KR100811092B1 - Smart junction box - Google Patents

Abstract

A smart junction box having a function for diagnosing failure is provided to display operations of a first and a second sensing element output from a microcontroller to allow a driver to take a corrective action in case of failure. A smart junction box capable of diagnosing failure has a plurality of fuses which interrupt power distributed from a battery(110) of a vehicle, a first sensing element(127) which senses connectivity of a fuse element(121), an FET(Field Effect Transistor) switching element(122) which selectively applies power distributed from the battery to an electrical load, a second sensing element(128) which senses connectivity of the switching element, a microcontroller(123) which receives operational signals of electronic devices transmitted through communication in a vehicle and controls operation of the FET switching element with recording operations of the fuse element and the FET switching element through the first and second sensing elements, and a display element to indicate operational status of the first and second elements.

Description

Smart junction box with fault monitoring function {SMART JUNCTION BOX}

1 is a view showing a bus bar type junction box to which the prior art is applied.

2 is a view showing a junction box of the PCB type to which the prior art is applied.

3 is a view showing a smart junction box to which the present invention is applied.

Figure 4 is a block diagram for explaining the operation of the smart junction box to which the present invention is applied.

5 is a view for explaining an in-vehicle communication structure to which the smart junction box of the present invention is applied.

6 is a view for explaining the device monitoring structure of the present invention.

7 is a view for explaining the device state display structure of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a smart junction box with a fault diagnosis function, and more particularly, to sense the operation of the fuse and the switching element in the junction box and to visually display the operation on the junction box or the vehicle driver seat. It is about a smart junction box with fault monitoring, which allows the user to visually identify the fault module directly, enabling immediate safety measures, identifying the cause, and enabling rapid follow-up.

In general, the electric device of the vehicle can be compared to the nervous system, and the electric vehicle can only properly exhibit its performance until the electric device is normally operated.

The electric device of such a vehicle can be divided into an engine-side device and a vehicle-side device. The engine-side device includes an ignition device consisting of an ignition coil, a distributor high voltage cable, a spark plug, and a charging device including a generator and a regulator. In addition, the vehicle-side electric device includes a battery, a lighting device for lighting, a sign, a signal, an instrument warning display device and an air conditioner / heating device installed in an instrument panel, and the like.

All of the vehicle's electrical devices are wired and connected to the electronic control unit (ECU) in the engine room of the vehicle. At this time, a junction box is used as an intermediate medium for connecting the wires and the ECU to each other. Is used.

1 is a view showing a bus bar type junction box to which the prior art is applied.

As shown in FIG. 1, the junction box 1 includes an upper case 2 into which various kinds of fuses 6, such as mini fuses, mid fuses, and S / B fuses, and various elements including the relays 7 are inserted. The outer case 3 is provided as an outer case, and the lower case 3 into which the input / output connector 5 is inserted, and the circuit board 4 of several layers is stacked between the upper case 2 and the lower case 3. It is configured by being inserted.

In this case, the circuit board 4 distributes the current input between the insulating plates by coupling one metal bus layer (bus bar) to one insulating plate, and in the case, A plurality of circuit boards 4 are stacked and inserted in several layers.

However, such a conventional bus bar type junction box has a large volume occupied by a plurality of floors, thus occupying a lot of space when mounted on a vehicle, and increasing material costs during manufacturing.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 2, a junction box of a PCB type, which replaces a plurality of busbar circuit boards 4 through a PCB layer 8, has been developed.

Although the junction box of the PCB type can solve the volume problem caused by the multilayer busbar circuit boards 4, which is a problem of the conventional busbar type through the adoption of the PCB layer 8, the relay ( The busbar circuit board 4 is still used at the top for coupling with an analog device such as 7), which does not lead to a large volume reduction.

In particular, the PCB type junction box still uses the analog type relay 7 as a switching element, so it is impossible to exchange information with other modules, thus preventing the digitalization and IT development required in the automotive field recently.

In addition, such a conventional junction box does not have a function for identifying a proper failure in the internal failure of the junction box, so even when a trouble occurs, it is not possible to analyze the cause component, and thus the junction box itself has to be replaced. Since the vehicle shows different driving and riding environments for each vehicle, it was not possible to provide a diagnosis and analysis function for the failure of the electrical components and junction boxes caused by various causes.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, the object is to sense the operation of the fuse and the switching element in the junction box and to display the operation in the junction box or vehicle cockpit visible to the driver It provides a smart junction box with a fault monitoring function that enables immediate safety countermeasures with visual identification of fault modules directly, as well as cause identification and rapid follow-up.

