Wire harnesses and in-vehicle equipment with wire harnesses

Abstract

Disclosed are a wire harness and an in-vehicle device with a wire harness that can reduce the risk of terminal deformation during transportation and assembly, and can improve weldability while simplifying the shape of the terminals. [Solution] A wire harness 10 and an in-vehicle device with a wire harness 12, comprising a covered wire 14, a terminal 16 including a wire connection part 34 connected to the end of the covered wire 14 and a welded part 40 extending in a flat shape from the wire connection part 34 and welded to a bus bar 26 of an in-vehicle device, and a terminal protector 18 held by the terminal 16 and surrounding the welded part 40 of the terminal 16, wherein the terminal protector 18 has through holes 68 that open on both sides in the thickness direction of the welded part 40 to expose the welded part 40.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a wire harness and an in-vehicle device with a wire harness.

Background Art

[0006] Therefore, we disclose a wire harness and an in-vehicle device with a wire harness that can reduce the risk of terminal deformation during transportation and assembly, simplify the shape of the terminals, and improve the weldability of the terminals to the busbars of the in-vehicle device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The wire harness of this disclosure is a wire harness assembled to an in-vehicle device and includes a terminal which includes a covered electric wire, a wire connection portion which is connected to a core wire exposed at the end of the covered electric wire, and a welded portion which extends in a flat shape from the wire connection portion and is welded to a busbar of the in-vehicle device, and a terminal protector which is held by the terminal and surrounds the welded portion of the terminal, wherein the terminal protector has through holes which open on both sides in the thickness direction of the welded portion and expose the welded portion.

[0008] The in-vehicle device with a wire harness of the present disclosure is an in-vehicle device to which a wire harness is assembled, wherein the wire harness is the wire harness of the present disclosure, and the in-vehicle device has a mounting portion for the terminal protector, and the welded portion is overlapped and welded to the bus bar exposed at the mounting portion. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] The wire harness of this disclosure reduces the risk of terminal deformation during transportation and assembly, simplifies the terminal shape, and improves the weldability of the terminals to the busbars of the in-vehicle equipment.

[0010] The in-vehicle equipment with wire harnesses of this disclosure can reduce the risk of terminal deformation during transportation and assembly, simplify the terminal shape, and improve the weldability of the terminals to the busbars of the in-vehicle equipment. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1]Figure 1 is a perspective view of a voltage detection harness as a wire harness according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a perspective view showing a battery pack as an in-vehicle device with a wire harness according to Embodiment 1, in which the voltage detection harness shown in Figure 1 is assembled. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the assembled state of the terminals and terminal protectors that make up the voltage detection harness in Figure 1. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is a plan view showing the assembled state of the terminal and terminal protector shown in Figure 3. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of Figure 4, VV section. [Figure 6] Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in Figure 4. [Figure 7] Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VII-VII in Figure 2. [Figure 8] Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII in Figure 2. [Figure 9] Figure 9 is a plan view of the battery pack shown in Figure 2. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0012] <Description of Embodiments in this Disclosure> First, embodiments of this disclosure will be listed and described. The wire harness in this disclosure is (1) A wire harness to be assembled to an in-vehicle device, comprising: an insulated wire; a terminal including a wire connection portion connected to the end of the insulated wire and a welded portion extending in a flat shape from the wire connection portion and welded to a bus bar of the in-vehicle device; and a terminal protector held by the terminal and surrounding the welded portion of the terminal, wherein the terminal protector has through holes that open on both sides in the thickness direction of the welded portion to expose the welded portion.

[0013] According to the wire harness of this disclosure, the terminal connected to the end of the insulated wire includes a wire connection portion connected to the core wire of the insulated wire and a flat plate-shaped welded portion extending from the wire connection portion, and the welded portion is surrounded by a terminal protector held by the terminal. This reduces the risk of deformation of the wire harness terminal due to interference with other components during transportation of the wire harness or assembly to in-vehicle equipment. Therefore, by adopting a terminal protector, the reinforcing portion folded onto the upper surface of the welded portion, which was necessary in conventional structures, is not required, and the flatness of the welded portion can be advantageously maintained even with a simple flat plate-shaped welded portion. Moreover, since the terminal protector has through holes and the welded portion is exposed on both sides in the plate thickness direction of the welded portion, welding to the busbar of the in-vehicle equipment can be achieved with high precision while maintaining the flatness of the terminal portion. As a result, it is possible to provide a wire harness that reduces the risk of deformation of the terminal during transportation and assembly, simplifies the shape of the terminal, and improves the weldability of the terminal to the busbar of the in-vehicle equipment.

