Patent Publication Number: US-6991476-B2

Title: Electrical component of a motor vehicle

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The invention relates to an electrical component of a motor vehicle, and more specifically, to a plug-and-socket connection of an electrical component of a motor vehicle. 
   2. Description of Related Art 
   Electrical components of a motor vehicle enable increasingly more complex electrically actuated functions. One example is a motor vehicle door lock which is an electrical lock discussed in published German Patent Application DE 195 45 722 A1 which, in addition to conventional locking functions, enables motorized lifting of the ratchet. The coordination of these functions is assumed by a central control. The cost of the cabling between the control and the actuator or sensors and between the control and the outside door handles is considerable. 
   In order to make the described complexity of the electrical components managable, both with respect to the scope of operation and also with respect to the resulting cabling cost, there is an increasing trend toward decentralization of the control of the electrical components and using bus systems for the necessary electrical coupling. 
   One example describing the aforementioned decentralization of control in a motor vehicle with different electrical components such as motor vehicle door locks, window raisers or electrically adjustable outside mirrors is shown by published German Patent Application DE 101 01 493 A1. Each electrical component is equipped with its own control electronics and with a connection means for electrical coupling to a bus system. The connection means is generally made as a plug-and-socket connection so that a detachable connection of the electrical components to the bus system is possible. The control electronics of the electrical components, which form the starting point of the present invention and which are described here, can be made as a sequence control system, as a bus connection, as a power end stage for triggering actuators or the like. 
   While the cabling cost and the complexity of the control are reduced overall with the aforementioned decentralization, disadvantages arise with respect to the generally required diversity of versions with regard to the producibility of the electrical components. Also, due to the integrated decentralized control electronics, differences with respect to the respective control electronics must also be taken into account. Furthermore, by integration of the control electronics into the electrical component, the complexity of production is increased since expensive measures must be provided in the production line to protect sensitive electronic components. 
   Finally, when the control electronics which have been integrated into the electrical component fail, replacing the entire electrical component is usually not avoided, thereby leading to high costs. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   A primary object of the present invention is to embody and develop the known electrical component of a motor vehicle such that the implementation of a decentralized control concept is optimized both with respect to production engineering and also later maintenance work. 
   The aforementioned object is achieved in an electrical component that includes control electronics and at least one plug-and-socket connection for electrical connection of the electrical component to a coordinating control or another electrical component. The plug and socket connection further includes a plug, a plug housing and a connecting line. The plug-and-socket connection is detachably connectable, on one side, to a plug receptacle and wherein at least part of the control electronics is housed in the plug-and-socket connection. 
   Another object of the invention includes the control electronics of the electrical component being housed in the plug-and-socket connection and thus otherwise is implemented separately from the electrical component. 
   The separate implementation of the control electronics and the electrical component also enables correspondingly separate production of the control electronics. It is advantageous here that “mixed” production, with electrical and electronic components on the one hand and mechanical components on the other, is avoided. This applies especially, in the preferred embodiment, to the integration of all the control electronics of the electrical component into the plug-and-socket connection. Then part of the electrical component does not have control electronics so that the production of this part of the electrical component is purely mechanical. The described, cost-intensive measures relating to control electronics in the production line are thereby eliminated. 
   Furthermore, the separate implementation of the control electronics and the electrical component otherwise, for the case of a repair, yields the possibility of replacement of the control electronics or of some of the control electronics by replacement of the plug-and-socket connection with another identical plug-and-socket connection. 
   By replacing the plug-and-socket connection with another plug-and-socket connection having different control electronics, it is also possible to change the scope of operation of the electrical component solely by replacing the plug-and-socket connection (especially to expand it, e.g., by parameterization of the electrical component). In this way, the diversity of versions which is generally required can be implemented without otherwise having to change the electrical component in a manner specific to the version. 
   As a result, the accommodation of at least part of the control electronics of the electrical component in the plug-and-socket connection leads to easy production and to interchangeability of the control electronics, to simple parameterization of the electrical component and to the capacity of the control electronics to be modified or retrofitted. 
   There are a host of possibilities for embodying and developing the teaching of the invention. The preferred embodiments offer a wide spectrum of possible implementation of the proposed concept. Additional freedom in the parameterization of the electrical component arises, especially when the part of the control electronics which is housed in the plug-and-socket connection is accommodated in or on the plug of the plug-and-socket connection and also in the connecting line which is preferably made as a FPC line (flexible printed circuit line). 
