Battery swapping connector with novel floating mechanism

Abstract

The utility model discloses a battery replacement connector with novel floating mechanism. The floating mechanism of this battery replacement connector includes upper floating plate, lower fixed plate, a plurality of pagoda springs and a plurality of guide posts, the inner socket is fixedly connected in the middle of upper floating plate, the shell of the socket part is fixedly connected with lower fixed plate, the top end of pagoda spring is attached to the edge of upper guide hole of upper floating plate and the bottom end is attached to the edge of lower guide hole of lower fixed plate, the guide post is connected with pagoda spring, the upper end is slidingly connected with upper guide hole and the lower end is slidingly connected with lower guide hole, pagoda spring can be vertically compressed and deformed and horizontally and longitudinally deformed to bear assembly offset load, realizes to the plug offset assembly, and offset load eliminates automatic reset. The utility model has the effects of simple structure, less space occupation, large battery pack size and capacity and cost effectively reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of connectors, and in particular to a battery swapping connector with a novel floating mechanism. Background Technology

[0002] With the rapid development of the new energy industry, battery swapping connectors, as charging and discharging devices, are widely used in new energy equipment. Battery swapping connectors include a socket end on the mobile end and a plug end on the charging device end. During charging, the plug end needs to be inserted into the socket end. During manual operation, vertical positional deviations and horizontal positional deviations in the lateral and longitudinal directions are common during insertion and insertion. Therefore, the socket end is usually equipped with a floating module that can float longitudinally (X-axis), laterally (Y-axis), and vertically (Z-axis).

[0003] Existing floating modules typically include independent Z-axis floating components (implemented by four vertical tension springs) and XY-axis floating components (implemented by four spiral springs or four planar tension springs), thus requiring a total of eight spring assemblies. The drawbacks are: firstly, eight spring assemblies require a huge space requirement, which limits the design of the placement space and installation method of other components when the total space remains unchanged. Especially in high-current charging mode, the floating structure is larger, which reduces the battery pack size; secondly, the structure of eight spring assemblies is complex, involving more components, complicated assembly processes, and high production costs. Utility Model Content

[0004] To address one or more of the aforementioned problems, this invention provides a battery swapping connector with a novel floating mechanism.

[0005] According to one aspect of the present invention, the battery swapping connector with a novel floating mechanism includes a socket part and a plug part that are mutually mated. The socket part is provided with a floating mechanism, which includes an upper floating plate, a lower fixed plate, a plurality of pagoda springs and a plurality of guide posts.

[0006] The upper floating plate has multiple vertical guide holes around its perimeter, and an inner socket is fixedly connected in the middle of the upper floating plate;

[0007] The lower fixing plate has multiple downward guide holes around its perimeter, with each downward guide hole facing an upper guide hole. The lower fixing plate is used to fix the outer shell of the socket part.

[0008] The small-diameter tower top of the pagoda spring is coaxially attached to the lower edge of the upper guide hole, and its large-diameter tower bottom is coaxially attached to the upper edge of the lower guide hole.

[0009] The guide post is connected to the pagoda spring through a sleeve. Its upper end is slidably connected to the upper guide hole with equal diameter, and its lower end is slidably connected to the lower guide hole with a gap.

[0010] When the socket and plug are inserted, the pagoda spring can withstand the assembly offset load and undergo vertical compression deformation as well as horizontal deformation in the lateral and longitudinal directions. This allows the upper floating plate and the inner socket to be vertically displaced or / and horizontally and longitudinally displaced to complete the assembly. The offset load is then eliminated and the spring automatically resets.

[0011] In some embodiments, the upper surface of the lower fixing plate is integrally provided with multiple annular protruding spring limiters, and the limiting groove and the lower guide hole of each spring limiter are coaxially arranged, with the bottom end of the tower sleeved in the limiting groove with equal diameter.

[0012] In some embodiments, a locking groove is provided at the lower end of the lower guide hole, and a positioning platform with the same outline size as the locking groove is provided at the lower end of the guide post. In the natural state, the positioning platform fits and locks the locking groove. During insertion, the positioning platform moves downward to disengage from the locking groove and unlock.

[0013] In some embodiments, the locking groove is a frustum groove, and the positioning platform is a frustum body.

[0014] In some implementations, the radius difference between the lower end post of the guide post and the lower guide hole is 2 mm.

[0015] In some implementations, the upper end of the guide post is slidably connected to the guide hole with the same diameter;

[0016] The upper limit block is located above the upper guide hole and is threadedly connected to the threaded post at the upper end of the upper post. In its natural state, the upper limit block fits against the upper edge of the upper guide hole.

