JPH0569749B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention provides a central box that forms a wiring concentration section and performs a predetermined function between a plurality of wire harnesses arranged in the body of an automobile. The present invention relates to a wiring device for an automobile that connects electrical component units mounted on various parts of the vehicle body and a central box via a wire harness.

(Prior art) In recent years, as automobiles have improved their driving performance, safety, and comfort, there has been remarkable progress in electrical equipment, and various electrical components (switches, relays, fuses, etc. The types and number of intermittent control parts, load equipment such as lamps, motors, electronic devices, signal parts such as various sensors, load control units that control load equipment, etc. are increasing dramatically. The increase in the types and number of electrical components has resulted in an extremely large number of electrical wiring attached to the vehicle body, and the wiring routes have become extremely complex, resulting in an increase in the weight of the vehicle and the cost of the wiring equipment. Problems arise in that electrical wiring inspection and repair work becomes complicated.

As one of the countermeasures against problems related to electrical wiring of automobiles, for example, Utility Model Application No. 58-63145
As described in the publication, electrical connections of electrical components installed in various parts of the vehicle body are made using a wire harness formed by bundling a plurality of wires in advance in a shape suitable for attachment to the vehicle body. A control box equipped with a junction harness section that relays multiple wire harnesses is installed near the instrument panel, and a control unit for various electrical components is built into this control box. 2. Description of the Related Art Automotive wiring devices are known in which each control unit and various electrical components are interconnected through a junction harness. In this way, a control box equipped with a junction harness section is used to interconnect multiple wire harnesses to which various electrical components are connected, and to connect each control unit to the wire harnesses. This will lead to the simplification of electrical wiring that consists of

However, even if such a control box is used to simplify electrical wiring, a large amount of space will be required within the control box if a large number of control units for various electrical components are incorporated into the control box. The control box becomes larger,
Also, since it is difficult to separate the control unit for some electrical components, control units are placed in each part of the vehicle body and connected to each wire harness. Furthermore, since the control unit is optionally installed, the control unit is attached to each part of the vehicle body and connected to a predetermined location of each wire harness.

By the way, as mentioned above, among the electrical component units such as control units installed in various parts of the vehicle body,
It often includes multiple electrical component units that commonly use detection signals from a specific sensor to perform their respective operations; In this case, for example, if a failure occurs in the sensor, an abnormal detection signal is sent out from the sensor, causing an abnormal situation in which multiple electrical component units that use the detection signal from this sensor are unable to operate normally at the same time. will occur. Therefore, we have taken measures to quickly and reliably deal with the situation where a sensor shared by multiple electrical component units malfunctions and an abnormal detection signal is obtained.
It is desired to minimize the damage and improve the reliability of the electrical system in automobiles.

(Object of the Invention) In view of the above, the present invention provides a plurality of wire harnesses arranged in a vehicle body with different wiring routes to which electrical component units such as a sensor and a plurality of control units sharing the sensor are connected. One end is concentrated on the central box, power is supplied to the sensor via the central box, and the detection signal from the sensor is distributed and supplied to multiple electrical component units via the central box. Automotive wiring that enables the box to detect abnormalities in detection signals from sensors and quickly and reliably take measures to minimize damage in the event that the sensor sends out abnormal detection signals. The purpose is to provide equipment.

(Structure of the Invention) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a wiring device for an automobile according to the present invention includes a plurality of wire harnesses arranged in a vehicle body, a sensor connected to the wire harnesses,
The vehicle is equipped with a plurality of electrical component units that are also connected to the wire harness and share the above-mentioned sensor, and a central box that is installed in the vehicle body and has a plurality of connector sections to which one end of each of the wire harnesses is connected. It consists of The central box has an abnormality detection means and auxiliary signal generation means for receiving a detection signal from the sensor and detecting an abnormality in the detection signal, and transmits a detection signal from the sensor when no abnormality is detected by the abnormality detection means. death,
A signal processing unit that sends out an auxiliary signal from an auxiliary signal generation means in place of the detection signal from the sensor when an abnormality is detected, and a signal processing unit that supplies the detection signal or the auxiliary signal obtained from the signal processing unit to the plurality of electrical component units. Therefore, it is formed to include a wiring connection section that connects the signal processing section and the plurality of connector sections via a branch connection section.

