Title of Invention

"COUPLER DEVICE FOR VEHICULAR BATTERY"

Abstract

[Solving Means] The starter relay 35, a main fuse 36, and a sub-fuse 37 are disposed on a front surface of a coupler device 30, and a back lid 39 is openably provided on a back surface of the coupler device 30 through a hinge 38. A spare fuse containing portion 41 is integrally provided on the back lid 39, with its opening portion disposed on the left side. Reference numeral 42 indicates a spare main fuse, and 43 is a spare sub-fuse. [Effect] The starter relay 35, main fuse 36, and sub-fuse 37 can be exchanged from the exterior at any time. Further, the starter relay 35, main fuse 36, and sub fuse 37 are all inserted from the lower left side to the upper right side and removed from the upper right side to the lower left side. Since the starter relay 35, main fuse 36, and sub fuse 37 are all inserted and removed in the same direction, it is possible to make compact the coupler device 30.

Full Text

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a coupler device for a battery suitable for a vehicle, particularly, suitable for a motorcycle. [Related Art] In addition to a method of directly connecting one-ends of harnesses to a plus terminal and a minus terminal of a battery, there is known a method of collectively connecting one-ends of harnesses to a plus terminal and a minus terminal of a battery using one coupler. For example, in a device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 1-278236 entitled "Power Supply Device for Vehicle", as shown in Fig. 1 of the document, electronic parts such as a regulator/rectifier 2, a fuse 3, and a starter relay 4 are inserted in a panel box 1 , and in such a state the panel box 1 is mounted on terminals 10 and 11 of a battery 9 with bolts 15 and 16. Since the panel box inserted with the electronic parts is fixed integrally with the battery without provision of wire harnesses for connecting components of a power supply circuit to each other, it is expected to simplify the layout and to improve the appearance. [Problem to be Solved by the Invention] The device disclosed in the above" document, however, has problems. Since the electronic parts such as the starter relay 4 are collectively disposed on the upper surface (opposed to a battery mounting surface) of the panel box 1, the electronic parts are largely protruded from the battery, and therefore, it is not necessarily expected to improve the appearance. Further, in the above device, the individual parts are not compactly arranged on the upper surface of the battery in consideration of the space efficiency, and also it is not easy to manufacture the panel box. An object of the present invention is to provide a coupler device having a simple, compact structure with a water-proof function. [Means for Solving the Problem] To achieve the above object, according to an invention described in claim 1, there is provided a coupler device for a vehicular battery, including: a case for containing a starter relay and a plurality of fuses in such a manner that said starter relay and said plurality of fuses are collectively connected to a plus terminal and a minus terminal of a-battery, wherein said starter relay is disposed over one of said plus terminal and said minus terminal and said plurality of said fuses are vertically disposed over the other of said terminals in such a manner that said starter relay and said fuses are mounted or dismounted in or from said case in the same direction; and a water-proof means is interposed in a terminal portion of said starter relay. With this configuration, the starter relay and the plurality of fuses are arranged in such a manner as to be mounted or dismounted in the same direction, as a result of which it is possible to make compact the entire device, and to make easy manufacture of the device. Also, the starter relay around the terminals has the water-proof structure, and consequently it can be desirably used even if it is mounted in the horizontal direction, under a somewhat adverse condition, or irrespective of the mounting state of the battery. Accordingly, there can be provided a coupler device with a simple, compact structure with a water-proof function. According an invention described in claim 2, in addition to the configuration of the invention described in claim 1, a back lid is provided on said case, and a spare fuse containing portion for containing spare fuses is additionally provided on said back lid. Since spare fuses are mounted on the back lid, it is possible to omit a labor for looking for spare fuses upon maintenance/checking, and hence to shorten a time required for exchange of fuses. Accordingly, the present invention relates to a coupler device for a vehicular battery, comprising a case of a coupler for containing a starter relay and a plurality of fuses in such a manner that said starter relay and said plurality of fuses are collectively connected through the coupler to a plus terminal and a minus terminal of a battery, wherein said starter relay is disposed over one of said plus terminal and said minus terminal and said plurality of said fuses are vertically disposed over the other of said terminals in such a manner that said starter relay and said fuses are mounted or dismounted in or from said case in the same direction and a water-proof means is interposed in a terminal portion of said starter relay. