JP2024146980A - Wire protection structure - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a wire protection structure capable of protecting, with a simple structure, a connection portion of an electric wire between itself and a control device even when a vehicle collision occurs.SOLUTION: In the wire protection structure, an L-shaped bent support portion extending from a first portion 15b to a second portion 15c of a protective member 15 is supported by a first support member 12, and a support portion of the first portion 15b of the protective member 15 on a side opposite to a side supported by the first support member 12, is supported by a second support member 13. Thereby, even when a vehicle collision occurs, the wire protection structure, with a simple configuration, maintains shock absorbing effect of a bent portion of a high-voltage harness 8 at a transition portion inside an engine compartment, and firmly maintains a fixing state of a tip portion of the high-voltage harness 8 to a housing 7a of a power control unit (PCU).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

This invention relates to a wire protection structure that protects wires connecting a battery located outside an engine compartment at the front of a vehicle to a control device located inside the engine compartment.

Conventionally, in vehicles such as hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), in which a high-voltage HEV battery is placed under the floor of the passenger compartment separated by the dashboard, and control devices such as a power control unit are placed inside the engine compartment at the front separated by the dashboard, the battery and control devices are connected by high-voltage wires routed through the vehicle (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

This type of high-voltage wire is bent and routed inside the engine compartment, and one connector attached to the end of the high-voltage wire is fitted into the other connector provided on the control device, electrically connecting the battery and the control device. By bending the high-voltage wire inside the engine compartment, it is possible to absorb the movement of the high-voltage wire that is opposed to the movement of the vehicle body due to acceleration and deceleration, etc., and reduce excess load on the connection part of the high-voltage wire with the battery and the control device.

JP 2022-168284 A

However, as mentioned above, in HEVs, control devices such as the power control unit are located inside the engine compartment. In the event of a vehicle collision, the dashboard separating the engine compartment will deform due to the impact of the collision, and the bent parts of the high-voltage wires may not be able to adequately absorb the impact, which may result in the connection parts of the high-voltage wires with the control device not being able to be protected from the impact. This may result in damage to the connection parts of the high-voltage wires with the control device or to the high-voltage wires themselves, which may lead to situations that violate regulations, such as poor connections or poor insulation.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above points, and aims to provide a simple structure that can protect the connection between the electric wire and the control device even in the event of a vehicle collision.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the wire protection structure of the present invention is a wire that connects a battery arranged outside an engine room in the front part of a vehicle to a control device arranged inside the engine room, and protects the wire that is bent and routed inside the engine room. The wire protection structure includes a first support member that is L-shaped and attached to the rear side of the housing of the control device, a second support member that is attached to the rear side of the housing of the control device opposite to the first support member, and a protection member that is arranged between the first and second support members and through which the end of the wire is inserted, the protection member has a first part in the vertical direction through which the end of the wire is inserted in the vertical direction, and a second part that is formed below the first part by swelling in the left-right direction to form an L shape and through which the end of the wire is inserted in the left-right direction, the support point that is bent in the L shape from the first part to the second part is supported by the first support member, and the unbent support point of the first part opposite the support point by the first support member is supported by the second support member.

With this configuration, the L-shaped bent support point extending from the first part to the second part of the protective member is supported by the first support member, and the support point of the first part of the protective member opposite the support point by the first support member is supported by the second support member. This simple configuration makes it possible to maintain the shock absorbing effect of the bent part of the electric wire inside the engine compartment even in the event of a vehicle collision, while firmly maintaining the fixed state of the tip part of the electric wire to the housing of the control device, and to protect the connection part of the electric wire with the control device and the electric wire itself.

In addition, an engaging portion may be formed on each of the first and second support members, and an engaged portion may be formed on the protective member with which the engaging portions of the first and second support members engage, and the engaging portions of the first and second support members may engage with the engaged portions of the protective member, so that the protective member is supported by the first and second support members.

With this configuration, the engaging portions of the first and second support members engage with the engaged portions of the protective member, and the protective member is supported by the first and second support members, so that the protective member can be easily attached to the housing of the control device by the first and second support members.

According to the present invention, even if a vehicle collision occurs, the simple configuration can keep the wire firmly fixed to the housing of the control device, thereby protecting the connection between the wire and the control device.

1 is a schematic plan view showing a state in which an embodiment of a wire protection structure according to the present invention is assembled to a vehicle. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of FIG. 1; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of first and second support members. FIG. 4 is a front view of the first and second support members. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the protective member as viewed from the front side. 6 is a perspective view of the protective member as viewed from the opposite side to that of FIG. 5 . FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of FIG. 1;

One embodiment of the wire protection structure according to the present invention applied to an HEV vehicle will be described in detail with reference to Figures 1 to 7. Note that in this embodiment, front, rear, left and right refer to front, rear, left and right as viewed from a seated position.

As shown in FIG. 1, the body 1 of an HEV vehicle is divided by a dashboard 2 into a passenger compartment 3 and an engine room 4 in front of it. An HEV battery 5 of, for example, several hundred volts is placed almost in the center under the floor of the passenger compartment 3. Inside the engine room 4, an engine 6 is placed almost in the center, and a power control unit (hereinafter referred to as PCU) 7, which corresponds to the control device of the present invention, is placed to the left of the engine 6. This PCU 7 is composed of an inverter, a DC-DC converter, etc. housed in a housing 7a, and controls the voltage and current.