[0014] (2) In (1) above, it is preferable that the terminal protector has an engaged portion that engages with an engaging portion provided on the in-vehicle equipment, and that the welded portion is held in a state overlapping with the busbar of the in-vehicle equipment by the engaged portion of Furthermore, by engaging the engaged portion with the engaging portion, the welded portion can be held in a state overlapping with the busbar, eliminating the need for jigs or other tools to press the welded portion against the busbar when welding the welded portion to the busbar, thus simplifying the welding process. In addition, by providing an engaged portion on the terminal protector that holds the terminal and engaging it with the engaging portion of the in-vehicle equipment, the terminal and terminal protector can be held to the in-vehicle equipment. This makes it possible to reduce the height of the in-vehicle equipment compared to the conventional structure shown in Figure 14 of Patent Document 1, where a retaining piece is provided on the insulating protector of the in-vehicle equipment to prevent the terminal from detaching.

[0015] (3) In the above (1) or (2), it is preferable that the terminal protector has a housing portion that houses the wire connection portion of the terminal and its vicinity, and the housing portion has a positioning projection that fits into a through hole provided in the terminal. With a simple structure in which the positioning projection provided on the terminal protector fits into the through hole provided in the terminal, it is possible to ensure the positioning of the terminal protector and the terminal in the XY direction, and it becomes possible to ensure a reliable contact area of the welding portion with the bus bar, etc., and to improve the conduction stability of the wire harness to the in-vehicle device. Moreover, since the terminal can be positioned and held with respect to the terminal protector of the wire harness, compared with the case of projecting a retaining piece for preventing the detachment of the terminal to the insulation protector of the in-vehicle device as in the conventional structure shown in FIG. 14 of Patent Document 1, it is also possible to reduce the height of the in-vehicle device.

[0016] (4) In any one of the above (1) to (3), it is preferable that the terminal protector has a recess that houses an engaging convex portion provided at an edge of the terminal, and the contact of the engaging convex portion with the recess prevents the detachment of the terminal from the terminal protector. With a simple structure in which the recess provided in the terminal protector houses the engaging convex portion provided at the edge of the terminal, it is possible to prevent the detachment of the terminal from the terminal protector, prevent the detachment of the terminal from the terminal protector during transportation or assembly, and more advantageously suppress the risk of interference between the welding portion and other members. Moreover, since the terminal can be positioned and held with respect to the terminal protector of the wire harness, compared with the case of projecting a retaining piece for preventing the detachment of the terminal to the insulation protector of the in-vehicle device as in the conventional structure shown in FIG. 14 of Patent Document, it is also possible to reduce the height of the in-vehicle device.

[0017] (5) In any one of the above (1) to (4), it includes a plurality of the coated electric wires, a plurality of the terminals connected to the terminals of the plurality of the coated electric wires, and a plurality of the terminal protectors respectively surrounding the periphery of the welding parts of the plurality of the terminals. The plurality of the terminal protectors have different shapes from each other and each have a protector-side marking portion having a shape corresponding to a device-side marking portion provided at each mounting portion of the terminal protector in the in-vehicle device. This is preferable. When a wire harness has a plurality of terminals, it is necessary to prevent incorrect assembly when assembling it to an in-vehicle device. In this aspect, the plurality of terminal protectors are respectively provided with protector-side marking portions having different shapes from each other, and they have shapes corresponding to the device-side marking portions provided at the mounting portions of the respective protectors in the in-vehicle device. Therefore, when assembling the plurality of terminals provided in the wire harness to the in-vehicle device, the occurrence of incorrect assembly can be advantageously prevented. Note that the protector-side marking portion and the device-side marking portion may be planar displays, or may have a shape in which one is convex and the other is concave and they can be fitted with each other. Any structure can be adopted as long as it can prevent the occurrence of incorrect assembly. In the case of a marking portion having a structure that allows fitting with each other, in the case of incorrect assembly, the device-side marking portion and the protector-side marking portion cannot be fitted, and incorrect assembly can be detected more reliably.

[0018] The in-vehicle device with a wire harness according to the present disclosure is (6) An in-vehicle device in which a wire harness is assembled, the wire harness being the wire harness according to any one of the above (1) to (5), the in-vehicle device having a mounting portion of the terminal protector, and the welding portion being overlapped and welded to the bus bar exposed at the mounting portion.