With this configuration, when a sensor malfunction occurs and the detection signal obtained from the sensor becomes abnormal, it is detected by the abnormality detection means in the central box and sent to multiple electrical component units. In place of the detection signal from the sensor, an auxiliary signal obtained within the central box will be immediately supplied to the sensor, thereby minimizing the damage caused by not being able to obtain a regular detection signal from the sensor. Become.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a wiring device for an automobile according to the present invention, and schematically shows the body of an automobile to which the wiring device is applied, using a dashed-dotted line.

In FIG. 1, an instrument panel 14 is provided at the front of a vehicle compartment 12 in which a driver's seat 10 is located, and a central box 20 is installed near this instrument panel 14.
The central box 20 includes an instrument wire harness 16 disposed along the instrument panel 14, a dash board wire harness 18 disposed on the dash board,
Front wire harness 2 located at the front of the vehicle body
2 and one end of a rear wire harness 23 disposed at the rear of the vehicle body are independently connected.

A floor wire harness 24 arranged on the floor of the vehicle compartment 12 is connected to the other end of the instrument wire harness 16 via a coupler 30. The four provided door wire harnesses 26 are connected via couplers 32, respectively. Further, an engine room wire harness 28 disposed in the engine room 17 is connected to the dart board wire harness 18 and the front wire harness 22 via couplers 34 and 36.

Each wire harness 1 with different wiring routes described above
6, 18, 22 and 23, and wire harnesses 24, 26 and 28 connected to these,
Only the battery 37 connected to the front wire harness 22 is connected to the intermittent control parts such as switches, relays, and fuses, and load devices such as lamps, motors, and electronic devices, which are arranged in various parts of the vehicle body. Other electrical components shown in the figure, but not shown, include an autocruiser control unit 41 that controls electrical loads, a meter control unit 42,
Various control units as electrical component units such as a power seat control unit 43 and an engine control unit 44, a vehicle speed sensor 31, an engine speed sensor 33, and a shift position sensor 35.
Various sensors such as the above are connected, and connections between these various electrical components, vehicle speed sensor 31, engine rotation speed sensor 33, shift position sensor 35, etc. and each control unit 41, 42, 43, and 4 are connected.
4 is connected to each wire harness 1 described above.
6, 18, 22, 23, 24, 26 and 28 and the central box 20.

In this example, in particular, the central box 20 distributes the detection signal from the vehicle speed sensor 31 to each control unit 41 to 44, detects an abnormality in the detection signal from the vehicle speed sensor 31, and distributes the detection signal from the vehicle speed sensor 31 to each of the control units 41 to 44. An auxiliary signal is supplied to each of the control units 41 to 44 when an abnormality in the detection signal is detected.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a specific configuration of a part of the central box 20 mentioned above. In this specific configuration example, a wiring board section 40 is provided, and this wiring board section 40 includes the instrument wire harness 16, the dashboard wire harness 18, and the front wire harness 22, each having a different wiring route. and four connector parts 51 and 5 to which one end of the rear wire harness 23 is connected, respectively.
2, 53 and 54, OR circuits 56 and 57, inverter 58, AND circuit 59, and abnormality detection circuit 6
2 and an auxiliary signal generation circuit 63, and this signal processing section 60 and each connector section 51, 52, 53, and 54 are connected to a branch point 6.
4, 65 and 66 are connected via the branch connection section 70, and the OR circuit 56 and abnormality detection circuit 62 of the signal processing section 60 are connected to the connector section 51.
A wiring connection portion 72 is provided to connect the two.

