminals having fork-like contacts receiving one end thereof, and having contacts or connections projecting out of the housing. These fork contacts make electrical interconnects in contact with the traces formed at the ends of the PCB.

In the above-described conventional example of the former, the Joule heat generated because the optimum thickness and width (ie, cross-sectional area) of the copper (or conductive metal) plate can be selected according to the magnitude of the current flowing through the substrate. the ² R) is not excessive to avoid the abnormal temperature rise. However, there is a drawback that it is complicated and expensive to coat and bond a plurality of conductor paths on the insulating plate in which copper plates of different thicknesses and widths are formed in a predetermined shape in accordance with the magnitude of the current.

On the other hand, the latter conventional example described above uses relatively well-established printed circuit board technology, which is relatively inexpensive and easily changes the conductor pattern as necessary. However, the copper foil of the PCB is very thin and difficult to obtain a sufficiently large current capacity, and requires a large surface area for a large current, there is a problem that it is difficult to form a plurality of conductive paths and suppress heat generation. For this reason, although a plurality of PCBs were used in duplicate, it was difficult to integrate them electrically and mechanically.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a junction box, which is inexpensive and easy to manufacture, using a plurality of PCBs electrically and mechanically integrated in parallel relations at regular intervals.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a substrate assembly formed from a plurality of PCBs electrically and mechanically integrated through an insulating separator.

In order to solve the above problems of the conventional junction box and at the same time achieve the above object, the junction box of the present invention comprises a substrate assembly comprising at least two PCBs and an insulating housing for accommodating the substrate assembly. The substrate assembly includes a plurality of PCBs having substantially the same dimensions having a plurality of through holes formed along at least one edge thereof, an insulating separator inserted between the PCBs, and a plurality of PCBs inserted through the through holes of these PCBs and soldered, for example. Equipped with a connecting pin of the plurality of PCB to maintain a parallel relationship at a predetermined interval to be electrically and mechanically integrated. The insulated separator has substantially the same dimension shape as the PCB (but very narrow) and has a thin flat body portion and ribs of constant height formed at least in the longitudinal direction thereof. The height of these ribs is polymerized to determine the spacing between the PCBs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a junction box and a substrate assembly thereof according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a simplified perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a junction box according to the present invention. The junction box 10 is composed of an insulating housing 20 and a substrate assembly 30 accommodated in the housing. The insulating housing 20 is composed of a lower housing portion 20a and an upper housing portion 20b formed by molding a suitable heat resistant plastic material. Although not shown, both housing portions 20a and 20b are preferably coupled to each other by a plurality of latch members (for example, uneven latch coupling portions) which are widely known.

The substrate assembly 30 of the particular embodiment shown in FIG. 1 comprises a pair of identically shaped PCBs 31 and 32 and an insulating separator (or spacer) 50 which polymerizes these PCBs 31 and 32 at regular intervals. It is included. Each PCB 31, 32 has a plurality of predetermined patterns of traces (not shown) formed on at least one main surface thereof, so that a plurality of traces (not shown) are formed along at least one side edge (one side edge in the longitudinal direction in this particular embodiment). Through holes 34 and 35 are formed. PCBs 31 and 32 are approximately square in this particular embodiment.

The insulating separator 50 is preferably manufactured by molding a heat resistant plastic material. This insulating separator 50 is substantially the same as the PCBs 31 and 32 but is very narrow. The insulated separator 50 determines the spacing of the PCBs 31 and 32 to be polymerized with a thin flat central portion 51 and the ribs 52 along the lengthwise side edges having a uniform height.

A plurality of connecting pins 40 are inserted into the aligned through holes 34 and 35 of both PCBs 31 and 32 and in this particular embodiment are penetrated by conventional methods, for example flow soldering. The solder pads are soldered to the peripheral pads (not shown) of the balls 34 and 35 and are integrated by keeping the PCBs 31 and 32 in parallel at regular intervals. The substrate assembly 30 obtained by soldering and polymerizing the PCBs 31 and 32 by the connecting pin 40 through the insulating separator 50 is accommodated in the insulating housing 20.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of rib (male) contacts or receptacle (female) contacts are implanted on the outer surfaces of the PCB 31, 32, soldered to the surface circuit traces of the PCB 31, 32, and the upper side. Or it is electrically connected with an electrical connector, a braid fuse, etc. through the opening of lower housing 20a, 20b. Some of the openings of the insulating housings 20a and 20b are indicated by reference numerals. The electrical connector is connectable via the recessed portion 23 of the insulating housing 20b.

FIG. 2 shows an exploded perspective view of Embodiment 1 of a substrate assembly 30 formed from a pair of PCBs 31 and 32, an insulating separator 50 and a plurality of connecting pins 40. As shown in FIG. 3 and 4 are a perspective view and a front view of the insulating separator 50, respectively. As is apparent from FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the insulating separator 50 is substantially the same dimensional shape as the PCBs 31 and 32, but very narrow. The insulating separator 50 is substantially flat and has a thin central portion 51 and ribs 52 having a uniform height formed on both sides of the longitudinal direction thereof, and the central knitting portion 51 has a plurality of openings 53 of a predetermined shape. May be formed. This rib 52 serves to determine the spacing between the PCBs 31 and 32 to be polymerized. The center flat portion 51 is preferably formed in the middle of the rib 52 so that the rib 52 extends evenly up and down from both main surfaces of the central flat portion 51.

