Wire protection structure

Abstract

To provide a wire protection structure capable of protecting, with a simple structure, a connection portion of an electric wire between itself and a control device even when a vehicle collision occurs.SOLUTION: In the wire protection structure, an engagement portion 14 of a protective member 13 is attached to a bracket 12 integrally formed on a rear side of a housing 7a of a power control unit (PCU), and a tip portion of a high-voltage harness 8 inserted through the protective member 13 is sandwiched and protected between first and second ribs 16a, 16b. Thereby, even when a vehicle collision occurs, the wire protection structure, with a simple configuration, maintains shock absorbing effect of a bent portion of the high-voltage harness 8 at a transition portion inside an engine compartment, and firmly maintains a fixing state of the tip portion of the high-voltage harness 8 to the housing 7a of the PCU.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a wire protection structure that protects wires connecting a battery arranged outside an engine compartment at the front of a vehicle to a control device arranged inside the engine compartment. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, in vehicles such as hybrid electric vehicles (hereinafter referred to as HEVs), in which a high-voltage HEV battery is placed under the floor of the passenger compartment separated by the dashboard, and control devices such as a power control unit are placed inside the engine compartment at the front, which is also separated by the dashboard, the battery and control devices are connected by high-voltage wires routed through the vehicle (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] This type of high-voltage wire is bent and routed inside the engine room, and one connector attached to the tip of the high-voltage wire is fitted into the other connector provided on the control device to electrically connect the battery and the control device. By bending the high-voltage wire inside the engine room, the movement of the high-voltage wire that is opposite to the movement of the vehicle body due to acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle can be absorbed, and excess load is reduced on the connection part of the high-voltage wire with the battery and the control device. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2022-168284 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, as mentioned above, in an HEV vehicle, control devices such as the power control unit are located inside the engine compartment, so when a vehicle collision occurs, the dashboard separating the engine compartment will be deformed by the impact of the collision, and the bent part of the high-voltage wire may not be able to adequately absorb the impact, and the connection part of the high-voltage wire with the control device may not be protected from the impact. This may result in damage to the connection part of the high-voltage wire with the control device or to the high-voltage wire itself, which may lead to a situation that violates regulations, such as a poor connection or poor insulation.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned points, and has an object to provide a simple structure that can protect the connection portion of the electric wire with the control device even when a vehicle collision occurs. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the wire protection structure of the present invention is an electric wire connecting a battery arranged outside an engine room at the front of a vehicle and a control device arranged inside the engine room, and is a wire protection structure that protects the electric wire that is bent and arranged inside the engine room, and is characterized in that it comprises a bracket provided on the rear surface of a housing of the control device, an L-shaped protective member through which an end of the electric wire is inserted, an engagement portion provided on the protective member and engages with the bracket to hold the protective member in an attached state to the bracket, and a pair of ribs provided on the rear surface of the housing, above the protective member in an attached state to the bracket, and on both sides of the end of the electric wire.

[0008] With this configuration, the engaging portion of the protective member is engaged with a bracket provided on the rear surface of the housing of the control device, thereby attaching the protective member to the bracket, and protecting the end of the electric wire inserted into the protective member by clamping it between a pair of ribs.Therefore, with this simple configuration, even in the event of a vehicle collision, the shock absorbing effect of the bent portion of the electric wire inside the engine compartment can be maintained, while the tip of the electric wire can be firmly maintained fixed to the housing of the control device, and the connection portion of the electric wire with the control device and the electric wire itself can be protected.

[0009] The housing may further include another rib provided on the rear surface thereof so as to abut against a lower portion of the protection member attached to the bracket.

