Electrical connector

Abstract

The present disclosure provides an electrical connector, including a male plug and a female socket pluggable to each other, and an electrical connection device (2). The male plug includes at least one aluminum wire harness (1) and at least one male terminal (3). The electrical connection device (2) includes a connection body (21), two ends of which are provided with two bent structures, respectively. The two bent structures are extended toward the same side of the connection body (21), and connected to the aluminum wire harness (1) and the male terminal (3), respectively. The male terminal is inserted into the female socket. The present disclosure can achieve reduced spatial dimensions, simplified structure, light weight, and low cost.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present disclosure claims priority to Chinese Invention Patent Application No. 202211150049.6, entitled "electrical connector", and filed on September 21, 2022.TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure relates to the field of electrical technologies for automobile wire harnesses, and particularly to an electrical connector.BACKGROUND

[0003] With the development of new energy vehicles, the proportion of high-voltage electrical connectors (generally referred to as electrical connectors with a voltage greater than 500V) applied in automobiles is increasingly higher, and the requirements for the volume and reliability of the connectors are also becoming more stringent. As the square number of wire harnesses increases, the sizes of the high-voltage electrical connectors are increased. For large square connectors, the electromagnetic interference capability of a high-voltage wiring harness itself on other components is increasingly stronger due to the circulation of large current. At present, in order to avoid electromagnetic interference with other components, a shielding layer is added inside the high-voltage electrical connector. Compared with an electrical connector without shielding, this kind of high-voltage electrical connector has a higher cost, a heavier weight and a larger volume, resulting in the continuously increasing manufacturing cost of a wire harness system and the increasingly complicated process. Moreover, in some installation occasions, elbow electrical connectors (i.e., electrical connectors with an included angle of 90° to 180° between an axial direction of a wire harness and a length direction of a terminal at a device end) is often required. However, connectors with large square aluminum wires (generally referring to as connectors with a square number of more than 70 square meters) in the current elbow electrical connectors occupy large lateral spaces, and have large sizes, complicated connections, heavy weights and high costs.SUMMARY

[0004] The present disclosure aims to provide an electrical connector that achieves reduced spatial dimensions, simplified structure, light weight, and low cost.

[0005] The above objective of the present disclosure can be achieved by adopting the following technical solutions:

[0006] The present disclosure provides an electrical connector, including a male plug and a female socket pluggable to each other, and an electrical connection device. The male plug includes at least one aluminum wire harness and at least one male terminal. The electrical connection device includes a connection body, two ends of which are provided with two bent structures, respectively. The two bent structures are extended toward the same side of the connection body, and connected to the aluminum wire harness and the male terminal, respectively. The male terminal is inserted into the female socket.

[0007] The present disclosure has the following characteristics and advantages:

[0008] In the electrical connector of the present disclosure, an adaptation between the aluminum wire harness and the male terminal is realized by the electric connection device. Moreover, the electric connection device adopts bent structures, making it applicable to a large square aluminum wire connector. The electrical connector is not only simple in structure and convenient to process, but also reduces spatial dimensions, volume, weight, and costs.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] The following drawings are only for schematic illustrations and explanations of the present disclosure, and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure. In the drawings: FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an electrical connector according to the present disclosure. FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view taken along a line A-A in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 illustrates a structural diagram showing the cooperation between an aluminum wire harness and an insulating inner shell according to the present disclosure. FIG. 5 illustrates a structural diagram showing the cooperation among an aluminum wire harness, an electrical connection device, and a male terminal according to the present disclosure. FIG. 6 illustrates a first structural diagram of an electrical connection device according to the present disclosure. FIG. 7 illustrates a second structural diagram of an electrical connection device according to the present disclosure. FIG. 8 illustrates a third structural diagram of an electrical connection device according to the present disclosure. FIG. 9 illustrates a structural diagram of a transition terminal according to the present disclosure. Reference numerals:

[0010] 1: aluminum wire harness; 2: electrical connection device; 21: connection body; 22: first bent structure; 221: protrusion; 23: second bent structure; 231: embedding hole; 232: guide plugging portion; 3: male terminal; 31: transition layer; 311: first clamping groove; 312: second clamping groove; 32: device-side terminal; 321: second clamping groove; 4: insulating inner shell; 41: first clamping groove; 5: plug outer shell; 51: plug insulating liner; 511: first clamping block; 52: connector tail shell; 53: shielding locking ring; 6: socket housing; 7: secondary locking device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0011] For a clearer understanding of the technical features, objectives and effects of the present disclosure, specific embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the drawings.

