Claims:1. A saddle-type vehicle comprising: a frame (26); a four-stroke engine provided with an electrical power generation unit (23) disposed along a right-hand side of said vehicle, wherein said electrical power generation unit (23) also contributes to starting said vehicle; a headlamp housing (5) provided on said frame (26) at a front end thereof; a seat mounting bracket (24) provided on said frame (26) at a rear end thereof; a power accumulator (28) accommodated centrally below said seat mounting bracket (24); and a control unit (30) disposed adjoining said power accumulator (28) along a right-hand side of said vehicle.
2. A saddle-type vehicle comprising: a frame (26); a four-stroke engine provided with an electrical power generation unit (23) disposed along a right-hand side of said vehicle, wherein said electrical power generation unit (23) also contributes to starting said vehicle; a headlamp housing (5) provided on said frame (26) at a front end thereof; a seat mounting bracket (24) provided on said frame (26) at a rear end thereof; and a toolbox (3) provided below said seat mounting bracket (24) on said frame (26), said toolbox (3) comprises a power accumulator (28) accommodated centrally within said toolbox (3) and a control unit (30) disposed adjoining said power accumulator (28) along a right-hand side of said vehicle.
3. The saddle-type vehicle as claimed in claim 2, wherein a main circuit protector (31) is disposed below said toolbox (3); and a secondary circuit protector (4) is disposed within said headlamp housing (5).
4. The saddle-type vehicle as claimed in any one of claims 1-3, wherein said electrical power generation unit (23) and said control unit (30) are connected by magneto wires (25) disposed along right-hand side of said vehicle.
5. The saddle-type vehicle as claimed in claim 3, wherein said power accumulator (28) and said secondary circuit protector (4) are connected by cable assembly (14) disposed along left-hand side of said vehicle.
6. The saddle-type vehicle as claimed in any one of the claims 1-3, wherein said power accumulator (28) and said control unit (30) are connected by a battery cord set (18), wherein said battery cord set (18) runs laterally in vehicle width direction between said power accumulator (28) and said control unit (30) disposed on right-hand side of said power accumulator (28).
7. The saddle-type vehicle as claimed in claim 4 or 5, wherein said magneto wires (25) disposed on right-hand side of the vehicle and said cable assembly (14) disposed on left-hand side of the vehicle are separated by a strapping member 20.
8. The saddle-type vehicle as claimed in any one of claims 1-3, wherein said frame (26) comprises a floorboard (32) provided centrally thereof, a cable assembly (14) connecting said power accumulator (28) and said secondary circuit protector (4) being disposed along left-hand side of said floorboard (32), and magneto wires (25) connecting said electrical power generation unit (23) as well as said control unit (30) both being disposed along right-hand side of said floorboard (32). , Description:FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention proposes an electrical system for a vehicle for ensuring improved serviceability, ease of assembly and handling at the same time increases the efficiency.
BACKGROUND
Generally, in a vehicle, particularly a saddle-type vehicle such as a two-wheeler, an electrical system involves mounting of various electrical parts like a headlamp, horn, switches, relay, controller, tail lamp, turn signal indicator, etc. To safe guard the electrical parts from failure due to short-circuiting or spike voltage, it is necessary to have fuses provided at appropriate positions. Due to the variation in operating current across the electrical parts, the rating of the fuse may also change. Hence, there is a need to have some fuses to protect all the electrical loads. The packaging of such fuses in one location using different rating fuses at one location of similar designs in a single fuse box may lead to confusion and mix up despite providing variations in the form of identification sticker, and colour of the fuse for each variety.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To overcome the above-mentioned problem, fuses are placed according to their rating at the nearest load point wherein it is divided into the high current area and low current area and placed accordingly using a rubber grommet with suitable openings to accommodate them. The fuses are provided inside a headlamp and a toolbox with rubber grommets to mount the fuse with interference to avoid dislodging of the same.
The present invention discloses a saddle-type vehicle comprising a frame, a four-stroke engine provided with an electrical power generation unit disposed along a right-hand side of the vehicle. The electrical power generation unit also contributes to starting the vehicle. A headlamp housing is provided on the frame at a front end thereof, while a seat mounting bracket is provided on the frame at a rear end thereof. A power accumulator is accommodated centrally below the seat mounting bracket. A control unit is disposed adjoining the power accumulator along a right-hand side of the vehicle, such that the wiring between the control unit and the electrical power generation unit is not long. A toolbox is provided below the seat mounting bracket on the frame. The toolbox houses the power accumulator centrally and the control unit on the right-hand side. A main circuit protector is disposed below the toolbox and a secondary circuit protector disposed within the headlamp housing.
This invention ensures improved serviceability, ease of assembly and handling while eliminating the wrong assembly of the fuse. Further, since the headlamp load protection fuse is situated near to the load, i.e., the headlamp itself, the current drop would be significantly lesser.