   According to another teaching which likewise acquires independent importance, the aforementioned object is achieved by a plug-and-socket connection of an electrical component of a motor vehicle for electrical connection of the electrical component to the coordinating control or another electrical component, the electrical component having control electronics. The plug and socket connection includes a plug, a plug housing, and a connecting line, wherein the plug-and-socket connection is detachably connectable, on one side, to a plug receptacle and wherein at least part of the control electronics is housed in the plug-and-socket connection. 
   The invention is explained in detail below using the accompanying drawings which show simply one embodiment of the invention. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows in a schematic and perspective a motor vehicle with a motor vehicle door locking system, 
       FIG. 2  schematically shows the structure of a motor vehicle door lock of the motor vehicle door locking system as shown in  FIG. 1 , 
       FIG. 3  shows, in a block diagram, the motor vehicle door locking system as shown in  FIG. 1 , 
       FIG. 4  is a schematic perspective view of a portion of the motor vehicle door lock of the motor vehicle door locking system as shown in  FIG. 1 , 
       FIG. 5  is a schematic perspective view of a portion of the plug-and-socket connection of the motor vehicle door lock as shown in  FIG. 4  from above, 
       FIG. 6  is a schematic perspective of the plug-and-socket connection from  FIG. 5  from below, 
       FIG. 7  shows a portion of the motor vehicle door lock as shown in  FIG. 4 , according to another embodiment of the present invention, 
       FIG. 8  is a schematic perspective view similar to that of  FIG. 6 , but showing a portion of another plug-and-socket connection. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   In the drawings,  FIG. 1  shows a motor vehicle  2  which is made with electrical components  1  of a motor vehicle door locking system. It should be pointed out that an electrical component here is defined as any electrically actuated functional unit of a motor vehicle. The electrical components  1  can include several motor vehicle door locks  3  and a hood lock  4 , with installation positions shown schematically in  FIG. 1 . The motor vehicle door locks  3  can be locked and unlocked by a motor in the sense of a central interlock. Each motor vehicle lock  3 , embodied as an electrical lock, also has the possibility of motorized opening. The lifting of a ratchet by means of an opening drive is not shown. 
   It is pointed out that the proposed approach is described below using electrical components of a motor vehicle door locking system as an example. But this is not to be understood restrictively. All conceivable electrical components  1  of a motor vehicle  2  are considered to be an electrical component  1  in this sense. Examples include motor vehicle door locks, window raisers, seat height adjustments, or the like. 
     FIG. 2  shows a conventional configuration of one of the motor vehicle door locks  3  shown in  FIG. 1  with a latch  5  and ratchet  6 , where the ratchet  6  can be raised by a motor via an actuator  7 . There is furthermore a sensor  8  for interrogation of the position of the latch  5 . The motor vehicle door lock  3  (e.g., the electrical component  1  in this exemplary embodiment) has control electronics  9  for triggering, among others, the sensor  8  and the actuator  7 . A connecting means made preferably as a plug-and-socket connection  10  which enables electrical connection of the motor vehicle door lock  3  to a coordinating control  11 , shown in  FIG. 3 , is outlined in broken lines.  FIG. 4 , discussed below, shows a schematic of the plug-and-socket connection  10 . 
     FIG. 3  shows that, in each of the four illustrated door areas of the motor vehicle  2 , there are several electrical components  1 . In addition to the motor vehicle door lock  3  with the associated control electronics  9 , a window raiser  12  and an electrically adjustable outside mirror  13  with the respectively pertinent control electronics  14 ,  15  are also shown. Furthermore,  FIG. 3  shows that the electrical components  1  can be connected via a bus system  16 , not only to the common control  11 , but also to another electrical component  12 ,  13 . 
   In a connected state, shown in  FIG. 4 , the plug-and-socket connection  10  is detachably connected, on one hand to the plug receptacle  17  on the electrical component  1 . The plug-and-socket connection  10  has a plug  18 , a plug housing  19  and a connecting line  20 . Depending on the configuration of the electrical component  1 , there can be more than one single plug-and-socket connection  10  for the connection of the electrical component  1  to a coordinating control  11  or another electrical component  12 ,  13 . These statements apply to these other plug-and-socket connections  10  accordingly. 