In this way, the dimensions and shape of the insulating separator 50 are almost the same as those of the PCBs 31 and 32, and the dimensions and shapes are very narrow, so that both PCBs 31 and 32 are laminated at a predetermined interval, that is, in parallel, and at the same time, the ribs 52 A space for arranging the connecting pin 40 along one end of the can be obtained. In addition, the central flat portion 51 of the insulating separator 50 is separated from the inner surfaces of both PCBs 31 and 32 and at the same time, the openings 53 of the flat portions 51 effectively generate heat of both PCBs 31 and 32. It can dissipate heat.

The connecting pin 40 may be a rod-shaped pin of a conventional design having a substantially circular or rectangular cross section. The connecting pin 40 is soldered to the through holes 34 and 35 by conventional soldering techniques. In this modified example, the connecting pin is a conventional compliant connecting pin 40 having the compliant (elastic) portions 41 and 42 at positions separated in the longitudinal direction, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-54435. ′) May be used. The modified connecting pin 40 'is forcibly pressed into the aligned through-holes 34 and 35 to electrically and mechanically integrate both PCBs 31 and 32, thereby providing a connection between the PCB 31 and 32 and the connecting pin 41'. It is possible to eliminate solder joints and improve workability (see Figure 4). The compliant connecting pin 40 'has a lead-in 43 and a notch 44 for the convenience of the press fitting operation and connects the connecting pin 40' to the through holes 34 and 35. It is preferable to cut or cut | disconnect the notch part 44 after press fitting.

6 is a separate embodiment of the substrate assembly according to the present invention and is composed of three PCBs 31, 32 and 33 and two insulating separators 50 and 55. The substrate assembly 30 'of this embodiment may form a separate conductive path by inserting a third PCB 33 between the PCBs 31 and 32, and increase the number of conductive paths and, as necessary, It is possible to increase the current capacity and reduce the resistance to reduce the heat generation by connecting the conductive paths largely or connecting a plurality of conductive paths in parallel.

7 and 8 show examples of separate substrate assemblies. FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the PCB 31 ', and FIG. 8 shows the insulation separator 50'. These PCB 31 'and the insulating separator 50' are characterized by being non-square. The PCB 31 'and the insulating separator 50' are approximately the same dimension shape. In the PCB 31 ', a series of through-holes into which the connecting pin is inserted along one of the longitudinal directions is formed at, for example, about 5 mm apart. Also in this embodiment, ribs 52 'are formed at both edges in the longitudinal direction of the insulating separator 50'.

As mentioned above, although the preferred embodiment of the junction box of this invention and its board | substrate assembly was shown and demonstrated, this invention is not limited only to this embodiment. Therefore, the present invention can be modified in various ways according to the application. For example, the rib of an insulating separator may be formed over the whole pole, and may be formed discontinuously so long as it has a uniform height which is not necessarily continuous.

As understood from the above description, the junction box of the present invention uses an integrated substrate assembly housed in an insulated housing, so that the structure is simple and the assembly is easy to manufacture, resulting in low cost. In addition, the substrate assembly can be easily handled by polymerizing a plurality of PCBs having the same dimension shape through a ribbed insulating separator and electrically and mechanically integrating them in parallel by a plurality of continuous pins. Therefore, using a known PCB technology, a junction box suitable for a particular application can be realized easily and at low cost. In addition, since the rib of the insulating separator is disposed along the through hole, it has a significant effect in practical use, such as preventing the invasion of this material between PCBs during soldering.

Claims (6)

A substrate assembly including at least two substrates arranged in parallel with each other and electrically and mechanically integrated with each other, and an insulating housing for accommodating the substrate assembly, wherein the substrate assembly is mutually polymerized through a separator between the substrates; And a junction box in which a plurality of connecting pins are inserted into a plurality of through holes along at least one edge of the substrate, wherein the insulating separator has ribs defining a distance between the substrates along at least opposite opposing edges. Junction box, characterized in that. A substrate assembly including at least two substrates arranged in parallel with each other and electrically and mechanically integrated with each other, and an insulating housing for accommodating the substrate assembly, wherein the substrate assembly is mutually polymerized through a separator between the substrates; And a junction box having a plurality of connecting pins inserted into a plurality of through-holes along at least one edge of the substrate, wherein the insulating separator is flat along at least one side edge facing at least one thin flat portion having at least one opening. Junction box, characterized in that it has ribs protruding on both sides of the part. At least two substrates having the same dimensional shape and a plurality of through-holes formed along at least one edge, an insulating separator having a very narrow and thin centered flat plate and ribs having a constant height along the side edge, and the insulating separator. And a plurality of connection pins inserted between the corresponding through holes by polymerizing the substrate through the substrate, wherein the at least two substrates are electrically and mechanically connected together by the connection pins. . 4. A substrate assembly according to claim 3, wherein at least one opening is formed in the central portion on the flat plate of the insulating separator. 4. The substrate assembly of claim 3, wherein the connection pin is in the form of a conductive rod and soldered to the substrate. 4. The substrate assembly of claim 3, wherein the connection pin has a compliant portion elastically press-fitted into the through hole of the substrate.