Electronic control unit snap-fitted to supporting bracket

Details Electronic control unit snap-fitted to supporting bracket Electronic control unit snap-fitted to supporting bracket

2003-06-02

2004-08-17

Vu, Phuong T. (Department: 2841)

Electricity: electrical systems and devices

Housing or mounting assemblies with diverse electrical...

For electronic systems and devices

C361S740000, C361S741000, C361S747000, C361S759000, C361S801000, C361S802000, C312S223200, C174S050520

Reexamination Certificate

active

06778402

ABSTRACT:

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is based upon and claims benefit of priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-217885 filed on Jul. 26, 2002, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic control unit mounted on a supporting bracket by snap-fitting and a structure for snap-fitting the electronic control unit to the supporting bracket.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional structure for mounting an electronic control unit for use in an automotive vehicle on a supporting bracket will be described with reference to
FIGS. 6-11
attached hereto. As shown in
FIG. 6
, an electronic control unit
1
having a case
40
mounted on a bracket
20
is fixed to a stay
10
positioned in an inside space of an instrument panel. The bracket
20
is connected to a pair of angled supports
30
a
,
30
b
which are fixed to the stay
10
by screws
300
a
,
300
b.
As shown in
FIG. 7
, the case
40
is box-shaped and has a front opening
41
, through which a circuit board
60
carrying electronic components thereon is inserted or taken out. A connector
61
is mounted on the circuit board
60
at its front end. After the circuit board
60
is inserted into the case
40
, the front opening
41
is covered with a front cover
50
. As shown in
FIG. 8
, the case
40
includes a rear wall
42
positioned opposite to the front opening
41
and sidewalls
43
,
44
. A rear projection
42
a
is formed on the rear wall
42
, a pair of side projections
43
a
,
43
b
are formed on the sidewall
43
, and another pair of side projections
44
a
,
44
b
are formed on the other sidewall
44
. Each projection has a rectangular plane surface and is projected from the respective wall by a certain height.
The bracket
20
is made of an iron plate, and includes a bottom wall
21
, a resilient rear hook
22
and four resilient side hooks
23
-
26
as shown in FIG.
9
. Each hook is bent upwardly form the bottom wall
21
, and its angle relative to the bottom wall
21
can be resiliently widened when the case
40
is mounted on the bracket
20
. The resilient rear hook
22
has a hole
220
that engages with the rear projection
42
a
formed on the rear wall
42
of the case
40
. Similarly, the resilient side hooks
23
-
26
have respective holes
230
-
260
that engage with the side projections
43
a
,
43
b
,
44
a
,
44
b
, respectively.
Referring to
FIGS. 10 and 11
, a process for mounting the case
40
on the bracket
20
will be described. The circuit board
60
is inserted into the case
40
, and the opening
41
is closed with the front cover
50
. As shown in
FIG. 10
, the case
40
is placed on the bracket
20
, so that the rear projection
42
a
faces the resilient rear hook
22
, and side projections
43
a
,
43
b
,
44
a
,
44
b
face the resilient side hooks
23
,
24
,
25
,
26
, respectively. Then, the case
40
is forcibly pushed toward the bottom wall
21
of the bracket
20
to resiliently widen the respective hooks. As shown in
FIG. 11
, the case
40
has to be also pushed toward the resilient rear hook
22
against its resilient force. Thus, all the projections formed on the case
40
are snap-fitted to the holes
220
-
260
formed in the respective resilient hooks
22
-
26
of the bracket
20
. In this manner, the case
40
is fixedly mounted on the bracket
20
.
However, in the conventional mounting structure described above, the case
40
is pushed back by the spring-back force of the resilient rear hook
22
. Therefore, the side projections may not be correctly aligned with the respective resilient side hooks. In this case, the projections do not engage with the resilient hooks. To correctly position the case
40
relative to the bracket
20
, it is conceivable to provide an additional projection on the front cover
50
and another hook that engages with the additional projection on the bracket
20
. However, such is not practical because the circuit board
60
cannot be taken out from the case
40
after the case
40
is mounted on the bracket
20
if the front cover
50
is connected to the bracket
20
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an improved electronic control unit that can be easily and firmly snap-fitted to a bracket. Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved structure for snap-fitting the electronic control unit to the bracket.
An electronic control unit includes a box-shaped case and a circuit board on which various electronic components are mounted. The circuit board is inserted into the case from a front opening of the case, and the front opening is closed with a front cover after the circuit board is inserted. The electronic control unit is mounted on a bracket by snap-fitting projections of the case to resilient hooks of the bracket. A rear projection is formed on a rear wall of the case and a pair of side projections is formed on each sidewall of the case. The case is made of a resin material, and all the projections are integrally formed with the case. The bracket is made of an iron plate, and the resilient hooks stand upwardly from a bottom wall of the bracket. A guiding projection is also formed on at least one of the sidewalls of the case. When the case is mounted on the bracket, the guiding wall guides the case to align the projections with the respective resilient hooks with which the projections engage.
To mount the case on the bracket, the case is placed on the bracket so that projections roughly align with the respective resilient hooks. The case is further pushed down toward the bracket, resiliently widening the resilient hooks, to thereby allow the projections to engage with the hooks. At the same time, the case is pushed toward the rear side against a resilient force of the rear hook by a thrusting force of the guiding projection. Preferably, a sloped surface slidably contacting one of the resilient hooks is formed on the guiding projection to effectively generate the thrusting force. In this manner, all the projections of the case are aligned with and snap-fitted to the respective resilient hooks by simply pushing down the case toward the bracket. Thus, the electronic control unit is easily mounted on the bracket without fail.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become more readily apparent from a better understanding of the preferred embodiment described below with reference to the following drawings.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5481431 (1996-01-01), Siahpolo et al.
patent: A-H07-288120 (1995-10-01), None
patent: A-2001-67141 (2001-03-01), None

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