[0019] In the vehicle-mounted equipment with a wire harness according to this embodiment, since the wire harness is the wire harness described in any one of (1) to (5) above, the terminal connected to the end of the insulated wire includes a wire connection part connected to the core wire of the insulated wire and a flat plate-shaped welded part extending from the wire connection part, and the area around the welded part is surrounded by a terminal protector held by the terminal. This reduces the risk of the wire harness terminal being deformed due to interference with other components during transportation of the wire harness or assembly to the vehicle-mounted equipment. Therefore, by adopting a terminal protector, it is possible to advantageously maintain the flatness of the welded part even without the need for the reinforcing part folded over the upper surface of the welded part that was necessary in the conventional structure. Furthermore, since the terminal protector has through holes and the welded part is exposed on both sides in the plate thickness direction of the welded part, the welded part can be overlapped and welded to the busbar exposed at the mounting part of the terminal protector provided on the vehicle-mounted equipment. At that time, since the flatness of the welded part is maintained, welding can be performed with high precision. As a result, it is possible to provide in-vehicle equipment with a wire harness that reduces the risk of terminal deformation during transportation and assembly, simplifies the terminal shape, and improves the weldability of the terminals to the busbars of the in-vehicle equipment.

[0020] (7) In (6) above, the wire harness is the wire harness described in (2) above, and the in-vehicle device has an engaging portion that engages with the engaged portion of the terminal protector, and the engaging portion engages with the engaged portion so that the welded portion is held in a state where it overlaps with the bus bar of the in-vehicle device. Because the engaging portion of the in-vehicle device engages with the engaged portion of the terminal protector, the welded portion can be held in a state where it overlaps with the bus bar of the in-vehicle device, thus advantageously ensuring good adhesion when welding the welded portion to the bus bar of the in-vehicle device and suppressing the occurrence of welding defects. Therefore, compared to the conventional structure in which a hook-shaped locking piece protruding from the terminal is inserted into a locking hole that penetrates the bus bar and locked to hold the welded portion in a state where it overlaps with the bus bar, the overlapping state of the welded portion with respect to the bus bar can be maintained without complicating the structure of the terminal.

[0021] (8) In (6) above, the wire harness is the wire harness described in (5) above, and the in-vehicle equipment has a plurality of mounting locations to which a plurality of terminal protectors are each attached, and each of the welded parts is welded to the busbars exposed at each of the mounting locations, and the plurality of mounting locations are different in shape from each other and each has an equipment-side marking part that corresponds to the shape of the protector-side marking part provided on each of the plurality of terminal protectors. When a wire harness has a plurality of terminals, it is necessary to prevent incorrect assembly when assembling it to the in-vehicle equipment. Therefore, at the mounting locations of the plurality of terminal protectors provided on the in-vehicle equipment, each is provided with an equipment-side marking part that is different in shape from each other and corresponds to the shape of the protector-side marking part provided on each of the plurality of terminal protectors. This makes it possible to advantageously prevent the occurrence of incorrect assembly when assembling the plurality of terminals provided on the wire harness to the mounting locations provided on the in-vehicle equipment. Furthermore, the markings on the protector side and the equipment side may be flat, or they may have a shape that allows for interlocking with one side being convex and the other concave. Any structure can be adopted as long as it serves as a marking that prevents incorrect assembly. In the case of markings with an interlocking structure, if incorrect assembly occurs, the markings on the equipment side and the markings on the protector side cannot be engaged, allowing for even more reliable detection of incorrect assembly.

[0022] <Details of the embodiments of this disclosure> Specific examples of the wire harnesses and in-vehicle equipment with wire harnesses described herein will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, this disclosure is not limited to these examples and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims as indicated by the claims.

[0023] <Embodiment 1> Hereinafter, a voltage detection harness 10 as a wire harness according to Embodiment 1 of this disclosure, and a battery pack 12 as an in-vehicle device with a wire harness to which the voltage detection harness is assembled, will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 9. This battery pack 12 is used, for example, in electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles, and has the voltage detection harness 10 according to this disclosure assembled to it.

[0024] As shown in Figure 1, the voltage detection harness 10 comprises a plurality of insulated wires 14, a plurality of terminals 16 connected to the ends of the plurality of insulated wires 14, and a plurality of terminal protectors 18 attached to each terminal 16 to protect each terminal 16. The voltage detection harness 10 may be provided as a single transportable component by bundling the plurality of insulated wires 14 together with a fastener or the like (not shown).

