JPH0752665A - Cooling device for electrical equipment of vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a cooling device for vehicle electrical equipment, which enhances the heat releasing property of a relay box and the like and thus reduces the accumulation of heat. CONSTITUTION:In a vehicle in which an engine room 11 is equipped with electrical equipment such as a relay, an opening is formed in part of a relay box 22 enclosing such electrical equipment, and the inside of the relay box 22 is communicated with the upstream of an air cleaner 15. Therefore, when the engine is started, heat in the relay box 22 connected to the air cleaner 15 is sucked toward the air cleaner by the intake negative pressure of the engine. The relay, etc., that is incorporated into the relay box is thus cooled.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric component cooling device for a vehicle for suppressing a temperature rise of electric components such as a relay arranged in an engine room.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an engine room of a vehicle, there are provided an electrical component, for example, a relay box for accommodating a relay and a fuse box for accommodating a fuse for preventing damage to wirings and devices thereof. ing.

[0003] The relay box, which is an electrical component, is housed in the above-mentioned relay box, and the relay box, the relay, etc. may generate heat due to the environment of the engine room where the relay box is arranged. There were many.

When a relay box or relay has heat, the relay is affected by the heat unless the heat is radiated. In order to prevent the occurrence of such heat damage, various measures have been conventionally taken for the box.

As a countermeasure, a relay box 1 as shown in FIG. 5 is formed. This relay box 1 is provided with a space portion 3 as a measure against heat damage on the outside of a portion 2 in which an actual relay or the like is housed, and by taking a large volume of the entire relay box 1, a heat dissipation surface is widened to reduce heat accumulation. There is something. In the figure, reference numeral 4 is an electric wire connected to the relay.

Another type is a relay box 5 as shown in FIG. In this relay box 5, a circulation path 6 for cooling water is provided on the upper surface of the relay box 5, an air cooling fan 7 is provided on a side portion, and the relay box 5 is cooled by cooling water and cooling air. Is.

Further, there is another box 8 as shown in FIG. This box 8 has a reduced number of relays 9 and fuses (not shown) housed inside. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, five relays 9 or fuses housed in the box 8 in the related art are reduced to four as shown in FIG. The fuses of another formed the bracket 10 and were attached by it.

As a vehicle mounting relay box,
Some are disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-57748. The one disclosed in this publication is provided with an air scoop which is opened on the upstream side of the cooling air sucked into the engine room and an air outlet which is opened on the downstream side of the cooling air and discharges the taken air. It has a relay inside.

Further, as an automobile battery cooling device,
Some are disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-179030.
What is disclosed in this publication is that a cover member is provided around a battery provided in the engine room to partition it from the rest of the engine room, and an intake passage for an air cleaner is provided inside the cover member.

Further, as a cooling structure for electronic equipment for vehicles, there is one disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 59-9116. The one disclosed in this publication incorporates an electronic device in an engine air supply system air duct installed in an engine room, provides a branch pipe downstream of the electronic device of the air duct, and cools the electronic device in the branch pipe. An electric fan is provided.

[0011]

In the prior art described above, the relay box shown in FIG. 5 having a large box volume has a problem that it is difficult to realize due to the layout of the engine room.

In addition, the relay box shown in FIG. 6 in which a circulation passage for cooling water and a cooling fan are attached requires a separate device such as a circulation passage and a cooling fan, so that the cost becomes high and the installation is not possible. There was a problem that would make it possible.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, it is difficult to reduce the number of relays or fuses inside the box in the same manner as described above, considering the increase in the number of electric circuits in recent automobiles.

The vehicle mounting relay box disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-57748 discloses an air scoop that is open upstream of cooling air sucked into the engine room and a downstream of the cooling air. However, an air outlet for discharging the taken-in air is provided and a relay is provided inside, but there is a drawback that the effect is not exhibited unless the vehicle runs after the engine is started.

The battery cooling device for an automobile disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 61-179030 has an intake passage for an air cleaner provided inside a cover member that separates the battery from the other parts of the engine room. Since the battery is not hermetically sealed, there is a drawback that the battery is not completely cooled by the intake air of the cleaner and the function of the battery is weakened at the time of starting.

Further, in the cooling structure for an electronic device for a vehicle disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 59-9116, an electronic device is incorporated in an air supply system air duct for an engine, and a branch provided downstream of the electronic device of the air duct. Since the tube is provided with the electric fan for cooling the electronic device, an electric fan for cooling the electronic device is required, which may cause a cost problem.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems. A box accommodating electrical components such as a relay is connected to an air cleaner, and heat is sucked together with air from the box by negative pressure of the engine. However, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electric component cooling device for a vehicle, in which the heat dissipation of the box is improved to eliminate heat accumulation.

