JP6413453B2 - Cable routing structure for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a wiring structure for a bonding cable or an earthing cable (hereinafter simply referred to as a cable) that secures an equipotential between a high-power component and a vehicle body in a vehicle equipped with the high-power component.

  An electric vehicle using only an electric motor as a power source and a hybrid vehicle including an electric motor and an internal combustion engine as power sources include, for example, an inverter that drives and controls the electric motor as a high-power component. Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle body fastening structure for an inverter in which the bottom surface of the inverter is fastened to a side member via a bottom bracket and the outer end in the vehicle width direction of the inverter is fastened to a radiator core upper support via a front bracket. ing.

  By the way, high electric parts such as an inverter need to be equipotential with the vehicle body by being electrically connected to the vehicle body. In an inverter that is fastened to a vehicle body via a bracket, such as the inverter of Patent Document 1, the bracket may be used to equipotentialize the vehicle body. On the other hand, a relatively small inverter may be mounted in the engine room independently or via other components. In such a case, the inverter and the vehicle body are electrically connected by a cable. In some cases, they are equalized.

JP 2006-121825 A

  However, if the potential equalization between the inverter and the vehicle body is performed using a cable, the cable will be completely removed when the inverter is replaced, and the operator forgets to install the cable on the replaced inverter. There was a risk of it.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to prevent forgetting to attach a cable to a high-power component after replacement when the high-power component such as an inverter is replaced.

  One embodiment of the present invention is a cable routing structure for holding a vehicle body and a high-power component at an equipotential. In this routing structure, another part is provided at a position covering the connection point of the cable with the vehicle body in plan view.

  According to the above routing structure, since other parts are provided at positions that cover the connection point of the cable with the vehicle body in plan view, when the high-power component is replaced, the worker can access the connection point. It is limited, and it becomes difficult to disconnect the cable from the vehicle body. As a result, it is possible to prevent the cable from being completely removed, and the cable remains connected to the vehicle body after the high-power component is removed, so that it is possible to prevent forgetting to attach the cable to the high-power component after replacement.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cable routing structure according to an embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the right rear side. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cable routing structure according to the embodiment of the present invention looking down from the right front side. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the cable routing structure according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a cable according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a side view showing the behavior of the cable routing structure according to the embodiment of the present invention at the time of vehicle front collision. (A) shows a state before the collision, and (b) shows a state where the deformation of the vehicle body has progressed to some extent after the start of the collision.

  A vehicle cable routing structure according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. The present embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to a hybrid vehicle 1 including an internal combustion engine and an electric motor as power sources. Note that the present invention is not limited to a hybrid vehicle but can be applied to an electric vehicle using only an electric motor as a power source.

  In the vehicle 1 according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a front side member 3 extending in the vehicle front-rear direction is provided at the lower portion of the engine room. On the outer side in the vehicle width direction of the front side member 3, a hood ridge 5 extending in the vehicle front-rear direction and defining a vehicle width direction side portion of the engine room is provided. A strut housing 7 is joined to the front and rear intermediate portions of the hood ridge 5. A lower part of the hood ridge 5 positioned in front of the strut housing 7 constitutes a wheel house inner 9.

  An inverter 11 (high power component) for driving an electric motor is removably supported on the front side member 3 via a support bracket 13. The inverter 11 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and is supported by the support bracket 13 in the vehicle width direction inner side of the front side member 3 in the vehicle width direction and above the upper surface 3b of the front side member 3. Held in position.

  The support bracket 13 has a bracket lower portion 13a having a substantially triangular outer shape when viewed from the front of the vehicle, and a mounting surface 13c (support surface) for mounting the inverter 11 joined to the upper end portion of the bracket lower portion 13a. Bracket upper part 13b. A vehicle width direction outer side surface 13d of the bracket lower portion 13a extends along the vehicle width direction inner side surface 3a of the front side member 3, and is fastened and fixed thereto by a fastening member 15 such as a bolt. A mounting surface 13c of the bracket upper portion 13b extends substantially horizontally, and the inverter 11 is placed thereon. A mounting bracket 17 is fixed to the bottom of the inverter 11, and the mounting bracket 17 is fastened to the mounting surface 13c by a fastening member 19 such as a bolt.

  The inverter 11 is held at the same potential as the vehicle body by being electrically connected to the wheel house inner 9 which is a part of the vehicle body via the cable 21. The cable 21 includes two cables, that is, a first cable 21A and a second cable 21B, from the viewpoint of improving the reliability of equipotentialization. The first and second cables 21A and 21B are each an electric wire covered with a protective material such as a corrugated tube, and have different overall lengths due to layout restrictions.

