Electrical transmission or interconnection systems – Vehicle mounted systems – Automobile
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-15
2002-08-06
Leja, Ronald W. (Department: 2878)
Electrical transmission or interconnection systems
Vehicle mounted systems
Automobile
C439S623000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06429544
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an electrical equipment module for controlling the power supply to and the operation of electrical equipment.
BACKGROUND ART
In various electric devices, an electrical equipment module is used, which incorporates a power distribution section for distributing electric power supplied from an external power source to electrical equipment such as a motor or which incorporates a control section for controlling the drive of electrical equipment. An electrically-powered seat unit for a vehicle, serving as this type of electric device, typically includes a seat adjuster adapted to be fixed to the floor panel of the vehicle, a seat cushion attached to an upper movable section of the seat adjuster for back-and-forth motion and up-and-down motion, a seat back attached to a rear-end side movable section of the adjuster for tilting motion, and motors drivingly coupled to the movable sections of the seat adjuster. The seat unit is designed to move the seat cushion backward, forward, upward and downward with respect to the floor panel and to cause the seat back to recline.
An electrically-powered seat unit
1
exemplarily shown in
FIG. 1
includes a seat adjuster
2
to which are attached a slide motor
5
for moving a seat cushion
3
backward and forward, a front vertical motor
6
for moving the front portion of the seat cushion
3
vertically, a rear vertical motor
7
for moving the rear portion of the seat cushion
3
vertically, and a reclining motor
8
for adjusting the inclination angle of the seat back
4
. A lumber support motor
9
for rotating a lumber support bar
4
a
is provided in the seat back
4
of the seat unit
1
. Located under the seat cushion
3
are an electronic control unit (ECU)
14
for controlling the drive of the motors
5
-
9
and wire harness
13
for supplying electric power and control signals to the motors
5
-
9
. Corresponding ones of the motors
5
-
9
, the ECU
14
, an external power supply (not shown), and an operation switch
12
are electrically connected to one another via the wire harness
13
and a floor-panel side harness (not shown), so that the motors
5
-
9
are provided with control signals for adjusting the seat position and adjusting the inclination angle of the seat back from the ECU
14
responsive to the manual operation of the operation switch
12
and with electric power from the external power supply. In the seat unit
1
, the wire harness
13
and ECU
14
constitute an electrical equipment module for controlling power supply to and the operation of the motors
5
-
9
serving as electrical equipment.
According to the above-described seat unit
1
, each individual passenger is permitted to adjust the seat position and the inclination angle of the seat back to meet his or her body or the like. However, there is a demand for saving space for the electrically-powered seat unit, as will be explained below.
Recently, to improve the seating comfort, the electrically-powered seat unit has been so constructed that the bottom of the seat cushion moves down when a passenger sits thereon, whereas the space under the seat unit is used as a glove compartment, a blower retaining section, or a retaining section for a car navigation system or an audio visual unit. In this manner, the seat unit is demanded for space saving to effectively use the space thereunder as much as possible. Thus, the ECU adapted to be disposed below the seat unit should be made as thin as possible. However, the conventional seat unit does not sufficiently meet this requirement for the following reason.
As shown in
FIG. 2
, the wire harness
13
is branched into two on the ECU
14
side and these two branch harnesses are respectively connected to male connectors
13
a
and
13
b.
When the connectors
13
a
and
13
b
are plugged into two female connectors provided on one side of the ECU
14
, the wire harness
13
is electrically connected to the ECU
14
. On the opposite side of the ECU, the wire harness
13
is separated into a large number of branch harnesses adapted to be connected via connectors to wire groups (wire harnesses) respectively extending from the external power supply and the motors. A respective branch harness corresponding to each motor includes at least two wires forming a pair of power supply lines. Generally, each branch harness consists of a total of five wires including a control power supply line, a control ground line and a control signal line in addition to the two power supply lines.
On the other hand, the number of motors to be mounted in an electrically-powered seat unit tends to increase to suit the luxury features of the seat unit. In general, for example, five motors are used as in the case of the seat unit
1
. As the number of motors increases, the number of wires for supplying electric power and control signals to the motors increases, thus enlarging the outside diameter of the wire harness comprised of those wires.
In the electrically-powered seat unit
1
designed to connect the wire harness
13
to the ECU
14
only on one side of the ECU
14
, therefore, the ECU-side connecting portion of the wire harness
13
, comprised of a bundle of a very large number of wires, becomes extremely large in outside diameter. This makes it difficult to bend the wire harness
13
so that it is troublesome to lay the wire harness
13
upon installation of the seat unit
1
to the floor panel. Further, the adjuster
2
and the wire harness
13
may interfere with each other, damaging the wires.
Since the thickness of the ECU
14
to which the connectors
13
a
and
13
b
are connected inevitably become larger than the outside diameters of these connectors, the ECU
14
become thicker if the outside diameters of the wire harness
13
and the connector become large. For this reason, it is difficult to make the ECU
14
of the seat unit
1
thin.
Since the wire harness
13
is connected only to one side of the ECU
14
, the wire harness
13
should be routed around the ECU in connecting the wire harness
13
to the ECU
14
. That is, as for a motor located on the side opposite the connector side of the ECU
14
, the wire harness to be connected thereto should be routed to the side opposite the connector side of the ECU
14
. Therefore, the wire harness becomes longer, causing costs to increase.
Some electrically-powered seat units do not have a control functional component equivalent to the ECU
14
but have an electrical equipment module consisting of a power distribution section (distributing board) which is interposed among the motors
5
-
9
, the external power supply (not shown) and the operation switch
12
. In the seat unit of this type, corresponding ones of the motors
5
-
9
, the external power supply and the operation switch
12
are electrically connected via the wire harness and the power distribution section. For example, such a seat unit is arranged to distribute electric power from the external power supply to the required one or ones of the motors
5
-
9
in response to the manual operation of the operation switch
12
.
As in the case of the electrical equipment module having a control functional component (ECU
14
) or the electrically-powered seat unit
1
provided with such a module, the aforementioned electrical equipment module essentially consisting of the power distribution section has a specific side thereof to which wire harness connectors are attached, posing such a problem that it is difficult to make these connectors thin and the wire harness becomes long.
FIG. 3
shows one example of the circuit structure of the electrically-powered seat unit shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
. This seat unit comprises a control section (ECU)
114
responsive to a signal supplied from an operation switch
124
and motors operable under the control of the control section, and operates to adjust the seat cushion and the seat back. More specifically, there are provided a slide motor
125
for adjusting the fore-and-aft position of the seat cushion, a front vertical motor
127
for adjusting the inclinatio
Ichii Eiji
Kawai Satoshi
Sasaki Atsushi
Yahara Akihito
Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP
Leja Ronald W.
Rios Roberto
The Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd.
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