Smart junction box with a failure monitoring function according to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, in a junction box for a vehicle, a plurality of fuse elements for intermittent power output from the vehicle battery; A first sensing element detecting whether the fuse is energized; A FET switching element for switching the power in the battery to apply power to the on-vehicle load; A second sensing element detecting whether the FET switching element is switched; Receiving operation signals for various electronic devices transmitted through in-vehicle communication to control the operation of the FET switching device, and monitors and outputs the operation of the fuse device and the FET switching device from the first and second sensing devices. Microcontroller; And a status display device for displaying an output result of whether the first and second sensing devices output from the microcontroller are operated in the vehicle. Characterized in that it comprises a.

Preferably, the microcontroller is characterized by displaying the result of receiving the operation signals for the various electronic devices transmitted through the in-vehicle communication through the status display element.

More preferably, the sensing element is characterized by consisting of a shunt resistor.

On the other hand, the smart junction box with a failure monitoring function according to another aspect of the present invention, the junction box for a vehicle, FET switching element for switching the power from the battery to apply power to the vehicle load; A microcontroller configured to control operation of the FET switching element by receiving operation signals for various electronic devices transmitted through in-vehicle communication; The operation signal of the microcontroller output from the microcontroller and input to the gate terminal of the FET switching element through the photocoupler is extracted from one end of the light emitting part of the photocoupler, and the operation signal input from the microcontroller is normally applied to the FET switching element. A first status display element for displaying whether it has been input; And a second state display element connected between the gate end and the source end of the FET switching element to indicate whether the corresponding FET switching element is normally switched in accordance with an operation signal input from a microcontroller to energize a required power source. Characterized in that it comprises a.

Preferably, the first and second status display elements are light-emitting LEDs.

Hereinafter, a smart junction box having a failure monitoring function according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 3, a plurality of fuse elements 121 and a plurality of switching elements 122 are disposed in the smart junction box 120 to which the present invention is applied.

The fuse elements 121 disposed therein are mini-fuse, mid-fuse, and S / B fuses. The role of these fuse elements is to prevent the device from being damaged by short or reverse current. That is, when an abnormality occurs in the device, a secondary failure, for example, a short-circuit caused by a short-circuit in the product or a peripheral component due to a long time overcurrent, etc. In order to prevent the current, when the current flows higher than the set current, the internally generated heat is cut off the middle.

Therefore, each fuse element uses a current capacity slightly higher than the rated power of the product used, and its own fuse capacity is visually revealed on the surface for the user to easily recognize.

In addition, the switching elements 122 are configured as field effect transistor (FET) elements. The role of the switching elements 122 is a switch, which serves to remotely control or automatically control the energization state of another circuit (switch) by using a current variation of one circuit (a circuit to which a voltage is applied).

These FET switching elements 122 and fuse elements 121 are connected to a pre-printed conductive pattern of the PCB substrate 129 provided in the junction box 120 to be electrically connected to the input / output connector provided in the vehicle from below. .

Here, the FET switching elements 122 are preferably MOS type FET devices, which enables high-speed switching operation, and can replace the existing relays to control the switching operation simply and accurately in the microcontroller in the junction box. Therefore, it is possible to effectively cope with next-generation communication protocols requiring control of various electric signals and sensor input / output, such as controller area network (CAN) communication.

In addition, by employing such a FET switching element 122 as a switching element to replace the relay, it is possible to miniaturize more than the miniaturization of the junction box that can be achieved by the PCB substrate 129. That is, since the conventional switching relay is very large, it is difficult to reduce the overall volume of the junction box even if it is applied to the PCB substrate 129, the FET switching element 122 is the existing with the accuracy of the switching operation It takes much smaller size and mounting volume compared to the size of the relay, further reducing the volume of the junction box.

At this time, the PCB substrate 129 is composed of two layers, one layer is responsible for the high voltage portion and the second layer is responsible for the low voltage portion. In fact, since a lot of heat is generated in the high voltage portion of the first layer, this two-layer structure is advantageous for heat generation and prevents interference between the high voltage portion and the low voltage portion.