A high-voltage harness (corresponding to the "wire" in this invention) 8, which is a bundle of high-voltage electric wires, is routed under the floor of the passenger compartment 3, passing through the dashboard 2 under the floor in the engine room 4, one end of the high-voltage harness 8 is connected to the battery 5 by a connector 9, and inside the engine room 4, the other end of the high-voltage harness 8 is connected to a connector 10 attached to the top surface of the housing 7a of the PCU 7, and is electrically connected to the PCU 7.

At this time, the high-voltage harness 8 passes through approximately the center of the dashboard 2 and its front end is disposed inside the engine room 4, and as shown in FIG. 1, in an area called a transition section 11 between the dashboard 2 and the PCU 7 inside the engine room 4, the front end of the high-voltage harness 8 is bent to form a bent section.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the first and second support members 12 and 13 are equipped with metal mounting parts 12a and 13a that are flat when viewed from the front, and metal raised parts 12b and 13b that are integrally formed with the mounting parts 12a and 13a and rise to the rear, respectively, and both have an L-shaped cross section. They are attached to the rear side of the housing 7a of the PCU 7.

At this time, the raised portions 12b, 13b of the first support member 12 and the second support member 13 are arranged opposite each other, and the mounting portions 12a, 13a of both support members 12, 13 have insertion holes 12c, 13c for bolts (not shown) or the like formed therein. With the mounting portions 12a, 13a in contact with the rear side of the housing 7a, the bolts or the like inserted into the insertion holes 12c, 13c are screwed into the rear side of the housing 7a, thereby attaching the first and second support members 12, 13 to the rear side of the housing 7a of the PCU 7.

The first support member 12 is L-shaped when viewed from the rear to the front, and rectangular protruding pieces 12d, 12e that protrude rearward are integrally formed at two locations, the upper and lower parts of the rising part 12b of the first support member 12, and a rectangular protruding piece 13d that protrudes rearward is integrally formed at the upper part of the rising part 12b of the second support member 13, similar to the protruding pieces 12d, 12e. These protruding pieces 12d, 12e, 13d correspond to the "engagement part" in this invention, and by engaging with an engagement hole, which is an engaged part formed in the protective member described later, the protective member is supported by the first and second support members 12, 13.

As shown in Figures 5 and 6, a resin protective member 15 is arranged so as to be sandwiched between the raised portions 12b, 13b of the first and second support members 12, 13, and as shown in Figure 5 in particular, an insertion passage 15a, for example of a circular cross section, through which the high-voltage harness 8 is inserted is formed inside the protective member 15.

This protective member 15 has a first vertical portion 15b through which the front end of the high-voltage harness 8 is inserted in the vertical direction, and a second portion 15c formed below the first portion 15b and bulging in the left-right direction to form an L-shape, through which the front end of the high-voltage harness 8 is inserted in the left-right direction.

As shown in FIG. 6, the front surface of the protective member 15 is formed with engagement holes 15d, 15e, and 15f (corresponding to the "engaged portion" in the present invention) into which the protruding pieces 12d, 12e, and 13d of the first and second support members 12 and 13 described above engage, respectively. As shown in FIG. 7, the protruding pieces 12d and 12e of the first support member 12 are inserted and engaged with the engagement holes 15d and 15e of the protective member 15, and the protruding piece 13d of the second support member 13 engages with the engagement hole 15f of the protective member 15, so that the L-shaped bent support point from the first portion 15b to the second portion 15c is supported along the rising portion 12b of the first support member 12, and the support point of the first portion 15b on the opposite side to the unbent first support member 12 is supported by the second support member 13.

Here, it is desirable to form engagement protrusions, for example by cutting and raising, on the outer surfaces of the protruding pieces 12d, 12e, 13d of the first and second support members 12, 13, and form engagement recesses into which these engagement protrusions engage on the sides of the protective member 15 that are not in the respective engagement holes 15d, 15e, 15f. When the protruding pieces 12d, 12e, 13d of the first and second support members 12, 13 are inserted into the respective engagement holes 15d, 15e, 15f of the protective member 15, the engagement protrusions of the protruding pieces 12d, 12e, 13d fit into the respective engagement recesses of the respective engagement holes 15d, 15e, 15f, thereby firmly maintaining the engagement state between the protruding pieces 12d, 12e, 13d and the respective engagement holes 15d, 15e, 15f.

Therefore, according to the above-mentioned embodiment, the L-shaped bent support point from the first part 15b to the second part 15c of the protective member 15 is supported by the first support member 12, and the support point of the first part 15b of the protective member 15 opposite the support point by the first support member 12 is supported by the second support member 13. Therefore, with a simple configuration, even if a vehicle collision occurs, the impact absorption effect of the bent part of the high-voltage harness 8 in the bridge part 11 inside the engine room 4 can be maintained, and the fixed state of the tip part of the high-voltage harness 8 to the housing 7a of the PCU 7 can be firmly maintained, making it possible to protect the connection part of the high-voltage harness 8 with the PCU 7 and the high-voltage harness 8 itself.

