Electronic component unit

Abstract

To provide an electronic component unit capable of suppressing temperature rise in an electronic component due to thermal interference.SOLUTION: An electronic component unit 1 includes a plurality of electronic components 10 and a housing 20 for housing the electronic components 10. A first electronic component 11 that is the electronic component 10 arranged along a first direction and having a relatively long current-carrying period in operation and a second electronic component 12 that is the electronic component 10 having a relatively short current-carrying period in operation are alternately arranged in the plurality of electronic components 10.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic component unit. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an electric junction box in which a joint box and a relay box are integrated together. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-93757 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Incidentally, electronic components such as relays and fuses mounted on the electrical junction box described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 generate a large amount of heat when a large current flows through them. In addition, if electronic components that generate a large amount of heat are arranged close to each other, there is a risk that the temperature rise of the electronic components will increase due to thermal interference between them, and in this respect, there is room for further improvement.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and has an object to provide an electronic component unit that can suppress a temperature rise in electronic components due to thermal interference. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the electronic component unit of the present invention comprises a plurality of electronic components and a housing for accommodating the electronic components, the plurality of electronic components being arranged along a first direction, and the electronic components having a relatively long current-carrying period during operation and the electronic components having a relatively short current-carrying period during operation being arranged alternately. Effect of the Invention

[0007] The electronic component unit according to the present invention has an effect of suppressing a temperature rise of the electronic components due to thermal interference. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a schematic configuration of an electronic component unit according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the evaluation results of the electronic component unit according to the example. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an evaluation result of the electronic component unit according to Comparative Example 1. In FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an evaluation result of the electronic component unit according to the second comparative example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. In addition, the components in the following embodiments include those that are replaceable and easy for a person skilled in the art, or those that are substantially the same.

[0010] [Embodiment] 1 is incorporated into a wire harness that is wired in a vehicle such as an automobile. The wire harness is, for example, a component in which a number of wiring materials used for power supply and signal communication are bundled together to connect various devices mounted in a vehicle, and the wiring materials are connected to the devices by connectors or the like.

[0011] The electronic component unit 1 includes a plurality of electronic components 10, a housing 20 that houses the electronic components 10, and a conductive wiring material 30. The electronic component unit 1 of this embodiment realizes a configuration that can suppress a temperature rise of the electronic components due to thermal interference by arranging an electronic component 10 with a relatively short current-carrying period in a position adjacent to an electronic component 10 with a relatively long current-carrying period. Each component of the electronic component unit 1 will be described in detail below with reference to Figs. 1 and 2.

[0012] In the following description, the three mutually intersecting directions are conveniently referred to as the "width direction X," the "depth direction Y," and the "height direction Z." Here, the width direction X, the depth direction Y, and the height direction Z are perpendicular to each other. The width direction X typically corresponds to a first arrangement direction (first direction) of the electronic components 10 housed in the housing 20, and the depth direction Y typically corresponds to a second arrangement direction (second direction) of the electronic components 10 housed in the housing 20. Unless otherwise specified, each direction used in the following description will be described as a direction in a state in which each part of the electronic component unit 1 is assembled.

[0013] The electronic component 10 is a component used in an electronic circuit, and generates heat when electricity is applied during operation. The electronic component 10 of this embodiment is a relay that can pass or cut off current. Therefore, the electronic component 10 is electrically connected to a wiring material 30 via a circuit body such as a bus bar, and generates heat when current flows from the wiring material 30 through the circuit. The amount of heat generated by the electronic component 10 increases in proportion to the length of the period during which electricity is applied.

[0014] Moreover, the electronic components 10 are composed of two types of components: first electronic components 11 that have a relatively long current-carrying period during operation, and second electronic components 12 that have a relatively short current-carrying period during operation. Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, a total of eight electronic components 10 are provided, with four first electronic components 11 and four second electronic components 12 provided.