The invention applies to all automotive systems, where the electrical circuits with different rating fuse of more than one is required.
Further, the two different types of fuses of different or same rating shall be located in a single fuse case. Similarly, the same type of fuses shall be packaged at different locations of the vehicle.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 illustrates a main circuit protector zone.
Figure 2 illustrates a secondary circuit protector zone.
Figure 3 illustrates vehicle level mounting zones.
Figure 4 illustrates an internal view of a fuse case.
Figure 5a and 5b illustrates a power generation unit wire routing.
Figure 6 illustrates toolbox zone.
Figure 7 illustrates front mounted inductive load positions.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Packing the various number of fuses which is used to protect all electrical loads in one location using different rating fuses at one location of similar designs in single fuse box may lead to confusion and mix up despite providing variations in the form of identification sticker and colour of the fuse for each variety. To overcome the above-mentioned problem, fuses are placed according to their rating at the nearest load point wherein it is divided into the high current area and low current area and placed accordingly using rubber grommets with suitable openings to accommodate them. The fuses are provided inside a headlamp and a toolbox with rubber grommets to mount the fuse with interference to avoid dislodging of the same.
Figure 1 shows a main circuit protector zone. In an embodiment, Figure 1 discloses a vehicle, in particular a saddle-type vehicle provided with a floorboard 32 structure. The rider of the saddle-type vehicle rests his feet or keeps portable items such as a grocery bag over the floorboard 32 while riding the vehicle. Figure 1 also depicts a vehicle kick-starting lever 41 adjoining the floorboard 32 on the left-hand side (LHS) of the vehicle. Figure 1 also depicts a tool box 3 that is disposed above the floorboard 32 and below a rider’s seat (not shown). A power accumulator 28 is accommodated centrally within the tool box 3. The main circuit protector 31 is disposed below the tool box 3. In an embodiment, the main circuit protector 31 is disposed outside the tool box 3. In an embodiment, the tool box 3 also contains a control unit 30 that is disposed on a side of right-hand side (RHS) of the centrally accommodated power accumulator 28 as can be seen in Figure 1. In an embodiment, the control unit 30 is disposed on a side opposite to the kick-starting lever 41.
In an embodiment, the main circuit protector 31 of the system is kept outside the toolbox 3 to achieve easy accessibility to the customers and service technicians. This is located nearer to the power accumulator 28 to reduce the length of live wire and the current drop. Visibility of wires coming to the main circuit protector 31 is taken care in such a way that only the case 1 of the main circuit protector 31 is observable when seen from outside as shown in Figure 1. Wires of the main circuit protector 31 are routed inside the toolbox 3. This set up avoids the visibility of fuse wires. Further, since the control unit 30 is disposed on the RHS, the fuse wires from the main circuit protector 31 is easily routed to the power accumulator 28, which is disposed above the main circuit protector 31 and inside the toolbox 3.
This invention ensures improved serviceability, ease of assembly and handling while eliminating the wrong assembly of the fuse. Further, since the headlamp load protection fuse is situated near to the load, which is in the headlamp itself, the current drop would be significantly lesser.
Figure 2 shows a secondary circuit protector zone. Since all the inductive loads are packaged around the headlamp area of the vehicle that is provided on a front end of a frame 26 of the vehicle, a secondary circuit protector unit 4 fending all the inductive loads is located inside a headlamp housing 5 to optimize the wire length and also to reduce the current drop. Secondary circuit protector 4 is mounted using an exclusive rubber grommet 2 for the ease of serviceability. The grommet 2 of the secondary circuit protector 4 is mounted on the lug provided in the headlamp housing 5. This grommet 2 has the provisions to hold spare fuses 7 which are easy during replacement. Accessibility is enabled by removing the headlamp screws from the front side of the vehicle.

Figure 3 shows vehicle level mounting zones. A fitting element 11 is disposed below a horn 12, which enables routing of the cable assembly 14 to ensure proper routing of the cable assembly 14 from the power accumulator 28 to the secondary circuit protector 4, which is located within the headlamp housing 5. The cable assembly 14 is designed with a Y-bend to ensure the stress is less routing and to prevent strand damage while branching inside the toolbox 3. The cable assembly 14 is indicated by red colored wires in Figure 3.

Figure 4 shows an internal view of a fuse case. Further, the two different types of fuses of different or same rating shall be located in a single fuse case as shown in Figure 4. For example, as indicated by way of reference numerals in Figure 4, a first main fuse 15 and a first spare fuse 17 having a similar rating, and a second main fuse 16 and a second spare fuse 7 having a similar rating is accommodated within the same fuse case as shown in Figure 4. Similarly, the same type of fuses shall be packaged at different locations of the vehicle.
