Heretofore, in many cases, various meters and a junction block of an automobile have been mounted in an instrument panel, and have been located in different positions, respectively, and these parts, as well as a turn switch and a wiper switch, mounted on a column, and other switches, mounted on the instrument panel, have been individually connected to their mating parts at an assembling line.
For example, as shown in FIG. 12, there is provided a wire harness 29 interconnecting a meter 8 and a junction block 5, and there is provided a wire harness 30 connecting a turn switch 6 and a wiper switch 7 to the junction block 5 or the meter 8.
As another example shown in FIG. 13, although an engine room-side wire harness 15 is connected directly as a wire harness 17 to a junction block 5 through a grommet 16, it is connected to the meter 8 via a connector 31 and an instrument panel-side wire harness 32. In such a configuration, it is difficult to connect the engine room-side wire harness directly to the meter mounted in the instrument panel.
As still another example shown in FIG. 14, there are provided a wire harness 27 and fuses 28 connected between an ignition switch 13 and a junction block 5. A thick wire 26 is used in order to supply a large current to the ignition switch 13 from an on-vehicle battery (not shown) via a wire harness 23 and a wire 25 within the junction block 5. Further, in order to protect the circuit because of the provision of the wire harness 27, a fusible link 24 is provided within the junction block 5.
The number of the parts, mounted around the column in the assembling process in the production of the vehicle, is about 8, that is, a combination meter, a junction block, a turn switch, a wiper switch, a hazard switch, a meter cluster, a lower column cover and an upper column cover.
Therefore, the number of the mounting operations in the production of a vehicle increased, and the fixing structure is limited to the type which enabled the mounting operation to be carried out only from a predetermined direction of the assembling line. Therefore, the operation for exchanging the meters, the junction block and so on, as well as the disassembling operation, are not efficient.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds