Connectors, inductor arrangement and frequency converter

Abstract

Connector for connecting an inductor arrangement to a frequency converter, comprising at least one conductive terminal (1) and a floating support section (2) that supports the terminal (1), wherein the floating support section (2) is connected to an inductor housing (3) and wherein the terminal (1) comprises an upper circuit board contact section (11) for contacting a power board and a lower cable contact section (13) for contacting an inductor wire (5), characterized in that the terminal (1) is connected to the floating support section (2) via a sliding slot.

Description

The present invention relates to a connector for connecting an inductor assembly to a frequency converter comprising at least one conductive terminal and a floating support portion supporting the terminal, wherein the floating support portion is connected to an inductor housing and wherein the terminal comprises an upper board contact portion for contacting a power board and a lower cable contact portion for contacting an inductor wire. According to the invention, the connector is connected to the floating mounting portion via a sliding slot. The invention also relates to an inductor arrangement and a frequency converter.Electrical and mechanical connections to and within frequency converters may be exposed to mechanical and environmental loads, thereby degrading the quality of the connections involved. This is even more relevant for connections located at interface positions between the interior and the exterior of the frequency converter. Such connections are exposed not only to problematic mechanical wear, but also to environmental influences such as moisture and dirt. Known prior art solutions provide cast inductors with a wire and a grommet that need to be manually connected to a power board. These arrangements may improve some of the above problems, but involve other problems associated with the automatic assembly of the devices.The object of the present invention is to overcome the above problems by providing an improved terminal connector, an inductor assembly with a terminal connector and a frequency converter with an inductor assembly.This object is achieved by a terminal connector according to claim 1, an inductor arrangement according to claim 9 and a frequency converter according to claim 10. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.According to claim 1, a connector for connecting an inductor assembly to a frequency converter is provided. The terminal connector includes at least one conductive terminal and a floating support portion supporting the terminal, wherein the floating support portion is connected to an inductor housing, and wherein the terminal includes an upper board contact portion for contacting a power board and a lower cable contact portion for contacting an inductor wire. According to the invention, the connector is connected to the floating mounting portion via a sliding slot.The terminal is connected to the floating support portion and to the inductor housing so that relative movement of the components remains possible to some extent. This facilitates connection of the terminal to an external device. In particular, the terminal may be first aligned with an external device, such as a PCB, and then connected to the board by screwing a screw through the board and into the terminal. Since the terminal is movable toward the screw, it can be moved toward the screw so that no stress is introduced into the terminal or the circuit board. The flexible connection between the components can thus compensate for mechanical tolerances of the assembly, for example. Moreover, it limits the stresses applied to the board by inserting the flexible connection between the board and the terminal. Assembly is also simplified and can therefore be automated more easily.The terminals may thus be seated in a plastic housing that allows movement of the terminals to the power board. Accordingly, there may be clearance between the terminals and the power board before the connection is tightened by the bolt.In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the connector is provided to be movable relative to the floating support portion in a retracted state and to be firmly locked to the floating support portion in an extended state.In the retracted state, the port may be partially or fully positioned within the floating support portion and may be movable to the extended or protruding state. The terminal may be movable in a direction from the inductor housing to the position of the adjacent power board. In the extended state, the terminal may be locked to the floating support portion so that the terminal cannot be retracted to the retracted state, but may remain movable in another protruding state, i.e., toward the power board.In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the terminal comprises a threaded bore at its upper board contact portion for screwing the terminal to the power board.The threaded bore may be provided at a portion which may preferably be angled at right angles to the direction in which the port is movable relative to the floating support portion.In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the terminal comprises a recess and / or a passage and / or a sliding slot for latching the terminal to the floating mounting portion, and / or the floating mounting portion comprises a protruding portion for latching the terminal to the floating mounting portion.The protruding portion may be wedge shaped, wherein an inclined surface of the protruding portion may face towards the position of the inductor housing and thus away from the position of the circuit board. The protruding portion may also include a surface oriented perpendicular to the direction of relative movement of the terminal and the floating support portion. This surface may act as a stop which prevents the port and floating support portion from moving back to the retracted state once the two components have reached their extended state.In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, an intermediate portion between the upper board contact portion and the lower cable contact portion comprises at least one side protrusion for abutting the terminal to the floating support portion.The side protrusion may extend in a direction perpendicular to the extension of the protruding portion of the floating support portion in an assembled state of the device.In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, a seal is provided on the inductor housing, wherein the seal surrounds the terminal. The seal may be arranged to surround all the terminals if there is more than one terminal. The seal may surround the floating support portion and / or the entire inductor assembly. The seal may be arranged to separate the internal volume of the frequency converter from its external environment.In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the floating support portion is connected to an inductor housing to allow relative movement between the floating support portion and the inductor housing, and / or the terminal is connected to the floating support portion to allow relative movement between the terminal and the floating support portion.The relative mobility of the components makes it possible to connect the connections to the circuit board and the rest of the inductor arrangement in such a way that no or only negligible voltages are maintained in the connection.In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the lower cable contact section is crimped and / or soldered to the inductor wire connected to the inductor arrangement. The wire connecting the terminal to the inductor assembly may be supported in a flexible manner and may allow movement of the terminal to the power board. The inductor assembly may comprise molded DC coils.The invention also relates to an inductor arrangement having a connection connector and a frequency converter having a corresponding inductor arrangement.Further details and advantages of the invention will be described with reference to the embodiments shown in the figures. The figures show: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an inductor assembly with terminals; FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a terminal and its associated floating support portion; FIG. 3 is a detail view of two connectors and their associated floating support section; FIG. 4 is a detail view of a connector and its associated floating support portion; FIG. 5 is an exploded view of an inductor assembly and its associated components; and FIG. 6 : a detailed view of an inductor arrangement and its seal.FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an inductor assembly 6 with an embodiment of the connector of the present invention. The terminal connector is provided for connecting the inductor assembly 6 to a frequency converter not shown in FIG. 1. The terminal