JP3135014B2 - Wire harness protector and instrument wire harness connection device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a protector suitable for protecting and storing a wire harness provided in an instrument panel of an automobile, for example, and a device for connecting the instrument wire harness.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A large number of electrical components are arranged around an instrument panel, and a control circuit unit for controlling and monitoring these components, meters, indicator lamps and switches are also concentrated, so that an instrument wire harness (hereinafter referred to as an instrument panel) is provided. The number of electric wires that make up the harness) is enormous, and the wiring configuration is complicated with the enlargement and weight of the electric wires. This, of course, has made maintenance difficult.

In order to alleviate such a situation, Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho 5
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-38457, a plurality of electric connection boxes, which absorb a branch connection portion in a wire harness and mount a large number of fuses as circuit protection members and relays as control components, are distributed and arranged at appropriate places in an automobile. Accordingly, proposals have been made to simplify the wiring form of the wire harness and prevent the wiring harness from becoming too large. FIG. 16 is a wiring diagram of a tail lamp system using such an electric junction box. 1 is a car body, 61
A and 61B are tail lamps, 62A and 62B are clearance lamps, 63 is an engine, and engine room 1
A is provided with a battery (not shown), and a tail lamp warning lamp 6 is provided around the instrument panel 1B.
4, an electrical connection box 68 having a tail relay 66, a main fuse 67A, a tail fuse 67B, and a meter fuse 67C, a lamp disconnection relay 6
9 and a tail switch 70 are arranged.

When the tail switch 70 is turned on, the contact of the tail relay 66 is closed and the circuit with the tail fuse 67B is energized, and the lamps 61A, 61B, 62A,
62B lights up. When one of the lamps 61A and 61B is disconnected, the lamp disconnection relay 69 is activated and the instrument panel 6 is turned off.
The warning lamp 64 in 5 lights up.

FIG. 17 shows an instrument panel (combination meter) in which the above-described electrical connection box 68, lamp disconnection relay 69, and control circuit units 66 such as a speed control relay and an integration relay are combined.
FIG. 65 is a block wiring diagram of the periphery of a block 65; The instrument panel 65 includes a number of meters 71 such as an oil gauge, a battery gauge, a speedometer, a tachometer, a movement 72 thereof, and lamps 64 such as indicators, alarms, and lights.
With class is implemented, the speedometer 72 A and tachometer 72 B dedicated control circuit 73A, 73B are provided separately, it is further the speed control relay, also the control circuit unit 66A such as integration relay distributed Therefore, the number of power lines and signal lines connecting these components to each other is extremely large, and the complexity is still not solved only by the limited arrangement of a small number of electric connection boxes 68.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2-45238 discloses a branch circuit having a joint connecting portion for connecting the instrument panel to the wire harness in the internal circuit of the instrument panel. An attempt to further simplify the wire harness around the instrument panel by reducing the number of circuits inside the electric connection box and the number of connecting wires by partially supporting the branch connection part of the electric connection box is disclosed. In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-26637, as shown in FIG. 18, switches / instruments (not shown) are mounted on a cluster 75 of an instrument panel 74, and these electric Flexible printed wiring board 7 constituting circuit
Electronic control board 79 in which electronic functional parts 78 such as memories and arithmetic operations necessary for electronic control of the switches and instruments are distributed and arranged on the terminal portion of the wiring board 76.
A circuit structure incorporating and connecting A to 79F is disclosed.

[0007]

A part of a branch circuit of a wiring harness or an electric connection box is replaced by an internal circuit of an instrument panel, and an electric circuit (possible for each switch / instrument) is provided on the back of the cluster. The flexible printed wiring board) and the electronic control board are directly distributed, so that even if the control circuit units are integrated on the back of the cluster, the number of electrical devices arranged on the instrument panel varies widely, and the wiring harness As long as the conventional method of individually connecting each electrical component with a connector is used, the number of branch lines derived from the main part of the wire harness does not decrease so much, considerable space is required for wiring harness arrangement, and it is still installed A great deal of labor and time is required for work and connection with each electrical component.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and a wiring harness protector which significantly simplifies the arrangement of wire harnesses, especially instrument panel harnesses, and which can be easily arranged and assembled. The purpose is to provide. Another object of the present invention is to provide an instrument wire harness connection device that can easily connect to various electric devices arranged in an instrument panel.

