Onboard SM male connector and electric vehicle electrical system with same

Abstract

The invention discloses an onboard SM male connector and an electric vehicle electrical system with the same. The connector comprises an insulation body and conductive terminals. The top of the insulating body is provided with a slot used for adapting to an SM female head, and one side of the insulating body is provided with a lock catch used for being mutually locked with a clamping hook of the SM female head. The conductive terminals longitudinally penetrate through the insulation body, the bottom ends of the conductive terminals form welding parts welded with a circuit board, and the top ends of the conductive terminals form plugging parts in plugging cooperation with an SM female head. The SM male head is directly integrated on the circuit board of the electrical function module, a traditional wiring harness welding and independent plug assembling mode is replaced, the problems that in the prior art, a connector is prone to loosening due to vibration, poor in environment sealing performance and high in production cost are effectively solved, the connection reliability and the environment tolerance are remarkably improved, and the service life of the connector is prolonged. And automatic production is realized, and the cost is greatly reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of electrical connector technology, specifically to an onboard SM male connector and an electric vehicle electrical system having the connector. Background Technology

[0002] In the current field of electric vehicles, electric motorcycles, and other vehicles, their electrical systems generally adopt a modular design. Each electrical functional module is typically packaged independently and interconnected via wiring harnesses with connectors. Specifically, a section of wiring harness is soldered to the module end, and a terminal is crimped to the end of the wiring harness to assemble an independent SM male connector, while the vehicle wiring harness assembly is equipped with a corresponding SM female connector. The electrical connection between the module and the vehicle's wiring is achieved through the overhead connection of the male and female connectors.

[0003] However, this traditional connection method has the following significant drawbacks:

[0004] Poor connection reliability: Electric vehicles inevitably experience continuous vibration and bumps while driving. This mechanical vibration can easily cause the overhead connectors to loosen or even detach, leading to electrical faults and affecting driving safety.

[0005] Insufficient environmental tolerance: The exposed plug joints lack effective sealing measures, resulting in poor dust and water resistance. In rainy or dusty environments, moisture and dust can easily penetrate the connector, leading to problems such as contact oxidation and short circuits.

[0006] High production costs: In the manufacturing process, each module requires multiple manual or semi-automated steps, such as wire harness welding, terminal crimping, and assembling SM plugs. This process is cumbersome, requires a large amount of manpower, and has low production efficiency, making it a significant component of the overall vehicle manufacturing cost.

[0007] Therefore, there is an urgent need in this field for an electrical connection solution that can improve connection reliability, enhance environmental adaptability, and significantly reduce production costs. Summary of the Invention

[0008] This invention provides an onboard SM male connector and an electric vehicle electrical system, which can directly integrate the SM male connector onto the circuit board, eliminating the steps of soldering wire harnesses and assembling individual plugs, thereby achieving automated production and improving connection stability and reliability.

[0009] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following technical solution: an onboard SM male connector, comprising: an insulating body, wherein the top of the insulating body is provided with a slot for adapting to an SM female connector, and one side of the insulating body is provided with a latch for engaging with a hook on the side of the SM female connector to lock the connector; and a conductive terminal, wherein the conductive terminal extends longitudinally through the insulating body, the bottom end of which is a soldering part for electrical connection and mechanical fixation with a circuit board, and the top end of which is a plugging part for insertion and mating with the SM female connector socket.

[0010] Preferably, the bottom of the insulating body forms a planar structure for mounting to the surface of the circuit board, and the solder portion is a pin-type lead extending from the bottom of the insulating body.

[0011] Preferably, the latch is an elastic arm formed on the outer wall of the insulating body, and the top end of the elastic arm is provided with a locking hook that is adapted to the latch.

[0012] Preferably, the insulating body is made of high-temperature engineering plastic, and the conductive terminal is made of phosphor bronze or beryllium copper material, with a tin or gold plating layer on the surface.

[0013] Preferably, an electric vehicle electrical system includes at least one electrical functional module and a wiring harness assembly electrically connected to the electrical functional module via an SM connector. The wiring harness assembly is terminated with an SM female connector, and the circuit board of the electrical functional module is provided with an onboard SM male connector. The SM female connector is directly plugged into the onboard SM male connector.