[0015] The first electronic component 11 of this embodiment is a component that has a current-carrying period of one time of one hour or more. The second electronic component 12 of this embodiment is a component that has a current-carrying period of one time of less than one hour. Therefore, the first electronic component 11 generates more heat than the second electronic component 12, and has a structure in which heat is accumulated inside, making it easy for the temperature to rise.

[0016] The energization period of the first electronic component 11 and the second electronic component 12 is not particularly limited as long as the energization period of the first electronic component 11 is set longer than the energization period of the second electronic component 12. In the following description, when the two types of electronic components 10 need to be distinguished, they will be referred to as the "first electronic component 11" and the "second electronic component 12," and when there is no need to particularly distinguish between the two, they will be simply referred to as the "electronic component 10."

[0017] The housing 20 is formed of an insulating resin material and can accommodate a plurality of electronic components 10 therein. The housing 20 of the present embodiment is a relay box that can accommodate relays as the electronic components 10. Therefore, the housing 20 is installed, for example, in an engine room or a vehicle cabin of a vehicle, and is disposed between a power source such as a battery and various electronic devices mounted in the vehicle, thereby distributing power supplied from the power source to the various electronic devices in the vehicle.

[0018] 1, the housing 20 includes a housing main body 21, an upper cover 22, and a lower cover 23 attached to the lower part of the housing main body 21, and is formed into a hollow box shape as a whole by combining the upper cover 22 and the lower cover 23 with the housing main body 21. The housing 20 forms an accommodation space portion 20S inside where the housing main body 21, the upper cover 22, and the lower cover 23 are stacked and assembled together along the height direction Z.

[0019] The housing body 21 is a member that constitutes the main body of the housing 20. The housing body 21 is formed in a substantially rectangular tubular shape with openings at the top and bottom in the height direction Z and surrounded by side walls all around including the width direction X and depth direction Y, and a space portion located inside the housing body 21 constitutes a part of the storage space portion 20S. The inside of the housing body 21 is divided into a plurality of sections in the width direction X and depth direction Y, and the electronic components 10 are detachably assembled in each section.

[0020] The upper cover 22 is a lid member attached to the upper part of the housing body 21. When the upper cover 22 is attached to the housing body 21, it can close the upper opening of the housing body 21, and the space located inside the upper cover 22 forms a part of the storage space 20S.

[0021] The lower cover 23 is a lid member attached to the lower part of the housing body 21. When the lower cover 23 is attached to the housing body 21, it can close the opening on the lower side of the housing body 21, and the space located inside the lower cover 23 forms a part of the storage space 20S. In addition, the lower cover 23 can insert the wiring material 30 connected to the electronic component 10 from the insertion hole or the like to the inside and outside of the storage space 20S.

[0022] The wiring material 30 is, for example, an insulated electric wire in which a conductor portion (core wire) formed by bundling a plurality of conductive metal wires is covered with an insulating covering portion.

[0023] In such a configuration of the electronic component unit 1, the eight electronic components 10 housed in the housing main body 21 are arranged in a grid pattern, with four electronic components 10 arranged along the width direction X, and two rows of four electronic components 10 arranged along the depth direction Y. The first electronic components 11 and the second electronic components 12 included in the eight electronic components 10 are arranged alternately in the width direction X, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so that the first electronic components 11 (or the second electronic components 12) are arranged in positions that are not adjacent to each other. The first electronic components 11 and the second electronic components 12 are also arranged alternately in the depth direction Y, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, so that the first electronic components 11 (or the second electronic components 12) are arranged in positions that are not adjacent to each other, so that they are arranged in a staggered manner.

[0024] Therefore, the first electronic components 11 are not placed close to each other, and the second electronic components 12, which generate less heat and are less likely to increase in temperature, are placed close to the first electronic components 11, which generate a lot of heat and are therefore more likely to increase in temperature. Therefore, the electronic component unit 1 can prevent the temperature of the first electronic components 11 housed in the housing main body 21 from increasing higher than when the first electronic components 11 are used alone, due to thermal interference between them.