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS [Fig. 1] A perspective view showing an arrangement example of a coupler device for a battery according to the present invention. [Fig. 2] A perspective view showing a state in which the coupler device of the present invention is mounted on a battery. [Fig. 3] A left side view of the coupler device of the present invention. [Fig. 4] A back view of the coupler device of the present invention. [Fig. 5] A back view showing a state in which a back lid shown in Fig. 4 is opened. [Fig. 6] A view showing a state in which harnesses are added to the typical view of Fig. 4. [Fig. 7] A sectional view taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 5. [Fig. 8] A sectional view taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 5. (Fig. 9] A sectional view taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 5. [Fig. 10] A right side view of a battery and the coupler device of the present invention. [Fig. 11] A circuit diagram of a vehicle and the coupler device of the present invention. [Fig. 12] A view showing another embodiment modified from the embodiment shown in -Fig. 5. A view showing a state in which harnesses are added to the typical view of Fig. 12. A sectional view taken on line 14-14 of Fig. 12. An exploded view of another embodiment of the starter relay. Views illustrating a procedure for mounting terminals to the starter relay. A view seen from an arrow 17 of a Fig. 16 (b). An exploded perspective view of another embodiment of the bus bar. [Embodiment of the Invention] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that the drawings should be viewed in the direction of characters. Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an arrangement example of a coupler device for a vehicular battery according to the present invention. In this figure, reference numeral 1 indicates a motorcycle including a body frame 2. A front wheel 3 and a rear wheel 4 are provided on front and rear sides of the body frame 2, respectively. The body frame 2 is surrounded by a body cover 5. A fuel tank 6 is provided under a step. A driver's seat 7, a power swing unit 8, an exhaust pipe 9, and a rear fender 11 are provided behind the fuel tank 6. A battery 20 on which a coupler device for a battery according to the present invention is mounted is disposed in a space under the driver's seat 7 and -over the rear fender 11. Reference numeral 21 indicates a combination switch; 22 is a wire harness; and 23 is a regulator/ Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the coupler device of the present invention is mounted on a battery. The battery 20 has on its one short-side of an upper surface a plus terminal 24, a minus terminal 25, cut-in recesses 26, and guide projections 27. The coupler device 30, while it will be described in detail with reference to Fig. 3 and later figures, has a case 31 including on its lower portion terminal insertion holes (not shown), lock claws 32 (one deep in the case 31 is not shown), and engagement grooves 33 (one deep in the case 31 is not shown). The engagement grooves 33 are inserted and slid around the guide projections 27 as shown by arrows (1) so that the plus terminal 24 and the minus terminal 25 are inserted in the terminal insertion holes . Then the lock claws 32 are meshed in cut-in recesses 26 as shown by arrows (2) so that the case 31, that is, the coupler device 30 is forcibly connected to the battery 20. The starter relay 35, a main fuse 36, and a sub-fuse 37 are disposed on a front surface of the coupler device 30, and a back lid 39 is openably provided on a back surface of the coupler device 30 through a hinge 38. A spare fuse containing portion 41 is integrally provided on the back lid 39, with its opening portion disposed on the left side. Reference numeral 42 indicates a spare main fuse, and 43 is a spare sub- fuse. With this arrangement, the starter relay 35, main fuse 36, and sub-fuse 37 can be exchanged from the exterior at any time. Further, referring to Fig. 2, the starter relay 35, main fuse 36, and sub fuse 37 are all inserted from the lower left side to the upper right side and removed from the upper right side to the lower left