In addition, the protective member 15 can be supported by the first and second support members 12 and 13 by engaging the respective engagement holes 15d, 15e, and 15f of the protective member 15 with the respective protruding pieces 12d, 12e, and 13d of the first and second support members 12 and 13, so that the protective member 15 with the high-voltage harness 8 inserted therethrough can be easily attached to both support members 12 and 13.

Furthermore, according to the embodiment described above, the protective member 15 is L-shaped, and the first support member 12 that supports it is also L-shaped when viewed from the front, so sufficient flexure can be ensured at the crossing portion 11 of the high-voltage harness 8 in the engine room 4.

In addition, the protective member 15 is L-shaped and supported by both support members 12 and 13 with the high-voltage harness 8 inserted therein, so that the protective member 15 can be supported while absorbing variations in the length of the high-voltage harness 8, etc.

In addition, because the protective member 15 is L-shaped and the first support member 12 is also L-shaped, the strength of the protective member 15 can be increased, and the protective member 15 can be prevented from easily deforming due to the impact during a vehicle collision.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications other than those described above can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to an HEV vehicle, but applicable vehicles are not limited to HEV vehicles, and the control device is not limited to the PCU 7 described above.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the support member that supports the protective member 15 is composed of two members, the first and second support members 12 and 13, but the first and second support members 12 and 13 may be integrated so that they can be attached to the housing 7a of the PCU 7 while holding the protective member 15 in between.

In the above embodiment, the protruding pieces 12d, 12e, and 13d formed on the first and second support members 12 and 13 are described as being rectangular in shape, but the shape of these protruding pieces is not limited to being rectangular, and the shape of the engagement hole of the protective member may be any shape that can engage a protruding piece that is not rectangular.

In the above embodiment, engagement protrusions are formed on the protruding pieces 12d, 12e, and 13d of the first and second support members 12 and 13, and engagement recesses are formed in the engagement holes 15d, 15e, and 15f of the protective member 15 with which these engagement protrusions engage. When the protruding pieces 12d, 12e, and 13d are inserted into the engagement holes 15d, 15e, and 15f, respectively, the protruding pieces 12d, 12e, and 13d and the engagement holes 15d, 15e, and 15f, respectively, Although an example has been described in which the engagement state between each of the protruding pieces 12d, 12e, and 13d and the respective engagement holes 15d, 15e, and 15f can be firmly maintained, the means for firmly maintaining the engagement state between each of the protruding pieces 12d, 12e, and 13d and the respective engagement holes 15d, 15e, and 15f is not limited to a combination of engagement protrusions and engagement holes, and in short, any configuration that can firmly maintain the engagement state between each of the protruding pieces 12d, 12e, and 13d and the respective engagement holes 15d, 15e, and 15f will suffice.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the protective member 15 is supported by the first and second support members 12, 13, but ribs corresponding to the two support members 12, 13 may be formed in advance on the housing 7a of the PCU 7, and the protective member 15 may be supported by these ribs. In this way, there is no need to prepare separate support members 12, 13, which reduces the number of parts, and the strength of the housing 7a can be improved by the ribs.

The present invention can be applied to a protection structure for an electric wire that connects a battery located outside the engine compartment at the front of a vehicle to a control device located inside the engine compartment, and protects the electric wire that is bent and routed inside the engine compartment.

1 Vehicle body 3 Vehicle compartment 4 Engine room 5 HEV battery 7 PCU (control unit)
8: High voltage harness 12: First support member 12d, 12e: Engagement piece (engagement portion)
13 ... second support member 13d ... engagement piece (engagement portion)
15: Protective member 15a: Insertion passage 15b: First portion 15c: Second portion 15d, 15e, 15f: Engagement hole (engaged portion)

Claims (2)

1. A wire protection structure for protecting an electric wire connecting a battery arranged outside an engine room at a front part of a vehicle and a control device arranged inside the engine room, the electric wire being bent and routed inside the engine room,
a first support member having an L-shape and attached to a rear side surface of a housing of the control device;
a second support member attached to a rear side surface of a housing of the control device opposite to the first support member;
a protective member disposed between the first and second support members and through which the end of the electric wire is inserted,
The protective member is
a first portion in a vertical direction through which the end of the electric wire is inserted in a vertical direction, and a second portion formed at a lower portion of the first portion so as to bulge in a horizontal direction to form an L shape, through which the end of the electric wire is inserted in a horizontal direction;
A wire protection structure characterized in that an L-shaped support point extending from the first part to the second part is supported by the first support member, and an unbent support point of the first part opposite the support point by the first support member is supported by the second support member. The wire protection structure according to claim 1,
The first and second support members each have an engagement portion formed thereon,
the protective member is formed with an engaged portion with which the engaging portion of each of the first and second support members engages;
a first supporting member and a second supporting member, the first supporting member and the second supporting member being supported by the first supporting member and the second supporting member, the first supporting member and the second supporting member being supported by the first supporting member and the second supporting member, the second ...

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