ECU housing and ECU

Abstract

The present application provides an ECU housing and an ECU, which are applied to the field of electronic control unit technology, wherein the ECU housing includes: a plastic body and a fisheye pin, wherein a cavity is formed between the bottom plate and the side wall of the plastic body, a housing-end connector is provided on one side of the side wall, and a connection port is formed between several transverse walls of the housing-end connector; a second boss is provided on the bottom plate adjacent to the housing-end connector in the cavity, and the second boss is connected to the side wall where the housing-end connector is located; a first end of the fisheye pin extends from the upper surface of the second boss into the cavity, and a second end of the fisheye pin extends from the side wall into the connection port; a glue vent is also provided on the plastic body, wherein the internal opening of the glue vent is located on the side wall adjacent to the second boss, close to the cavity, and the external opening is located on the side wall inside the connection port, away from the cavity. Compared with the prior art, the present application meets the requirements of miniaturization while maintaining a high waterproof level, and is easy to manufacture by injection molding, effectively reducing the design and development cycle.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of electronic control units, and in particular to an ECU housing and an ECU. Background Art

[0002] An automotive ECU (Electronic Control Unit), or electronic control unit, has stringent requirements for waterproofing and miniaturization. This ECU consists of a housing, circuit board, and sealant. The housing must have vent holes for the sealant to escape. Otherwise, air trapped inside the ECU cannot be expelled promptly during the sealant injection process, resulting in air bubbles in the sealant, which can affect its sealing and heat dissipation performance.

[0003] To miniaturize ECUs, wiring harness connectors must also be as small as possible. When ECU connectors reach a certain size, such as pin pitch reaching 2mm or linear potting vents located within the connector's perimeter wall, mass production processes like injection molding are unfeasible. However, locating potting vents within the connector's perimeter wall allows the ECU to maintain a high level of waterproofing.

[0004] Therefore, a new technical solution is needed to achieve waterproofness and miniaturization of ECU. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of this, the embodiments of this specification provide an ECU housing and an ECU, which, while meeting the requirements of miniaturization, maintain a high waterproof level, are easy to be manufactured by injection molding, and effectively reduce the design and development cycle.

[0006] The embodiments of this specification provide the following technical solutions:

[0007] The embodiment of this specification provides an ECU housing, comprising: a plastic body and a fisheye needle, wherein the fisheye needle is injection-molded into the interior of the plastic body as an insert.

[0008] The plastic body includes a bottom plate and side walls, the side walls are located at the upper surface edge of the bottom plate and connected to the bottom plate, a cavity is formed between the bottom plate and the side walls, a shell end connector is provided on the side of the side wall facing away from the cavity, and the shell end connector includes a plurality of transverse walls, the transverse walls are vertically connected to the side walls, and a connection port is formed between the plurality of transverse walls;

[0009] A second boss is formed on the bottom plate adjacent to the housing end connector in the cavity, and the second boss is connected to the side wall where the housing end connector is located;

[0010] The first end of the fisheye needle extends from the upper surface of the second boss into the cavity, and the second end of the fisheye needle extends from the side wall into the connection port;

[0011] The plastic body is also provided with a glue filling vent hole, which connects the cavity and the external environment. The internal opening of the glue filling vent hole is located on the side wall adjacent to the second boss close to the cavity, and the external opening is located on the side wall inside the connecting port away from the cavity.

[0012] Preferably, the inner opening is at least partially arranged outside a projection area of the connecting port on the side wall close to the cavity.

[0013] Preferably, the glue filling vent hole consists of a straight hole and an inclined hole. The straight hole extends toward the cavity through the external opening in a direction perpendicular to the side wall, and the inclined hole extends toward the external environment through the internal opening in a direction perpendicular to the side wall at a certain angle. The straight hole is connected to the inclined hole.

[0014] Preferably, the extending direction of the inclined hole is parallel to the horizontal direction, and the height of the inclined hole is higher than the height of the straight hole.

[0015] Preferably, the ECU housing has four side walls, at least two of the four side walls form a first boss on the side facing the cavity, the top surfaces of several first bosses form a lap plane, the first boss is higher than the second boss, and the internal opening of the glue filling vent hole is located between the first boss and the second boss.

[0016] Preferably, the overlapping plane is lower on one side close to the housing connector than on the other side.