[0017] In some implementations, the upper limit block is a nut, or the diameter of the upper end post is larger than the diameter of the lower end post.

[0018] In some embodiments, the floating mechanism includes four sets of interlocking pagoda springs and guide posts, with four upper guide holes symmetrically provided at the four corners of the upper floating plate and four lower guide holes symmetrically provided around the perimeter of the lower fixed plate.

[0019] The upper floating plate has an upper connection hole in the middle, and the lower fixed plate has a lower connection hole in the middle. The inner socket is fixedly connected to the upper connection hole and passes through the lower connection hole.

[0020] In some implementations, the four corners of the lower connecting hole are connected to the lower guide hole and the locking groove.

[0021] In some implementations, the upper floating plate, the lower fixed plate, and the guide post are made of 304 stainless steel; the pagoda spring is made of 50CrVA material.

[0022] This battery swapping connector with a novel floating mechanism employs four sets of pagoda springs, effectively achieving XYZ three-way floating during mating. Its advantages are: First, this structure requires only one set of pagoda spring assemblies, eliminating the need for the original four sets of oblique planar springs and requiring only the space of the original four sets of vertical floating assemblies, significantly reducing the occupied volume and providing ample space for the design of other components, especially suitable for high-current charging modes; Second, this structure reduces the size of the battery swapping connector and the size of the mounting opening, allowing for a larger battery pack size and capacity, thus giving new energy devices a greater range advantage; Third, this structure reduces the number of springs and related components within the connector, effectively simplifying the complexity of the floating structure, simplifying the assembly process, and effectively reducing costs. Attached Figure Description

[0023] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a battery swapping connector with a novel floating mechanism according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 2 for Figure 1 The diagram shows a cross-sectional view of a battery swapping connector with a novel floating mechanism.

[0025] Figure 3 for Figure 1 An exploded three-dimensional diagram of the floating mechanism shown.

[0026] Figure 4 for Figure 3 A three-dimensional schematic diagram of the upper floating plate shown;

[0027] Figure 5 for Figure 3 A three-dimensional schematic diagram of the lower fixed plate is shown.

[0028] Floating mechanism 00, upper floating plate 1, upper guide hole 10, upper connecting hole 11, lower fixed plate 2, lower guide hole 20, spring limiter 21, limit groove 22, locking groove 23, lower connecting hole 24, pagoda spring 3, top of pagoda 31, bottom of pagoda 32, guide post 4, positioning platform 41, lower end post 42, upper end post 43, threaded post 44, upper limit block 5;

[0029] Internal socket 01; power terminal 02; guide post 03; power cable 04. Detailed Implementation

[0030] The present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the terms "front," "rear," "left," "right," "up," and "down" used in the following description refer to the directions in the accompanying drawings, while the terms "inner" and "outer" refer to the directions toward or away from the geometric center of a specific component, respectively.

[0031] Figures 1 to 5 The diagram schematically illustrates a battery swapping connector with a novel floating mechanism according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the battery swapping connector with the novel floating mechanism includes a socket portion and a plug portion that interlock. A floating mechanism 00 is provided inside the socket portion. The floating mechanism 00 includes an upper floating plate 1, a lower fixed plate 2, multiple pagoda springs 3, and multiple guide posts 4.

[0032] The upper floating plate 1 has multiple vertically upward guide holes 10 around its perimeter, and the upper floating plate 1 is fixedly connected to the inner socket 01 in the middle.

[0033] The lower fixing plate 2 has multiple vertically downward guide holes 20 around its perimeter. Each lower guide hole 20 is directly opposite an upper guide hole 10. The lower fixing plate 2 is used to fix the outer shell of the socket part.

[0034] The small-diameter tower top 31 of the pagoda spring 3 is coaxially attached to the lower edge of the upper guide hole 10, and its large-diameter tower bottom 32 is coaxially attached to the upper edge of the lower guide hole 20.

[0035] The guide post 4 is connected to the pagoda spring 3 through a sleeve. Its upper end is slidably connected to the upper guide hole 10 with equal diameter, and its lower end is slidably connected to the lower guide hole 20 with a gap.

[0036] When the socket and plug are inserted, the pagoda spring 3 can withstand the assembly offset load and undergo vertical compression deformation as well as horizontal deformation in the lateral and longitudinal directions, so that the upper floating plate 1 and the inner socket 01 can be vertically shifted or / and horizontally and longitudinally shifted to complete the assembly, and the offset load is eliminated and automatically reset.