[0009]

To achieve the above object , a wire harness protector according to the present invention is mounted on an instrument panel of an automobile.
Collection with control circuit for onboard electrical components including instrument panel
Connects to various electrical devices such as the middle control circuit board and electrical junction box.
Instrument wire having multiple connectors connected
With wire harness protector that protects and stores the harness
There consists protector body for accommodating the wire harness and its cover, the said cover is provided to concentrate the plurality of through holes, wherein each connector in a wire harness which is received in the protector body Each from the through hole to protrude perpendicular to the housing arrangement direction of the wiring harness, the mosquito via the connector holding the connector group
Multipolar connector cover side by fixing the bar
A plurality of connectors formed and constituting said multi-pole connector
A printed wiring board provided on the back of the instrument panel
The side wall inside the housing of the connector connected to
Then, the elastic contact piece of the connector terminal faces the opening.
A circuit connecting portion of the printed wiring board,
It has a surface contact structure .

[0010] The connection device of an instrument wiring harness of the present invention, as described in claim 2, instrument panel to be mounted on an instrument panel portion of an automobile, automotive electric equipment including meter display lamp the regimen instrument panel A centralized control circuit board provided with a control circuit of the type described above, and various electric devices such as an electric junction box for distributing power, input / output signals, and integrating a ground wire for the on-vehicle electric components, and a plurality of electric devices connected to these electric devices. An instrument wire harness connecting device having a connector, the connecting device includes a wire harness protector including a protector body and a cover thereof, and a plurality of through holes are concentrated in the cover. The plurality of connectors in the instrument panel harness housed in the protector body are respectively inserted through the respective through holes. Projecting at right angles to the housing arrangement direction of the harness, the multipolar connector is formed by fixing through the connector holding the connector group, the multipolar connector
Of the plurality of connectors constituting the
C of the connector connected to the printed wiring board
Release the inner side wall of the housing and connect it to the opening.
The elastic contact piece of the connector terminal is formed by exposing the elastic contact piece.
Is brought into surface contact with a circuit connecting portion of the printed wiring board.
It is characterized by.

[0011]

According to the wire harness protector of the first aspect, the trunk portion of the wire harness and a plurality of branch line portions derived therefrom are also collectively stored and protected in the protector body and the cover. Some terminal connectors are also integrated as a multi-pole connector using the through holes in the cover. Therefore, the wiring harness can be disposed by assembling and fixing the wire harness protector at a predetermined position, and the operation is extremely simple. Therefore, by pre-aggregating the mating connector of the electric device to be connected to the terminal connector corresponding to the multi-pole connector, it is possible to simultaneously arrange the wiring harness and electrically connect various electric devices by the connector connection. it is possible to perform in.

Further, the one of the plurality of connectors constituting the multipolar connector, to release the inside of the side wall of the connector housing to be connected is to the printed wiring board provided on the back surface of the instrument panel, the surface in the open portion exposing the resilient contact piece of the connector terminals and, because are a structure for circuit connection and the surface contact of the printed circuit board, the resilient contact pieces of the connector terminals are protected from the outside, Ya contact with other devices Damage or damage due to abutment can be prevented.

According to the connecting device of the instrument wire harness <br/> scan of claim 2, instrument panel disposed in the instrument panel, an electrical equipment such as centralized control circuit board and electrical connection box as meter module integrated, further,
Instrument panel harness connection connector corresponding to the plurality of connectors constituting the multi-pole connector in the module case
, The protector containing the instrument panel harness is attached to the instrument panel,
It can be fixed, so that the wiring harness arrangement and connection with various electric devices can be completed in one installation operation.

