Electricity: electrical systems and devices – Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical... – For electronic systems and devices
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-19
2001-01-23
Gaffin, Jeffrey (Department: 2841)
Electricity: electrical systems and devices
Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...
For electronic systems and devices
C361S752000, C361S756000, C361S801000, C174S0450TD, C016S09500R
Reexamination Certificate
active
06178094
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for mounting boards, that is used for accommodating circuit boards mounting electronic parts in a housing. More particularly, the invention relates to a device for mounting boards making it possible to decrease the cost and to improve the operation efficiency and reliability.
2. Prior Art
In an electronic control unit for controlling the injection of fuel or for controlling the ignition of, for example, an automotive engine, the circuit board has heretofore been accommodated in a housing in order to protect the electronic parts mounted on the circuit board from the external environment.
For mounting the circuit boards in a casing, furthermore, various board-mounting devices have been proposed for positioning and securing the circuit boards from the standpoint of enhancing the productivity by decreasing the number of steps without using separate securing means such as screws or the like.
FIG. 8
is a side sectional view illustrating a conventional board-mounting device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 177518/1996.
In
FIG. 8
, a case body
20
constituting a housing includes a back surface plate
20
a
positioned at the deepest end and side surface plates
20
b
positioned on both sides.
A board-securing groove
23
of a V-shape in cross section is formed in the inner surface of the back surface plate
20
a
. Furthermore, a board guide groove
25
of a uniform width is formed in the inner surfaces of the two side surface plates
20
b
so as to be continuous to the board-securing groove
23
.
The case body
20
has a case closure
26
coupled to an open end. A board-securing groove
27
of the same shape as the board-securing groove
23
is formed in the surface of the case closure
26
. The board-securing groove
27
is formed to be continuous to the board guide groove
25
.
The case closure
26
is secured to the case body
20
via screws
29
.
A circuit board
30
is held and secured between the board guide grooves
23
and
27
. Both ends of the circuit board
30
are held by the board guide grooves
23
and
27
of a V-shape in the direction of thickness of the circuit board
30
, and are positioned and secured.
A plurality of electronic parts
32
are mounted on the circuit board
30
to realize the required functions of the control unit.
The case closure
26
is provided with a connector
33
for connection to an external unit, and a plurality of lead wires
35
of the connector
33
are connected to a pattern on the circuit board
30
.
When the case body
20
and the case closure
26
are coupled together, the circuit board
30
is positioned by the guide groove
25
and is secured by the board-securing grooves
23
and
27
.
This makes it possible to position and secure the circuit board
30
in the case body
20
and in the case closure
26
without using any separate securing means such as screws.
When the circuit board
30
is positioned and secured between the board guide grooves
23
and
27
as shown in
FIG. 8
, however, the circuit board
30
must be correctly positioned and inserted in the board guide groove
25
which is relatively narrow having a width equal to the thickness of the circuit board
30
, so that the circuit board
30
can be inserted in the case body
20
.
Furthermore, the board guide groove
25
is guiding the circuit board
30
in the direction of its thickness only. Therefore, the circuit board
30
may often be incorrectly inserted such as front surface back or front side back.
In order to prevent the circuit board
30
from being erroneously inserted, a special inspection facility is required. In order to inspect modern electronic control units having complex constitution, in particular, a special inspection facility is required such as an image processor for checking.
Moreover, to insert plural pieces of circuit boards in an overlapped manner in the housing, special parts or mechanisms are necessary for supporting and securing the individual circuit boards.
According to the conventional board-mounting device as described above, the circuit board is inserted in the case body
20
via the board guide groove
25
, and both ends of the circuit board
30
are held by the board-securing grooves
23
and
27
. Therefore, highly precise positioning operation is required impairing the operation efficiency.
Besides, it is not allowed to prevent the circuit board
30
from being erroneously inserted. Therefore, the reliability is low, and a new mechanism is required for preventing the erroneous insertion, resulting in an increase in the cost.
Besides, when plural pieces of circuit boards are to be inserted in an overlapped manner in the case body
20
, special parts are needed for supporting and securing the individual circuit boards, resulting in an increase in the cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention was accomplished in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its object is to provide a device for mounting boards capable of enhancing the operation efficiency and reliability without driving up the cost.
A device for mounting boards according to the present invention comprises a case body having board guide grooves formed in the inner surface thereof, and a case closure secured to an end of said case body, in order to position and secure the circuit boards in a housing constituted by said case body and said case closure, wherein said board guide grooves have a uniform width slightly larger than the thickness of said circuit boards and have tapered portions of which the width is broadened toward an end of said case body opposed to said case closure, and said case closure has securing pawls which produce elastic force in a direction to be fitted to said case body, and board-holding portions for positioning and holding the ends of said circuit boards.
In the device for mounting boards according to the present invention, the board-guide grooves are formed at positions asymmetrical in the up-and-down direction of the case body which is the direction of thickness of the circuit boards.
In the device for mounting boards according to the present invention, the case body has a board-positioning member formed on the inner surface of a back surface plate positioned on the side opposite to the side on where the case closure is mounted so as to intersect said board guide grooves, and said circuit board has an engaging portion at a front end thereof in the direction in which it is inserted in said case body so as to engage with said board-positioning member.
In the device for mounting boards according to the present invention, the board-positioning member is disposed at a position asymmetrical in the right-and-left direction of the case body which is the direction of width of the circuit board.
In the device for mounting boards according to the present invention, the case body has resilient protuberances formed on the inner surfaces of the side plates arranged in parallel with the direction of insertion of said circuit board so as to intersect said board guide grooves, and said circuit board has recessed portions to engage with said resilient protuberances.
In the device for mounting boards according to the present invention, the resilient protuberances have tapered portions which enable the circuit board to move in the direction of insertion and engaging portions which prevent the circuit board from moving in a direction in which it is taken out, and the recessed portions in the circuit board have a shape complementary to said resilient protuberances.
In the device for mounting boards according to the present invention, the resilient protuberances are formed on the side plates on both sides of the case body and are arranged at positions asymmetrical in the back-and-forth direction of said case body in which said circuit board is inserted.
In the device for mounting boards according to the present invention, the circuit board comprises plural pieces of circuit boards which are arranged in the form of layers in a direction
Dinh Tuan
Gaffin Jeffrey
Mitsubishi Denki & Kabushiki Kaisha
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
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