[0010] According to this configuration, the other ribs can support the lower side of the protective member, and the end of the electric wire can be more firmly fixed to the housing of the control device. By providing a matching rib that holds the end of the electric wire and another rib that supports the lower side of the protective member, the housing of the control device can be reinforced. Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, even if a vehicle collision occurs, the simple configuration can firmly maintain the fixed state of the electric wire to the housing of the control device, thereby protecting the connection portion of the electric wire with the control device. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic plan view showing a state in which an embodiment of a wire protection structure according to the present invention is assembled to a vehicle. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a state in which the protective member is engaged with the bracket. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] An embodiment in which the wire protection structure according to the present invention is applied to an HEV will be described in detail with reference to Figures 1 to 7. In this embodiment, front, rear, left and right refer to front, rear, left and right as viewed from a seated position.

[0014] As shown in Fig. 1, the body 1 of an HEV vehicle is divided by a dashboard 2 into a passenger compartment 3 and an engine room 4 in front of it, and an HEV battery 5 of, for example, several hundred volts is disposed approximately in the center under the floor of the passenger compartment 3, and an engine 6 is disposed approximately in the center inside the engine room 4, and a power control unit (hereinafter referred to as PCU) 7, which corresponds to the control device of the present invention, is disposed to the left of the engine 6. This PCU 7 is composed of an inverter, a DC-DC converter, etc. housed in a housing 7a, and controls voltage and current.

[0015] A high-voltage harness (corresponding to the "electric wire" in this invention) 8, which is a bundle of high-voltage electric wires, is routed under the floor of the passenger compartment 3, passing through the dashboard 2 under the floor within the engine compartment 4, one end of the high-voltage harness 8 is connected to the battery 5 via a connector 9, and inside the engine compartment 4, the other end of the high-voltage harness 8 is connected to a connector 10 attached to the top surface of the housing 7a of the PCU 7, and is electrically connected to the PCU 7.

[0016] At this time, the high-voltage harness 8 passes through approximately the center of the dashboard 2, with its front end portion disposed within the engine room 4, and as shown in Figure 1, a bent portion is formed by bending the front portion of the high-voltage harness 8 in an area called a transition portion 11 between the dashboard 2 and the PCU 7 inside the engine room 4.

[0017] Meanwhile, a bracket 12 is integrally formed on the rear side of the housing 7a of the PCU 7, inclining obliquely upward and backward, and has a cross section that is, for example, rectangular, as shown in Fig. 3. Then, as shown in Fig. 4, an L-shaped resin protective member 13 is attached to the bracket 12 by engaging an engaging portion 14 integrally provided on the left side of the protective member 13 with the bracket 12.

[0018] As shown in Figure 4, an L-shaped insertion passage 13a, for example of a circular cross-section, through which the high-voltage harness 8 is inserted is formed inside the protective member 13. This protective member 13 has a first portion 13b in the vertical direction through which the tip portion of the high-voltage harness 8 is inserted in the vertical direction, and a second portion 13cb formed at the bottom of the first portion 13b by bending to the right, through which the tip portion of the high-voltage harness 8 is inserted in the left-right direction.

[0019] A rectangular parallelepiped engaging portion 14 is integrally formed on the left side surface of the first portion 13b of the protective member 13, inclining obliquely downward and forward, and an engaging hole 14a for inserting the bracket 12 is formed in this engaging portion 14. This engaging hole 14a has a cross-sectional shape that is substantially the same as the cross-sectional shape of the bracket 12, and the protective member 13 is engaged with and attached to the bracket 12 by inserting the bracket 12 into the engaging hole 14a.

[0020] Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 5, a pair of ribs, first and second ribs 16a, 16b, and another rib, third rib 17, are integrally formed below them on the rear side of the housing 7a of the PCU 7. By forming these ribs 16a, 16b, 17, the strength of the housing 7a of the PCU 7 is improved.

[0021] When the protective member 13 through which the high-voltage harness 8 has passed is attached to the bracket 12, the tip portion of the high-voltage harness 8, which has been inserted through the protective member 13 and is exposed above the protective member 13, is sandwiched between the first and second ribs 16a, 16b and protected as being sandwiched between the first and second ribs 16a, 16b, as shown in Fig. 7. Furthermore, the third rib 17 abuts against the underside of the protective member 13 attached to the bracket 12, and the protective member 13 is held in a state supported from below by the third rib 17, so that the fixed state of the tip portion of the high-voltage harness 8 to the housing 7a of the PCU 7 is held more firmly.