[0014]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual explanatory view showing the structure and operation of a meter module according to the present invention. 1 is a vehicle body,
The meter module 3 is arranged on the right side of the instrument panel 2. 4A to 4O indicate relays, circuit control units or electric connection boxes. In the panel 2, a starter interrupt relay 4A is disposed on the right side of the meter module 3, an electronic flasher 4B, an auto lamp relay 4C, an indicator lamp module 4D, and a sub-electrical connection box 4E are disposed on the left side. 4F, blower motor relay 4
G is arranged. Instrument panel 2
The main electric connection box 4J and the integration module 4K are arranged on the right side of the vehicle, the antenna module 4H and the airbag 4I are arranged on the left side, and the power steering control 4L, the auto ride control 4M, the anti-theft control unit 4N and A keyless remote control 40 is provided.

Among these circuit control units 4A to 4O, for example, various units 4D, 4E,
4F, 4K and 4L are collectively provided integrally inside the meter module 3 of the present invention. Accordingly, the number of wirings inside the instrument panel 2 and the inside of the floor 2 ', 2 "on both sides of the vehicle compartment is greatly reduced, so that the arrangement form is simplified, and the empty space of these units is reduced. Can be used to install electrical components.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the meter module 3 and the instrument panel 2 according to the present invention in a separated state. In the figure, 5 is a cluster frame, 6 is a finish panel, and the meter module 3 is housed in the cluster frame 5 to form a cluster, and is fitted and fixed to the instrument panel 2. The finish panel 6 may be fixed to the meter module 3 and then assembled to the instrument panel 2, but in this case, it is attached after the meter module 3 is assembled. Reference numeral 7 denotes a wire harness protector that protects the instrument panel harness 8. The protector 7 is integrally formed with a screw-fastened multipolar connector 10 that can be directly connected to the meter module 3.
Reference numeral 9 denotes a main electric connection box (see FIG. 3) having a known configuration in which a large number of fuses 9a, relays 9b, etc. are mounted and a plurality of harness connection connectors 9c are provided, and corresponds to the main electric connection box 4J in FIG. I do.

As shown in FIG. 3, the meter module 3 includes an instrument panel 12, a printed wiring board 13, a centralized control circuit board 14, an electric connection box (J / B) 15, a module case 16, and the like. . Reference numeral 17 denotes a fog lamp switch shown as a representative example, and the switches are fitted into and fixed to the mounting openings 5a of the cluster frame 5, respectively. Reference numeral 18 denotes a module sub-wire harness, which has a plurality of J / B connection connectors 19 in the middle,
At both ends, connectors 20 for directly attaching devices are provided.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the mutual relationship between the module 3, the instrument panel harness 8 and the sub-wire harness 18, and FIG. 5 is a front view of the module case 16. 4 and 5, the module case 16 of the module 3 is a rectangular box having a bottom wall 16a and a peripheral wall 16b, and is made of a synthetic resin insulator such as polybutyl terephthalate (PBT), polypropylene, polyamide resin, or PPS resin. Produced from On the back surface of the bottom wall 16a of the module case 16, a connector 21 for connecting an instrument panel harness is formed at a central portion so as to protrude, and a plurality of connectors 22 for connecting a sub-wire harness are provided on one side, and a plurality of ventilation holes 23 are provided on the other side. Are provided, and a mounting plate 24 for the cluster 5 is provided at a corner portion of the peripheral wall 16b on the front surface.

The instrument panel harness connection connector 21 is formed as a collective connector to be fitted to the multi-pole connector 10 of the instrument panel harness 8, and includes a frame portion 21a integrated with the module case 16, a bolt receiving portion 21b at the center thereof, 2
1b and the connector fitting ports 21c and 21 on one side.
c ', and J / B connector portions 21d and 21d' below and on the other side of the portion 21b. As will be described later, an instrument panel harness connection connector 41 of the printed wiring board 13 on the back of the instrument panel 12 is fitted into the connector fitting port 21c, and an instrument panel of the centralized control circuit board 14 is fitted into the connector fitting port 21c '. The harness connection connector 46 is fitted, and the J / B connector portions 21d and 21
As described later, the tab 30 of the bus bar 26 of the electric connection box 15 is accommodated and arranged at d 'as a connector terminal.

