Electrical connectors – With vehicle structure
Patent
1998-08-03
2000-05-30
Donovan, Lincoln
Electrical connectors
With vehicle structure
439 34, H01R 3300
Patent
active
060684917
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a connector arrangement of a control system having a controller in a motor vehicle.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
German Patent No. DE 33 10 477 describes a controller designed in circuitboard technology as part of a control system in a vehicle. Such a controller is usually accommodated in the passenger compartment or the radiator tank behind the splashboard that seals off the engine compartment of a vehicle, so it is protected from the rough operating conditions in the vehicle's engine compartment.
The controller has a plug connector as a connector socket mounted in an opening in a housing of the controller and includes a plurality of contact elements in rows. The contact elements are connected to electric components on the circuitboard of the controller and can be connected to mating contact elements of a cable harness plug, over which all the input and output signals of the controller are carried.
A plurality of cables, initially bundled as a cable harness, lead away from the cable harness plug to sensors and actuators mounted on the vehicle's internal combustion engine but also, at least indirectly, leading to other electric components accommodated elsewhere in the vehicle, such as light fixtures in the marginal areas of the vehicle or display instruments in the dashboard.
To avoid making the cable harness unwieldy, only groups of components arranged together are connected directly to it, while the connection to individual components is indirect by way of adapters and attached extension cables.
In addition, cables of the cable harness over which high currents flow, e.g., the operating currents of actuators, are not carried through the controller but instead there are splices on the respective cables where these cables branch off. The branches are combined in a disconnector socket from which they ultimately lead to the respective components.
This conventional disclosed embodiment of the control system with a controller having such a design and the respective connector arrangement has the disadvantage of being cost-intensive to manufacture and assemble and susceptible to faults due to the additional contact points because of the use of adapter plugs and the disconnector socket. In addition, changes in the connector arrangement when changes occur in the installation conditions of the electric components in the vehicle can only be made at great expense.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The connector arrangement according to the present invention of a control system with a controller in a motor vehicle advantageously eliminates the inadequacies of conventional arrangements described above.
Due to the mounting of the controller on the vehicle's internal combustion engine in particular, it is possible to implement a connector arrangement that has short connecting paths and permits modifications based on different installation conditions of the electric components of the vehicle due to the use of partial mating connectors which can be handled independently of one another.
By leading the entire connector arrangement through the controller, the number of contact points can be minimized, thus yielding a high operational reliability of the connector arrangement.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a schematic of a connector arrangement in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows a three-dimensional view of the controller with its connections elements for the connector arrangement in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
A control system 11 in a motor vehicle according to FIG. 1 includes as essential components an electric controller 12, a plurality of electrically operated components 13 and a connector arrangement 14 for electric connection of components to controller 12.
Controller 12, shown in greater detail in FIG. 2, is designed as a microhybrid controller 12. The components included in controller 12 are in miniaturized form, so their weight is low and consequently only low inertial forces appear in acceleration.
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patent: 5288141 (1994-02-01), Isshiki et al.
patent: 5501605 (1996-03-01), Ozaki et al.
patent: 5735713 (1998-04-01), Sugiura
patent: 5771575 (1998-06-01), Onizuka et al.
patent: 5785532 (1998-07-01), Maue et al.
Betz Willy
Eberlein Edwin
Herzog Achim
Hofmeister Werner
Litzinger Rolf
Donovan Lincoln
Robert & Bosch GmbH
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