[0025] Figure 2 shows a battery pack 12 to which the voltage detection harness 10 shown in Figure 1 is assembled. The battery pack 12 includes a wiring module 22 attached to the top surface of a group of single cells (not shown) housed in a housing 20. The wiring module 22 has an insulating protector 24 that covers the top surface of the group of single cells and is rectangular in shape overall. The insulating protector 24 is made of an insulating material such as synthetic resin, and on one side edge in the width direction (right side in Figure 2), there are a plurality of busbar holding parts 28 arranged in a line in the longitudinal direction, each exposing and holding the busbars 26 that connect the positive and negative terminals of adjacent single cells. In the central part of the insulating protector 24 in the width direction, there are a plurality of terminal protector mounting parts 30 arranged in a line in the longitudinal direction, to which the base end portions of terminal protectors connected to each of the plurality of busbar holding parts 28 are attached. On the other side edge in the width direction of the insulating protector 24 (left side in Figure 2), there is a wire housing section 32 that extends in a trough shape in the longitudinal direction and is connected to a plurality of terminal protector mounting sections 30, through which the insulated wires 14 drawn out from each terminal protector mounting section 30 are routed.

[0026] Next, the terminals 16 and terminal protectors 18 constituting the voltage detection harness 10 will be described in detail based on Figures 3 to 6. Since each terminal 16 and each terminal protector 18 has the same shape and structure except for the formation of the misassembly prevention protrusions 70a to d, which will be described later, the following explanation will be based on the terminal 16 and terminal protector 18 located closest to the viewer in Figure 1. Note that the insulated wires 14 are omitted in Figures 3 to 6.

[0027] As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the terminal 16 is formed by press-forming a metal plate such as copper, copper alloy, aluminum, or aluminum alloy. One end (upper end in Figure 4) has a wire connection portion 34 that is crimped to the exposed core wire at the end of the insulated wire 14, and a wire fixing portion 36 that is crimped to the insulated portion of the end of the insulated wire 14 to hold the insulated wire 14 and the terminal 16 in a fixed state. As shown in Figure 6, both the wire connection portion 34 and the wire fixing portion 36 have a U-shaped cross-section and extend over a predetermined length. Both ends of the U-shape are crimped toward the bottom surface, so that they are crimped to the core wire and the insulated portion of the insulated wire 14, respectively.

[0028] The terminal 16 further includes a flat connecting portion 38 that protrudes on the opposite side from the wire fixing portion 36 in the extension direction of the wire connection portion 34 (up and down direction in Figure 4), and a flat welding portion 40 that protrudes from one side edge of the connecting portion 38 (right side in Figure 4) in a direction perpendicular to the extension direction of the wire connection portion 34. The welding portion 40 is the part that is welded to the busbar 26 and protrudes over a predetermined length. As a result, the terminal 16 as a whole is configured to have an L-shape in plan view. The connecting portion 38 is provided with a through hole 42 that penetrates in the thickness direction of the plate.

[0029] The terminal protector 18 is made of an insulating material such as synthetic resin and integrally comprises a housing portion 44 that accommodates the wire connection portion 34 and the wire fixing portion 36 and connecting portion 38 provided in its vicinity, and a protective portion 46 that protrudes from the side (right side in Figure 4) of one end of the housing portion 44 (lower side in Figure 4) and surrounds the welded portion 40 of the terminal 16. The housing portion 44 is configured as a bottomed box that opens upward (upper side in Figure 3), and as a whole, it has a rectangular box shape in which the direction in which the wire fixing portion 36, wire connection portion 34, and connecting portion 38 of the terminal 16 are arranged is the longitudinal direction (see Figure 4). At one end of the housing portion 44 in the longitudinal direction (upper end in Figure 4), a wire insertion hole 48 is provided through which the insulated wire 14 extending from the wire fixing portion 36 is inserted.

[0030] At the other end of the housing section 44 in the longitudinal direction (the lower end in Figure 4), a recess 52 is provided that penetrates the central part of the first peripheral wall 50 in the thickness direction in the longitudinal direction (see Figure 5). An engaging projection 54 provided on the edge of the terminal 16 is inserted into this recess 52, and in the opening direction of the housing section 44 (upper in Figure 5), the engaging projection 54 is positioned overlapping the first peripheral wall 50. Furthermore, on the terminal mounting surface 56, which is formed by the upper surface of the bottom wall of the housing section 44 and on which the bottom surface of the terminal 16 inserted from above is placed, a substantially cylindrical positioning projection 58 is provided at the part where the connecting portion 38 overlaps. The positioning projection 58 is fitted into the through hole 42 that penetrates the connecting portion 38 of the terminal 16 placed on the terminal mounting surface 56, thereby holding the terminal 16 in a position relative to the terminal protector 18 in the XY direction (up, down, left, and right directions in Figure 4). Furthermore, if the terminal 16 is displaced in the Z direction (up and down direction in Figure 5) relative to the terminal protector 18, the engaging projection 54 abuts against the first peripheral wall 50 that constitutes the upper surface of the recess 52, thereby preventing the terminal 16 from detaching from the terminal protector 18. In particular, since the protrusion dimension H1 of the positioning projection 58 is approximately the same as or larger than the height dimension H2 of the recess 52, the terminal 16 is displaced toward the terminal mounting surface 56 of the housing portion 44 by the abutment of the engaging projection 54 against the recess 52 before the through hole 42 of the terminal 16 disengaged from the positioning projection 58 when the terminal 16 is displaced upward, thus reliably preventing the terminal 16 from detaching from the terminal protector 18.