In the case of the central box 20 having the above-described configuration, the vehicle speed sensor 3 connected to the wire 16v of the instrument wire harness 16
1, during normal operation, the vehicle speed is a rectangular wave signal having a frequency corresponding to the vehicle speed and having a voltage value Va and a lower voltage value Vb, as shown in FIG. The detection signal Sv becomes the detection signal Sv, and when an abnormality such as a failure of the vehicle speed sensor 31 itself occurs, the power supply voltage value as shown in FIG.
Detection signal that takes V _B or voltage value zero
Ss is connected to the wiring connection section 72 via the connector section 51.
This detection signal Ss is supplied to the OR circuit 56, and is also supplied to the abnormality detection circuit 62, which detects the detection signal Ss.
It is detected that there is an abnormality in Ss, that is, that the detection signal Ss has taken the power supply voltage value V _B or the voltage value zero.

Specifically, the abnormality detection circuit 62 includes, for example, level comparison circuits 73 and 7 as shown in FIG.
4 and an OR circuit 75, and a reference voltage value Vx that is lower than the power supply voltage value _VB and higher than the voltage value Va taken by the above-mentioned vehicle speed detection signal Sb is applied to the reference input terminal of the level comparison circuit 73. At the same time, a reference voltage value Vy higher than the voltage value zero and lower than the voltage value Vb taken by the vehicle speed detection signal Sv is applied to the reference input terminal of the level comparison circuit 74.
Vehicle speed sensor 3 is connected to each comparison input terminal of 3 and 74.
A detection signal Ss from 1 is supplied.

Then, the level comparison circuit 73 determines that the level of the detection signal Ss from the vehicle speed sensor 31 is the reference voltage value.
It takes a high level when higher than Vx, and the reference voltage value Vx
On the other hand, the level comparator circuit ₇₄ determines that the level of the detection signal Ss from the vehicle speed sensor 31 is equal to the reference voltage value.
It takes a low level when higher than Vy, and the reference voltage value Vy
An output signal S ₂ is obtained which takes a high level when it is lower. These output signals S ₁ and S ₂ are supplied to an OR circuit 75, and from the OR circuit 75, output signals S ₁ and
When both S ₂ take a low level, take a low level,
When either one of the output signals S ₁ and S ₂ takes a high level, an output signal S ₃ that takes a high level is obtained.

If the detection signal Ss from the vehicle speed sensor 31 is normal and becomes the vehicle speed detection signal Sv,
The voltage values Va and Vb taken by this vehicle speed detection signal Sv are:
Since both are between the reference voltage value Vx and the reference voltage value Vy, the output signals S ₁ and S ₂ from the level comparison circuits 73 and 74, respectively, take a low level. On the other hand, if the detection signal Ss from the vehicle speed sensor 31 is abnormal and takes the power supply voltage value _VB , the output signal _S1 from the level comparison circuit 73 takes a high level, Level comparison circuit 74
The output signal _S2 from the vehicle speed sensor 31 is at a low level, and the detection signal Ss from the vehicle speed sensor 31 is abnormal.
When the voltage value is zero, the output signal _S1 from the level comparison circuit 73 takes a low level, and
The output signal _S2 from the level comparison circuit 74 assumes a high level.

Therefore, when the detection signal Ss from the vehicle speed sensor 31 is normal and becomes the vehicle speed detection signal Sv, an output signal _S3 having a low level is obtained from the OR circuit 75, and the output signal S3 from the vehicle speed sensor 31 is obtained from the OR circuit 75. If the detection signal Ss from is abnormal and takes the power supply voltage value V _B or the voltage value zero, the OR circuit 7
5, an output signal _S3 that takes a high level is obtained, and an abnormality in the detection signal Ss from the vehicle speed sensor 31 causes an output signal that takes a high level from the OR circuit 75.
It will be detected with S ₃ . Here, the high level and low level taken by the output signal _S3 from the OR circuit 75 are the voltage values taken by the vehicle speed detection signal Sv, respectively.
It is set to correspond to Va and voltage value Vb.