[0025] [Evaluation test] Next, evaluation tests performed on examples and comparative examples of the electronic component unit 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0026] In this evaluation test, examples of the electronic component unit 1 according to the embodiment described above were actually manufactured, and the temperatures of the first electronic component 11 and the second electronic component 12 housed in the housing 20 were evaluated.

[0027] [Example] 2, two first electronic components 11 and two second electronic components 12 are arranged alternately in the width direction X. The first electronic components 11 and the second electronic components 12 are also arranged alternately in the depth direction Y, so that the first electronic components 11 (or the second electronic components 12) are not adjacent to each other in the width direction X and the depth direction Y.

[0028] [Comparative Example] [Comparative Example 1] As shown in Fig. 3, four first electronic components 11 were arranged consecutively in the width direction X, so that the first electronic components 11 were adjacent to each other. Similarly to the first electronic components 11, four second electronic components 12 were arranged consecutively in the width direction X, so that the second electronic components 12 were adjacent to each other in the width direction X. Furthermore, a row formed by the four first electronic components 11 was arranged on one side in the depth direction Y (the upper side in Fig. 3), and a row formed by the four second electronic components 12 was arranged on the other side in the depth direction Y (the lower side in Fig. 3).

[0029] [Comparative Example 2] As shown in Fig. 4, two first electronic components 11 are arranged consecutively in the width direction X, and two rows each composed of two first electronic components 11 are arranged in the depth direction Y, so that the first electronic components 11 are arranged adjacent to each other in the width direction X and also in the depth direction Y. Two second electronic components 12 are arranged consecutively in the width direction X, and two rows each composed of two second electronic components 12 are arranged in the depth direction Y, so that the second electronic components 12 are arranged adjacent to each other in the width direction X and also in the depth direction Y. An area composed of four first electronic components 11 is arranged on one side in the width direction X (the left side in Fig. 4), and an area composed of four second electronic components 12 is arranged on the other side in the width direction X (the right side in Fig. 4).

[0030] [Measurement method] The temperatures of the first electronic component 11 and the second electronic component 12 housed in the housing 20 were each measured by obtaining an image showing a heat distribution using a device such as a thermograph.

[0031] [Evaluation Results] 2, in the first embodiment, the first electronic component 11 arranged between the second electronic component 12 at 43.1°C and the second electronic component 12 at 34.2°C in the width direction X and arranged adjacent to the second electronic component 12 at 39.9°C in the depth direction Y had a temperature of 60.1°C, which was the maximum temperature among the four first electronic components 11 housed in the housing 20. In addition, the first electronic component 11 arranged at the corner of the housing 20, arranged adjacent to the second electronic component 12 at 39.9°C in the width direction X and adjacent to the second electronic component 12 at 34.2°C in the depth direction Y had a temperature of 56.7°C, which was the minimum temperature among the four first electronic components 11 housed in the housing 20.

[0032] 3, in Comparative Example 1, the temperature of the first electronic component 11 arranged between the first electronic component 11 at 60.7°C and the first electronic component 11 at 55.5°C in the width direction X and arranged adjacent to the second electronic component 12 at 34.8°C in the depth direction Y was 61.1°C, which was the maximum temperature among the four first electronic components 11 housed in the housing 20. In addition, the temperature of the first electronic component 11 arranged at the corner of the housing 20, arranged adjacent to the first electronic component 11 at 61.1°C in the width direction X and adjacent to the second electronic component 12 at 29.7°C in the depth direction Y was 55.5°C, which was the minimum temperature among the four first electronic components 11 housed in the housing 20.

