Technical Field

The present invention relates to a fuse holder for a motor vehicle, or more particularly to a fuse holder according to the preamble of claim 1. Furthermore, the present invention also relates to a fuse box having receiving means for receiving such a fuse holder, and a motor vehicle provided with such a fuse holder and fuse box.

Background of the Invention Motor vehicles, such as cars, trucks and tractors have an electrical system. The electrical system consists of one or more electrical subsystems, where each electrical subsystem is a part of the electrical system and relates to an electrical function of the motor vehicle, such as an Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), windscreen wiper, ignition system, light, air conditioning, stereo, etc. Some of the mentioned electrical sub- systems are necessary, i.e. without these electrical subsystems the motor vehicle will not work properly or will not comply with national and/or international regulations regarding road safety, standardisation provisions, etc. Examples of such necessary electrical subsystems in a motor vehicle are lights, windscreen wipers and ignition system. Other electrical subsystems in a motor vehicle are optional systems provided by the vehicle manufacturer and may relate to devices such as air conditioning, ABS, stereo, etc.

Figure 1 schematically shows an example of an electrical system 20 in a motor vehicle having four electrical subsystems ES1 -ES4 electrically connected to a fuse box 2 by means of an arrangement of electrical wires 6. Each electrical subsystem ES1 -ES4 is protected with a separate fuse in the fuse box 2. The function of the fuse is to protect the electrical subsystem ES1 -ES4 (to which it is electrically connected) from over-current which can damage electrical circuits or equipments, or even result in a fire in the electrical system 20.

Typically, a fuse box 2 has a number of predetermined positions for each specific fuse holder corresponding to an electrical subsystem ES. The predetermined positions are indicated by a sticker in the fuse box 2. The relation between the predetermined positions and the sticker is a prerequisite for correct troubleshooting and repair of the electrical system.

However, some of these predetermined positions will remain empty, since some of the electrical subsystems ES, which are provided by the vehicle manufacturers, are optional and can not be combined together, e.g. an automatic gearbox can not be employed together with a manual gearbox, etc. A drawback with this solution is therefore that the fuse box 2 is unnecessary large since not all positions in the fuse box 2 can be used, which also means that the material cost for producing these types of fuse boxes 2 is higher than necessary.

Summary of the Invention

An object of the present invention is to provide an alternative solution to the problem of arranging fuses for electrical subsystems in a motor vehicle. It is another object of the invention to provide an economised arrangement of holding fuses in a motor vehicle in terms of space and cost.

According to one aspect of the present invention the above mentioned objects are achieved by a fuse holder for a motor vehicle having a plurality of electrical sub- systems, wherein each electrical subsystem is adapted to be electrically connected to a fuse holder. The fuse holder is arranged to display information indicating the electrical subsystem to which the fuse holder is electrically connected, and is further arranged to be arbitrary placed in a fuse box having receiving means for the fuse holder.

According to another aspect of the present invention the above mentioned objects are achieved by a fuse box for a motor vehicle having a plurality of electrical subsystems, wherein each electrical subsystem is adapted to be electrically connected to a fuse holder. The fuse box comprises receiving means for at least one fuse holder being arranged to display information indicating the electrical subsystem to which the fuse holder is electrically connected, the fuse holder being further arranged to be arbitrary placed in the fuse holder. The present invention provides fuse holders which can be dynamically placed in a fuse box, and a fuse box having means for receiving the dynamically placeable fuse holders. According to the prior art solution described above, the fuse holders are statically placed in the fuse box which means that the fuse box has a number of fixed predetermined positions (for fuse holders) some of which will be empty. Assume that the fuse box in the prior art solution has M number of predetermined positions, where M equals the sum of the number of positions for all necessary and all optional electrical subsystems, while the fuse box in the solution according to the invention has N number of positions, where N equals the number of electrical subsystem which a motor vehicle actually has. It is understood that M > N if at least two optional electrical subsystems can not be employed at the same time. Therefore, the invention saves space, and reduces the cost for manufacturing fuse boxes.

Furthermore, since the fuse holder is arranged to display information indicating the electrical subsystem to which the fuse holder is connected to, stickers displaying the predetermined positions in the fuse box will be obsolete resulting in a further cost saving.

According to an embodiment of the aforementioned aspects of the invention, the information indicating the electrical subsystem to which the fuse holder is electrically connected can be performed by means of a symbol, text, relief, or a combination thereof on the fuse holder.