[0017] Preferably, the housing end connector and the matching harness end connector form a snap-fit structure, and the harness end connector blocks the external opening.

[0018] The embodiment of this specification also provides an ECU, comprising: the above-mentioned ECU housing, a circuit board and a sealant;

[0019] The circuit board is disposed inside the cavity of the ECU housing and connected to the first end of the fisheye needle, and the edge of the circuit board overlaps the first boss;

[0020] The second end of the fisheye needle extends from a side wall of the ECU housing on a side away from the cavity where the housing-end connector is located to the interior of the connection port of the housing-end connector, and is connected to the external component through the wiring harness-end connector snapped onto the housing-end connector;

[0021] The sealant is poured into the interior of the ECU housing from the upper part of the cavity of the ECU housing through a glue gun.

[0022] Preferably, the circuit board is pressed onto the first end of the fisheye needle until the circuit board contacts the first boss, forming a closed space between the circuit board, the first boss and the bottom plate of the ECU housing.

[0023] Preferably, the fisheye needle is fixed on the second boss inside the cavity of the ECU housing, the first end of the fisheye needle extends from the upper surface of the second boss into the cavity, and the second end of the fisheye needle extends horizontally from the second boss and the side wall of the ECU housing where the housing end connector is located to the inside of the connection port of the housing end connector.

[0024] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects that can be achieved by at least one of the above-mentioned technical solutions adopted in the embodiments of this specification include at least the following: through the second boss formed at the bottom plate adjacent to the shell end connector in the cavity, the first end of the fisheye needle extends from the upper surface of the second boss into the interior of the cavity, and the second end of the fisheye needle extends from the side wall to the interior of the connection port, and the internal opening of the glue filling vent is located on the side wall adjacent to the second boss close to the cavity, and the external opening is located on the side wall inside the connection port away from the cavity, forming a tight structure inside the ECU shell, realizing the miniaturization of the ECU while maintaining a high waterproof level. The ECU shell in the embodiments of this specification is easy to be manufactured by injection molding, which can effectively reduce the design and development cycle. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without any creative work.

[0026] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of an ECU housing provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of an ECU connected to a wiring harness-end connector provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of glue filling for an ECU housing provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0029] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structure of a glue filling vent provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the structure of an ECU provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0031] Reference numerals

[0032] 01. ECU housing, 1. Plastic body, 2. Fisheye needle, 3. Housing-end connector, 4. Second boss, 5. Wiring-end connector, 6. First boss, 7. Circuit board, 8. Glue gun, 9. Sealant, 10. Bottom plate, 11. Side wall, 12. Glue vent hole, 20. First end of the fisheye needle, 21. Second end of the fisheye needle, 30. Horizontal wall, 120. Straight hole, 121. Oblique hole, 101. Lower surface. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] The embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0034] The following describes the embodiments of the present application through specific examples, and those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present application from the contents disclosed in this specification. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. The present application can also be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments, and the details in this specification can also be modified or changed in various ways based on different viewpoints and applications without departing from the spirit of the present application. It should be noted that, in the absence of conflict, the features in the following embodiments and embodiments can be combined with each other. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without making creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0035] It should be noted that various aspects of the embodiments within the scope of the appended claims are described below. It should be apparent that the aspects described herein can be embodied in a wide variety of forms, and any specific structure and / or function described herein is merely illustrative. Based on this application, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that an aspect described herein can be implemented independently of any other aspect, and two or more of these aspects can be combined in various ways. For example, any number and aspect described herein can be used to implement an apparatus and / or practice a method. In addition, other structures and / or functionalities other than one or more of the aspects described herein can be used to implement this apparatus and / or practice this method.

[0036] It should also be noted that the illustrations provided in the following embodiments are only schematic illustrations of the basic concept of the present application. The illustrations only show components related to the present application and are not drawn according to the number, shape and size of components in actual implementation. In actual implementation, the type, quantity and proportion of each component can be changed at will, and the component layout type may also be more complicated.

[0037] Additionally, in the following description, specific details are provided to provide a thorough understanding of the examples, however, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the examples can be practiced without these specific details.