The output signal _S3 obtained from the OR circuit 75 of this abnormality detection circuit 62 is supplied to the OR circuit 56 to which the detection signal Ss is supplied, and also has high and low levels corresponding to the voltage value Va and the voltage value Vb, respectively. an inverter 58 that performs level inversion between
The level is inverted by the level inverted signal
S ₃ ' and is supplied to the OR circuit 57, and further,
It is also supplied to the lamp control circuit 45 connected to the wire 16w of the instrument wire harness 16 via the connector section 51. When the supplied output signal S ₃ is at a high level, that is, when an abnormality in the detection signal Ss from the vehicle speed sensor 31 is detected, the lamp control circuit 45 turns on the warning lamp 46 connected to it. light up.

The OR circuit 56 operates with the voltage values Va and Vb at high and low levels, respectively.
When the output signal S3 from ₃ takes a low level corresponding to the voltage value Vb taken by the vehicle speed detection signal Sv, the output takes a high level and a low level corresponding to the voltage values Va and Vb, respectively, according to the vehicle speed detection signal Sv. When the signal, that is, the vehicle speed detection signal Sv itself is obtained, and the output signal _S3 from the OR circuit 75 takes a high level corresponding to the voltage value Va taken by the vehicle speed detection signal Sv,
Output signals having a high level corresponding to the voltage value Va are obtained and supplied to the AND circuit 59.

In addition, a level inverted signal from the inverter 58
An auxiliary signal generating circuit 63 generates a signal in the OR circuit 57 to which S ₃ ' is supplied. For example, a predetermined vehicle speed To
Corresponding to the vehicle speed detection signal Sv representing the vehicle speed, an auxiliary signal Ca that is a signal having voltage values Va and Vb is also supplied. This OR circuit 57 is also operated with voltage values Va and Vb at high and low levels, respectively. Therefore, from the OR circuit 57, the level inverted signal S ₃ ' from the inverter 58 is output as the vehicle speed detection signal Sv. When it takes a high level corresponding to the voltage value Va taken by , an output signal that takes a high level corresponding to the voltage value Va is obtained, and the level inversion signal S ₃ ' from the inverter 58 corresponds to the voltage value taken by the vehicle speed detection signal Sv.
When taking a low level corresponding to Vb, an output signal that takes a high level and a low level corresponding to the voltage values Va and Vb, respectively, according to the auxiliary signal Ca, that is, the auxiliary signal Ca itself is obtained, and these are connected to the AND circuit. 59.

In this way, the AND circuit 59 receives the output signal obtained from the OR circuit 75 of the abnormality detection circuit 62.
When _S3 takes a low level, the vehicle speed detection signal Sv from the OR circuit 56 and the output signal from the OR circuit 57 that takes a high level corresponding to the voltage value Va are supplied,
Furthermore, when the output signal _S3 obtained from the OR circuit 75 takes a high level, the voltage value from the OR circuit 56
An output signal that takes a high level corresponding to Va and an auxiliary signal Ca from the OR circuit 57 are supplied. This AND circuit 59 is also operated with the voltage values Va and Vb at high and low levels, respectively. Therefore, the AND circuit 59 receives the output signal obtained from the OR circuit 75 of the abnormality detection circuit 62.
When _S3 takes a low level, the vehicle speed detection signal Sv supplied from the OR circuit 57 is sent out, and when the output signal _S3 obtained from the OR circuit 75 takes a high level, the vehicle speed detection signal Sv supplied from the OR circuit 57 is sent out. Auxiliary signal
Ca is sent out.

Then, the vehicle speed detection signal Sv from the vehicle speed sensor 31 sent from this AND circuit 59 or the auxiliary signal Ca from the auxiliary signal generation circuit 63 is transmitted to each connector section 51 to 54 via the branch connection section 70 of the wiring connection section 72. The meter control unit 42, the auto cruise control unit 41, the engine control unit 44, and the power seat are connected to the meter control unit 42, the auto cruise control unit 41, the engine control unit 44, and the power seat via the wires 16a, 18a, 22a, and 23a in the wire harnesses 16, 18, 22, and 23 that are distributed to and connected to these. It is supplied to the control unit 43.

Based on this configuration, when the detection signal Ss from the vehicle speed sensor 31 is normal and becomes the vehicle speed detection signal Sv, a low level output signal
_S3 is obtained, and as a result, the AND circuit 59 of the signal processing section 60 sends out the vehicle speed detection signal Sv,
This is each control unit 41, 42, 44 and 43
and normal control operations are performed in each.