[0031] As shown in Figure 4, of the pair of side walls 60a and 60b extending in the longitudinal direction of the housing section 44, one end of side wall 60a (the lower end in Figure 4) is connected to the first peripheral wall 50. Side wall 60b is connected to the protective section 46 in the middle of its longitudinal direction. More specifically, the protective section 46 is provided projecting laterally from the housing section 44, with a shape that surrounds the peripheral edge of the welded section 40 that protrudes laterally (to the right in Figure 4) from the connecting section 38 of the terminal 16, when the wire fixing section 36, wire connection section 34, and connecting section 38 of the terminal 16 are placed on the terminal mounting surface 56 of the housing section 44 of the terminal protector 18. The protective section 46 is located on the wire connection section 34 side of the welded section 40 and integrally comprises a first side wall 62 projecting from the side wall 60b along the welded section 40, a second side wall 64 projecting from the first circumferential wall 50 along the welded section 40, and a connecting wall section 66 connecting the projecting ends of the first side wall 62 and the second side wall 64. The area enclosed by the first side wall 62, the second side wall 64, and the connecting wall section 66 constitutes a through-hole 68 that opens on both sides in the plate thickness direction of the welded section 40 housed there, exposing the welded section 40. The through-hole 68 is connected to the housing section 44 on the side opposite to the connecting wall section 66.

[0032] As shown in Figure 6, the welded portion 40 of the terminal 16, on which the connecting portion 38 etc. is placed on the terminal mounting surface 56 in the housing portion 44 of the terminal protector 18, is located within the through-hole 68 of the protective portion 46 and is surrounded by the protective portion 46 of the terminal protector 18. This reduces the risk of deformation due to interference of the welded portion 40 with other components during transportation of the voltage detection harness 10 and assembly to the battery pack 12, and advantageously maintains the flatness of the welded portion 40. Furthermore, the welded portion 40 is exposed upwards and downwards on both sides in the thickness direction of the welded portion 40 (upper and lower sides in Figure 6) through the through-hole 68 of the protective portion 46 of the terminal protector 18, making it possible to weld the welded portion 40 of the terminal 16 to the busbar 26.

[0033] Furthermore, the terminal protector 18 has a mis-assembly prevention projection 70a that protrudes from the side wall 60a and serves as a protector-side marker. As shown in Figure 9, in the multiple terminal protectors 18 that constitute the voltage detection harness 10, the positions of the mis-assembly prevention projections 70a to 70d provided on each terminal protector 18 correspond to the mis-assembly prevention recesses 82a to 72d, which will be described later, provided on the terminal protector mounting section 30 to which each terminal protector 18 is mounted. As a result, only mounting of each terminal protector 18 to the predetermined terminal protector mounting section 30 is permitted, and mounting to the wrong terminal protector mounting section 30 is prevented.

[0034] Furthermore, the terminal protector 18 is provided with a pair of side walls 60a and 60b, each having a concave engaging portion 72 that opens to the outer and upper surfaces. When an engaging portion 80, which will be described later and is projected from the terminal protector mounting portion 30 of the wiring module 22, engages with the bottom surface of this engaging portion 72, the welded portion 40 of the terminal 16 held by the terminal protector 18 is held in an overlapping state with respect to the bus bar 26 of the battery pack 12.

[0035] Next, the terminal protector mounting sections 30 provided on the insulating protector 24, which constitutes the wiring module 22 of the battery pack 12, to which each terminal 16 and each terminal protector 18 of the voltage detection harness 10, which has the structure described above, are assembled, will be described in detail with reference to Figures 7 to 9. As shown in Figure 9, the multiple terminal protector mounting sections 30 are each connected to a multiple busbar holding section 28 arranged in a line along the longitudinal direction of the insulating protector 24, and similarly, they are arranged in a line along the longitudinal direction. Since each terminal protector mounting section 30 has substantially the same structure except for the formation positions of the misassembly prevention recesses 82a to d, which will be described later, the following description of the other parts applies to any of the terminal protector mounting sections 30.

