Electricity: electrothermally or thermally actuated switches – Electrothermally actuated switches – Fusible element actuated
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-09
2003-01-21
Vortman, Anatoly (Department: 2835)
Electricity: electrothermally or thermally actuated switches
Electrothermally actuated switches
Fusible element actuated
C337S256000, C337S159000, C337S161000, C337S292000, C439S620180, C029S623000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06509824
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a fuse unit connected to, for example, a battery, for supplying electric power to each electric wire through a plurality of fusible portions, and also relates to a method of manufacturing such a fuse unit.
2. Related Art
FIG. 17
illustrates the configuration of a related fuse unit.
A fuse unit
91
connects a battery
89
of a vehicle to electric wires
75
and
76
for supplying electric power. The fuse unit
91
comprises a plate-like fuse element
85
including a fusible portion
79
and made of an electrically conductive metal, and a nearly L-shaped insulating resin body
84
, in which the fuse element
85
is insert-molded.
The fusible portion
79
is provided at a middle portion of the fuse element
85
and placed in a cavity
78
of the resin body
84
and has a metal chip
77
comprising an alloy of tin and zinc. The fuse unit
91
is formed in such a way as to be bent at right angles from a middle portion thereof. The fusible portion
79
is placed in a horizontal position.
An end portion extending in a horizontal direction of a fuse element
85
is fastened and connected in vertical direction to a stud bolt
81
a
of a battery terminal
81
together with a first terminal attached wire
90
by tightening a nut
87
. A second terminal attached wire
82
is fastened and connected in the horizontal direction (or lateral direction) to the other end portion extending in a vertical direction of the huge element
85
with the stud bolt
86
and the nut
88
. The battery terminal
81
has a ring-like portion
81
b
fastened and connected to a battery post
89
a
with the bolt
75
and the nut
74
.
A method of manufacturing the fuse unit
91
includes the following steps. That is, first, the fuse element
85
is stamped out from an electrically conductive metal plate (not shown) The fuse element
85
is then bent from a middle portion thereof at right angles. Subsequently, the fuse element
85
is set in a resin molding die (not shown). A molten resin material is then injected into the resin molding die, so that the resin body
84
is integrally formed on each of the top and bottom surfaces of the fuse element
85
in such a manner as to be bent nearly like a letter “L”. At that time, parts of the resin body
84
, which are connected to the terminals
82
and
90
and surround around the fusible portion
79
, are cut out, so that the surface of the conductive material of the fuse element
85
is partly exposed.
The related fuse unit
91
and the manufacturing method therefor have drawbacks in that the drawing structure of the resin molding die becomes complicated due to forming of the resin body
84
in such a way as to be nearly L-shaped, and that the manufacturing cost of the fuse unit is high. Moreover, the related fuse unit
91
and the manufacturing method therefor have another drawback in that the entire length L
i
of the fuse unit
91
is long, and a large space is thus needed when the set number of fusible portions
79
of the fuse element
85
is increased. Especially, in the case that the set number of the fusible portions
79
is large, the fusible portions
79
are disposed on both the horizontal side and the vertical side of the fuse unit
91
, which is bent at right angles, so as to prevent an increase in the size of the fuse unit
91
. Thus, the related fuse unit
91
and the manufacturing method therefor have other drawbacks in that the structure of the fuse unit and the drawing structure of the resin molding die are complexed still more, that the fuse unit becomes more difficult to form, and that the cost of the fuse unit is much higher. The related fuse unit
91
and the manufacturing method therefor have another drawback in that the position of each of the fusible portions is restricted because the drawing directions corresponding to portions, which are respectively formed in such away as to extend in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction, of the resin body
84
are orthogonal to each other when the resin body
84
is resin-formed into a bent shape. Additionally, the related fuse unit
91
and the manufacturing method therefor have another drawback in that the fusible unit
91
cannot cope with the complexed circuit form of each circuit in a vehicle owing to a limited space in which each of the terminals is connected to the fuse element.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is accomplished in view of the aforementioned drawbacks. Accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide a fuse unit, which is formed into a bent shape and can simplify the structure of a resin molding die and reduce the cost thereof and prevent an increase in the size thereof and the mounting-side space thereof and easily obtain a bent shape and increase the flexibility of arrangement of fusible portions thereof and cope with the diversification of the circuit form of each circuit in a vehicle, and to a method of manufacturing such a fuse unit.
To achieve the foregoing object, according to the present invention, there is provided a fuse unit including: an electrically conductive fuse element including at least one fusible portion; a hinge portion provided at the electrically conductive fuse element so that the electrically conductive fuse element is separated into a first fuse element and a second fuse element by the hinge portion and is bendable from the hinge portion; a first resin body provided at the first fuse element; and a second resin body provided at the second fuse element.
According to the fuse unit of the present invention, the first and second resin bodies are respectively provided with abutting faces abutted together when the electrically conductive element is bent from the hinge portion.
According to the fuse unit of the present invention, the fuse unit further includes an engaging mechanism for engaging the first and second resin bodies each other when the electrically conductive element is bent from the hinge portion.
According to the fuse unit of the present invention, at least one first terminal is provided at the electrically conductive fuse element through the corresponding fusible portion, at least one connector housing for accommodating the at least one first terminal is provided in at least one of the first and second resin body.
According to the fuse unit of the present invention, a plurality of the terminals are provided in parallel with one another at the first fuse element, a power supply connecting portion is provided at the second fuse element.
According to the fuse unit of the present invention, at least one terminal connecting portion is provided at the second fuse element.
According to the fuse unit of the present invention, the second fuse element is formed of a first fuse plate connected to the hinge portion and a second fuse plate connected to the first fuse plate through one of the fusible portion, one of the at least one terminal connecting portion for a second terminal is provided at the first fuse plate, the power supply connecting portion is provided at the second fuse plate.
According to the fuse unit of the present invention, the second fuse element is narrower than the first fuse element, a third terminal is placed in a side space at a side of the second fuse element and connected to the power supply connecting portion.
According to the fuse unit of the present invention, the first fuse plate is narrower than the first fuse element, the second fuse plate to which the third terminal is connected is placed in a side space at a side of the first fuse plate.
According to the fuse unit of the present invention, the electrically conductive fuse element is divided in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the hinge portion extends into a first division portion including a part of the first fuse element and a second division portion including the other part of the first fuse element, the first division portion is connected to the second division portion through one of the fusible portions, the first and second division portion a
Hama Yasuyuki
Inaba Shigemitsu
Matsumura Norio
Sughrue & Mion, PLLC
Vortman Anatoly
Yazaki -Corporation
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