On the other hand, a failure or the like occurs in the vehicle speed sensor 31,
When the detection signal Ss from the vehicle speed sensor 31 is abnormal and takes the power supply voltage value V _B or the voltage value zero, a high level output signal S ₃ is obtained from the OR circuit 75 of the abnormality detection circuit 62, Based on this, the warning lamp 46 is turned on by the lamp control circuit 45, and the detection signal from the vehicle speed sensor 31 is
A warning is issued that Ss is abnormal, and
Auxiliary signal from AND circuit 59 of signal processing section 60
Ca is sent out and supplied to each control unit 41, 42, 44 and 43 in place of the vehicle speed detection signal Sv. Therefore, each control unit 41, 42,
43 and 43 perform the same control operation as when the vehicle speed detection signal Sv representing the predetermined vehicle speed To described above is supplied, and the vehicle speed sensor 3
A large-scale confusion will not occur due to failure of the normal vehicle speed detection signal Sv due to a failure or the like in the vehicle speed detection signal Sv.

In this way, the detection signal Ss sent from the vehicle speed sensor 31 due to a failure of the vehicle speed sensor 31, etc.
If an abnormality occurs, such abnormality will be detected immediately and countermeasures will be taken quickly and reliably, and as a result, damage can be minimized.

Note that the auxiliary signal Ca generated by the auxiliary signal generation circuit 63 not only corresponds to the vehicle speed detection signal Sv representing a predetermined vehicle speed To, but also corresponds to, for example, the detection signal Ss from the vehicle speed sensor 31 when there is an abnormality. The signal may be a signal corresponding to the vehicle speed detection signal Sv representing the vehicle speed that gradually decreases from the vehicle speed immediately before the occurrence of the occurrence of the vehicle speed, and furthermore, the signal processing unit 60
In place of the auxiliary signal generating circuit 63, another auxiliary signal generating circuit may be provided that generates a signal for causing each control unit to take an appropriate control state as an auxiliary signal.

FIG. 5 shows another example of a specific configuration of a part of the central box 20. As shown in FIG. This example is based on the second
In place of the auxiliary signal generation circuit 63 in the example shown in the figure, a vehicle speed calculation circuit 83 is provided as another auxiliary signal generation circuit, and this vehicle speed calculation circuit 83 is connected to the wire 18n of the dash board wire harness 18. A rotation speed signal obtained from the engine rotation speed sensor 33 according to the engine rotation speed
A shift position signal Sp obtained according to the shift position from the shift position sensor 35 connected to the wire 18p of the dart board wire harness 18 is supplied via the connector section 52, and The configuration is almost the same as the example shown in FIG.
Components corresponding to those in the example shown in FIG. 2 are designated by common reference numerals.

In this example, in addition to branch points 64 , 65 , and 66 , branch points 67 and 68 are formed in the branch connection portion 70 of the wiring connection portion 72 , and a signal is connected to the connector portion 52 via this branch connection portion 70 . Processing section 6
0 is connected to the vehicle speed calculation circuit 83, and the connector portion 52 and the connector portion 51 are also connected. Then, rotation speed signals from each of the engine rotation speed sensor 33 and the shift position sensor 35 are introduced via the connector section 52.
Sn and the shift position signal Sp are supplied to the vehicle speed calculation circuit 83 and also to the meter control unit 42 via the connector section 51 and the wires 16b and 16c of the instrument wire harness 16.

The vehicle speed calculation circuit 83 to which the rotational speed signal Sn and shift position signal Sp are supplied receives these signals.
The vehicle speed is calculated based on Sn and Sp, the dynamic radius of the tire, the gear ratio of the transmission, the final gear ratio, etc., and the calculated vehicle speed signal Sv' corresponding to the vehicle speed detection signal Sv obtained from the vehicle speed sensor 31 is used as an auxiliary signal. Occur. And this calculated vehicle speed signal
Sv′ is the auxiliary signal Ca in the example shown in FIG.
Instead, the level inverted signal from the inverter 58
It is supplied to the OR circuit 57 together with S ₃ '.