[0018]

As a means for solving the above problems, the present invention provides a vehicle in which electric components such as relays are arranged in an engine room, and an opening is provided in a part of a box storing the electric components. A part is provided and the inside of the box is communicated with the upstream side of the air cleaner.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention, an opening is formed in a part of a box that houses electrical components such as a relay arranged in the engine room, and this box is connected to the upstream side of the air cleaner. When the engine is started, the heat in the box is sucked out to the cleaner side by the negative pressure of the intake air of the engine. This makes it possible to cool the box and electrical components such as a relay housed inside the box.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The same members as those in FIGS. 5 to 7 are designated by the same reference numerals. In the figure, reference numeral 11 indicates an engine room. An engine 12 is provided in the engine room 11, and an exhaust manifold 13 and an intake manifold 14 are connected to the engine 12.

An air cleaner 15 is connected upstream of the intake manifold 14. The air cleaner 15 is roughly composed of an air cleaner box 16, an air filter 17 and a cap (not shown). The air filter 17 is attached to a substantially central portion of the air cleaner box 16 so as to be orthogonal to the flow of air.

An intake manifold 14 is connected to the clean side 18 of the air cleaner box 16, and the upstream side of the air cleaner box 16, that is, the dust side.
The rear end of the air duct 20 for sucking air is connected to 19 (see FIG. 3). The tip of the air duct 20 serves as an air intake port 21.

As shown in FIG. 2, the air duct 20 is connected to a relay box 22 which is a box for accommodating the relay 9 which is an electric component, by a hose 23. Also, at the bottom of the relay box 22, an air cleaner
An opening 24 for taking in the air flowing to the 15 side is provided.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. When the engine 12 starts operating, the negative pressure of the engine 12 causes the air in the intake manifold 14 to flow as shown by arrows A and B.

As a result, the air in the air cleaner box 16 flows as shown by the arrow C, and the air passing through the air duct 20 flows as shown by the arrow D. Therefore, inside the air duct 20, the air intake port 21 of the air duct 20 and the air duct 20 are
Air comes in from the relay box 22 connected to.

When the air inside the relay box 22 is sucked into the air duct 20, the air is inevitably discharged.
It will flow through the opening 24 at the bottom of 22 (see arrow E). In this way, the relay 9 is cooled by the inflow and outflow of air into the relay box 22.

In this embodiment, the box 22 accommodating the relay 9 is connected to the peripheral wall of the air duct 20 connected to the air cleaner 15, but this is not done, and as shown in FIG.
The pipe 25 provided in the relay box 22 accommodating the relay 9 may be directly connected to the cleaner box 16.

By connecting the relay box 22 in this way, it becomes possible to cool the relay 9 as in the above-described embodiment. Further, the cooling of the relay box 22 has been described, but the cooling of the fuse box containing the fuse is not limited to the relay box 22 and can be performed by this cooling device.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, an opening is formed in a part of a box in which electrical equipment such as a relay installed in an engine room is incorporated, and the box is provided on the upstream side of the air cleaner. Since it is connected to, when the engine is started, the heat in the box can be sucked to the cleaner side by the negative pressure of the engine. As a result, it is possible to cool the box and the electrical components such as the relay housed inside the box.

Since the temperature rise of the boxes can be suppressed in this way, the storage environment of the electrical components inside the box can be improved.

Since the box containing the electrical equipment is simply connected to the upstream side of the air cleaner, it is not necessary to increase the space of the box, and a large number of loads can be incorporated in a small space.

Further, it is advantageous in terms of cost since electric and mechanical devices are unnecessary. Further, the present invention provides
Because it is a simple device, it is easy to repair even if it breaks down,
The reliability can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view of the box shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a top sectional view of an air cleaner.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional relay box.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another conventional relay box.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing still another conventional box.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a conventional yet further box.

[Explanation of symbols]

 9 Relay 11 Engine room 15 Air cleaner 22 Relay box 24 Opening

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a vehicle in which an electrical component such as a relay is arranged in an engine room, an opening is formed in a part of a box accommodating the electrical component, and the inside of the box is communicated with an upstream side of an air cleaner. An electric component cooling device for a vehicle characterized by the above.