[0022] Therefore, according to the above-mentioned embodiment, the engagement portion 14 of the protective member 13 is attached to the bracket 12 integrally formed on the rear side of the housing 7a of the PCU 7, and the tip portion of the high-voltage harness 8 inserted into the protective member 13 is protected by being sandwiched between the first and second ribs 16a, 16b.Therefore, with this simple configuration, even in the event of a vehicle collision, the shock absorbing effect of the bent portion of the high-voltage harness 8 inside the engine compartment 4 can be maintained, while the tip portion of the high-voltage harness 8 can be firmly maintained fixed to the housing 7a of the PCU 7, making it possible to protect the connection portion of the high-voltage harness 8 with the PCU 7 and the high-voltage harness 8 itself.

[0023] In addition, the third rib 17 supports the lower part of the protective member 13, thereby more firmly maintaining the fixed state of the tip portion of the high-voltage harness 8 to the housing 7a of the PCU 7, and by integrally forming the first to third ribs 16a, 16b, 17 on the rear side of the housing 7a of the PCU 7, the strength of the housing 7a of the PCU 7 can be improved.

[0024] Furthermore, according to the embodiment described above, since the protective member 13 is L-shaped, sufficient flexure can be ensured at the crossing portion 11 of the high voltage harness 8 in the engine compartment 4.

[0025] In addition, since the protective member 13 is L-shaped and attached to the bracket 12 with the high-voltage harness 8 inserted therein, the protective member 13 can be supported while absorbing variations in the length, etc., of the high-voltage harness 8.

[0026] Furthermore, by forming protective member 13 in an L-shape, the strength of protective member 13 itself can be increased, and protective member 13 can be prevented from being easily deformed due to the impact at the time of a vehicle collision.

[0027] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to an HEV vehicle, but the applicable vehicle is not limited to an HEV vehicle, and the control device is not limited to the PCU 7 described above.

[0028] Furthermore, the shape of the bracket 12 is not limited to that described above, and in short, any structure that allows the protective member 13 to be attached by engaging with an engaging portion provided on the protective member 13 may be used.

[0029] In addition, in the above embodiment, the third rib 17 is formed integrally with the rear side surface of the housing 7a of the PCU 7. However, the third rib 17 is not limited to being formed integrally with the housing 7a, and may be formed on other vehicle structures (e.g., the transaxle, etc.) connected to the PCU 7. The location where the third rib 17 is formed can be selected depending on the arrangement of the protective member 13.

[0030] The present invention can be applied to an electric wire protection structure that protects an electric wire that connects a battery located outside the engine compartment at the front of a vehicle and a control device located inside the engine compartment, and that is bent and routed inside the engine compartment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 1. Vehicle body 3...Vehicle compartment 4. Engine room 5. HEV battery 7 ... PCU (control unit) 7a … Enclosure 8...High voltage harness 12 ... Bracket 13 ...Protective material 14 ... Engagement part 16a, 16b ... 1st and 2nd ribs 17 ... 3rd rib

Claims

1. 1. A wire protection structure for protecting an electric wire connecting a battery arranged outside an engine room at a front part of a vehicle and a control device arranged inside the engine room, the electric wire being bent and routed inside the engine room, A bracket provided on a rear surface of a housing of the control device; an L-shaped protective member through which an end of the electric wire is inserted; an engagement portion that is provided on the protective member and engages with the bracket to hold the protective member attached to the bracket; a pair of ribs provided on a rear surface of the housing and positioned above the protective member attached to the bracket and on both sides of the end of the electric wire; A protective structure for an electric wire comprising:

2. The wire protection structure according to claim 1, 4. A wire protection structure, comprising: a housing having a rear surface and a rib provided so as to abut against a lower portion of the protective member attached to the bracket.

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