[0038] With the rapid development of automobile electrification, the demand for miniaturization has become increasingly strong. Automobiles contain a variety of components, and the realization of automobile miniaturization is closely related to the realization of component miniaturization. The automobile ECU not only has miniaturization requirements, but also has higher requirements for waterproof level. The ECU contains a shell, a circuit board and a sealant, and the shell must contain a glue filling vent. When filling the sealant, the air inside the ECU is discharged through the glue filling vent. Otherwise, bubbles will be caused in the sealant, affecting the sealing effect and heat dissipation performance of the sealant.

[0039] However, in order to achieve miniaturization of the ECU, the wiring harness connector will also be very small. Therefore, if the existing linear glue-filling vent holes are located within the surrounding walls of the connector of the ECU housing, it is difficult to achieve this through injection molding.

[0040] In view of this, the inventors conducted in-depth research and improvement exploration on various websites, web page structures and their page information, as well as various extraction schemes, and found that by making the components on the ECU housing compact and the glue vent holes correspondingly changed, the requirements of the ECU housing for miniaturization and waterproof level can be met.

[0041] Based on this, the embodiment of this specification proposes a solution: by improving the structure inside the ECU shell, using a special fisheye needle to cooperate with the second boss to make the ECU structure compact, and making corresponding changes to the internal opening and external opening of the glue filling vent hole, the ECU can be miniaturized and the waterproof level can be improved.

[0042] The following describes the technical solutions provided by various embodiments of the present application in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0043] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, an embodiment of this specification provides an ECU housing, comprising: a plastic body 1 and a fisheye needle 2, wherein the fisheye needle 2 is injection molded into the interior of the plastic body 1 as an insert, wherein the plastic body 1 comprises a bottom plate 10 and a side wall 11, wherein the side wall 11 is located at the upper surface edge of the bottom plate 10 and is connected to the bottom plate 10, and a cavity is formed between the bottom plate 10 and the side wall 11, and a housing end connector 3 is provided on the side of the side wall 11 facing away from the cavity, and the housing end connector 3 forms a snap-fit structure with the matching wiring harness end connector 5, and the wiring harness end connector 5 blocks the external opening. The housing end connector 3 comprises a plurality of transverse walls 30, which are vertically connected to the side wall 11, and a connection port is formed between the plurality of transverse walls 30. By snapping the housing end connector 3 with the matching wiring harness end connector 5, water can be reduced from entering the interior of the ECU housing 01 through the glue filling vent 12, so that the ECU still maintains a high waterproof capability.

[0044] Furthermore, a second boss 4 is formed on the bottom plate 10 adjacent to the housing end connector 3 in the cavity, and the second boss 4 is connected to the side wall 11 where the housing end connector 3 is located; the first end 20 of the fisheye needle extends from the upper surface of the second boss 4 into the cavity, and the second end 21 of the fisheye needle extends from the side wall 11 into the connection port. Figure 1 As shown, there is an upward bending structure between the first end 20 of the fisheye needle and the second end 21 of the fisheye needle, which can be well adapted to a miniaturized structure. The second end 21 of the fisheye needle extends from the side wall 11 to the inside of the connection port and is connected to external components through the wiring harness in the wiring harness end connector 5 of the shell end connector 3.

[0045] In this embodiment, a glue filling vent hole 12 is further provided on the plastic body 1 to connect the cavity and the external environment. The internal opening of the glue filling vent hole 12 is located on the side wall 11 adjacent to the second boss 4, close to the cavity, and the external opening is located on the side wall 11 inside the connecting port, away from the cavity. The cavity is connected to the external environment through the connecting channel between the internal opening and the external opening, so that when the sealant is poured, the air inside the ECU housing 01 is discharged in time to ensure the sealing and heat dissipation performance of the sealant.

[0046] In an optional embodiment, the internal opening of the glue pouring vent hole 12 is at least partially arranged outside the projection area of the connecting port on the side wall 11 close to the cavity, that is, the internal opening is arranged inside the cavity, and outside the area formed on the corresponding side wall 11 where the transverse wall of the connecting port extends vertically into the cavity. Accordingly, the external opening of the glue pouring vent hole 12 is arranged inside the space formed on the side wall 11 away from the cavity.