In the center of the front surface of the module case 16, a partition 16c is provided continuously with the frame 21a, so that an electric connection box accommodating portion 25 is defined on one side. As shown in FIG. 3, the electric connection box 15 has a bus bar circuit board 28 composed of a plurality of bus bars 26 and an insulating plate 27 supporting the bus bars 26 stacked in the electric connection box accommodating portion 25 (in the example shown in the drawing). It is configured integrally with the module case 16 by forming two layers) and covering the insulating cover 29.

An intermediate portion of each bus bar 26 and / or
Tabs 30 (refer to FIG. 6) as connector terminals are formed upright at the ends, and a group of these tabs 30 penetrates through a tab insertion hole 31 provided in the bottom wall 16a and is connected to the sub-wire harness connection connector 22. J / B connector parts 21d and 21d '
Is configured. In addition, a part of the tab group 30 is made of an insulating cover 29.
Through the tab insertion hole 31 (see FIG. 9). Insulating cover 2
A spacer 33 having a screw hole protrudes from a peripheral portion of the module 9 to fix the insulating cover 29 to the module case 16 and to fix the centralized control circuit board 14 to the insulating cover 29 with an appropriate space V therebetween. (Fig. 6
reference).

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the meter module 3 and a wire harness protector 7 showing an embodiment of the present invention in a separated state, FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an assembled state thereof, and FIGS.
(B) shows a centralized control circuit board 14 and an electric connection box 15 respectively.
9 (A) and 9 (B) are enlarged sectional views of the separated state and the connected state of the connector 32 in FIG. 8, respectively, and FIGS. 10 (A) and (B) are FIG. 11A and 11B are enlarged cross-sectional views of a portion of the split connector 56 and a state of connection with the connector 41. FIGS. 11A and 11B show the connection between the J / B connector portion 21d and the split connector 55 in FIG. FIG. 12 is an enlarged sectional view of the state and a longitudinal sectional view thereof, FIG. 12 is a sectional view of the separated state of the wire harness protector 7, and FIG. 13 is a sectional view of a main part showing an assembled state of the meter module 3 and the instrument panel 2.

In these figures, a meter and display lamps (meter 35 in the illustrated example) are mounted on the front of the instrument panel 12 and electrically connected to a movement 36 and display lamps of the meter 35 on the back. A printed wiring board (FPC) 13 is attached. Printed wiring board 1
3 is provided with a dial 37 and a light guide plate 38 for guiding light from the bulb to the dial together with a dial 37. On the back side, a receiving seat 39 having a recess 39a is formed to bulge out. A circuit connecting portion 40 formed extending from the plate 13
The instrument seat harness connection connector 41 is formed by the receiving seat 39 and the circuit connection portion 40 along the line.

As shown in FIG. 14, the instrument panel 12 has meters 35 such as a speedometer S, a tachometer TM, a fuel gauge F, a radiator thermometer T, various indicator lamps 42 and 42 ', an odometer, a trip and a clock. And the like, and switches 44 for switching the display of the LCD 43 are mounted. The printed wiring board 13 is provided with a connector 45 (see FIG. 6) for the centralized control circuit board 14 together with the instrument panel harness connection connector 41.

8 and 9, the centralized control circuit board 14 has an instrument panel connector 45 'on one side and an instrument panel harness connector 46 and J / B on the other side.
A connection terminal 47 is provided, and an opening 48 (FIG.
After the instrument panel harness 8 is connected from the opening 48, the user can look into the opposite surface of the bolt 57 provided on the instrument panel harness side connector, and insert a (release) tool from the opposite surface. The connector connection can be released.