[0033] 4, the first electronic component 11 is disposed at a corner of the housing 20, and is disposed adjacent to the first electronic component 11 at 66.1°C in the width direction X and adjacent to the first electronic component 11 at 67.4°C in the depth direction Y. The temperature of the first electronic component 11 is 70.1°C, which is the maximum temperature among the four first electronic components 11 housed in the housing 20. The temperature of the first electronic component 11 disposed between the first electronic component 11 at 67.4°C and the second electronic component 12 at 26.8°C in the width direction X and adjacent to the first electronic component 11 at 66.1°C in the depth direction Y is 63.5°C, which is the minimum temperature among the four first electronic components 11 housed in the housing 20.

[0034] Therefore, the maximum temperatures of the multiple electronic components 10 housed in the housing 20 were 60.1°C in Example 1, 61.1°C in Comparative Example 1, and 70.1°C in Comparative Example 2, confirming that Example 1 had the lowest temperature rise value of the electronic components 10.

[0035] According to such a configuration of the electronic component unit 1, when a plurality of electronic components 10 are linearly accommodated in the housing 20 (a plurality of electronic components 10 are arranged along the first direction), the first electronic components 11, which are electronic components 10 with a relatively long current-carrying period during operation, and the second electronic components 12, which are electronic components 10 with a relatively short current-carrying period during operation, are arranged alternately, so that the second electronic components 12, whose temperature is less likely to rise, are arranged next to the first electronic components 11, whose temperature is likely to rise. Therefore, the electronic component unit 1 of this embodiment can suppress the thermal interference occurring between electronic components 10 arranged adjacent to each other in one direction from increasing due to a synergistic effect, and can suppress a rise in temperature of the electronic components 10 due to the thermal interference.

[0036] Furthermore, when multiple electronic components 10 are accommodated in a lattice pattern in the housing 20 (multiple electronic components 10 are arranged along a first direction and multiple electronic components 10 are arranged along a second direction intersecting the first direction, thereby arranging them in multiple rows and multiple columns), the first electronic components 11 and the second electronic components 12 are arranged alternately, so that the second electronic components 12, whose temperature is less likely to increase, are arranged to surround the first electronic components 11, whose temperature is more likely to increase. Therefore, the electronic component unit 1 of this embodiment can prevent the thermal interference generated between the electronic components 10 arranged adjacent to each other in two directions from increasing due to a synergistic effect, and can prevent the temperature of the electronic components 10 from increasing due to the thermal interference.

[0037] The electronic component unit 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention described above is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims.

[0038] For example, although the electronic component 10 has been described as a relay, the type of the electronic component is not particularly limited.

[0039] Moreover, the electronic component 10 may be a fuse, and the housing 20 that houses the electronic component 10 may be a fuse box. Moreover, the housing 20 may be an electric junction box that houses various types of electronic components 10.

[0040] Furthermore, the number of electronic components 10 housed in the housing 20 is not particularly limited.

[0041] The arrangement of the electronic components 10 housed in the housing 20 is not limited to the form shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. The electronic components 10 may be arranged, for example, in a straight line along one arrangement direction. The electronic components 10 may also be arranged in a stepped manner. The electronic components 10 may also be arranged so as to overlap entirely or partially in one arrangement direction.

[0042] Moreover, the electronic component unit 1 according to this embodiment may be configured by appropriately combining the components of the embodiment and modified examples described above. [Explanation of symbols]

[0043] 1 Electronic Components Unit 10. Electronic Components 11 First electronic component (electronic component that is energized for a relatively long period during operation) 12 Secondary electronic components (electronic components that are energized for a relatively short period during operation) 20. Cabinet 30 Routing material X Width direction Y Depth direction Z height direction

Claims

1. A plurality of electronic components; a housing for accommodating the electronic components; The plurality of electronic components are arranged along a first direction, and the electronic components having a relatively long current-carrying period during operation and the electronic components having a relatively short current-carrying period during operation are arranged alternately. Electronic component unit.

2. The plurality of electronic components are arranged along a second direction intersecting the first direction, and the electronic components having a relatively long current-carrying period during operation and the electronic components having a relatively short current-carrying period during operation are arranged alternately. The electronic component unit according to claim 1 .

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