connector includes at least one conductive terminal 1 and a floating support portion 2 supporting the terminal 1, and in the present embodiment, a total of four terminals 1 are shown, a pair of which are connected to a separate floating support portion 2.Each of the floating support portions 2 is connected to an inductor housing 3 containing the inductances of the inductor assembly 6.The terminal 1 is connected to the floating support portion 2 and the inductor case 3 so as to allow relative movement of the components to some extent. Specifically, the terminal 1 may be supported so as to be movable in the M 1 direction relative to the floating support portion 2 and / or the inductor case 3. The M1 direction may correspond to the direction in which the terminal 1 is spaced apart from the contents of the inductor case 3. Additionally or alternatively, the floating support portion 2 may be supported so that it may have a certain freedom of movement relative to the inductor case 3 perpendicular to the M 1 direction. The limited movement of the terminal 1 and the floating support portion 2 in the direction perpendicular to the M1 direction ensures that the terminals are aligned with holes in a board, such as a power PCBA, to be connected to the terminal 1.The relative mobility of the components makes it possible to connect the connections to the circuit board and the rest of the inductor arrangement in such a way that no or only negligible voltages are maintained in the connection.The present arrangement facilitates connection of the terminal to the board, i.e., an external device. In order to connect the terminal 1 to the circuit board, the terminal 1 may be initially aligned with the circuit board and then connected to the circuit board by screwing a screw into the terminal 1. The terminal 1 is supported by the floating support portion 2 so as to be movable toward the screw. The terminal 1 can thus be freely moved in the direction of the screw, so that no voltages are introduced into the terminal 1 or the circuit board and a flexible connection is provided between the circuit board and the rest of the inductor arrangement. The flexible connection between the components can compensate for mechanical tolerances of the assembly. Furthermore, the flexible connection limits the stresses exerted on the circuit board. Assembly is also simplified and can therefore be automated more easily.The terminals 1 may be provided in the inductor housing 3 as a plastic enclosure that allows the terminals 1 to move toward the board located adjacent to the inductor housing 3. The inductor housing 3 can therefore comprise an opening for the connections 1 on its side facing the printed circuit board.Accordingly, there may be a clearance provided between the terminals 1 and the circuit board before the connection is tightened by the bolt. By providing the clearance, the load on the board and the terminal 1 is reduced.Fig. 2 is an exploded view of a terminal 1 and its associated floating support portion 2, and these two components may be parts of the terminal connector of the present invention.The terminal 1 has an upper board contact section 11 for contacting a power board, not shown in the figures, and a lower cable contact section 13 for contacting an inductor wire 5. The inductor wire 5 connects the terminal 1 to the inductor provided inside the inductor case 3 shown in FIG. 1.According to the invention, the terminal 1 is connected to the floating support portion 2 via a slide slot 121. The slide slot 121 allows some relative movement between the terminal 1 and the floating support portion 2.In this regard, in a terminal retracted state, i.e., a state in which the terminal 1 does not protrude from the floating support portion 2, the terminal 1 is movable relative to the floating support portion 2 to enable contact between the terminal 1 and the circuit board via a screw.The terminal 1 may be firmly locked to the floating support portion 2 in an extended state in which the terminal 1 sufficiently protrudes from the floating support portion 2 to make contact between the terminal 1 and the circuit board via a screw, as shown in the foregoing FIG. 1.In the retracted state, the terminal 1 may be partially or completely positioned inside or below the floating support portion 2 and may be movable to the extended or protruding state, i.e., to and partially through the floating support portion 2. The terminal 1 may be movable toward the position of the adjacent power board above the terminal from the inductor case 3 below the terminal 1, i.e., in a direction of approximately vertical upward in FIG. 2.The terminal 1 comprises a recess and / or a passage and / or the sliding slot 121 for locking the terminal 1 to the floating support portion 2. any of the said suitable features can be selected to ensure that the terminal 1 can be moved with respect to the floating support portion 2 and at least partially fixed.The floating support portion 2 comprises a corresponding protruding portion 21 for locking the terminal 1 to the floating support portion 2, and the protruding portion 21 and the recess or passage 121 are matched to each other such that the protruding portion 21 can be at least partially inserted into the recess or passage 121 in order to at least partially fix the terminal relative to the floating support portion 2.An intermediate portion 12 may be provided between the upper board contact portion 11 and the lower cable contact portion 13, and may include at least one side protrusion 122 for abutting the terminal 1 to the floating bracket portion 2. The side protrusion 122 may extend in a direction perpendicular to the extension of the protruding portion 21 of the floating support portion 2 in an assembled state of the device.In the embodiment of Fig. 2, two side protrusions 122 are arranged opposite each other to provide symmetrical abutment of the terminal 1. The side protrusion 122 may be disposed closer to the cable contact portion 13 than the recess or passage 121.FIG. 3 shows a detailed view of two connections 1 and their associated floating mounting section 2 in an extended state, in which the connections 1 can be latched to the floating mounting section 2. In this state, the terminal 1 cannot be retracted toward the retracted state, i.e., moved toward the rest of the inductor assembly 6 shown in FIG. 1. However, the connection between the terminal 1 and the floating support portion 2 may allow further relative movement of the two components to a further protruding state, i.e. such that the terminals 1 are moved further towards the power board and away from the inductor assembly 6 shown in FIG. 1.The terminal 1 may include a threaded hole 11' at its upper board contact portion 11 for screwing the terminal 1 to the power board. The threaded bore may be provided at a portion of the terminal 1, which may preferably be angled at right angles to the direction in which the terminal 1 is movable with respect to the floating support portion 2.FIG. 4 shows a detailed view of a terminal 1 and its associated floating support portion 2. the protruding portion 21 can be wedge-shaped, wherein an inclined surface of the protruding portion 21 can face the position of the floating support portion 2 or the inductor housing 3 and thus away from the position of the board. The protruding portion 21 may include a surface oriented perpendicular to the direction of relative movement of the terminal 1 and the floating support portion 2. This surface can act as a stop 21' which prevents the terminal 1 and the floating support portion 2 from moving back to the retracted state once the two components have reached their extended state.FIG. 5 shows an exploded view of an inductor arrangement 6 and its associated components.The lower cable contact portion 13 of the terminals 1 may be crimped and / or soldered to the inductor wire 5 connected to the inductors within the inductor assembly 6. The wire 5 connecting the terminal 1 to the inductor assembly 6 can be supported in a flexible manner and can allow the movement of the terminal 1 to the power board, i.e., in an approximately vertical direction in FIG. 5. The inductor assembly 6 may comprise potted DC coils within the inductor housing 3. A snap-fit feature 61 of the inductor housing 3 may be locked to a corresponding snap-fit feature of the iron core assembly 8 for connecting the two components.FIG. 6 shows a detailed view of an inductor arrangement 6 and its seal 4. the inductor arrangement 6 is shown integrated in the frequency converter 7. The gasket 4 may be provided on the inductor case 3, the gasket 4 surrounding the terminal 1. The gasket 4 may be arranged to surround all the terminals 1 when there is more than one terminal 1. The seal 4 may surround the floating support portion 2 and / or the entire inductor assembly 6. The seal 4 may be disposed to separate the inner volume of the frequency converter 7 from its external environment.

