This invention relates to a fuse block mounted on a circuit board so as to distribute electric power, and an electric connection box having the fuse block.
Various electronic apparatuses are mounted at an automobile. An electric connection box supplying electric power and transmitting data signals to the various electronic apparatuses are provided suitably at suitable positions in the automobile. In the present invention, a junction block (or junction box), fuse block (fuse box) and relay block (relay box) are called an electric connection box as a generic name hereafter.
The electric connection box has various structure according to a model of the automobile. For example, the electric connection box has a fuse block 201 mounted at a circuit board 213 for distributing electric power supply (see Patent Document 1).
The fuse block 201 is formed by a metal plate, and includes a plurality of busbars 202, 203, 204, 205 bent into L-shape and a hold member 214 made of synthetic resin for holding the busbars 202, 203, 204 and 205. Each of busbars 202, 203, 204 and 205 is provided at one end thereof with at least one tuning-fork shaped connecting portion 206 to be connected with a fuse 209, and at the other end thereof with at least one board connecting portion 207 to be connected with a printed circuit board 213 by soldering. In
The busbars 202, 203, 204 and 205 are arranged in parallel along a direction X and overlapped to form four layers along a direction Y. In other words, the busbars, in which the tuning-fork shaped connecting portions 206 are arranged in parallel along the direction X, are overlapped into four layers along the direction Y, and the four board connecting portions 207 provided in a line perpendicular to the direction X are arranged in a row along a direction Z.
Patent Document 1: Japan Patent Application Published No. 2009-152108
According to an electric connection box having the above usual fuse block, it is required to further miniaturize the printed circuit board 213.
According to the above requirement, an object of the present invention is to provide a fuse block in which a printed circuit board can be miniaturized and an electric connection box having the fuse block.
In order to attain the above object, the present invention is to provide a fuse block in which a plurality of busbars, which is formed into an L-shape and provided at one end thereof with at least one tuning-fork shaped connecting portion connected to a fuse and at the other end thereof with at least one board connecting portion connected to a printed circuit board by soldering, is provided; and a plurality of layers, in each of which some of the tuning-fork shaped connecting portions of the plurality of busbars are arranged in parallel in the same layer, is provided; and the board connecting portion of the busbar in at least one layer and the board connecting portion of the other busbar in the layer just under the at least one layer are arranged in a row on a straight line; and total number of the rows, in which the board connecting portions are arranged, is smaller than total number of the layers, in which the tuning-fork shaped connecting portions are arranged.
An electric connection box according to the present invention includes the fuse block mentioned above, a printed circuit board in which the fuse block is mounted, and a case receiving the fuse block and the printed circuit board.
According to the present invention, the board connecting portion of the busbar in the at least one layer and the board connecting portion of the other busbar in the layer just under the at least one layer are arranged in the row on the straight line, and the total number of the board connecting portion is smaller than the total number of the tuning-fork shaped connecting portion in each of the at least one layer and the layer just under the at least one layer. Thereby, mounting area of board connecting portion in the printed circuit board can be reduced so that the printed circuit board can be miniaturized.
According to the present invention, the electric connection box includes the fuse block mentioned above, the printed circuit board in which the fuse block is mounted, and the case receiving them, so that the electric connection box can be miniaturized.
A fuse block and an electric connection box according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
The electric connection box 10 according to the present invention is mounted at a car so as to supply electric power and transmit data signals to an electronic apparatus arranged at the car. The electric connecting box as shown in
The fuse block 1 as shown in
The busbar 2, 3a-3e, 4a-4i, 5 is formed by pressing copper sheet. Each of busbars 2, 3a-3e, 4a-4i and 5 is provided at one end thereof with at least one tuning-fork shaped connecting portion 6 to be connected with the fuse 9, and at the other end thereof with at least one board connecting portion 7 to be connected to the printed circuit board 13 by soldering. The busbar 2, 3a-3e, 4a-4i, 5 is formed into an L-shape by bending a joint portion 8 between the tuning-fork shaped connecting portion 6 and the board connecting portion 7.
The tuning-fork shaped connecting portion 6 is configured into a tuning-fork shape having a slit 60 which the terminal of the fuse 9 can be inserted into.
The board connecting portion 7 is formed into a pin shape which can be inserted in a through-hole of the printed circuit board 13. The board connecting portion 7 is inserted into the through-hole of the printed circuit board 13 and fixed to a printed wiring of the printed circuit board 13 by soldering.
The busbars 2, 3a-3e, 4a-4i and 5 are arranged in parallel to each other along a direction X and simultaneously overlapped on each along a direction Y to form four layers. The direction Y is a direction parallel to a direction of thickness of the printed circuit board 13. The direction X is a direction perpendicular to the direction Y. In short, four layers, in each of which the tuning-fork shaped connecting portions 6 are arranged in parallel to each other along the direction X, are arranged along the direction Y. In the embodiment, the nearest layer to the printed circuit board 13 is designated to a first layer, and the farthest layer to the printed circuit board 13 is designated to a fourth layer.
As shown in
Each of the busbars 2 arranged in the first layer and each of the busbars 5 arranged in the fourth layer are located at an area G in
The above-mentioned busbars 2, 3a-3e, 4a-4i and 5 are inserted into holes arranged at the holding member 14 and held by the holding member 14 as shown in
The fuse block according to the present invention is configured to provide the board connecting portions 7 of the busbars 4a-4i arranged in the third layer and the board connecting portions 7 of the busbars 3a-3e arranged in the second layer in one straight line along the direction X. In other words, as shown in
Accordingly, in the fuse block 1 of the present invention, the number of rows along the direction Z (three rows), in each of which the board connecting portions 7 are arranged in one straight line along the direction X, is smaller than the number of layers along the direction Y (four layers), in each of which the tuning-fork shaped connecting portions 6 are arranged in parallel along the direction X. In a usual fuse block (see
In the above embodiment, the board connecting portions 7 of the busbars 4a-4i in the third layer and the board connecting portions 7 of the busbars 3a-3e in the second layer are arranged in one straight line along the direction X. When busbars are stacked to form eight layers along the direction Y, the board connecting portions of the busbars in the sixth layer and the board connecting portions of the busbars in the seventh layer can be arranged in one straight line along the direction X as above second layer and third layer.
The present inventions are described based in the embodiments as mentioned above, but the present invention is not limited in above embodiments. Various change and modifications can be made with the scope of the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2011-142587 | Jun 2011 | JP | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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6835073 | Kobayashi | Dec 2004 | B2 |
7544065 | Ito | Jun 2009 | B2 |
8070534 | Makino et al. | Dec 2011 | B2 |
20090163085 | Makino et al. | Jun 2009 | A1 |
20100317241 | Sugiura et al. | Dec 2010 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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201725937 | Jan 2011 | CN |
H06-29051 | Feb 1994 | JP |
H10-149865 | Jun 1998 | JP |
2002-171641 | Jun 2002 | JP |
2006-333583 | Dec 2006 | JP |
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Entry |
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Chinese Office Action dated Mar. 31, 2014 issued for corresponding Chinese Patent Application No. 201210216959.X. |
Office Action mailed on Feb. 17, 2015 issued for corresponding Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-142587. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20130005194 A1 | Jan 2013 | US |