side. Since the starter relay 35, main fuse 36, and sub fuse 37 are all inserted and removed in the same direction, it is possible to make compact the coupler device 30. Fig. 3 is a left side view of the coupler device of the present invention. In Fig. 3, the case 31 has a starter relay containing portion 45 disposed deeply on the left side; a sub-fuse containing portion 46 and a main fuse containing portion 47 respectively disposed at upper and lower portions thereof on this left side;- the lock claws 32 and engagement grooves 33 disposed at lower side portions thereof; and the back lid 39 and a spare fuse containing portion 41 disposed on the right side. The spare main fuse 42 and the spare sub-fuse 43 can be visually viewed easily from the exterior. The back lid 39 can be opened up to a position indicated by an imaginary line, and in such a state, the spare fuses 42 and 43 can be mounted or dismounted to and from the spare fuse containing portion 41. Fig. 4 is a back view of the coupler device of the present invention. The back lid 39 has on its upper portion the hinge 38 and on its lower portion a stop claw 48, and it can be opened/closed in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. Reference numeral 43 indicates a spare sub-fuse inserted from the left side in the figure. Fig. 5 is a back view showing a state in which the back lid shown in Fig. 4 is opened. When the back lid 39 shown in Fig. 4 is opened, a female contact 51 for the minus terminal and a- female contact 52 for the plus terminal can be viewed at a lower portion of the back lid 39 on the right and left sides; female contacts 53 and 54 for the sub-fuse and female contacts 55 and 56 for the main fuse can be viewed at an upper portion of the back lid 39 on the left side; and female contacts 57A, 57B, 57C, and 57D to be connected to four terminals A, B, C and D of the starter relay can be viewed at an upper portion of the back lid 39 on the right side. Fig. 6 is a view showing a state in which harnesses are added to the typical view of Fig. 5. A harness 61 extends from the female contact 57D to a stop switch; harnesses 62 and 63 extend from the female contacts 54 and 56 to the combination switch; a harness 64 extends from the female contact 57B to a starter motor; a harness 65 extends from the female contact 51 to an earth; a harness 66 connects the female contact 57C to the female contact 53; a harness 67 connects the female contact 52 to the female contact 55; and a bus bar 68 connects the female contact 52 to the female contact 57A. in the figure, double square marks surrounding the four contacts 57A, 57B, 57C, and 57D indicate that the contacts are subjected to water-proof treatment. This will be described in detail later. Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 5. The female contact 53 into which the sub-fuse 37 is to be inserted is inserted in the case 31 and the harness 66 extends from the female contact 53. Besides, the female contact 55 into which the main fuse 36 is to be inserted is inserted in the case 31, and the harness 67 extends from the female contact 55. Further, the female contact 51 into which the minus terminal 25 (see Fig. 2) of the battery is to be inserted is inserted in the case 31, and the harness 65 extends from the female contact 51. Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 5. A relay terminal box 72 is contained in the starter relay containing portion 45 of the case 31 through a seal member 71 such as an 0-ring. The starter relay 35 is contained in the relay terminal box 72 through a seal member 73 such as an 0-ring. The female contact 57B with which the terminal B extending from the relay terminal box 72 is to be meshed is inserted from the left side in the figure, and the harness 64 extends from the female contact 57B. A water flange 74 as a waster-proof means is provided to the harness 57B for preventing permeation of water from the left side in the figure toward the terminal B. Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 5. The female connect 57C with which the terminal C extending from the upper portion of the relay terminal box 72 is to be meshed is inserted from the left side in the figure, and the harness 66 extends from the female contact 57. A water-proof flange 75 as a water-proof means is provided to the harness 66 for preventing permeation of water from the left side in the figure toward the terminal C. While not shown, a water-proof flange 75 is also provided for the terminal D and the female contact 57D. The bus bar 68 with which the terminal A extending from a lower portion of the relay terminal box 72 is to be meshed is inserted from the left side in the figure, and a water-proof plug 76 as a water-proof means is provided to the bus bar 68 for preventing permeation of water from