[0037] This battery swapping connector with a novel floating mechanism employs four sets of pagoda springs 3, effectively achieving XYZ three-way floating during mating. Its advantages are: First, this structure requires only four sets of pagoda spring assemblies, eliminating the need for the original four sets of oblique planar springs and requiring only the space of the original four sets of vertical floating assemblies, significantly reducing the occupied volume and providing ample space for the design of other components, especially suitable for high-current charging modes; Second, this structure reduces the size of the battery swapping connector and the size of the mounting opening, allowing for a larger battery pack size and capacity, thus giving new energy devices a greater range advantage; Third, this structure reduces the number of springs and related components within the connector, effectively simplifying the complexity of the floating structure, simplifying the assembly process, and effectively reducing costs.

[0038] Furthermore, the upper surface of the lower fixing plate 2 is integrally provided with multiple annular protruding spring limiters 21. The limiting groove 22 of each spring limiter 21 is coaxially arranged with the lower guide hole 20, and the bottom end 32 of the tower is sleeved in the limiting groove 22 with the same diameter. Its beneficial effects are: the spring limiter 21 can ensure that the pagoda spring 3 automatically returns to its original position after being deformed by bearing load, and at the same time drive the guide post 4, which is offset in the longitudinal and transverse directions of the plane, to return to the correct position. The structure is stable when not in operation, and the connector floats and guides quickly and stably when in operation, with high guidance accuracy over long-term use.

[0039] Furthermore, the lower guide hole 20 has a locking groove 23 at its lower end, and the guide post 4 has a positioning platform 41 with the same outline dimensions as the locking groove 23 at its lower end. In its natural state, the positioning platform 41 fits and locks into the locking groove 23. During insertion, the guide post 4 moves downward to disengage the positioning platform 41 from the locking groove 23 and unlock it. Then, the guide post 4 can be vertically offset and offset slightly longitudinally and laterally. Preferably, the locking groove 23 is a frustum groove, and the positioning platform 41 is a frustum. The beneficial effect is that this setting ensures that in its natural state, the positioning platform 41 naturally locks into the locking groove 23, ensuring that the initial state is the same for each insertion, and achieving high-precision frequent insertion.

[0040] Furthermore, the radius difference between the lower end post 42 of the guide post 4 and the lower guide hole 20 is preferably 2mm, meaning that the guide post 4 can move 2mm longitudinally and laterally. The beneficial effect is that this arrangement ensures good lateral offset space.

[0041] Furthermore, the upper end post 43 of the guide post 4 is slidably connected to the guide hole 10 with the same diameter;

[0042] The upper limit block 5 is located above the upper guide hole 10 and is threadedly connected to the threaded post 44 at the upper end of the upper post 43. In its natural state, the upper limit block 5 fits against the upper edge of the upper guide hole 10. Its advantages are: this structure is easy to assemble and can effectively ensure the positioning accuracy of the floating module.

[0043] Preferably, the upper limit block 5 is a nut, or the diameter of the upper end post 43 is larger than the diameter of the lower end post 42. The advantage of this design is that its modular structure reduces overall cost.

[0044] Furthermore, the floating mechanism 00 includes four sets of interlocking pagoda springs 3 and guide posts 4. The upper floating plate 1 has four symmetrical upper guide holes 10 at its four corners, and the lower fixed plate 2 has four symmetrical lower guide holes 20 around its perimeter. Preferably, the upper floating plate 1 has a rectangular upper connection hole 11 in the middle, and the lower fixed plate 2 has a rectangular lower connection hole 24 in the middle. The inner socket 01 is fixedly connected to the upper connection hole 11 and passes through the lower connection hole 24. Multiple power terminals 02, signal terminals, and grounding terminals are fixedly connected inside the inner socket 01. The lower end of the power terminal 02 is welded to the power cable 04 as a whole.

[0045] The upper floating plate 1 is also symmetrically connected to two guide columns 03. Its beneficial effect is that the overall size of the structure is small, further optimizing the product size.

[0046] Preferably, the four corners of the lower connecting hole 24 are connected to the lower guide hole 20 and the locking groove 23 at the lower end.

[0047] Furthermore, the upper floating plate 1, the lower fixed plate 2, and the guide post 4 are made of 304 stainless steel; the pagoda spring 3 is made of 50CrVA material. The beneficial effects are: 50CrVA material has high strength and toughness, good fatigue resistance, and can work in a wide temperature range (-40°C-210°C).