Under such a configuration, when the detection signal Ss from the vehicle speed sensor 31 is normal and becomes the vehicle speed detection signal Sv, the signal from the vehicle speed sensor 31 is detected in the same manner as in the example shown in FIG. A vehicle speed detection signal Sv is sent out from the AND circuit 59 of the signal processing section 60, and is supplied to each of the control units 41 to 44, so that regular control operations are performed in each of them. On the other hand, if a failure or the like occurs in the vehicle speed sensor 31 and the detection signal Ss from the vehicle speed sensor 31 becomes abnormal and takes the power supply voltage value V _B or the voltage value to zero, the OR circuit 75 of the abnormality detection circuit 62 outputs a high The level output signal S ₃ is obtained, and as a result, the warning lamp 46 is turned on, as in the case of the example shown in FIG. An output signal that takes a high level is obtained, and a calculated vehicle speed signal Sv' generated by the vehicle speed calculation circuit 83 is obtained from the OR circuit 57.
3 is generated, and this calculated vehicle speed signal Sv' is sent to the meter control unit 42, instead of the vehicle speed detection signal Sv from the vehicle speed sensor 31.
Auto cruise control unit 41, power seat control unit 43, and engine control unit 44
supplied to As a result, each control unit 4
1, 42, 43, and 44 will perform approximately the same control operation as when the vehicle speed detection signal Sv is supplied from the vehicle speed sensor 31. Vehicle speed detection signal
It is assumed that there will be almost no damage caused by not being able to obtain Sv.

In this way, in this example as well, if an abnormality occurs in the detection signal Ss from the vehicle speed sensor 31 due to a failure of the vehicle speed sensor 31, such abnormality is immediately detected. detected,
This means that prompt and reliable countermeasures can be taken to prevent substantial damage from occurring.

In the examples shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, an abnormality detection circuit 62 having a circuit configuration as shown in FIG. However, in the automotive wiring device according to the present invention, instead of such an abnormality detection circuit, for example, An abnormality detection means configured using a microcomputer is used,
An abnormality in the detection signal Ss from the vehicle speed sensor 31 may be detected by such an abnormality detection means. In such a case, an example of a program executed by the central processing unit (CPU) of the microcomputer to detect an abnormality in the detection signal Ss from the vehicle speed sensor 31 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

This program example is applied when the detection signal Ss from the vehicle speed sensor 31 corresponds to a high vehicle speed or a sudden acceleration state that is actually impossible under abnormal conditions. In process 101, the detection signal Ss sent from the vehicle speed sensor 31 is read, and in the subsequent decision 102, it is determined whether or not the vehicle speed T corresponding to the detection signal Ss exceeds the maximum vehicle speed Tm. Since the detection signal Ss is abnormal, the process proceeds to process 103, outputs a high-level output signal _S3 , and returns to the original state. On the other hand, if it is determined that it will not be exceeded, proceed to decision 104,
The rate of change d/dtT in vehicle speed T is the rate of change in vehicle speed obtained under actual driving conditions, that is, the maximum value α of acceleration.
If it is determined that the detection signal Ss is abnormal, the process proceeds to process 103, executes process 103 as described above, and returns to the original state. On the other hand, if it is determined that it does not exceed this, the process proceeds to process 105, outputs the low level output signal _S3 , and returns to the original state.

In this way, even with the abnormality detection means configured using such a microcomputer, the output signal S 3 takes a low level or a high level depending on whether the detection signal Ss from the vehicle speed sensor 31 is normal or _abnormal. can be obtained.

The central box 20, which has the functions described above, is mechanically constructed as shown schematically in FIGS. 7 and 8, for example.
The example shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 has a top case 2 and a lower case 3, and the top case 2 has the aforementioned connector parts 51 to 5.
Two of the connector parts 5 are provided on the lower case 3, and the connector parts 5 are provided in the lower case 3.
The remaining two of these are provided (one of these is not visible in the figure).