  As shown in FIG. 4, terminal pieces 23 are provided at both ends of the first and second cables 21A and 21B. Each terminal piece 23 is provided with a bolt hole 23a, and the bolt 25 inserted therethrough is screwed into a screw hole provided in a mating member to which a cable is to be connected, thereby fastening the terminal piece 23 to the mating member. be able to. The cable 21 can be electrically connected to the mating member by fastening the terminal piece 23 to the mating member. In FIG. 4, the bolt 25 on the inverter 11 side is omitted to show the structure of the terminal piece 23 on the inverter 11 side.

  The terminal pieces 23 (one end portion) on the vehicle body side of the first and second cables 21A and 21B are respectively fastened to terminal plates 31 (see FIG. 3) erected on the front side surface of the wheel house inner 9. Yes. Further, the terminal piece 23 (the other end portion) on the inverter 11 side of the first and second cables 21A and 21B is provided with two terminals 33 (high power components) provided at the outer end portion in the vehicle width direction at the top of the inverter 11. Connection point). As a result, the inverter 11 and the vehicle body are held at the same potential via the first and second cables 21A and 21B.

  The first and second cables 21A and 21B are bound together by a binding band 27 at a position where the length from the terminal piece 23 on the inverter 11 side becomes equal. Further, at least one of the terminal pieces 23 on the vehicle body side of the first and second cables 21A, 21B is displayed with an indication indicating the connection destination of the terminal piece 23, that is, two fastening points 31A, 31B (the vehicle body and Display points indicating which of the connection points is to be fastened. In the present embodiment, the mark 29A is attached to the second cable 21B by attaching a tape to the vicinity of the terminal piece 23 on the vehicle body side of the second cable 21B (specifically, the end of the protective material on the vehicle body side). doing. Further, the fastening point 31B is marked with the mark 29B by painting the vicinity of the fastening point 31B of the terminal plate 31 to which the terminal piece 23 is fastened with the same color as the mark 29A. Note that the mark 29B may be omitted if it is possible to grasp from the mark 29A only to which of the two fastening points 31A and 31B the terminal piece 23 should be fastened. Further, the display form indicating the connection destination is not limited to the above, and the connection destination may be indicated using characters, figures, symbols, or the like.

  Above the wheel house inner 9, an IPDM (Intelligent Power Distribution Module) 41, which is another component, is disposed. The IPDM 41 is fixed to the inner side surface in the vehicle width direction of the hood ridge 5 via a bracket 41a (see FIG. 2). As shown in FIG. 3, the IPDM 41 is disposed so as to be positioned directly above the terminal board 31 erected on the wheel house inner 9. More specifically, the IPDM 41 is provided at a position that covers at least the fastening points 31A and 31B with the terminal plate 31 of the cable 21 in plan view.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the IPDM 41 is positioned on the outer side in the vehicle width direction from the inner side surface 3 a of the front side member 3 in the vehicle ridge 5 and is located above the inverter 11. Is allowed to be removed. That is, since the IPDM 41 is in a position that does not interfere with the inverter replacement work described later (does not interfere with the inverter 11 to be attached or removed), it is not necessary to remove it when replacing the inverter.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5A, the lower surface of the IPDM 41 is lower than the mounting surface 13 c of the support bracket 13 that supports the inverter 11 and is higher than the upper surface 3 b of the front side member 3. Further, the length of the IPDM 41 in the vehicle front-rear direction is larger than that of the inverter 11. Therefore, the front side surface of the inverter 11 is located behind the vehicle front end portion of the IPDM 41, and the rear side surface of the inverter 11 is located ahead of the vehicle rear end portion of the IPDM 41. Note that the positional relationship among the inverter 11, the IPDM 41, and the front side member 3 is not limited to this, and can be set as appropriate according to layout requirements.

  The cable 21 is fixed to the IPDM 41 by a clip 51 as shown in FIGS. Specifically, the middle portion of the cable 21 (the portion other than the terminal piece 23) is located above the mounting surface 13c of the support bracket 13 on the vehicle width direction inner side surface 41b of the casing of the IPDM 41, that is, the side surface on the inverter 11 side. It is fixed in the area.

  In addition, the fastening points 31A and 31B between the cable 21 and the terminal plate 31 are located in front of the vehicle from the inverter 11 (for example, from the position of the terminal 33) as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the position where the cable 21 is fixed to the IPDM 41 by the clip 51 (the position of the fixing point 51A) is located behind the vehicle (for example, the position of the terminal 33).

