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Claims  |
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What is claimed is:
1. A controller-including wiring apparatus for an automotive vehicle, for
controllably connecting a wire harness to a plurality of electric devices
mounted on the automotive vehicle, the wire harness being connected at one
end of said wiring apparatus, which comprises:
(a) a junction block including a housing with outwardly facing walls and
containing at least one bus bar circuit board on which harness branch
circuits are arranged and to which the electric devices are connectable;
wherein
(1) said at least one bus bar board contains at least one bus bar forming
said harness branch circuits, at least one tab terminal extending upwardly
from a bus bar board surface of said bus bar circuit board connected to
said at least one bus bar, and at least one end tab terminal extending
upwardly or downwardly from a bus bar circuit board end connected to said
at least one bus bar;
(2) a main cover wall provided with connector housings to which extended
elements can be connected; and
(3) an under cover wall formed with connector housings to which the at
least one tab terminal can be fitted;
(b) a controller unit having at least one printed circuit board on which
control circuits are arranged to control the electric devices, said
controller unit being connectable to said wiring apparatus at the end of
said wiring apparatus opposite the end to which said wire harness is
connected; and
(c) a plurality of junction terminals, collectively arranged at an end of
said junction block and having first and second ends and middle portions,
some of the middle portions being joined to the branch circuits, the first
ends being for coupling to said controller unit at said opposite end of
said wiring apparatus and the second ends being for coupling to the wire
harness at said one end of said wiring apparatus and with the outwardly
facing walls of the junction block housing sandwiched between the wire
harness and the controller unit.
2. The controller-including wiring apparatus for an automotive vehicle as
set forth in claim 1, wherein some of said junction terminals comprises a
first terminal member formed with a first engagement portion connectable
at the first end to said controller unit, a second engagement portion
connectable at the middle portion to one of said branch circuits, and a
third engagement portion connectable at the second end to the wire
harness.
3. The controller-including wiring apparatus for an automotive vehicle as
set forth in claim 1, wherein some of said junction terminals further
comprises a second terminal member formed with a first engagement portion
connectable at the first end to said controller unit and a second
engagement portion connectable at the second end to the wire harness, the
middle portion thereof being connected to no branch circuits.
4. The controller-including wiring apparatus for an automotive vehicle as
set forth in claim 1, wherein said some of said junction terminals further
comprises a third terminal member formed with a first engagement portion
connectable at the first end to said controller unit and a second
engagement portion connectable at the middle portion to one of said branch
circuits, the second end thereof being connected no wire harness.
5. The controller-including wiring apparatus for an automotive vehicle as
set forth in claim 1, wherein said junction terminals are tab-like
terminal strips extending in a direction perpendicular to the bus bar
circuit board, the wire harness and said controller unit being coupled to
said junction block via said junction terminals with the outwardly facing
walls of said junction block housing sandwiched between the wire harness
and said controller unit. |
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Claims |
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Description |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a controller-including wiring
apparatus for an automotive vehicle and more specifically to a junction
structure of the controller-including wiring apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, a junction block has been used for wiring an automotive
vehicle. The junction block includes bus bar circuit boards connected to a
wire harness as branch circuits, and some electric parts (e.g. fuse,
relay, etc.) arranged on the board.
However, recently, there exists a tendency that the number of electric
devices mounted on a vehicle increases more and more to improve safety and
riding confortability of the vehicle, so that the number of control
circuits also increase year by year. In addition, since the kinds and the
number of the electric and electronic devices required for an automotive
vehicle are different according to vehicle models or vehicle grades, it is
necessary to prepare a great number of junction blocks having different
circuit configurations.
To overcome the above-mentioned problems, the junction block is usually
separated into two, wiring (harness branch connecting circuits, a power
supply circuit, etc.) and controller, circuits, and these two circuits are
removably coupled with each other. Therefore, only the controller circuit
can be replaced with another controller circuit according to the number
and the kinds of the electric devices.
FIG. 1 shows an example of prior-art controller-including wiring apparatus.
In the drawing, the controller unit CONT includes a casing 101, a printed
circuit board 102, two input and output connectors 103A and 103B, and a
junction block connector 104. On the printed circuit board 102, an
electromagnetic relay 105, electronic parts 106 such as resistors,
capacitors, LSI, etc. are arranged. This controller unit CONT is connected
to a junction block JB via the junction block connector 104, and to an
external wire harness via the two input and output connectors 103A and
103B. Terminals of these connectors 103A, 103B and 104 are all connected
directly to the printed circuit board 102.