the left side in the figure toward the terminal A. The female contact 52 into which the plus terminal 24 (see Fig. 2) of the battery is to be inserted is inserted in the lower portion of the case, and the female contact 52 is brought in contact with the other end of the bus bar 68 and the harness 67 extends from the female contact 52. Fig. 10 is a right side view of a battery and the coupler device according to the present invention, showing a state in which the coupler device 30 is mounted on the battery 20. Since the spare main fuse 42 and the spare sub-fuse 43 can be viewed even from the right side of the coupler device, a maintenance/checking operator standing on either the right or left side of the coupler device 30 can recognize the spare fuses 42 and 43. In addition, the height of an upward projecting portion of the coupler device 30 is in a range of 15 or 18 mm, and accordingly, assuming that the height of the battery 20 is taken as 75 mm, the total height can be set at a value in a range of about 90 to 93 mm. The function of the coupler device having the above configuration will be described below. Fig. 11 is a circuit diagram of a vehicle and the coupler device of the present invention, showing the content of the coupler device 30 and harnesses and devices around the coupler device 30. For example, to start the engine, the combination switch 21 is turned on, the stop switch 80 is turned on by a driver who holds a brake lever, and a start switch 81 is turned on. A voltage of the battery 20 is applied to a coil 82 of the starter relay 35 through the main fuse 36 and the sub- fuse 37, so that the coil 82 generates an attracting action to close a movable contact 83, to thereby connect the terminal A to the terminal B. In this state, the voltage of the battery 20 is applied to a starter motor 84, and the starter motor 84 is started to be rotated. At the same time, a plug is started to be ignited by action of a plug ignition mechanism (CDI), and the engine is started to be rotated. During operation, an AC generator 86 generates a power with rotation of the engine, and the power thus generated is fed to and stored in the battery 20 through the regulator/rectifier 23. In this way, the starter relay 35, main fuse 36, sub-fuse 37, and internal wirings (harnesses) are collected to form the coupler device 30 of the present invention. As is apparent from Fig. 10, since the coupler device 30 has the back surface (back lid 39) which is at the same level as that of the side surface of the battery 20, the upward projection of the couple device 30 as an obstacle is not extruded sideways of the battery 20. Also, a projecting amount of the coupler device 30 upward from the battery 20 is sufficiently small and any local projecting obstacle is not present. As a result, the coupler device 30 of the present invention is sufficiently small. As shown in Fig. 9, each of the terminals A to D has the water-proof structure. Since the terminals A to D of the starter relay having a fear of causing contact failure due to water and moisture have the water-proof structures, the coupler device 30 can be used even in a somewhat adverse environment. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the spare fuses 42 and 43 are contained at the positions visible from the exterior. According to the conventional manner, the spare fuses 42 and 43 have been generally contained in less-visible positions at the back of the case, and thereby it has taken a lot of labor to exchange fuses. On the contrary, according to the present invention, since the above arrangement of the spare fuses 42 and 43 omits the labor for looking for the spare fuses, it is possible to shorten a time required for exchange of the fuses. It should be noted that the coupler device of the present invention can be applied, in addition to the battery of a motorcycle, to a battery for a general vehicle such as ,a car or truck. The water-proof means described in claim 1, represented by the water-proof flanges 74 and 75 and the water-proof plug 76 in this embodiment, may be configured that a connection portion between each of the terminals A to D and the harness is buried with a water-proof resin (this will be described later). That is, the water-proof means may be freely selected in shape and material insofar as it prevents permeation of water into each of the terminals A to D. In addition, although the number of fuses is set at two (main fuse and sub-fuse) in this embodiment, it may be set at three or more. In the coupler device described in claim 2, the spare fuses are not necessarily visible from the exterior, because the spare fuses can be easily taken off only by opening the back lid 39. Figs. 12 to 18 show an example adopting a water¬proof resin. Fig. 12 shows another embodiment modified from