Now, the junction box of the present invention in which the FET switching element 122 is applied to the PCB substrate 129 will be described with reference to FIG.

The junction box 120 is connected to a vehicle battery 110 for supplying power to various electrical appliances of the vehicle to control the application of power to the various loads 130 in the vehicle by controlling the power supply of the battery 110. Each electronic device in the device is operated.

In this case, the junction box 120 switches a plurality of fuse elements 121 to block excessive flow of power from the power output from the vehicle battery 110, and the power passing through the fuse elements 127 in the vehicle. FET switching device 122 for applying power to the load 130, and microcontroller 123 for controlling the switching operation of the FET switching device 122 and collects and outputs the operation record in the junction box 120 do.

The microcontroller 123 controls the overall function of the smart junction box 120 acting as one node of the in-vehicle CAN communication network as shown in FIG. Real-time communication with the ECU) and the switching operation of the internal FET switching element 122 by receiving an on / off signal from the smart M / F (Multi Function) switch 140 located below the smart junction box 120. And control whether the internal fuse element 121 and the FET switching element 122 are operated to the state display element 150 located in the driver's seat. At this time, the smart junction box 120 is the master of the local-interconnect network (LIN) communication and the smart M / F switch 140 and the plurality of status display elements 150 to operate as a slave of the LIN communication do.

Accordingly, the smart junction box 120 performs master functions of CAN communication and LIN communication, and the M / F switch 140 and the plurality of status display elements 150 are slaves of LIN communication to which the corresponding junction box belongs. It will perform the function.

In detail, the microcontroller 123 transmits operation signals for various electronic devices transmitted from the smart M / F switch 140 through LIN communication and operation signals for various electronic devices transmitted through the CAN communication. It receives and controls the switching operation of the switching device 122.

Here, the microcontroller 123 is a signal for the operation signal for the various electronic devices transmitted through the CAN communication and the operation signal for the various electronic devices transmitted through the LIN communication from the smart M / F switch 140 Output to the status display element 150 is displayed in real time.

For example, the operation signal related to the wiper driving commanded by the driver through the smart M / F switch 140 is displayed on the charge status display element 150 by the microcontroller 123 that receives the driver's command.

On the other hand, the fuse element 121 and the FET switching element 122 is provided with a first sensing element 127 and a second sensing element 128 to monitor the operation of the device, respectively.

That is, the first and second sensing elements 127 and 128 are sensing elements capable of diagnosing whether an abnormality has occurred in the fuse element 121 and the FET switching element 122. Preferably, the shunt ) Can be simply implemented with a resistor.

For example, FIG. 6 shows a configuration of power delivery and device monitoring using such a shunt resistor.

That is, a simple configuration of supplying power from the battery 110, which is the power source, to the load 130 through switching of the FET switching element 122, which is a switching element during driving, and monitoring and sensing the power supply state with a shunt resistor. Through such sensing elements 127 and 128 are configurable.

At this time, the microcontroller 123 senses whether the electricity is supplied to the first sensing element 127 that senses the operation of the fuse element 121 and outputs the electricity to the charge state display element 150 of the driver's seat. Will be displayed. At this time, the energized state and the non-energized state (fault) may be displayed differently.

Similarly, the microcontroller 123 senses whether the second sensing element 128 detects the operation of the FET switching element 122 and whether the switching is performed to the state display element 150 of the driver's seat. Will be printed and displayed. In this case, the switching state and the unswitching state (fault) may be displayed differently.

As a result, the driver's seat visually displays the operation signal application state of the electronic device executed through the plurality of state display elements 150 and the operation state of the fuse element 121 and the FET switching element 122 related to the operation. You will be able to check.

Therefore, when the driver does not perform the operation properly, the driver can immediately grasp the part where the failure has occurred, and can immediately deal with the problem.

On the other hand, whether the operation signal for the various electronic devices, whether the fuse element is energized, and whether the FET element is switched can be expressed by one character display element (for example, wiper on, wiper fuse, wiper switching, etc.). ).

At this time, such a character display element may be composed of seven segments or LCD.

Alternatively, the operation signal application state and the operation state of the junction box related to the operation may be configured to be displayed directly on the junction box 120 instead of the inside of the vehicle.

This can be considered sufficiently because the driver in the vehicle may feel that such information is unnecessary or the wiring to the driver's seat may be a problem.