Figure 5a and 5b show a power generation unit wire routing. In a saddle-type automotive structure which runs with a four-stroke engine, has an electrical power generation unit 23 which also contributes to starting the vehicle system. Once the magneto wires 25 are taken out of the engine, it gets fixed with the support of skeleton bracket which is attached with wire fitting element 27 to avoid the contact of wires with the engine and to prevent the wire damage. From there the magneto wires 25 are directed along the frame 26 which is below a seat mounting bracket 24 provided on the rear end of the frame 26, and guided with the help of strapping member 20 as shown in Figure 5a and 5b. Then it travels along with the frame 26 and leads to the unit where the control unit 30 and power accumulator 28 is packaged (toolbox 3). It gets strapped using the hole clip 19 in the toolbox 3, and the magneto couplers are getting connected with the control unit 30. The magneto wires 25 are indicated by purple colored wires in Figure 5 (b). As seen in Figure 5 (b), the magneto wires 25 connects the control unit 30 and the electrical power generation unit 23. The strapping member 20 disposed on the RHS of the vehicle, as shown in Figure 5a and 5b ensures that the magneto wires 25 connecting the control unit 30 and the electrical power generation unit 23 is separated from the cable assembly 14 (shown in Figure 3), which is disposed on LHS of the vehicle as can be seen from Figure 3. Further, Figure 5 (b) indicates that the control unit 30 and the electrical power generation unit 23 are disposed on the same side, i.e., the right hand side of the vehicle. Thus, the magneto wires 25 seen in Figure 5 (b) connecting the control unit 30 and the electrical power generation unit 23 are not long.
Figure 6 shows the toolbox zone. The control unit 30 is mounted in the provision given in the toolbox 3. Said toolbox 3 is positioned on a floorboard 32, which is provided centrally on the frame 26. It has a guiding portion and two mounting portions provided in the toolbox 3. The power accumulator 28 is mounted in such a direction in which the second terminal 29 of the unit faces towards the vehicle riding direction as shown in Figure 6. With this idea of packaging, it occurred with the issue of dropping off the power accumulator 28 during assembly. To overcome this issue, a stopper is introduced to arrest the movement of the power storage unit 28. This stopper is constrained with the support provided in the toolbox 3. This system has a battery cord set 18 (shown in Figure 5 (a)) which forms an electrical passage between the power accumulator 28, and control unit 30. As seen in Figure 6, the presence of control unit 30 immediately on the right-hand side of the power accumulator 28 ensures that the battery cord set 18 is not long. The battery cord set 18 runs laterally in vehicle width direction between the power accumulator 28 and the control unit 30 disposed on right-hand side of the power accumulator 28. The battery cord set 18 has a fitting element with it, which serves the purpose of guiding and improves the appearance of the toolbox 3. The battery cord set 18 is indicated by green colored wires in Figure 5 (a). The main circuit protector 31 of the system is kept intentionally outside the toolbox 3 to achieve easy accessibility to the customer and service technicians. This is located as much nearer to the power accumulator 28 to reduce the length of live wire and the current drop. Visibility of the main circuit protector wires is taken care in such a way that the only case 1 of main circuit protector 31 is observable. The main circuit protector wires are routed inside the toolbox 3 as shown in Figure 1, and this toolbox is shielded with the cover. This set up avoids the visibility of fuse wires. After the assembly of cover on the toolbox, wires are getting crushed in between the cover and toolbox 3 which leads to the damage of wires. To disable this issue, suitable cut-outs are provided in the required regions of cover to ensure stress less wire routing. During the assembly of cover, circuit protector wires of the cable assembly 14 are getting interrupted in between the cover and toolbox. An exclusive rubber grommet 2 for routing the circuit protector wires are engaged in the routing system which is inserted into the slot provided in the toolbox to ensure that it is constrained. Refer Figure 1.
Figure 7 shows front mounted inductive load positions. The control lever assembly LH 33 and RH 34 couplers, DRL lamp 36 couplers and TSL 35 couplers are connected with the mating connectors 6 of cable assembly 14, and it shall be placed inside the headlamp housing 5 as shown in Figure 7. A fitting element in the cable assembly 14 is constrained with the support of the headlamp housing 5. Since all the inductive loads are packaged around the headlamp area of the vehicle, a secondary circuit protector 4 defending the inductive loads is located inside the headlamp housing 5 to optimize the wire length and also to reduce the current drop as shown in Figure 1. Mounting is done by accommodating the secondary circuit protector 4 using an exclusive rubber grommet 2 for the ease of serviceability. This grommet 2 has provisions to hold spare fuses 7 which are easy during replacement as shown in Detail A of Figure 2. Accessibility is enabled by removing the headlamp screws from the front side of the vehicle.
The invention applies to all automotive systems, where the electrical circuits with different rating fuse of more than one are required.