[0014] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows: By directly integrating the SM male connector onto the circuit board, the inherent mechanical weaknesses of the wire harness soldering points and plug crimping points in traditional methods are eliminated. This enhances connection rigidity, more effectively resisting continuous vibration and impact during vehicle operation, fundamentally solving the problem of plug loosening or detachment due to vibration, and greatly improving driving safety. The onboard design allows the male connector to be more completely enclosed and protected by the module's housing. It simplifies the sealing design of the mating interface, making it easier to achieve effective dust and water resistance, avoiding contact oxidation, short circuits, and other faults caused by moisture and dust intrusion, and improving the system's stability in harsh environments. It eliminates the need for the cumbersome processes of individually soldering wire harnesses, crimping terminals, and assembling independent plugs for each module. This simplifies the production process, reduces labor input, and makes the production of electrical functional modules easier to automate, thereby significantly reducing material and assembly costs and improving production efficiency. It saves space inside the module for accommodating and fixing bent wire harnesses, making the module structure more compact. This facilitates the optimization and miniaturization of the overall vehicle electrical system layout, providing greater flexibility for the design of other vehicle components. This invention achieves simultaneous optimization of connection reliability, environmental adaptability, and production economy through the fundamental innovation of moving the connector from the end of the wire harness to the circuit board, providing a solution for electrical connections in fields such as electric vehicles. Attached Figure Description

[0015] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0016] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 2 This is a cross-sectional view of the overall structure of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the application of the present invention.

[0019] In the diagram: 1. Insulating body; 2. SM female connector; 3. Locking buckle; 4. Hook; 5. Conductive terminal; 6. Soldering part; 7. Insertion part; 8. Locking hook; 9. Circuit board; 10. Wiring harness assembly. Detailed Implementation

[0020] The technical solution of the present invention will now be clearly and completely described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0021] Example 1

[0022] like Figures 1 to 3 As shown, an onboard SM male connector mainly includes an insulating body 1 and conductive terminals 5. The insulating body 1 is preferably made of high-temperature resistant engineering plastic and integrally molded using an injection molding process, possessing good mechanical strength, electrical insulation properties, and resistance to welding heat. A slot is provided on the top of the insulating body 1, the shape and size of which are configured to precisely fit and accommodate the insertion portion of a standard SM female connector 2. A latch 3 is provided on one side of the insulating body 1. In this embodiment, the latch 3 is specifically an elastic arm formed on the outer wall of the insulating body 1. This elastic arm achieves a locking function through the elastic deformation capability of its root. A latch 8 protruding inwards is provided at the top of the elastic arm, the shape of which matches the shape of the hook 4 on the side of the SM female connector 2. When the SM female connector 2 is inserted into the slot to a predetermined position, the latch 8 engages with the hook 4 of the SM female connector 2, producing a clear "click" sound, providing reliable mechanical locking and preventing loosening due to vibration. Simultaneously, by pressing the bottom of the elastic arm, the latch 8 can be separated from the hook 4 for easy disassembly. The bottom of the insulating body 1 is designed as a flat mounting surface. This planar structure allows the connector to be stably mounted on the surface of the circuit board 9, facilitating automated soldering operations. The conductive terminal 5 is longitudinally fixed inside the insulating body 1. The conductive terminal 5 is preferably made of a high-performance elastic copper alloy material such as phosphor bronze or beryllium copper to ensure good conductivity and elasticity. Its surface is preferably tin-plated or gold-plated to enhance corrosion resistance and reduce contact resistance. The bottom end of each conductive terminal 5 extends out of the bottom of the insulating body 1, forming a solder joint 6 for electrical connection and mechanical fixation to the circuit board 9.