According to another embodiment of the aforementioned aspects of the invention, the fuse holder is also arranged to display information indicating the ampere rating of the fuse to be used in the fuse holder. This information can be indicated by means of a colour, symbol, text, relief or a combination thereof.

According to yet another embodiment of the aforementioned aspect of the invention, the fuse holder has holding means for holding fuses of blade, torpedo or Lucas type.

According to yet another embodiment of the aforementioned aspect of the invention, the fuse box has receiving means for receiving fuse holders according to the invention, where the receiving means belongs to the group comprising: socket means, plug means, adhesive means and threaded means.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention the above mentioned objects are achieved by a motor vehicle comprising at least one electrical subsystem, and at least one fuse holder and at least one fuse box above.

Other advantages and applications of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the invention.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The appended drawings are intended to clarify and explain the present invention in which:

- Figure 1 schematically shows an electrical system in a motor vehicle having four electrical subsystems;

- Figure 2 schematically shows, in side view, an embodiment of a fuse holder according to the present invention;

- Figure 3 shows, in front view, the fuse holder in Figure 2; and

- Figure 4 schematically shows a fuse box according to the invention.

Detailed Description of Embodiments of the Invention

Figure 2 shows an embodiment of a fuse holder 1 according to the present invention in side view. The fuse holder 1 is electrically connected by means of an electrical wire 6 to an electrical subsystem ES (shown in dotted lines) for protecting the same against over-current.

Figure 3 shows the fuse holder 1 in Figure 2 in front view. The fuse holder has holding means 7 for holding a fuse. The holding means 7 in this embodiment are two sockets for receiving the prongs on fuses of blade type, but the holding means 7 can also be adapted to hold fuses of torpedo and Lucas type.

The fuse holder 1 is further arranged to display information 11 indicating the electrical subsystem ES to which the fuse holder 1 is electrically connected. The information 11 indicating the electrical subsystem ES can be in the form of a symbol, text, relief, or a combination thereof. For example, the letters ABS can be printed on the fuse holder 1 indicating that the fuse holder 1 is electrically connected to (and intended for) the ABS electrical subsystem ES; or a symbol representing the ABS system can be printed on the fuse holder 1 for the same purpose. It is also possible to apply a relief representing a particular electrical subsystem ES on the fuse holder 1 , or to use a combination of the mentioned representations depending on the application.

In the embodiment in Figure 3, the fuse holder 1 also displays information 12 indicating the ampere rating of the intended fuse for the fuse holder 1. It is important that a fuse with a correct ampere rating is used in the fuse holder 1 for a particular electrical subsystem ES, or otherwise the fuse will burn or not provided the sufficient over-current protection. The ampere rating is preferably indicated by a colour, e.g. according to the general standard for fuses of blade type (mini, low-profile mini, ATO and maxi types of blade fuses), but can also be represented by symbols, text, reliefs, or any other appropriate representation.

The fuse holder 1 , in the embodiment shown in Figures 2 and 3, is also provided with two protruding elements 8, one on each side of the fuse holder 1. The function of the protruding elements 8 is to fit into corresponding grooves 9 in receiving means 5 in the fuse box 2, so that the fuse holder 1 is securely fixed in a position in the fuse box 2. Therefore, the receiving means 5 is in this case sockets having (corresponding) grooves 9 for receiving fuse holders 1 with protruding elements 8 as described above. A general idea is that the fuse holder 1 should be arranged so that it can be arbitrarily placed in a fuse box 2 according to the invention. Hence, the fuse holder 1 should be designed to match the receiving means 5 of the fuse box 2.

An embodiment of a fuse box 2 according to the invention is shown in Figure 4. The fuse box 2 is in this case provided with eight receiving means 5 in the form sockets having grooves 9 for receiving fuse holders 1 according to the invention. The fuse holders 1 can be arbitrarily placed in any of the eight sockets of the fuse box 2 since the fuse holders 1 are arranged to display information 11 indicating the electrical subsystem ES to which they are electrically connected, and also adapted to fit into the receiving means 5 of the fuse box 2. Other examples of receiving means 5 in the fuse box 2 for receiving fuse holders are plug means, adhesive means and threaded means. Hence, the invention provides a system for dynamically arranging fuse holders 1 in a fuse box 2 of a motor vehicle, thereby saving space and cost. Also, correct troubleshooting and repair can be performed since a strict relation between fuse holder 1 and electrical subsystem ES is provided by means of the displayed information 11.

Finally, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but also relates to and incorporates all embodiments within the scope of the appended independent claims.