As shown in FIG. 14, the centralized control circuit board 14 is connected to an ordinary hard printed circuit board (HPC) together with a driver circuit 14A, an arithmetic drive unit 14B, and a driver circuit 14C, as well as an I / F circuit 49A, 49B, 4
9C, a microcomputer (CPU) 50 for performing a memory necessary for electronic control of meters, display lamps and other electric components of the instrument panel 12 (not limited to those installed on the instrument panel 2), arithmetic processing, and the like. Is formed by incorporating the output circuit 51 of FIG.

The instrument panel harness connection connector 46 is formed of a terminal 46a connected to the I / F circuit 49C of FIG. 14 and its housing 46b. Also, the J / B connection terminal 47 is a pair of opposing substrates 47.
The elastic contact piece 47b is formed by folding back from the upper end of a, and a connecting piece 47d for soldering is connected to the lower end of the substrate 47a via an expanding piece 47c.
d and 47d are inserted into holes 14b of the land portion 14a of the centralized control circuit board 14, and are fixed by soldering to power supply lines such as the I / F circuits 49A and 49B and the CPU 50.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, when the centralized control circuit board 14 is abutted against the insulating cover 29 constituting the electric connection box 15, the instrument panel harness connecting connector 46 is fitted into the connector fitting opening 21c '. While being worn,
The tab 30 of the bus bar 26 is connected to each J / B connection terminal 47.
The electric connection between the centralized control circuit board 14 and the electric connection box 15 is achieved by being inserted between the pair of elastic contact pieces 47b.

In order to be able to use the above-mentioned centralized control circuit board 14 in common regardless of vehicle type and grade, in addition to the above-mentioned arithmetic functions such as the memory function and speed control,
Digitization function of various meters, timer function such as key reminder, light reminder, wiper control,
Use a device that has various functions such as a multi-display function such as a clock, an odometer, and a trip. Further, it is preferable to use one having optional functions such as navigation, multi-function switches, anti-theft control, keyless entry, etc., but it may be replaced with another central control circuit board having these optional functions.

As shown in FIG. 12, the wire harness protector 7 of the present invention comprises a protector body 52 and a cover 5 thereof.
And locking holes 5 each constituting locking means.
2a and a locking claw 53a. Reference numeral 54 denotes a connector retainer, which is a divided connector 5 constituting the multi-pole connector 10.
The connectors 5 and 56 are inserted into the through holes 53 b provided in the cover 53, the connector retainer 54 is extrapolated, and fixed to the cover 53 by screws 59.

The split connector 55 has a bolt 5
The protector main body 52 is provided with an opening frame 52b for turning the bolt, corresponding to the bolt 57. 55a is a bolt insertion portion, 55b is a bolt 57
A locking claw 55c is provided in a rear end opening of the bolt insertion portion 55a, and a locking hole 52c corresponding to the locking claw 55c is provided in the opening frame 52b. The terminal receiving chamber 55d of the split connector 55 has
As shown in FIGS. 1 (A) and 1 (B), the female terminal 30 'is housed and locked to the tab 30 of the electric connection box 15. The other split connector 56 is to be connected to the instrument panel harness connection connector 41, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (B), one side surface 5 of the housing 56a.
6b is opened, and the connector terminal 58 faces the opening.
The elastic contact piece 58a is exposed to be in surface contact with the land (copper foil) of the circuit connecting portion 40.

At the time of assembling the wire harness protector 7, the split connectors 55 and 56 are attached in advance to the ends of the required branch wires of the instrument panel harness 8 (see FIG. 2). Then, a part of the instrument panel harness 8 is housed in the protector main body 52, and the connectors 55 and 56 are assembled and fixed to the cover 53 by the connector retainer 54 as described above, and then the cover 53 is put on the protector main body 52. By engaging the locking holes 52a and the locking claws 53a and locking them, assembly can be easily performed.