the embodiment shown in Fig. 5, in which parts corresponding to those shown in Fig. 5 are indicated by the characters shown in Fig. 5. In this embodiment, arrangement of the four terminals A, B, C and D is changed. When the back lid of the coupler device is opened, the female contact 51 for the minus terminal and the female contact 52 for the plus terminal can be viewed at the lower portion on the right and left sides; the female contacts 53 and 54 for the sub-fuses and the female contacts 55 and 56 for the main fuses can be viewed at the upper portion on the left side; and the female contacts 57A, 57B, 57C, and 57D to be connected to the four terminals A, B, C and D of the starter relay can be viewed at the upper portion on the right side. The terminal C is disposed over the terminal A and the terminal D is disposed sideward of the terminal A, and the terminal B is disposed at the farthest diagonal position. The terminals A and B are disposed in the power supply circuit for driving the starter motor 54 with the battery 20 (see Fig.11) in such a manner as to be separated as much as possible for preventing short-circuit therebetween . Fig. 13 is a view in which harnesses are added to the typical view of Fig. 12. The harness 61 extends from the female contact 57D to the stop switch; the harnesses 62 and 63 extend from the female contacts 54 and 56 to the combination switch; the harness 64 extends from the female contact 57B to the starter motor; the harness 65 extends from the female contact 51 to the earth; the harness 66 connects the female contact 57C to the female contact 53; and a bus bar 91 connects the female contact 52, female contact 57A, and female contact 55 to each other. Fig. 14 is a sectional view taken on line 14-14 of Fig. 12, showing a water-proof structure modified from that shown in Fig. 9. In the water-proof structure shown in Fig. 9, the starter relay 35 is surrounded by the relay terminal box 72 and water flowing to the terminal A and C (from the right side to the left side in Fig. 9) is shielded from the exterior with the seal members 71 and 73, and water flowing to the terminals A and C (from the left side to the right side in Fig. 9) is shielded from the exterior with the water-proof flange 75 and the water-proof plug 76. On the contrary, the water-proof structure shown in Fig. 14 does not use the relay terminal box 72, seal members 71 and 73, water-proof flange 75, and water-proof plug 76, and instead it is configured that base portions of terminals C and A of a starter relay 93 are subjected to water-proof treatment using a molded resin 92. In addition, while being described later, a connection structure of a bus bar 91 is also modified. Fig. 15 is an exploded view of another embodiment of the starter relay of the present invention. The starter relay 93 is configured that terminals a, b, c, and d project from one end of a box 93a and are surrounded by a large rectangular frame 93b; the interior of the rectangular frame is partitioned into four chambers by a partitioning frame 93c so that the terminals a, b, c, and d are contained in the partitioned chambers; and terminals A to D are inserted from top to the terminals a, b, c, and d in the chambers respectively. Figs. 16 (a) to 16 (c) are views illustrating a procedure for mounting the terminals to the starter relay. Fig. 16 (a) is equivalent to a view seen from arrows 16a-16a of Fig. 15. Referring to Fig. 16(a), the terminals B and D are mounted in positions aligned with those of the terminals b and d, respectively. The same is true for the terminals A and C, and therefore, explanation thereof is omitted . Referring to Fig. 16 (b), the terminal B is fixed on the terminal b with solder 94, and the terminal D is fixed on the terminal d with solder 94. Referring to Fig. 16 (c), resin is molded from top to fix the base portions of the terminals B and D. The resin is then hardened to form the molded resin 92. The fixing of the base portions of the terminals with the molded resin 92 is effective to solve the inconvenience in causing short-circuit between the terminals a to d due to water present therebetween. Fig. 17 is a view seen from an arrow 17 of Fig. 16 (b) showing a state in which projections 96 facing an inner wall of the rectangular frame 93b are provided on the base portion of the terminal B located on the lower right side of the figure. The projections 96 function to position the base portion of the terminal B in such a manner as to face the terminal b, to stabilize the base portion of the terminal B upon soldering, and to prevent horizontal offset of the base portion of the terminal B upon molding of the resin. The same is true for the other terminals A, C, and D. The partitioning frame 93c is provided to make different shapes of the partitioned