As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of LED type status display elements 150 provided for each element and a letter display element 152 provided in the center may be implemented.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a circuit diagram in which the operation signal application state and the operation state of the FET switching element 122 related to the operation can be directly displayed on the junction box.

Referring to FIG. 7, the operation signal for the FET switching element 122 in the junction box of the microcontroller 123 is input to the gate terminal of the corresponding FET switching element Q1 through the photocoupler ISO3 via the A terminal. As a result, the corresponding FET switching element Q1 is switched so that the drain terminal and the source terminal are energized.

At this time, a separate LED type state display element D2 is connected to one end of the light emitting part of the photocoupler ISO3 to which the operation signal of the microcontroller 123 is input, so that the operation signal input from the microcontroller 123 is normally FET. It is possible to display whether or not it has been input to the switching element Q1.

In addition, the FET switching element Q1 through which the drain and source terminals are energized in accordance with an operation signal input to the gate terminal through the photocoupler ISO3 has a separate LED type state display element between the gate and source terminals. D3) is connected so that the corresponding FET switching element Q1 is normally switched in accordance with the operation signal input from the microcontroller 123 to indicate whether the required power is supplied.

Here, R3, R4, R5, and R6, which are not described, are resistance elements.

That is, the operation state of applying the operation signal from the microcontroller 123 and the operation state of the FET switching element 122 related to the operation and the energization of each fuse element 121 through the plurality of LED type state display elements 150. Whether or not can be displayed directly on the junction box.

Alternatively, the character display element 152 displays whether each operation signal is received and whether the FET switching element 122 is switched or whether the fuse element 121 is energized. This may be reversed, and it is also possible to unify it into one display element.

Therefore, a driver who feels abnormality in the operation of a specific electronic device can immediately diagnose a failure part directly through the corresponding junction box 120 and can immediately take safety measures.

The present invention described above is capable of various substitutions, modifications, and changes without departing from the spirit of the present invention for those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. It is not limited to the drawing.

As described above, the smart junction box with a fault monitoring function according to the present invention uses a FET switching element that configures a power supply and a signal line as a PCB substrate to replace a bus bar and replaces a relay to improve the space utilization of the entire junction box. In addition to increasing the responsiveness to circuit changes and facilitating the exchange of information with future CAN communications, the operator can monitor the operation of fuses and switching elements in the junction box, allowing the operator to visually identify the faults immediately. It is effective in making it possible to diagnose and take immediate safety measures.

Claims (5)

In a junction box for a vehicle, A plurality of fuse elements for intermittent the power output from the vehicle battery; A first sensing element detecting whether the fuse is energized; A FET switching element for switching the power in the battery to apply power to the on-vehicle load; A second sensing element detecting whether the FET switching element is switched; Receiving operation signals for various electronic devices transmitted through in-vehicle communication to control the operation of the FET switching device, and monitors and outputs the operation of the fuse device and the FET switching device from the first and second sensing devices. Microcontroller; And A status display element for displaying an output result of whether the first and second sensing elements output from the micro controller are operated in the vehicle; Smart junction box with a fault monitoring, characterized in that it comprises a. The method of claim 1, The micro-controller smart junction box with a failure monitoring function, characterized in that for displaying the result of receiving the operation signals for the various electronic devices transmitted through the in-vehicle through the status display element. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The sensing element is a smart junction box with a fault diagnosis function, characterized in that consisting of a shunt resistor. In a junction box for a vehicle, A FET switching element for switching the power in the battery to apply power to the on-vehicle load; A microcontroller configured to control operation of the FET switching element by receiving operation signals for various electronic devices transmitted through in-vehicle communication; The operation signal of the microcontroller output from the microcontroller and input to the gate terminal of the FET switching element through the photocoupler is extracted from one end of the light emitting part of the photocoupler, and the operation signal input from the microcontroller is normally applied to the FET switching element. A first status display element for displaying whether it has been input; And A second state display element connected between a gate end and a source end of the FET switching element, and displaying whether or not the corresponding FET switching element is normally switched according to an operation signal input from a microcontroller to energize a required power source; Smart junction box with a fault diagnosis function, characterized in that it comprises a. The method of claim 4, wherein The first and second status display element is a smart junction box with a fault monitoring, characterized in that the light emitting LED.

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