[0048] The above descriptions are merely some embodiments of this utility model. For those skilled in the art, various modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the inventive concept of this utility model, and all such modifications and improvements fall within the protection scope of this utility model.

Claims

1. A battery swapping connector with a novel floating mechanism, comprising a socket portion and a plug portion that interlock, wherein a floating mechanism (00) is provided within the socket portion, characterized in that: The floating mechanism (00) includes an upper floating plate (1), a lower fixed plate (2), multiple pagoda springs (3) and multiple guide posts (4); The upper floating plate (1) is provided with multiple vertical guide holes (10) around its perimeter, and the upper floating plate (1) is fixedly connected to the inner socket (01) in the middle. The lower fixing plate (2) is provided with a plurality of vertically downward guide holes (20) around its perimeter, each of the lower guide holes (20) being directly opposite an upper guide hole (10), and the lower fixing plate (2) is used to fix the outer shell of the socket part; The small-diameter tower top (31) of the pagoda spring (3) is coaxially attached to the lower edge of the upper guide hole (10), and its large-diameter tower bottom (32) is coaxially attached to the upper edge of the lower guide hole (20); The guide post (4) is connected to the pagoda spring (3) through a sleeve. Its upper end is slidably connected to the upper guide hole (10) with equal diameter, and its lower end is slidably connected to the lower guide hole (20) with a gap. When the socket and plug are inserted, the pagoda spring (3) can withstand the assembly offset load and undergo vertical compression deformation as well as horizontal and longitudinal deformation, so that the upper floating plate (1) and the inner socket (01) can be vertically shifted or / and horizontally and longitudinally shifted to complete the assembly, and the offset load is eliminated and automatically reset.

2. The battery swapping connector with a novel floating mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that, The upper surface of the lower fixing plate (2) is integrally provided with multiple annular protruding spring limiters (21). The limiting groove (22) and the lower guide hole (20) of each spring limiter (21) are coaxially arranged, and the bottom end (32) of the tower is sleeved in the limiting groove (22) with equal diameter.

3. The battery swapping connector with a novel floating mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that, The lower guide hole (20) is provided with a locking groove (23) at its lower end, and the guide post (4) is provided with a positioning platform (41) with the same outline size as the locking groove (23) at its lower end. In its natural state, the positioning platform (41) fits and locks the locking groove (23). When it is inserted, the positioning platform (41) moves downward and disengages from the locking groove (23) to unlock.

4. The battery swapping connector with a novel floating mechanism according to claim 3, characterized in that, The locking groove (23) is a frustum groove, and the positioning platform (41) is a frustum body.

5. The battery swapping connector with a novel floating mechanism according to claim 3, characterized in that, The radius difference between the lower end post (42) and the lower guide hole (20) of the guide post (4) is 2 mm.

6. The battery swapping connector with a novel floating mechanism according to claim 4, characterized in that, The upper end post (43) of the guide post (4) is slidably connected to the upper guide hole (10) with equal diameter. The upper limit block (5) is located above the upper guide hole (10) and is threadedly connected to the threaded post (44) at the upper end of the upper post (43). In its natural state, the upper limit block (5) fits against the upper edge of the upper guide hole (10).

7. The battery swapping connector with a novel floating mechanism according to claim 6, characterized in that, The upper limit block (5) is a nut, or the diameter of the upper end post (43) is greater than the diameter of the lower end post (42).

8. The battery swapping connector with a novel floating mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, The floating mechanism (00) includes four sets of interlocking pagoda springs (3) and guide posts (4). The upper floating plate (1) has four upper guide holes (10) symmetrically arranged at its four corners, and the lower fixed plate (2) has four lower guide holes (20) symmetrically arranged around its four sides. The upper floating plate (1) has an upper connecting hole (11) in the middle, and the lower fixed plate (2) has a lower connecting hole (24) in the middle. The inner socket (01) is fixedly connected to the upper connecting hole (11) and passes through the lower connecting hole (24).

9. The battery swapping connector with a novel floating mechanism according to claim 8, characterized in that, The four corners of the lower connecting hole (24) are connected to the lower guide hole (20) and the locking groove (23).

10. The battery swapping connector with a novel floating mechanism according to claim 8, characterized in that, The upper floating plate (1), the lower fixed plate (2) and the guide post (4) are made of stainless steel 304; the pagoda spring (3) is made of 50CrVA material.

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