[0047] Further, such as Figure 3 As shown, the ECU housing 01 has four side walls 11, at least two of which form a first boss 6 on the side facing the cavity. The top surfaces of several first bosses 6 form a lap plane. The first boss 6 is higher than the second boss 4. The internal opening of the glue vent 12 is located between the first boss 6 and the second boss 4. The glue vent 12 is arranged between the first boss 6 and the second boss 4 and is located outside the area of the second boss 4 on the side wall 11, forming a compact structure to achieve miniaturization of the ECU. Among them, the lap plane is lower on the side close to the housing connector 3 than on the other side. Specifically, the height of the first boss 6 on the four side walls 11 of the ECU housing 01 can be different and can be designed according to the size requirements of the selected housing end connector 3. In this embodiment, the type of housing end connector 3 corresponding to the ECU housing 01 is not limited and can be a small connector.

[0048] In an optional embodiment, as Figure 4As shown, the glue filling vent 12 consists of a straight hole 120 and an inclined hole 121. The straight hole 120 extends toward the cavity through an external opening perpendicular to the side wall 11, while the inclined hole 121 extends toward the external environment through an internal opening at a certain angle to the perpendicular direction of the side wall 11. The straight hole 120 and the inclined hole 121 are connected. The extending direction of the inclined hole 121 is parallel to the horizontal direction, and the height of the inclined hole 121 is higher than that of the straight hole 120. The connection between the straight hole 120 and the inclined hole 121 optimizes the venting path. Moreover, the height of the inclined hole 121 is higher than that of the straight hole 120, which can effectively prevent water from flowing back into the interior of the ECU housing 01, thereby improving the ECU's waterproof capability.

[0049] In this embodiment, the glue pouring vent 12, formed by the combination of straight hole 120 and oblique hole 121, can be implemented using oblique core pulls inside and straight core pulls outside the injection mold, enabling low-cost mass production. The straight hole 120 and oblique hole 121 are interconnected, allowing air inside the ECU housing 01 to be expelled during glue pouring, eliminating bubbles in the sealant 9 and maintaining good heat dissipation and sealing properties. When the housing-end connector 3 is paired with a small-sized wiring harness-end connector 5, the external opening of the glue pouring vent 12 is still located inside the connection port of the housing-end connector 3 of the ECU housing 01.

[0050] The embodiment of this specification also provides an ECU, such as Figure 5 As shown, the ECU includes: the above-mentioned ECU housing 01, a circuit board 7 and a sealant 9; the circuit board 7 is arranged inside the cavity of the ECU housing 01, connected to the first end 20 of the fisheye needle, and the edge of the circuit board 7 overlaps the overlapping plane formed by the first boss 6. Specifically, the circuit board 7 is pressed into the fisheye needle 2 through the first end 20 of the fisheye needle until the circuit board 7 is connected to the overlapping plane; the second end 21 of the fisheye needle extends from the side wall 11 of the housing end connector 3 on the side away from the cavity of the ECU housing 01 to the inside of the connection port of the housing end connector 3, and is connected to the external components through the wiring harness end connector 5 clamped on the housing end connector 3; as shown Figure 3 As shown, the sealant 9 is poured into the interior of the ECU housing 01 from the upper portion of the cavity of the ECU housing 01 by a glue gun 8, and the ECU is finally obtained.

[0051] In an alternative embodiment, the circuit board 7 is crimped onto the first end 20 of the fisheye needle until the circuit board 7 contacts the first boss 6, thereby forming a sealed space between the circuit board 7, the first boss 6, and the bottom plate 10 of the ECU housing 01. This prevents sealant 9 from entering the interior of the ECU housing 01 below the circuit board 7 during the glue pouring process. During the glue pouring process, the lower surface 101 of the ECU housing remains stationary.

[0052] In this embodiment, the fisheye needle 2 is fixed on the second boss 4 inside the cavity of the ECU housing 01, and the first end 20 of the fisheye needle extends from the upper surface of the second boss 4 into the cavity, and the second end 21 of the fisheye needle extends horizontally from the second boss 4 and the side wall 11 of the ECU housing 01 where the housing-end connector 3 is located to the inside of the connection port of the housing-end connector 3. The first end 20 of the fisheye needle stands vertically inside the ECU housing 01 and extends into the cavity through the upper surface of the second boss 4. The second end 21 of the fisheye needle extends to the outside of the cavity through the second boss 4 and the side wall 11. The second boss 4 has the function of further fixing the fisheye needle 2.