In the above configuration, assembling of the meter module 3 is performed as follows. First, in FIG. 5, a plurality of bus bar circuit boards 28 are stored in the electric connection box housing 25 of the module case 16, and the tabs 30 of the bus bars 26 are made to protrude from the tab insertion holes 31 so that the J / B connector 2
1d and 21d 'are formed. After a while, the insulating cover 29
To form the centralized control circuit board connector 32 in the same manner. Thus, the electric connection box 15 is assembled integrally with the module case 16.

Next, as described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, the centralized control circuit board 14 is abutted against the electric connection box 15, and the instrument panel harness connecting connector 46 is fitted into the connector fitting opening 21c '. Tab 30 and J
By connecting to the / B connection terminal 47, the centralized control circuit board 14 and the electric connection box 15 are electrically connected, and are fixed by screws 60. As described above, the electrical connection box 15 and the centralized control circuit board 14 are stacked so as to be shifted from each other on the side of the ventilation hole 23 of the module case 16 while avoiding complete overlap, and the spacer 33 is provided between the two. , The centralized control circuit board 14 is hardly affected by the heat generated by energization of the electrical connection box 15.

Further, a connector 45 '(see FIGS. 3 and 7) for connecting the instrument panel of the centralized control circuit board 14 to each connector 45 of the printed wiring board 13 of the instrument panel 12, and a connector for connecting the instrument panel harness. By fitting 41 to connector fitting opening 21c, connection between instrument panel 12 and central control circuit board 14 and integration with module case 16 are achieved. In this way, it is very easy to assemble.

In this state, when the meter module 3 is housed in the cluster frame 5 as described above and fixed with screws or the like, it is formed as a cluster, so that it can be fitted and fixed to the instrument panel 2 as it is. Then, the finish panel 6 is fixed to the instrument panel 2 for finishing.

The connection between the meter module 3 or the cluster and the instrument panel harness 8 and the sub-wire harness 18 can be easily performed as follows. That is, the J / B connection connector 19 of the sub-wire harness 18 is fitted to the sub-wire harness connection connector 22 of the electric connection box 15 exposed from the window 5b of the cluster frame 5. Further, the device direct attachment connector 20 at the end of the sub-wire harness 18 is directly connected to a device such as the switch 17 fixed to the mounting opening 5a of the cluster frame 5 as shown in FIG. Finally, the split connector 5 provided on the protector 7
When the connectors 5 and 56 are aligned with the connector 21 for connecting the instrument panel harness on the back of the meter module 3 and pushed in, the split connectors 55 and 56 become J / B connector portions 21d and 21d 'as shown in FIGS. , Are connected to the instrument panel harness connector 46 and the connector 41. Thereby, the necessary electrical connection between the instrument panel harness 8, the sub-wire harness 18, and the meter module 3 (the centralized control circuit board 14, the electric connection box 15) is achieved.

FIG. 14 shows a meter module 3 according to the present invention.
It is a block wiring diagram using. The + B power supply, the ACC power supply, and the IGN power supply supplied to the meter module 3 are supplied to the central control circuit board 14 and the instrument panel 12 via the electric connection box 15 in the module. Warning to forget to turn off the light ( La
Information (signals) necessary to control various functions such as an entry reminder ) and a keyless entry are transmitted to the meter module 3 from signal generation means such as the various control modules, actuators, switches, and sensors arranged in various places in the vehicle. The signal is supplied to the CPU 50 via an I / F circuit 49A and other I / F circuits (not shown). The CPU 50 performs necessary processing (operation) in accordance with the input signal, sounds a buzzer, and outputs a door lock drive. And the like are output via the output circuit 51 and the output I / F circuit 49B.