[0036] The terminal protector mounting section 30 is composed of a protector mounting surface 74 on which the terminal protector 18 is placed, a first vertical wall 76 rising from the end of the protector mounting surface 74 on the busbar holding section 28 side, and a second vertical wall 78 rising from the end of the protector mounting surface 74 on the wire housing section 32 side. On the opposing surfaces of the first vertical wall 76 and the second vertical wall 78, which are arranged opposite each other with the protector mounting surface 74 in between, claw-shaped engaging portions 80 are provided that protrude inward in the opposing direction at the portion corresponding to the engaged portion 72 of the terminal protector 18 when the terminal protector 18 is mounted. As shown in Figure 7, the engaging portion 80 is positioned above the bottom surface of the engaged portion 72 of the terminal protector 18 placed on the protector mounting surface 74, and overlaps the bottom surface of the engaged portion 72 in the vertical projection.

[0037] When assembling the terminal protector 18 to the terminal protector mounting section 30 from above, the bottom wall of the housing section 44 of the terminal protector 18 comes into contact with the engaging section 80, causing the first vertical wall 76 and the second vertical wall 78 to elastically deform outward in the opposing direction, thereby allowing the terminal protector 18 to be assembled to the terminal protector mounting section 30. The engaging section 80 then elastically returns to its original position, overcoming the bottom wall of the terminal protector 18, so that the engaging sections 80 on the first vertical wall 76 and the second vertical wall 78 engage with the bottom surfaces of the engaged sections 72 provided on the pair of side walls 60a and 60b of the terminal protector 18, respectively. This prevents the terminal protector 18 from detaching upward from the terminal protector mounting section 30. Furthermore, as described above, the terminal 16 is positioned and held in a way that prevents it from detaching in the XY direction (up, down, left, and right directions in Figure 4) and the Z direction (up and down direction in Figure 5) by the terminal protector 18. By engaging the engaged portion of the terminal protector 18 with the engaged portion of the terminal protector mounting portion 30 provided on the insulating protector 24 of the battery pack 12, the terminal protector 18 and the terminal 16 can be reliably held in the mounted state on the wiring module 22. Therefore, compared to the conventional structure shown in Figure 14 of Patent Document 1, where a locking piece is provided on the insulating protector of the in-vehicle equipment to prevent the terminal from detaching, the height of the battery pack 12 can also be reduced.

[0038] Furthermore, the second vertical wall 78 is provided with misassembly prevention recesses 82a to d, which serve as equipment-side markers, at positions corresponding to the misassembly prevention protrusions 70a to d provided on the terminal protectors 18 that are each mounted on the terminal protector mounting section 30. The misassembly prevention recesses 82a to d are provided by opening into the protruding end face of the second vertical wall 78 and being cut out in a concave shape so as to penetrate the second vertical wall 78 in the plate thickness direction. As shown in Figure 9, the misassembly prevention protrusions 70a to d provided on the multiple terminal protectors 18 that are each mounted on the multiple terminal protector mounting sections 30 are positioned in order from left to right in Figure 9, gradually approaching the wire connection section 34, and similarly, the misassembly prevention recesses 82a to d provided on the second vertical wall 78 of the corresponding terminal protector mounting section 30 are positioned in order from left to right in Figure 9, gradually approaching the wire connection section 34. As a result, when the voltage detection harness 10 is provided with multiple terminals 16 and multiple terminal protectors 18 to protect them, if each terminal protector 18 is not assembled to the correct terminal protector mounting section 30 to which it is intended, the mis-assembly prevention protrusions 70a to 70d cannot be fitted into the mis-assembly prevention recesses 82a to 70d, thereby reliably preventing the mis-assembly of the terminal protectors 18 to the terminal protector mounting section 30.

[0039] Thus, when multiple terminal protectors 18, each equipped with multiple terminals 16 of the voltage detection harness 10, are assembled to their respective terminal protector mounting sections 30, as shown in Figure 9, the housing section 44 of each terminal protector 18 is positioned in the terminal protector mounting section 30, and the protective section 46 of each terminal protector 18 protrudes from the busbar holding section 28 connected to the terminal protector mounting section 30. Therefore, in this embodiment, the mounting area for the terminal protector 18 provided on the battery pack 12 side is configured including the busbar holding section 28 and the terminal protector mounting section 30 connected thereto.