   It is important that at least part of the control electronics  9  of the electrical component  1 , here of the motor vehicle door lock  3 , is housed in the plug-and-socket connection  10 . The part  21  of the control electronics  9  of the motor vehicle door lock  3  housed in the plug-and-socket connection  10  is shown in  FIG. 5  in the form of a board with electronic components. 
   Especially with respect to optimum producibility of the electrical component  1 , it is preferable that the entire control electronics  9  of the electrical component  1  is housed in the plug-and-socket connection  10 . This results in that the part of the electrical component  1  which does not belong to the plug-and-socket connection  10  is made largely mechanical so that production is simplified, as explained above. 
   Depending on the application, different implementation possibilities for the connection of the electrical component  1  to the coordinating control  11  or to other electrical components  12 ,  13  are conceivable. In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 4 , the plug-and-socket connection  10  is detachably connected to the plug receptacle  17  where the plug receptacle  17  is a component of the electrical component  1 . Thus, the plug-and-socket connection  10 , directly on the electrical component  1 , can be detached from the electrical component  1 . The specific configuration of this connection is detailed below. 
   In the sense of the greatest possible flexibility it is preferably provided that the plug-and-socket connection  10 , on both ends of the connecting line  20 , has a plug  18 ,  22 . The additional plug  22  likewise can hold a part of the control electronics  9  of the electrical component  1 . 
   However, it can also be provided that, on the electrical component  1  itself, there is no plug receptacle  17 , but that the connecting line  20  is permanently connected on one end to the electrical component  1  ( FIG. 7 ). Here, “permanently” means that detachment of the connection without a tool or the like is not possible, for example, because the connection is a solder connection. Thus, the plug  18  of the plug-and-socket connection  10  is located on the correspondingly other end of the connecting line  20  so that the plug-and-socket connection  10  can be detachably connected to the coordinating control  11  or to the other electrical components  12 ,  13 . The plug receptacle  17  is then not located on the electrical component  1 , but on the coordinating control  11 , on the other electrical component, on another plug-and-socket connection or the like. 
   With the latter two preferred embodiments, it becomes possible to provide at least part of the control electronics  9  of the electrical component  1  spatially separate from the electrical component  1 , without the necessity of additional electrical connections. Finally, there can be a connection of the electrical component  1  to the coordinating control  11  or another electrical component. This spatial separation of the control electronics  9  from the electrical component  1  can otherwise be advantageous especially when the control electronics  9  is to be located in a dry space, for example, of a motor vehicle door, while the electrical component  1  is otherwise located in the wet space of the motor vehicle door. 
   In a preferred configuration, the control electronics  9  of the electrical component  1 , (e.g., motor vehicle door lock  3 ) has a bus connection which is housed at least partially in the plug-and-socket connection  10 . The bus connection can be preferably a LIN bus connection or a CAN bus connection. Other possible bus connections are also known which can be suitably employed. 
   In another preferred embodiment, the bus connection is housed completely in the plug-and-socket connection  10 . This enables the connection of electrical component  1 , which is not bus-capable, to a bus by making available the electronics necessary for this purpose (i.e., a bus connection) by the plug-and-socket connection  10 . For example, where the bus connection is housed entirely in the plug-and-socket connection  10 , there can be two versions of the electrical component  1 . The first version providing for a connection of the electrical component  1  without a bus connection. Then, the plug-and-socket connection  10  is implemented in the conventional manner. In the second version, a bus connection is housed in the plug-and-socket connection  10  so that the electrical component  1  can thus be coupled to a bus system. 
   In another preferred embodiment, the control electronics  9  of the electrical component  1  has a power end stage for triggering actuators  7  which can be housed at least partially in the plug-and-socket connection  10 .  FIG. 2  shows such an actuator  7 . 
   Furthermore, it is provided that the control electronics  9  of the electrical component  1  has sensor triggering member and that the sensor triggering member is housed at least partially in the plug-and-socket connection  10 .  FIG. 2  shows a sensor  8  which can be triggered by the aforementioned sensor triggering member. 
   There are a host of possibilities for which part of the control electronics  9  of the electrical component  1  is housed in the plug-and-socket connection  10 . For the possible scope of operation of the control electronics  9  of the electrical component  1  reference should be made to the prior art. 