In the conventional controller unit CONT, however, since the terminals of
the connectors 103A and 103B to be connected to an external wire harness
project directly from the printed circuit board 102, when connected to the
external wire harness, a stress is readily applied to the printed circuit
board 102. Therefore, there exists a problem in that copper foil formed on
the printed circuit board 102 is easily peeled off and therefore the
reliability of the controller unit CONT is poor. In addition, in usual,
several connectors (not shown) to be coupled to the junction block and the
wire harness are arranged separately on the casing 101 of the controller
unit CONT, it takes much time to connect the controller unit CONT to the
wire harness and the junction block JB, in wire harness production
processes or vehicle assembly processes, with increasing number of the
connectors to be coupled to the controller unit CONT, thus resulting in an
increase in the manufacturing cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
With these problems in mind, therefore, it is the primary object of the
present invention to provide a controller-including wiring apparatus for
an automotive vehicle, which can reduce the number of connectors to be
coupled to the wiring apparatus, enhance harness connection or vehicle
assembly productivity, and improve connection reliability without applying
stress to the printed circuit board within the controller unit when
various connectors are coupled thereto.
To achieve the above-mentioned object, a controller-including wiring
apparatus for an automotive vehicle, for controllably connecting a wire
harness to a plurality of electric devices mounted on the automotive
vehicle, according to the present invention, comprises: (a) a junction
block having at least one bus bar circuit board on which harness branch
circuits are arranged and to which the electric devices are connectable;
(b) a controller unit having at least one printed circuit board on which
control circuits are arranged to control the electric devices; and (c) a
plurality of junction terminals, collectively arranged at an end of said
junction block and selectively coupled to the harness branch circuit near
a middle portion thereof, for selectively coupling said wire harness and
controller unit to said junction block at both ends thereof.
The junction terminals are tab-like terminal strips extending in a
direction perpendicular to the bus bar circuit board. The wire harness and
the controller unit are coupled to the junction block via the junction
terminals with the junction block sandwiched between the wire harness and
the controller unit.
The junction terminals are grouped into three kinds. The first terminal
member is formed with a first engagement portion connectable to the
controller unit, a second engagement portion connectable the junction
block, and a third engagement portion connectable to the wire harness. The
second terminal member is formed with a first engagement portion
connectable to the controller unit and a second engagement portion
connectable to the wire harness. The third terminal member is formed with
a first engagement portion connectable to the controller unit and a second
engagement portion connectable to the junction block.
In the controller-including wiring apparatus of the present invention,
since the controller unit and the harness are indirectly connected to the
junction block via the relatively short junction terminals, it is possible
to reduce stress applied to the printed circuit board of the controller
unit when the wire harness is coupled to or decoupled from the junction
block, thus improving the connection reliability of the wiring apparatus.
Further, since the controller unit can be coupled to the junction block and
the wire harness simultaneously via the junction terminals, it is possible
to reduce the number of connectors to be coupled to the wiring apparatus
and thus streamline the connector coupling work in wire harness production
process or vehicle production process.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The features and advantages of the controller-including wiring apparatus
for an automotive vehicle according to the present invention will be more
clearly appreciated from the following description of the preferred
embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings in which like reference numerals designate the same or similar
elements or sections throughout the figures thereof and in which:
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatical cross-sectional view showing a prior-art
controller unit coupled to an external wire harness and a junction block;
FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing an embodiment of the
controller-including wiring apparatus according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a wiring diagram for assistance in explaining internal
connections of the controller-including wiring apparatus shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4A is an enlarged perspective view showing a first junction terminal
incorporated in the junction block shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4B is an enlarged perspective view showing a second junction terminal
incorporated therein; and
FIG. 4C is an enlarged perspective view showing a third junction terminal
incorporated therein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
With reference to the attached drawings, an embodiment of the
controller-including wiring apparatus for an automotive vehicle according
to the present invention will be described.
FIG. 2, the controller-including wiring apparatus can controllably connect
a wire harness W to electric devices mounted on an automotive vehicle,
which roughly comprises a controller unit CONT, a junction block JB, and a
plurality of junction terminals JT.sub.1, JT.sub.2, JT.sub.3.
The controller unit CONT is composed of a casing 1, several printed circuit
boards 2 each having electronic parts 3, a relay 4, etc., and a controller
connector 6 coupled to the junction block JB. Within this controller
connector 6, a plurality of controller terminals 6a led from input/output
circuits formed on the printed circuit board 2 are arranged so as to be
mated to the junction terminals JT. The controller unit CONT can be freely
modified according to vehicle models or vehicle grades.
The junction block JB includes a main cover 10, an under cover 20, and a
bus bar board 30 housed between the main cover 10 and the under cover 20.
The main cover 10 is formed with main cover connector housings 11 and 12 to
which a fuse, a relay, another harness, etc. can be coupled from above and
further bus bars 31 and 32 (described later) are inserted from under to
these main cover connector housings 11 and 12. Further, a junction
terminal housing 13 to which the controller terminals 6a are inserted is
provided at an end of the main cover 10 of the junction block JB.