[0040] Furthermore, the insulating protector 24 has a third vertical wall 84 that protrudes from the second vertical wall 78, on the opposite side from the first vertical wall 76, and extends along the entire length of the insulating protector 24. The second vertical wall 78, the third vertical wall 84, and the wire mounting surface 86 connecting them partition the trough-shaped wire housing section 32 that opens upward in Figure 7. The insulated wires 14 drawn out from the wire outlets 88 provided in the second vertical wall 78 of each terminal protector mounting section 30 are inserted and arranged through this section. Note that the insulated wire 14 extending from the terminal protector 18 located at the far right in Figure 9 is drawn out from the end of the terminal protector mounting section 30.

[0041] The wiring module 22, which is formed by assembling the voltage detection harness 10 to the insulating protector 24 configured as described above, is mounted on the upper surface of the housing 20 of the battery pack 12, which houses a group of single cells (not shown). In this state, as shown in Figure 7, the busbar 26 connected to the terminals of a single cell (not shown) is positioned in the busbar holding portion 28 of the wiring module 22. As shown in Figure 8, the engaging portion 80 of the insulating protector 24 is engaged with the engaged portion 72 of the terminal protector 18, so that the welded portion 40 of the terminal 16 is held in a state where it is superimposed on the busbar 26 of the battery pack 12. In this state, the welded portion 40 is welded and connected to the busbar 26.

[0042] In the voltage detection harness 10 and battery pack 12 to which the voltage detection harness 10 is assembled, which have the structure described above, the welded portion 40 of the terminal 16 connected to the end of the insulated wire 14 constituting the voltage detection harness 10 is surrounded and housed by the protective portion 46 of the terminal protector 18 that houses and holds the terminal 16. This reduces the risk of the terminal 16 being deformed due to interference with other components during transportation of the voltage detection harness 10 or during assembly to the battery pack 12. Therefore, by adopting the terminal protector 18, the reinforcing portion folded onto the upper surface of the welded portion, which was necessary in the conventional structure, becomes unnecessary, and the flatness of the welded portion 40 can be advantageously maintained even with a simple flat plate-shaped welded portion 40. Furthermore, since the terminal protector 18 has through holes 68, and the welded portion 40 is exposed through the through holes 68 on both sides in the plate thickness direction of the welded portion 40, welding of the battery pack 12 to the busbar 26 can be achieved with high precision while maintaining the flatness of the welded portion 40. As a result, the risk of deformation of the terminal 16 during transportation and assembly can be reduced, and the shape of the terminal 16 can be simplified while improving the weldability of the terminal 16 to the busbar 26 of the battery pack 12. This makes it possible to provide a voltage detection harness 10 and a battery pack 12 to which the voltage detection harness 10 is assembled.

[0043] In particular, in this embodiment, the busbar 26 of the battery pack 12 is exposed in the busbar holding portion 28 that constitutes the mounting area of ​​the terminal protector 18, and the welded portion 40 of the terminal 16, which is exposed downward from the through hole 68 of the protective portion 46 of the terminal protector 18 that is positioned to protrude toward the busbar holding portion 28, is superimposed on the busbar 26 and connected by welding, so that welding can be performed reliably and stably. Moreover, because the welded portion 40 of the terminal 16 is held in a state superimposed on the busbar 26 of the battery pack 12 by the engagement of the engaging portion 80 and the engaged portion 72, a jig or the like to press the welded portion 40 against the busbar 26 when welding the welded portion 40 to the busbar 26 can be eliminated, thus simplifying the welding process.

[0044] <Variation> While Embodiment 1 has been described in detail above as a specific example of the present disclosure, the present disclosure is not limited by this specific description. Modifications, improvements, etc., to the extent that they can achieve the objectives of the present disclosure are included in the present disclosure. For example, the following modifications of the embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present disclosure.

[0045] (1) In Embodiment 1, a voltage detection harness 10 was shown as an example of a wire harness, and a battery pack 12 was shown as an example of an in-vehicle device with a wire harness. However, the scope to which this disclosure applies is not limited to these, and it is applicable to various wire harnesses and various in-vehicle devices to which they are assembled. Furthermore, although the voltage detection harness 10 was equipped with multiple terminals and terminal protectors 18, the disclosure is similarly applicable to wire harnesses equipped with a single terminal and terminal protector.