The CPU 50 controls the operation of the movement 36 provided on the instrument panel 12 and the blinking of the various indicators 42 'in addition to the calculation and control of the various functions. The movements 36 such as the speedometer S and the tachometer TM are all composed of cross-coil movements, and are dynamically driven (time-division driven) by a single driver circuit 14A. The CPU 50 fetches a sensor signal required for driving the movement via the input I / F 49C, calculates a measurement amount for each movement, and serially transmits the result to the driver circuit 14A via the multiplex signal line L. LCD 43 for displaying odd, trip, and clock.
The display is controlled by an odd, trip, and clock operation drive unit 14B, which receives the speed signal from the I / F circuit 49C and performs the integrated distance calculation and the clock counting. Reference numeral 44 denotes a display switch for selectively switching the display of the LCD 43 between odd display, trip display, and clock display.

A comparison between FIG. 14 and FIG. 17 showing a conventional example shows that, for example, the control circuit units 66 and the electric connection box 6
8. It is clear that the lamp disconnection relay 69 and the like are absorbed by the meter module 3 of the present invention, and the number of circuits (the number of wirings) concentrated around the instrument panel can be largely reduced as a whole.

FIG. 15 shows a meter module 3 according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a wiring diagram of a tail lamp system when adopting the above. Compared to FIG. 16 showing a conventional example, a tail lamp disconnection relay 69, a tail relay 66, and fuses 67A to 67
Since C is provided collectively in one meter module 3, it is apparent that the number of wirings can be reduced similarly to the above.

As is clear from the above description, the electric connection box 15, which has a considerable rise in temperature due to energized heat generation, is arranged close to one side of the module case 16.
In addition to the advantage that the thermal influence on the centralized control circuit board 14 and the printed wiring board 13 on the back surface of the instrument panel 12 can be reduced, the console panel has circuit members such as the instrument panel 12, the centralized control circuit board 14, and the electric connection box 15. Since it can be formed compactly separately from the large cluster frame 5, there is an advantage that manufacture and handling become easy.

The module case 16 of the meter module 3 includes a printed circuit board 13 and a central control circuit board 1.
4 and connectors 41, 46 and J / B connector portions 21d, 2 for instrument panel harness 8 of electrical junction box 15.
1d 'are collectively provided as the instrument panel harness connection connector 21, so that the multi-pole connector 1 of the harness 8 is provided.
It can be connected to zero by one operation (tightening of the bolt 57). Similarly, a connection portion of the instrument panel harness 8 to the meter module 3 is formed as a screw-fastened multi-pole connector 10 in which a plurality of connectors (two of the split connectors 55 and 56 in this embodiment) are assembled via the protector 7. This saves the labor of fitting a large number of connectors one by one in the limited space of the instrument panel. Moreover, the split connector 56 in the multipolar connector 10
Since the elastic contact piece 58a of the connector terminal 58 is open toward the split connector 55 side, that is, opened inside, there is a possibility that it may be damaged by contact with other equipment during storage and assembly work. There is no.

In the above description, an example was described in which the sub-wire harness 18 was formed as an electric wire bundle type wire harness which was wound with tape using a normal electric wire. However, conductors such as a ribbon wire and a copper foil were vertically arranged in parallel. It can also be formed with a so-called flat harness that is insulated and coated. The drive circuit for the meter and the indicator lamps is composed of the printed wiring board 13 of the instrument panel 12 and the central control circuit board 1.
4 may be provided. Further, since the meter module 3 can be easily removed from the instrument panel 2 together with the cluster frame 5, the electric components and devices around the module 3 can be seen from the back of the panel without separating the instrument panel 2 from the vehicle body. Peripheral equipment can be easily maintained. When the specifications of the instrument panel 12 are different or partially changed depending on the vehicle type and grade, since the central control circuit board 14 can be used in common as described above, only the instrument panel needs to be replaced, and prompt action can be taken. .