  In this embodiment, when the inverter 11 is replaced, first, the signal line and the power line of the inverter 11 are disconnected. Next, the bolt 25 of the terminal piece 23 on the inverter 11 side is removed, and the end portions on the inverter 11 side of the first and second cables 21 </ b> A and 21 </ b> B are removed from the terminal 33 of the inverter 11. Furthermore, the fastening member 19 is removed, and the inverter 11 is lifted to remove the inverter 11 together with the mounting bracket 17 from the support bracket 13. After the replacement inverter 11 (in some cases, the same as the inverter 11 before replacement) is placed on the mounting surface 13c and positioned, the mounting bracket 17 of the inverter 11 is fastened to the mounting surface 13c by the fastening member 19. To do. Next, the terminal pieces 23 on the inverter 11 side of the first and second cables 21 </ b> A and 21 </ b> B are fastened to the terminals 33 of the replaced inverter 11, and signal lines of the inverter 11 are connected.

  Below, the effect by this embodiment is demonstrated.

(1) Conventionally, when the equipotentialization of the vehicle body and the inverter has been performed with a cable, when replacing the inverter, the cable is completely removed, and the operator must assemble the cable to the replaced inverter. There was a risk of forgetting. Note that this cable is only for securing an equipotential between the vehicle body and the inverter, and even if this cable is forgotten to be assembled, there is no hindrance to the vehicle itself. It was difficult to detect.

  According to the cable routing structure according to the present embodiment, the IPDM 41 is provided at a position that covers the fastening points 31A and 31B of the cable 21 with the vehicle body in plan view. Therefore, when the inverter 11 is replaced, the worker's access to the fastening points 31A and 31B is restricted, and the connection of the cable 21 to the vehicle body is difficult to be removed. As a result, the cable 21 is prevented from being completely removed, and the cable 21 remains connected to the vehicle body even after the inverter 11 is removed, so that it is possible to prevent forgetting to attach the cable 21 to the inverter 11 after replacement. .

(2) Further, since the cable has low rigidity, if the terminal piece on the inverter side is removed from the terminal of the inverter, the shape cannot be maintained, and it hangs down due to its own weight, which may cause the operator to lose sight of the cable.

  In the present embodiment, at least a part of the cable 21 is fixed to a region above the mounting surface 13c on the side surface of the IPDM 41 on the inverter 11 side. Therefore, even after the inverter 11 is removed, the cable 21 is held near the attachment surface 13c. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the operator from losing sight of the cable 21 when replacing the inverter 11, and to more reliably prevent forgetting to assemble the cable 21.

(3) At the time of a frontal collision of the vehicle 1, as shown in FIG. 5B, the front side member 3 and the hood ridge 5 are crushed and deformed by the input of an impact load from the front. In the present embodiment, the fastening points 31A and 31B of the cable 21 with the vehicle body are located in front of the vehicle with respect to the inverter 11, and the fixing point 51A of the cable 21 to the IPDM 41 is located behind the vehicle with respect to the inverter 11. . Therefore, as the front side member 3 and the hood ridge 5 are crushed and deformed, the fastening points 31A and 31B and the inverter 11 move (retreat) toward the rear of the vehicle at a distance greater than the fixed point 51A.

  In the present embodiment, the fastening points 31A and 31B and the inverter 11 are positioned in front of the vehicle with respect to the fixed point 51A, and a larger range of the extra length portion of the cable 21 extends along the front side member 3 in the vehicle longitudinal direction. It extends to. For this reason, the movement amount (retraction amount) of each fastening point 31A, 31B with respect to the fixed point 51A at the time of the vehicle front collision can be efficiently absorbed by the extra length portion of the cable 21, and the cable 21 is pulled at the time of the vehicle front collision. Can be prevented from being cut.

(4) In the present embodiment, the two cables 21A and 21B having different overall lengths are bound to each other at a position where the length from the terminal piece 23 on the inverter 11 side is equal (binding point 27A) and the end portion on the vehicle body side At least one of these is provided with a display indicating the connection destination of the terminal piece 23 on the vehicle body side. For this reason, each terminal piece 23 on the vehicle body side can be reliably connected by the fastening points 31A and 31B, which are regular connection destinations. Further, the length from the binding point 27A to the terminal piece 23 on the inverter 11 side is common to the two cables 21 as long as the terminal piece 23 on the vehicle body side is fastened to the regular fastening points 31A and 31B. The terminal piece 23 on the side can be connected to either of the two terminals 33. Therefore, it is not necessary to manage the connection destination of the terminal piece 23 on the inverter 11 side in the installation work of the cable 21, and workability is improved.