chambers for preventing erroneous insertion of the terminals A to D. This prevents a mounting error and increases a working efficiency. In automatically mounting the terminals A to D, however, since there is no fear of occurrence of errors, provision of the partitioning frame 93c may be omitted, that is, only the rectangular frame 93b may be provided, resulting in the reduced cost. Fig. 18 is an exploded perspective view of another embodiment of the bus bar of the present invention. The female contact 52 and the contact 57A facing the terminal A are inserted in one-ends of connecting fixtures 97, and the bus bar 91 is inserted in the other ends of the connecting fixtures 97. Thus, the bus bar 91 can be simply connected to the contacts 52 and 57A. [Effect of the Invention] The present --invention having the above configuration exhibits the following effects: According to the invention described in claim 1, there is provided a coupler device for a vehicular battery, including: a case for containing a starter relay and a plurality of fuses in such a manner that said starter relay and said plurality of fuses are collectively connected to a plus terminal and a minus terminal of a battery, wherein said starter relay is disposed over one of said plus terminal and said minus terminal and said plurality of said fuses are vertically disposed over the other of said terminals in such a manner that said starter relay and said fuses are mounted or dismounted in or from said case in the same direction; and a water-proof means is interposed in a terminal portion of said starter relay. With this configuration, the starter relay and the plurality of fuses are arranged in such a manner as to be mounted or dismounted in the same direction, as a result of which it is possible to make compact the entire device, and to make easy manufacture of the device. Also, the starter relay around the terminals has the water-proof structure, and consequently it can be desirably used even if it is mounted in the horizontal direction, under a somewhat adverse condition, or irrespective of the mounting state of the battery. Accordingly, there can be provided a coupler device with a simple, compact structure with a water-proof function. According the invention described in claim 2, in addition to the configuration of the invention described in claim 1, a back lid is provided on said case, and a spare fuse containing portion for containing spare fuses is additionally provided on said back lid. Since spare fuses are mounted on the back lid, it is possible to omit a labor for looking for spare fuses upon maintenance/checking, and hence to shorten a time required for exchange of fuses. 1: vehicle, 20: battery, 30: coupler device 31: case, 35, 93: starter relay, 36: fuse (main fuse), 37: fuse (sub-fuse), 39: back lid, 41: spare fuse containing portion, 42: spare fuse (spare main fuse); 43: spare fuse (spare sub-fuse), 45: starter relay containing portion, 46: sub-fuse containing portion, 47: main fuse containing portion, 71, 73: seal member, 72: relay terminal box, 74, 75: water-proof means (water-proof flange), 76: water¬proof means (water-proof plug), 92: molded resin, A, B, C and D: terminal We claim: 1. A coupler device (30) for a vehicular battery, comprising: a case (31) of a coupler (30) for containing a starter relay (35, 93) and a plurality of fuses in such a manner that said starter relay (93) and said plurality of fuses are collectively connected through the coupler (30) to a plus terminal and a minus terminal of a battery (20), wherein said starter relay (93) is disposed over one of said plus terminal and said minus terminal and said plurality of said fuses are vertically disposed over the other of said terminals in such a manner that said starter relay (93) and said fuses are mounted or dismounted in or from said case in the same direction; and a water-proof means is interposed in a terminal portion of said starter relay. 2. A coupler device for a vehicular battery as claimed in claim 1, wherein a back lid (39) is provided on said case (31), and a spare fuse containing portion (41) for containing spare fuses is additionally provided on said back lid (39). 3. A coupler device for a vehicular battery substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Documents:

138-del-1998-abstract.pdf

138-del-1998-claims.pdf

138-del-1998-correspondence-others.pdf

138-del-1998-correspondence-po.pdf

138-del-1998-description (complete).pdf

138-del-1998-drawings.pdf

138-del-1998-form-1.pdf

138-del-1998-form-13.pdf

138-del-1998-form-19.pdf

138-del-1998-form-2.pdf

138-del-1998-form-3.pdf

138-del-1998-form-4.pdf

138-del-1998-form-6.pdf

138-del-1998-gpa.pdf

138-del-1998-petition-137.pdf

138-del-1998-petition-138.pdf

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