[0045]

According to the wire harness protector and the instrument wire harness connecting apparatus of the present invention, the wiring form of the wire harness, particularly the instrument panel harness around the instrument panel where a large number of electrical devices are concentrated, is significantly simplified. Wiring and assembly can be performed easily, improving automobile productivity and reducing costs.
Is possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual explanatory view showing the configuration and operation of a meter module according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the meter module and the instrument panel according to the present invention in a separated state.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the meter module.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a mutual relationship between a meter module, an instrument panel harness, and a sub-wire harness.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the module case of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the meter module and a wire harness protector showing one embodiment of the present invention in a separated state.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an assembled state of FIG. 6;

FIGS. 8A and 8B are enlarged cross-sectional views of the central control circuit board and the electric connection box in a separated state, respectively.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are enlarged cross-sectional views of the connector portion of FIG. 8 in a separated state and a connected state, respectively.

10A is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion of a split connector 56 in FIG. 6, and FIG. 10B is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a state of connection with the connector 41.

11A is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the connection state between the J / B connector section 21d and the split connector 55 in FIG. 6, and FIG. 11B is a longitudinal cross-sectional view thereof.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the wire harness protector of FIG. 6 in a separated state.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing an assembled state of the meter module and the instrument panel.

FIG. 14 is a block wiring diagram of a meter module according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a wiring diagram showing an example of a vehicle interior wiring when the meter module according to the present invention is used.

FIG. 16 is a conventional wiring diagram corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 17 is a block wiring diagram of a conventional combination, relay and electric junction box.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory view of an electric circuit structure of a conventional instrument panel section.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Instrument panel 3 Meter module 5 Cluster frame 7 Wire harness protector 8 Instrument wire harness 10 Multi-pole connector 12 Instrument panel 13 Printed wiring board 14 Centralized control circuit board 15 Electric connection box 16 Module case 18 Sub-wire harness 21 Instrument panel harness connection Connector 25 Electrical connection box housing 26 Bus bar 27 Insulating plate 28 Bus bar circuit board 33 Spacer 52 Protector body 53 Cover 53b Through hole 54 Connector holder 55 Split connector 56 Split connector

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-1-212636 (JP, A) JP-A-3-203122 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H02G 3 / 04 B60K 37/04 B60R 16/02 H01R 12/32

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An instrument panel mounted on an automobile.
Collection with control circuit for onboard electrical components including instrument panel
Connects to various electrical devices such as the middle control circuit board and electrical junction box.
Instrument wire having multiple connectors connected
With wire harness protector that protects and stores the harness
There consists protector body for accommodating the wire harness and its cover, the said cover is provided to concentrate the plurality of through holes, wherein each connector in a wire harness which is received in the protector body Each from the through hole to protrude perpendicular to the housing arrangement direction of the wiring harness, the mosquito via the connector holding the connector group
Multipolar connector cover side by fixing the bar
A plurality of connectors formed and constituting said multi-pole connector
A printed wiring board provided on the back of the instrument panel
The side wall inside the housing of the connector connected to
Then, the elastic contact piece of the connector terminal faces the opening.
A circuit connecting portion of the printed wiring board,
A wire harness protector having a structure that makes surface contact . 2. An instrument panel mounted on an instrument panel of an automobile, a centralized control circuit board provided with a control circuit for in-vehicle electrical components including a meter and an indicator lamp of the instrument panel, and a power supply for the in-vehicle electrical components. A connection device between various electric devices such as an electric connection box for distributing input / output signals and integrating a ground wire, and an instrument wire harness having a plurality of connectors connected to these electric devices, Is provided with a wire harness protector comprising a protector body and a cover thereof, a plurality of through holes are provided in the cover in a concentrated manner, and the plurality of connectors in the instrument panel harness housed in the protector body are respectively provided through the through holes. The connector group is protruded from the hole at right angles to the housing arrangement direction of the instrument panel harness, and the connector group is Multipolar connector is formed by securing
And a plurality of connectors constituting the multi-pole connector.
That is, a printed wiring board provided on the back of the instrument panel is connected.
Release the inner side wall of the connector housing
Exposing the elastic contact piece of the connector terminal facing the opening
Forming the elastic contact piece and connecting the circuit to the printed wiring board.
A device for connecting an instrument wire harness, which is brought into surface contact with a part .