[0053] Furthermore, the second end 21 of the fisheye needle has an upward bending structure, and the height of the second end 21 of the fisheye needle is located between the second boss 4 and the first boss 6. The upward bending structure of the fisheye needle 2 causes the second end 21 of the fisheye needle to extend horizontally from the side wall 11 of the ECU shell 01 where the second boss 4 and the shell-end connector 3 are located to the inside of the connection port of the shell-end connector 3.

[0054] The various embodiments in this specification are described in a progressive manner. Similar parts between the various embodiments can be referred to in conjunction with each other. Each embodiment focuses on the differences between the other embodiments. In particular, the product embodiments described later are relatively simple to describe because they correspond to the methods. For relevant parts, refer to the description of the system embodiments.

[0055] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present application, but the scope of protection of the present application is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present application should be included in the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present application should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. An ECU housing, comprising: A plastic body and a fisheye needle, wherein the fisheye needle is injection-molded into the interior of the plastic body as an insert, characterized in that: The plastic body includes a bottom plate and side walls, the side walls are located at the upper surface edge of the bottom plate and connected to the bottom plate, a cavity is formed between the bottom plate and the side walls, a shell end connector is provided on the side of the side wall facing away from the cavity, the shell end connector includes a plurality of transverse walls, the transverse walls are vertically connected to the side walls, and a connection port is formed between the plurality of transverse walls; A second boss is formed in the cavity at the bottom plate adjacent to the housing end connector, and the second boss is connected to the side wall where the housing end connector is located; The first end of the fisheye needle extends from the upper surface of the second boss into the interior of the cavity, and the second end of the fisheye needle extends from the side wall into the interior of the connecting port; The plastic body is further provided with a glue vent hole, connecting the cavity with the external environment, wherein the internal opening of the glue vent hole is located on the side wall adjacent to the second boss and close to the cavity, and the external opening is located on the side wall inside the connecting port and away from the cavity; The housing end connector and the matched harness end connector form a snap-fit structure, and the harness end connector blocks the external opening.

2. The ECU housing according to claim 1, wherein: The inner opening is at least partially disposed outside a projection area of the connecting port on the side wall close to the cavity.

3. The ECU housing according to claim 2, characterized in that: The glue filling vent hole consists of a straight hole and an inclined hole. The straight hole extends toward the cavity through the external opening in a direction perpendicular to the side wall, and the inclined hole extends toward the external environment through the internal opening in a direction perpendicular to the side wall at a certain angle. The straight hole is connected to the inclined hole.

4. The ECU housing according to claim 3, characterized in that: The extending direction of the inclined hole is parallel to the horizontal direction, and the height of the inclined hole is higher than the height of the straight hole.

5. The ECU housing according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The ECU housing has four side walls, at least two of the four side walls form a first boss on the side facing the cavity, several top surfaces of the first bosses form a lap plane, the first boss is higher than the second boss, and the internal opening of the glue filling vent is located between the first boss and the second boss.

6. The ECU housing according to claim 5, characterized in that: The overlapping plane is lower on one side close to the housing connector than on the other side.

7. An ECU, characterized in that: include: The ECU housing, circuit board and sealant according to claim 5 or 6; The circuit board is arranged inside the cavity of the ECU housing and connected to the first end of the fisheye needle, and the edge of the circuit board is overlapped on the first boss; The second end of the fisheye needle extends from a side wall of the ECU housing where the housing-end connector is located, which is located away from the cavity, into the connection port of the housing-end connector, and is connected to an external component through a wiring harness-end connector that is clipped onto the housing-end connector; The sealant is poured into the interior of the ECU housing from the upper portion of the cavity of the ECU housing by a glue gun.

8. The ECU according to claim 7, wherein: The circuit board is pressed onto the first end of the fisheye needle until the circuit board contacts the first boss, forming a closed space between the circuit board, the first boss and the bottom plate of the ECU housing.

9. The ECU according to claim 7, wherein: The fisheye needle is fixed on the second boss inside the cavity of the ECU shell, the first end of the fisheye needle extends from the upper surface of the second boss into the cavity, and the second end of the fisheye needle extends horizontally from the second boss and the side wall of the ECU shell where the shell-end connector is located to the inside of the connection port of the shell-end connector.

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