     FIG. 5  shows the preferred configuration that the part  21  of the control electronics  9  of the electrical component  1  (e.g., motor vehicle door lock  3 ), housed in the plug-and-socket connection  10 , is housed at least partially in or on the plug  18  of the plug-and-socket connection  10 . Basically, it is possible for the part  21  of the control electronics  9  housed in the plug-and-socket connection  10  to be located outside the plug housing  19  on the plug  19 . In any case, the version is preferable in which the part  21  housed in the plug-and-socket connection  10  is housed at least partially in the plug housing  19 . 
   In certain applications, it can also be advantageous for the part  21  of the control electronics  9  of the electrical component  1  housed in the plug-and-socket connection  10  to be housed at least partially in the connecting line  20 ′ ( FIG. 8 ) and, where applicable, to be housed partially in the plug  18 . But, it can also be advantageous that, in the plug  18 , there are no control electronics  9  at all so that the connecting line  20  completely accommodates the part  21  of the control electronics  9 . 
   One possibility for housing the part  21  of the control electronics  9  in the connecting line is to make the connecting line  20  at least partially as a FPC line (flexible printed circuit line). A FPC line is a copper layout which is prepared using etching technology on a flexible foil. Here, outfitting with electronic and electromechanical components is possible so that integration of part  21  of the control electronics  9  can be easily implemented. 
   One especially favorable application for housing the part  21  of the control electronics  9  in the connecting line  20  arises in turn in a motor vehicle door with a dry space and a wet space. Here, it can be provided, for example, that the connecting line  20  is made on the dry space side as a multicore cable harness which has the above described integrated bus connection at the transition point from the dry space into the wet space. The bus connection, as described above, can be located in the connecting line  20 , itself or on a plug  18 . Thus, it is possible to “continue” the multicore cable harness in the wet space with a two-wire line or the like. The connecting line  20  can also be made from a known multi-core cable or a foil conductor. 
   The control electronics  9  provided in the plug  18  can be inserted into the plug  18  or potted in the plug  18 . In the latter version, a connecting line  20 , made as a foil conductor, can be potted directly with the control electronics  9 . However, it can also be advantageous to make the connecting line  20  pluggable on the plug  18  so that a plug version  18  with different connecting lines  20  can be used. 
   The plug  18  has a lengthwise guide  23 , which is shown in  FIG. 6 , for the positive connection of the plug  18  to the plug receptacle  17 . Within the lengthwise guide  23 , there are plug contacts  24  of the plug  18 . 
   In an especially preferred configuration, the plug  18  has at least one fastening element  25  for attachment of the plug  18  to the electrical component  1 . In another preferred embodiment the fastening elements  25  directly engage the plug receptacle  17 , as is shown in  FIG. 4 . For attaching the plug  18  to the plug receptacle  17  numerous possibilities are available from the prior art. 
   Depending on the configuration and the arrangement of the electrical component  1 , it can be advantageous for the plug housing  19  to be made essentially watertight. Furthermore, it can be advantageous for the mechanical connection between the plug  18  and the plug receptacle  17  to also be watertight. 
   It is especially advantageous if the plug housing  19  in the connected state does not enlarge the installation space required for the electrical component  1  compared to the installation space required in the unconnected state. Therefore, plug  18  does not violate the installation space of the electrical component  1  and is to a certain extent an integral component of the housing  26  of the electrical component  1 . This has advantages especially in retrofitting or modifying the electrical component  1 , since by connecting the plug-and-socket connection  10  or by replacing the plug-and-socket connection  10  the external configuration of the electrical component  1  does not change noticeably with respect to mounting. 
   It is pointed out that the mechanical configuration of the plug-and-socket connection  10  is essential for the amount of flexibility which can be achieved with the proposed concept. For example, it is especially advantageous if a single mechanical version of the plug  18  (e.g. a universal adapter) is provided for several motor vehicle locks. It is furthermore conceivable for the plug  18  to be made mechanically such that it is matched to already present plugs  18  and plug receptacles  17  and thus can be used for already existing electrical components  1 . 
   It follows from the aforementioned that special advantages can be achieved when the electrical component  1  is a component of a motor vehicle door locking system, especially a motor vehicle door lock  3 . The aforementioned advantages can, however, also be achieved for all other electrical components  1  present in the motor vehicle  2 . One example of this resides in that the electrical component  1  is a motor vehicle seat (not shown) or a component of a motor vehicle seat, especially the arrangement for adjusting the seat height. Another preferred configuration calls for the electrical component  1  to be an electrical window raiser  12 .