[0046] (2) In Embodiment 1, an example was shown in which an assembly prevention structure consisting of a combination of misassembly prevention protrusions 70a to d and misassembly prevention recesses 82a to d was applied as an example of the marking portion on the protector side and the marking portion on the equipment side. However, any structure can be adopted for the marking portion on the protector side and the marking portion on the equipment side, as long as it can perform the misassembly prevention function. For example, in addition to a structure that utilizes the interlocking of protrusions and recesses as in Embodiment 1, a structure that shows colors, shapes, letters, etc. in two dimensions may also be used.

[0047] (3) In the embodiment 1 described above, the welded portion 40 of the terminal 16 protruded laterally from the connecting portion 38. However, the shape of the terminal 16 is not limited to this, and any shape can be adopted, such as one in which the welded portion 40 protrudes straight from the connecting portion 38. Accordingly, the shape of the terminal protector 18 can also be any shape that can surround and protect the welded portion in accordance with the shape of the terminal 16. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0048] 10. Voltage detection harness (wire harness) 12. Battery pack (vehicle-mounted equipment with wire harness) 14 Insulated wires 16 terminals 18 Terminal Protector 20 cabinets 22 Wiring Modules 24 Insulation Protector 26 Bus Bar 28 Busbar retaining part 30 Terminal protector mounting area 32 Wire housing section 34 Wire connection section 36 Wire fixing part 38 Connection part 40 Welded section 42 through holes 44 containment section 46 Protection Department 48 Wire insertion holes 50 1st peripheral wall 52 recess 54 Engagement protrusion 56 Terminal mounting surface 58 Positioning protrusion 60a Side wall 60b side wall 62 First side wall 64 Second side wall 66 Connecting wall section 68 Through-pores 70a~d Anti-misassembly protrusion (mark on protector side) 72 Engaged portion 74 Protector mounting surface 76 1st vertical wall 78 Second vertical wall 80 Engaging part 82a~d Recessed area to prevent incorrect assembly (marking on the equipment side) 84 Third vertical wall 86 Wire mounting surface 88 Wire Outlet

Claims

1. A wire harness that is installed in an in-vehicle device, Insulated wires and A terminal including a wire connection portion connected to the end of the insulated wire and a welded portion extending in a flat shape from the wire connection portion and welded to the busbar of the in-vehicle equipment, Includes a terminal protector that is held by the terminal and surrounds the welded portion of the terminal, The terminal protector has through holes that open on both sides of the plate thickness direction of the welded portion, exposing the welded portion. Wire harness.

2. The wire harness according to claim 1, wherein the terminal protector has an engaged portion that engages with an engaging portion provided on the in-vehicle device, and the welded portion is held in a state where it is superimposed on the busbar of the in-vehicle device when the engaged portion engages with the engaging portion.

3. The wire harness according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the terminal protector has a housing portion that accommodates the wire connection portion of the terminal and its vicinity, and the housing portion has a positioning projection that fits into a through hole provided in the terminal.

4. The wire harness according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the terminal protector has a recess for accommodating an engaging projection provided on the edge of the terminal, and the terminal is prevented from detaching from the terminal protector by the engagement projection contacting the recess.

5. It includes a plurality of insulated wires, a plurality of terminals connected to the exposed core wires at the ends of the plurality of insulated wires, and a plurality of terminal protectors surrounding the welded portions of the plurality of terminals, The wire harness according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the plurality of terminal protectors have different shapes from each other and each protector has a protector-side marking portion that corresponds to the shape of the equipment-side marking portion provided at each mounting portion of the terminal protector in the in-vehicle equipment.

6. An in-vehicle device to which a wire harness is assembled, The wire harness is the wire harness according to claim 1 or claim 2, The above-mentioned in-vehicle device is an in-vehicle device with a wire harness, having a mounting portion for the terminal protector, and the welded portion is overlapped and welded to the bus bar exposed at the mounting portion.

7. The wire harness is the wire harness described in claim 2, The in-vehicle device with a wire harness according to claim 6, wherein the in-vehicle device has an engaging portion that engages with the engaged portion of the terminal protector, and the engaging portion is engaged with the engaged portion so that the welded portion is held in a state where it is superimposed on the busbar of the in-vehicle device.

8. An in-vehicle device to which a wire harness is assembled, The wire harness is the wire harness described in claim 5, The in-vehicle device has multiple mounting locations to which multiple terminal protectors are each attached, and each of the welded portions is welded to the busbar exposed at each of the mounting locations by overlapping them. An in-vehicle device with a wire harness, wherein the multiple mounting portions are of different shapes from each other and each has a device-side marker portion that corresponds to the shape of the protector-side marker portion provided on each of the multiple terminal protectors.

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