Electricity: circuit makers and breakers – Special application – Frangible or destructible type
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-07
2001-05-15
Scott, J. R. (Department: 2832)
Electricity: circuit makers and breakers
Special application
Frangible or destructible type
Reexamination Certificate
active
06232568
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a current interrupting apparatus and, more particularly, to a current interrupting apparatus which, at the time of, for example, a vehicle in abnormality, interrupts the supply of an electric current from the battery to a load in the vehicle.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 9-251830 discloses an on-vehicle-loaded circuitry that includes a current interrupting apparatus.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the studies that have been made by the inventors of the present invention, in a current interrupting apparatus that has been provided in a vehicle, when some abnormality occurs in, for example, a wire harness that connects a battery and respective loads in the vehicle and that is provided with a plurality of electric wires, it is necessary to make an interruption between the battery and the wire harness and thereby protect the respective loads, etc.
According to the further analysis of the present inventors, on-vehicle-loaded circuitry that includes circuitry for the current interrupting apparatus has a construction as shown in FIG.
13
.
Namely, such on-vehicle-loaded circuitry has a battery
101
, a circuit breaker
102
connected to a battery electrode of the battery
101
, and an electronic device
106
for an engine that is connected to the battery
101
through a consumption device conductor wire
109
and circuit breaker
102
.
Upon occurrence of the abnormality in the vehicle, the circuit breaker
102
is operated under the control of a controller
110
. Thus, the battery conductor wire
103
is separated from the battery
101
and the consumption device conductor wire
109
is also separated from the battery
101
and the battery conductor wire
103
.
A detailed construction of such a circuit breaker
102
is illustrated in FIG.
14
.
The circuit breaker
102
is mounted on an electrode
101
′ of the battery
101
through a cable terminal
111
. and has a gas generator
112
.
By use of the gaseous pressure, the gas generator
112
pushes a clamp portion
114
out from a clamp portion
113
to thereby separate the battery conductor wire
103
that has been engaged by the clamp portion
114
from the clamp portion
113
and hence from the battery electrode
101
′ of the battery
101
.
Specifically, the circuit breaker
102
has a connecting portion
115
provided with a joint mover
118
, a contact portion
116
connected to the clamp portion
113
through the connecting portion
115
, the consumption device conductor wire
109
connected to the contact portion
116
, and a plastic covering portion
117
surrounding the circuit breaker
102
.
And, when the gas generator
112
is ignited, the battery conductor wire
103
is thrown away and, at this time, the joint mover
118
is moved together with the battery conductor wire
103
. Therefore, the connection portion
115
and contact portion
116
are interrupted between them. And, the consumption device conductor wire
109
is separated from the battery conductor wire
103
and separated from the battery electrode
101
′ of the battery
101
, with the result that the supply of an electric current to the electronic device
106
for the engine is also stopped.
However, in the above-described construction, it is considered that the electric resistance varies depending upon the interfitting precision between the clamp portions
113
and
114
. In such a case, the value of the current from the battery
101
to the load
106
inconveniently varies.
Also, in order to interrupt the supply of the current, the circuit breaker
102
necessitates the provision of the gas generator
112
, clamp portions
113
,
114
, connection portion
115
, contact portion
116
, plastic covering portion
117
, joint mover
118
, etc. This means that the circuit breaker
102
is of a complex structure. And therefore, the circuit breaker
102
becomes high in cost.
An object of the present invention is to provide a current interrupting apparatus which, while reliably supplying an electric current to a respective load at a normal time, stops reliably the supply of the electric current to the load at an abnormal time and which is small in the number of structural parts, simple in structure and low in cost.
To attain the above object, the current interrupting apparatus according to the present invention comprises a battery terminal attached to a battery; a load conductor wire connected to a load; a connecting member electrically connected the load conductor wire and the battery terminal; and a cutting device configured to cut the connecting member when an interruption control signal is input thereto. Here, a supply of an electric current from the battery to the load by way of the battery terminal and the load conductor wire is interrupted when the cutting device cuts the connecting member.
According to such a construction, although at a normal time the supply of the current to the load is being reliably effected from the battery through the battery terminal, connecting member and load conductor wire, at an abnormal time such as a vehicle collision time the interruption control signal is input to the cutting device from the outside. And as a result the cutting device cuts the connecting member. Accordingly, it is possible to interrupt the supply of the current from the battery to the load instantaneously and reliably. Also, it is possible to provide a current interrupting apparatus which is small in the number of structural parts, simple in structure, and low in cost.
More specifically, it is preferable that the cutting device comprises an explosives portion accommodating explosives, an igniting device igniting the explosives accommodated in the explosives portion, and a cutter portion cutting the connecting member by use of an explosion force generated by the explosives when the explosives are ignited by the igniting device.
According to such a construction, when the igniting device explodes by igniting the explosives accommodated in the explosives portion, the cutter portion cuts the connecting portion by the explosion force of the explosives. Therefore, it is possible to interrupt the supply of the current from the battery to the load instantaneously and reliably.
Also, it is preferable that the cutting device is inserted into a part, suitably a main body portion, of the battery terminal and is fixed therein. This configuration is preferred because only a small amount of space is needed therefor and because the device is simplified and inexpensive.
Also, more specifically, there can be adopted a construction wherein the connecting member has a conductor wire-assembling terminal that is to be connected to the load conductor wire, and an attaching portion for attaching the conductor-wire-assembling terminal to the battery terminal. Here, the cutting device cuts the conductor wire-assembling terminal.
According to such a construction, since the load conductor wire side is reliably separated from the terminal main body portion simultaneously with the cutting of the conductor-wire-assembling terminal, the supply of the current from the battery to the load can be reliably interrupted.
In this configuration, the conductor wire-assembling terminal is passed through a cavity portion formed within the cutting device, and the cutting device cuts the conductor wire-assembling terminal that has been passed,through the cavity portion.
On the other hand, there can be adopted a construction wherein the connecting member has a conductor-wire-assembling terminal that is to be connected to the load conductor wire, and an attaching portion for attaching the conductor-wire-assembling terminal to the battery terminal. Here, the cutting device cuts the attaching portion.
According to such a construction, since the load conductor wire side is reliably separated from the terminal main body portion simultaneously with the cutting of the attaching portion, the supply of the current from the battery to the load can be reliably interrupted.
From this point of view, there can
Hasegawa Tetsuya
Yamaguchi Noboru
Oblon, Spivak, McLelland, Maier & Neustadt, P.C.
Scott J. R.
Yazaki -Corporation
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