Two boards 4 and 6 forming a wiring board section 40 are housed inside the upper case 2 and lower case 3, and the board 4 has a plurality of boards forming a part of the above-mentioned wiring connection section 72. Bus bar 4a
are arranged, and various relays 8a, fuses 8b, and, for example, a flasher unit 8c, etc. are covered by the upper case 2 or are mounted through the upper case 2, and the board 6 has the above-mentioned An integrated circuit that forms part of the wiring connection section 72 in which a branch connection section having branch points 67 to 68 is provided, and also forms the signal processing section 60 in which, for example, an abnormality detection circuit 62, an auxiliary signal generation circuit 63, etc. are provided. Various circuit components 7 including circuit component 7a are attached, and conductors forming wiring paths for them are further applied. These substrates 4 and 6 are placed facing each other with a spacer 9 in between, and are electrically connected to each other by a flexible connection sheet 8d.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, according to the automotive wiring device according to the present invention, a sensor and a plurality of control units etc. that share the sensor and the plurality of control units, etc. that are disposed on the vehicle body with different wiring routes, One end of a plurality of wire harnesses to which electrical component units are connected is concentrated in the central box, and power is supplied to the sensor via the central box, and detection signals from the sensor are sent to the plurality of wire harnesses via the central box. When a sensor malfunction occurs and the sensor no longer sends a regular detection signal, the central box immediately detects this and sends the signal to each electrical component unit. A signal processing unit is installed that supplies an auxiliary signal in place of the detection signal from the sensor, so it is possible to quickly and reliably take countermeasures against abnormal situations where the regular detection signal from the sensor cannot be obtained. This means that the damage can be minimized. Therefore, it is possible to effectively improve the reliability of the electrical system in an automobile that includes a plurality of control units that share a specific sensor.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of an automotive wiring device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a connection diagram showing an example of a specific configuration of a part of a central box used in the example shown in FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a specific configuration of an abnormality detection circuit in the example of the central box shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram used to explain the operation of the example shown in FIG.
FIG. 5 is a connection diagram showing another example of the specific configuration of a part of the central box used in the example shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a connection diagram showing another example of the specific configuration of a part of the central box used in the example shown in FIGS. Can be applied in place of an abnormality detection circuit,
A flowchart showing an example of an operation program of a microcomputer in an abnormality detection means configured using a microcomputer, FIGS. 7 and 8 respectively show the specific mechanical configuration of the central box used in the example shown in FIG. 1. It is a perspective view and a sectional view showing an example. In the figure, 16 is an instrument wire harness, 18 is a dash board wire harness, and 20
is a central box, 22 is a front wire harness, 23 is a rear wire harness, 31 is a vehicle speed sensor, 33 is an engine speed sensor, 35 is a shift position sensor, 40 is a wiring board section, 41
is an auto cruise control unit, 42 is a meter control unit, 43 is a power seat control unit,
44 is an engine control unit, 51 to 54 are connector sections, 60 is a signal processing section, 62 is an abnormality detection circuit, 63 is an auxiliary signal generation circuit, 70 is a branch connection section, 72 is a wiring connection section, and 83 is a vehicle speed calculation circuit. be.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of wire harnesses arranged on the body of an automobile, a sensor connected to the wire harness and generating a predetermined detection signal, and a plurality of electrical component units connected to the wire harness and sharing the sensor. and a central box installed in the vehicle body and having a plurality of connector parts to which one end of each of the wire harnesses is connected, and the central box receives the detection signal from the sensor and detects the detection signal. It has an abnormality detection means for detecting an abnormality in the detection signal and an auxiliary signal generation means for generating an auxiliary signal, and when the abnormality detection means does not detect an abnormality, a detection signal is sent from the sensor, and the abnormality is detected. a signal processing unit that sends out the auxiliary signal in place of the detection signal from the sensor; and a signal processing unit that supplies the detection signal or the auxiliary signal obtained from the signal processing unit to the plurality of electrical component units. and a wiring connection section that connects the connector section and the connector section via a branch connection section.