Wiring unit

Details Wiring unit Wiring unit

2001-07-03

2002-09-24

Nguyen, Khiem (Department: 2839)

Electrical connectors

With or comprising removable circuit modifying arrangement

C439S066000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06454582

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a wiring unit housed in an electric connecting box mounted in a motor vehicle that is a moving body.
2. Description of the Related Art
The motor vehicle is generally provided with a variety of electronic appliances inclusive of lamps such as a head lamp, tail lamp, etc. motors such as a starter motor, a motor for an air conditioner, etc.
In order to supply power to the variety of electronic appliances, junction blocks are located at suitable position within the motor vehicle. The junction block is configured so that printed boards and wiring boards with elements such as bus bars are stacked and various electric circuit units such as a large number of fuses, relays, etc. are integrated on these wiring boards.
The junction block may include a fuse, relay, bus bar, etc. so that it is called a fuse block, relay box, or generally an electric connecting box. In this specification, the above fuse block, relay box, junction block, etc, are referred to as the electric connecting box.
The electric connecting box includes a case and a wiring plate, etc. The case can be provided with electric components such as a relay, fuse, connector. A plurality of electric wires connected to the various electric appliances are led into the case. The wiring plate, when it is housed in the case, electrically connects the electric wires connected to the various electric appliances to terminals of the various electric components in a prescribed pattern.
As the above wiring plate, in order to facilitate the connection of the respective electric wires to the terminals of the electric components, a wiring unit
54
as shown in
FIG. 6
has been proposed. The wiring unit as shown in
FIG. 6
includes a plurality of boards
61
which are stacked successively, a plurality of terminals
62
and a plurality of connecting bars
63
. The boards
61
each is made of an insulating material. The boards
61
each is formed as a square flat plate. The boards
61
each includes a plurality of grooves
64
, a plurality of concave portions
65
and a plurality of holes
66
.
The grooves
64
each is formed in concave from the surface of the board
61
. The grooves
64
each extends in a longitudinal direction of the board
61
. The respective grooves
64
are formed in parallel to one another.
The concave portions
65
each is formed in concave from the surface of the board
61
. The concave portions
65
each is opened into the groove
64
. The concave portions
65
are provided in parallel to one another in the longitudinal direction of the corresponding groove
64
. The concave portions
65
each is formed in a square shape when viewed from above.
The holes
66
each passes through the portion located at the bottom of the corresponding concave portion
65
. The holes
66
are located at the corresponding positions when the boards are stacked successively.
The terminals
62
each is made from a metallic sheet. The terminal
62
is composed of an electric contact portion
67
and an electric-wire connecting portion
68
. The electric contact portion
67
is adapted to receive in the above connecting bar
63
. When the connecting bar
63
is received in the electric contact portion
67
, it produces elastic restitutive force that impedes the insertion of the connecting bar
63
so that the relative position of the connecting bar
63
to the electric contact portion
67
is maintained.
The electric-wire connecting portion
68
permits an electric wire to be arranged unidirectionally. The electric-wire connecting portion
68
includes a crimping segment
70
on which the electric wire
69
can be crimped and a pair of electric-wire holding segments
71
which are located at the positions where the electric wire
69
is sandwiched in the direction of arranging the electric wire
69
.
The crimping segment
70
is provided with two pairs of press-fitting blades
72
, which cut the coating of the electric wire
69
to come in contact with the core thereof. The electric wire holding portions
71
each is provided with a pair of caulking pieces
73
between which the electric wire
69
with the coating is caulked. The caulking pieces
73
sandwiches the electric wire
69
therebetween so that the contact state of the press-fitting blades
72
of the crimping portion
70
and the core is maintained.
The electric contact portion
67
and the electric-wire connecting portion
68
are arranged at the positions where the electric wire
69
is not impeded. Specifically, in the direction of arranging the electric wire
69
, the electric connecting portion
67
is arranged to intersect the electric-wire connecting portions
68
.
The terminal
62
connects the electric wire
69
crimped on the crimping portion
70
or electric-wire connecting portion
68
and the connecting bar
63
inserted into the electric contact portion
67
to each other. The terminal
62
is attached to the board
61
in a state where the electric contact portion
67
is housed in the concave portion
65
and the electric connecting portion
68
is housed in the groove
64
.
The connecting bar
63
is made of a conductive material. The connecting bar
63
is formed in a band shape. The connecting bar
63
, when inserted into the hole
66
and the electric connecting portion
67
of the terminal
62
, is electrically connected to the electric wire
69
.
In the wiring unit having the configuration described above, the electric wires
69
connected to various electric appliances are arranged in the grooves
64
. By stacking a plurality of boards
61
and optionally selecting the concave portions
65
and holes
66
, the electric wires
69
are electrically connected to the relay, fuse, connector, etc. mounted in the above case according to a prescribed pattern.
In the wiring unit
54
shown in
FIG. 6
, since the grooves
64
and concave portions
65
are formed in the insulating plate
61
, relatively complicated inequalities must be formed in the surface of the insulating plate
61
. This requires the complicate shape of the mold which is used to shape the insulating plate
61
, thus increasing the production cost.
In the wiring unit
54
, in assembling, after the terminals
62
have been attached for each insulating plate
61
, the electric wires
69
must be crimped. This may increase the number of man-hours for assembling and hence steep rise in the production cost.
The circuit configuration of the wiring unit
54
is composed of the electric wires
69
and terminals
62
arranged along each groove
64
and the respective connecting bars
63
inserted in the electric contact portions
67
. In this way, the circuit configuration is composed of the electric wires and terminals
62
which are superposed on one another in a direction of stacking the insulating plates
61
. This increases the limitation to circuit design and upsizes the wiring unit
54
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide a wiring unit which can be manufactured at low cost and downsized.
In order to attain the above object, in accordance with this invention, there is provided a wiring unit comprising:
a plurality of flat circuit bodies each composed of an insulating plate and a plurality of conductors arranged thereon in parallel in a direction thereof, the circuit bodies being stacked successively vertically; and
a short-circuiting member composed of a plurality of pin segments and a coupling segment for electrically coupling the plurality of pin segments with each other, the short-circuiting member being made of a conductive material and covered with an insulating film on its surface, wherein
the pin segments with the insulating film partially removed are stuck into the flat circuit bodies so that the conductors are electrically connected to each other.
In this configuration, by selecting the conductors into which the pin segments of the short-circuiting member are stuck, the desired conductors can be electrically connected to each other surely in accordance with a prescribed pa

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