Claims

A connector for connecting an inductor assembly to a frequency converter, comprising at least one conductive terminal (1) and a floating support portion (2) supporting the terminal (1), wherein the floating support portion (2) is connected to an inductor housing (3) and wherein the terminal (1) comprises an upper board contact portion (11) for contacting a power board and a lower cable contact portion (13) for contacting an inductor wire (5), characterized in that the terminal (1) is connected to the floating support portion (2) via a sliding slot.Connector according to claim 1, characterised in that the connector (1) is provided such that in a retracted state it is movable relative to the floating mounting portion (2) and in an extended state it is firmly locked to the floating mounting portion (2).The connector according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the terminal (1) comprises a threaded hole at its upper board contact portion (11) for screwing the terminal (1) to the power board.The connector according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the connector (1) comprises a recess and / or a passage and / or a sliding slot (121) for locking the connector (1) to the floating mounting portion (2) and / or the floating mounting portion (2) comprises a protruding portion (21) for locking the connector (1) to the floating mounting portion (2).The terminal connector according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an intermediate portion (12) between the upper board contact portion (11) and the lower cable contact portion (13) comprises at least one side protrusion (122) for abutting the terminal (1) on the floating support portion (2).Connection connector according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a seal (4) is provided on the inductor housing (3), wherein the seal (4) surrounds the connection (1).The terminal connector according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the floating mounting portion (2) is connected to an inductor housing (3) to allow a relative movement (M1) between the floating mounting portion (2) and the inductor housing (3), and / or the terminal (1) is connected to the floating mounting portion (2) to allow a relative movement (M1) between the terminal (1) and the floating mounting portion (2).Connection connector according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the lower cable contact section (13) is crimped and / or soldered to the inductor wire (5) connected to the inductor arrangement.An inductor assembly comprising a terminal connector according to any preceding claim.Frequency converter having an inductor arrangement according to the preceding claim.

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