The bus bar board 30 is provided with a predetermined circuit pattern of
branch circuits from a wire harness W connected thereto via the junction
terminals JT and a harness connector 41. The circuit pattern is formed by
arranging a plurality of bus bars 31 each having a vertically extending
tab terminal 32A at an end or an intermediate portion of the bus bars 31,
as depicted in FIG. 2. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, in particular,
it should be noted that some bus bars 31 are formed with a vertically
(upward or downward) extending tab terminal 32B and 32C, respectively at
an end of the bus bar board 30. The upward extending tab terminals 32B are
connected to the controller unit CONT via the junction terminal JT and the
downward extending tab terminals 32C are directly connected to the wire
harness W without connection with the junction terminal JT.
In FIG. 2, only a single bus bar board 30 is shown for simplification.
However, in practice, a plurality of bus bar boards 30 are stacked and
housed between the main cover 10 and the under cover 20.
The under cover 20 is also formed with under cover connector housings 21
and 22 to which the tab terminals 32A (extending downward in FIG. 2) are
fitted from above. To these under cover connector housings 21 and 22,
terminals of other parts or wire harnesses are inserted. Further, the
under cover 20 is formed with a controller unit housing 23 and a harness
connector housing 24.
FIG. 3 shows a wiring diagram between the controller unit CONT, the
junction block JB and the wire harness W via three junction terminals
JT.sub.1, JT.sub.2 and JT.sub.3, diagrammatically. FIG. 3 depicts that the
controller unit CONT can be selectively coupled to the junction block JB
via the junction terminal JT. Further, when the wire harness W is coupled
to the junction block JB, the wire harness can also be selectively coupled
to the branch bus bar 31 and the controller unit CONT.
The junction terminals JT can be grouped into three types as depicted in
FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C. A first junction terminal JT.sub.1 can connect the
controller terminal 6a from the printed circuit board 2 of the controller
unit CONT, the tab terminal 32B from the bus bar 31 of the junction block
JB, and the harness connector housing 41 of the wire harness W to each
other. For providing the above-mentioned connections, the first junction
terminal JT.sub.1 is formed with a first female terminal (engagement)
portion 100 mated with the controller terminal 6a, a second female
terminal (engagement) portion 101 mated with the bus bar tab terminal 32B,
and a male terminal (engagement) portion 103 inserted into the harness
connector housing 41, in addition to a stopper portion 104 for positioning
the junction terminal JT.sub.1 in the harness connector housing 24.
A second junction terminal JT.sub.2 can connect the controller terminal 6a
from the printed circuit board 2 of the controller unit CONT and the
harness connector housing 41 of the wire harness W to each other. That is,
the second junction terminal JT.sub.2 is formed with a first female
terminal portion 100 mated with the controller terminal 6a and a male
terminal portion 103 inserted into the harness connector housing 41, in
addition to a stopper 104 for positioning the junction terminal JT.sub.2
in the harness connector housing 24.
A third junction terminal JT.sub.3 can connect the controller terminal 6a
from the printed circuit board 2 of the controller unit CONT and the tab
terminal 32B from the bus bar 31 of the junction block JB to each other.
This third junction terminal JT.sub.3 is formed with a first female
terminal portion 100 mated with the controller terminal 6a and a second
female terminal portion 101 mated with the bus bar tab terminal 32B.
In assembly, a plurality of bus bar boards 30 (only a single board is shown
in FIG. 2) are stacked on the under cover 20 of the junction block JB;
some junction terminals JT.sub.1, JT.sub.2 and JT.sub.3 are selectively
mated with the vertically (upward) extendiang tab terminals 32B; the main
cover 10 is put on the bus bar boards 30 to assemble a junction block JB;
the controller unit CONT is coupled to the junction block JB by inserting
the controller terminals 6a into the junction terminal housing 13 of the
main cover 10. The controller-including wiring apparatus thus assembled is
coupled with the wire harness in harness production process.
The structural features of the controller-including wiring apparatus of the
present inventions are as follows:
(1) In the prior-art junction block including a controller unit as shown in
FIG. 1, the harnesses W and the junction block JB are directly connected
to the controller unit CONT, so that there exists a problem in that the
printed copper foil of the printed circuit board 102 is readily peeled off
when the harnesses are repeatedly coupled to the controller unit CONT.
In the junction block of the present invention, since the controller unit
CONT, and the harness W are indirectly coupled to each other via the
junction terminals JT also connected to the junction block JB, the three
sections (controller unit, harness and junction block) are all indirectly
coupled to each other via the junction terminals. Further, since the
harness W and the controller unit CONT are coupled to each other via
relatively short junction terminals JT arranged collectively at an end of
the junction block, it is possible to reduce stress applied to the printed
circuit board 2 of the controller unit CONT when the harness W is
connected to or disconnected from the junction block JB, thus improving
the connection reliability of the wiring apparatus.
(2) Since the controller unit CONT is provided with only a single
controller connector 6 (no harness connecting connectors are provided as
in FIG. 1) and further coupled to the harness W and the junction block JB
simultaneously via the same junction terminals JT, it is possible to
reduce the number of connectors to be coupled to the wiring apparatus and
thus the wiring work of the wire harness and the controller unit to the
junction block, in wire harness production process or car production
process.
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Description |
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