[0023] In this embodiment, the soldering part 6 is a vertically downward-extending pin-type lead, suitable for through-hole mounting technology, providing stronger mechanical holding force. The soldering part 6 can also be an L-shaped or J-shaped surface mount lead to adapt to different circuit board 9 design requirements. The tip of each conductive terminal 5 is located within a slot, forming a mating part 7 for mating with the socket inside the SM female connector 2. The mating part 7 typically has appropriate guiding and contact structures to ensure a stable, low-resistance electrical connection with the female terminal.

[0024] Example 2

[0025] This embodiment provides an electric vehicle electrical system that utilizes the aforementioned onboard SM male connector. The electric vehicle electrical system includes at least one electrical functional module and a vehicle wiring harness assembly 10 electrically connected to these electrical functional modules via the SM connector.

[0026] Unlike existing technologies, in this system, the end of the vehicle wiring harness assembly 10 is crimped and assembled with a standard SM female connector 2. Instead of soldering a section of wiring harness with a separate SM male connector inside the electrical function module, the aforementioned onboard SM male connector is directly installed on the circuit board 9 of the electrical function module using automated equipment such as wave soldering equipment. The soldering part 6 of the onboard SM male connector is soldered to the corresponding pad on the circuit board 9, thus integrating the connector onto the module board. During vehicle assembly, simply align and insert the SM female connector 2 at the end of the wiring harness assembly 10 into the onboard SM male connector on the circuit board 9 until the locking clip 3 locks in place; the operation is extremely simple.

[0027] The advantages of this invention are that the male connector is directly and securely soldered onto the circuit board 9, eliminating two potential failure points: wire harness soldering points and crimping points between independent plugs and wire harnesses. The overall connection rigidity is enhanced, effectively resisting vibrations and impacts during vehicle operation, significantly reducing the risk of connector loosening or detachment. When the SM female connector 2 mates with the onboard male connector, the mating area can be more easily protected by the module housing or additional sealing covers, reducing the chance of the connector being directly exposed to harsh environments. Simultaneously, it is easier to comprehensively consider dustproof and waterproof sealing at the joint during module housing design, improving the overall environmental adaptability of the system. Due to the significant reduction in production costs, the multiple steps of soldering a lead wire harness, crimping terminals, and assembling independent SM male connectors for each module are eliminated. This simplifies the production process of electrical functional modules, reduces manual operation, improves production efficiency, and facilitates automated mass production, thereby significantly reducing material and assembly costs. The onboard design saves the space that would otherwise be needed inside the module to accommodate bent wire harnesses, making the module structure more compact and beneficial for optimizing the layout and miniaturizing the vehicle's electrical system.

[0028] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any variations or substitutions that can be easily conceived by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be determined by the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An onboard SM male connector, characterized in that, include: An insulating body (1) is provided with a slot on the top for fitting an SM female connector (2), and a latch (3) is provided on one side of the insulating body (1) for engaging with a hook (4) on the side of the SM female connector (2) to lock the connector. The conductive terminal (5) extends longitudinally through the insulating body (1), with a welding part (6) at the bottom for electrical connection and mechanical fixation with the circuit board (9), and a plug-in part (7) at the top for insertion into the socket of the SM female connector (2).

2. The onboard SM male connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The bottom of the insulating body (1) forms a planar structure for mounting to the surface of the circuit board (9), and the solder part (6) is a pin-type lead extending from the bottom of the insulating body (1).

3. The onboard SM male connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The latch (3) is an elastic arm formed on the outer wall of the insulating body (1), and the top of the elastic arm is provided with a locking hook (8) that is adapted to the latch (4).

4. The onboard SM male connector according to claim 1, characterized in that, The insulating body (1) is made of high-temperature engineering plastic, and the conductive terminal (5) is made of phosphor bronze or beryllium copper material, with a tin or gold plating on the surface.

5. An electric vehicle electrical system, comprising at least one electrical functional module and a wiring harness assembly (10) electrically connected to the electrical functional module via an SM connector, wherein the wiring harness assembly (10) is end-connected to an SM female connector (2), characterized in that, The circuit board (9) of the electrical function module is provided with an onboard SM male connector as described in any one of claims 1 to 4; the SM female connector (2) is directly plugged into the onboard SM male connector.

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