(5) In the present embodiment, the lower surface of the IPDM 41 located directly above the fastening points 31 </ b> A and 31 </ b> B of the cable 21 is at a position lower than the mounting surface 13 c of the support bracket 13. For this reason, since the fastening points 31A and 31B are located at a deeper position as viewed from the operator who performs the replacement work of the inverter 11, there is a possibility that the operator may accidentally remove the cable 21 by mistake. Can be reduced.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this embodiment is only the illustration described in order to make an understanding of this invention easy, and this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the specific technical matters disclosed in the above embodiment, but includes various modifications, changes, alternative techniques, and the like that can be easily derived therefrom.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the inverter 11 is taken as an example of the high-power component, but the high-power component is not limited to this, and may be a DC-DC converter or various motors, for example.

  In the above embodiment, the IPDM 41 is taken as an example of the other parts. However, the other parts may be parts that do not need to be removed when the inverter is replaced. For example, USM (Underhood Switching Module), fuse box, relay It may be a box or the like.

  Furthermore, in the said embodiment, although the terminal piece 23 by the side of the vehicle body of the cable 21 was electrically connected to the wheel house inner 9 via the terminal plate 31, the connection position of the terminal piece 23 by the side of a vehicle body is not restricted to this. For example, the inner side surface 3a in the vehicle width direction, the outer side surface in the vehicle width direction, or the upper surface 3b of the front side member 3 may be used.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, IPDM41 was provided in the position which covers fastening point 31A, 31B with the vehicle body of the cable 21 in planar view, However, You may provide another component in such a position. In addition to the plan view, another component may be provided at a position where the fastening points 31A and 31B are covered when viewed from the viewpoint of the operator who replaces the inverter. By doing in this way, an operator's access to the fastening points 31A and 31B at the time of replacement | exchange of the inverter 11 is further restrict | limited, and it is prevented more reliably that the cable 21 is removed completely.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the first and second cables 21A and 21B are bound to each other at a position where the length from the terminal piece 23 on the inverter 11 side is equal (binding point 27A), and one of the end portions on the vehicle body side is bound. Is provided with a display indicating the connection destination of the terminal piece 23 on the vehicle body side. However, when it is easier to manage the connection destination of the terminal piece 23 on the inverter 11 side than to manage the connection destination on the vehicle body side, the position of the binding point 27A is set so as to have the opposite positional relationship to the above. May be. That is, the binding point 27A is set to a position where the lengths of the first and second cables 21A, 21B from the terminal piece 23 on the vehicle body side are equal, and the terminal piece on the inverter 11 side is at least one of the end portions on the inverter 11 side. You may provide the display which shows 23 connection destinations.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the number of the cables 21 was two, it may be one or three or more. Further, in the above embodiment, the inverter 11 is supported on the front side member 3 via the support bracket 13, but what supports the inverter 11 is not particularly limited, and other frame members such as a rear side member may be used. Good.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the binding band 27 and the clip 51 are separated from each other. However, the binding band 27 may be configured to be fixed to the IPDM 41 and may be used as the clip 51.

1 vehicle 3 front side member (vehicle body)
5 Food Ridge (Body)
9 Wheelhouse inner (body)
13 Support bracket (car body)
13c Mounting surface (support surface)
11 Inverter (High power parts)
21 cable 21A first cable 21B second cable 23 terminal piece (one side end, other side end)
29 mark (display)
31A, 31B Fastening point (connection point with the vehicle body)
41 IPDM (other parts)
51A fixed point

Claims (4)

High-power components that are detachably supported by the car body,
A cable connected to the vehicle body and the strong electrical component to hold them at an equipotential;
Other parts fixed to the vehicle body;
With
The other component is provided at a position that allows the high-power component to be removed from the vehicle body in a state of being fixed to the vehicle body, and at a position that covers a connection point of the cable with the vehicle body in a plan view. Cable routing structure characterized by The high-power component is supported on a support surface provided on the vehicle body,
2. The cable routing structure according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the cable is fixed to a region above the support surface on a surface of the other component on the high power component side. The connection point of the cable with the vehicle body is located in front of the vehicle with respect to the high-power component,
3. The cable routing structure according to claim 1, wherein a fixing point of the cable to the other component is located on the rear side of the vehicle with respect to the high-power component. The cable includes a first cable and a second cable having a different length from the first cable,
The first and second cables have one end connected to one of the vehicle body and the high-power component and the other end connected to the other, respectively, and from the other end. They are bound together at equal lengths,
4. The cable arrangement according to claim 1, wherein a display indicating a connection destination of the one side end portion is provided on at least one of the one side end portions of the first and second cables. 5. Cable structure.

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