[0012] As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 9, an embodiment provides an electrical connector, which includes a male plug and a female socket pluggable to each other, and an electrical connection device 2. The male plug includes at least one aluminum wire harness 1 and at least one male terminal 3. The electrical connection device 2 includes a connection body 21, two ends of which are provided with two bent structures (i.e., a first bent structure 22 and a second bent structure 23), respectively. The two bent structures are extended toward a same side of the connection body 21, and are connected to (an end of) the aluminum wire harness 1 and (an end of) the male terminal 3, respectively. The male terminal 3 is inserted into the female socket. The numbers of the electrical connection devices 2, the aluminum wire harnesses 1, and the male terminals 3 are the same. The electrical connector is mainly applicable to elbow electrical connector, that is, an included angle between a length direction of the male terminal 3 and an axial direction of the aluminum wire harness 1 may be 90° to 180°.

[0013] In the electrical connector of this embodiment, an adaptation between the aluminum wire harness 1 and the male terminal 3 is realized by the electric connection device 2. Moreover, the electric connection device 2 adopts bent structures, making it applicable to a large square aluminum wire connector. The electrical connector is not only simple in structure and convenient to process, but also reduces spatial dimensions, volume, weight, and costs.

[0014] During implementation, the electrical connection device 2 is an integrally stamped plate-shaped structure.

[0015] In this way, when connecting the aluminum wire harness 1 to the male terminal 3, the integrated bent electrical connection device 2 is employed at the bending junction between them. This design eliminates the need for a secondary bolt connection or crimping, thereby achieving structural simplification, reduced volume and weight, and lower costs. Moreover, while ensuring reduced spatial dimensions, connection points of the large square aluminum wire terminals are also reduced, thereby achieving a low-contact-resistance connection.

[0016] Exemplarily, the bent structure (specifically, the first bent structure 22) and the aluminum wire harness 1 are connected by friction welding. The connection of aluminum wires by friction welding has more excellent electrical conductivity and stronger mechanical connection performance, and can achieve the purposes of reducing cost and weight.

[0017] Generally, one of the bent structures (i.e., the first bent structure 22) is provided with a protrusion 221 formed by recessing outwardly (specifically, recessing in a direction close to the aluminum wire harness 1). The specific shape of the protrusion 221 may be determined according to actual needs. For example, in this embodiment, referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the protrusion 221 is a round bar structure recessed outward and is coaxial with the aluminum wire harness 1.

[0018] When installing the connector, the protrusion 221 and the aluminum wire harness 1 are connected by friction welding. During processing, a rotating spindle of a friction welding apparatus is inserted into the recess inside the protrusion 221, and the aluminum wire harness 1 is clamped by a fixture of the friction welding apparatus. During the friction welding process, the aluminum wire harness 1 remains stationary, and the first bent structure 22 rotates with the rotating spindle to achieve the friction welding connection between the two. By utilizing the protrusion 221, centering becomes easier, ensuring the concentricity of the electrical connection device 2 and the aluminum wire harness 1 at the connection point, thereby guaranteeing the appearance and quality of the connection.

[0019] Further, the other bent structure (specifically, the second bent structure 23) is provided with a plurality of embedding holes 231, which can enhance the integral injection strength.

[0020] Referring to FIG. 6, a guide plugging portion 232 with a thickness gradually decreased outward is formed at an end of the other bent structure (i.e., the second bent structure 23), which facilitates better plug-in engagement with the male terminal 3.

[0021] Further, at least a part of the connection body 21 is a flexible conductor, such as a multi-core cable, a braided cable, or a flexible busbar formed by laminating a plurality of sheets. This design allows the connection body 21 to better absorb vibrations when the male terminal 3 vibrates, thereby reducing the transmission of vibrations to the aluminum wire harness 1. Additionally, this design offers better fault tolerance during assembly.

[0022] The specific bending angles of the two bent structures depend on the included angle between the length direction of the male terminal 3 and the axial direction of the aluminum wire harness 1 in the elbow electrical connector used. For example, when being applied to a 90° electrical connector, referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the length direction of the male terminal 3 is perpendicular to the axial direction of the aluminum wire harness 1, the connection body 21 and the two bent structures are all plate-shaped, and plate surfaces of the two bent structures are perpendicular to each other and are both perpendicular to the connection body 21; the plate surface of one of the bent structures (i.e., the first bent structure 22) is perpendicular to the axial direction of the aluminum wire harness 1; and the plate surface of the other bent structure (i.e., the second bent structure 23) is parallel to a plate surface of an end of the male terminal 3 connected to the second bent structure.

[0023] The specific shapes of the first bent structure 22, the connection body 21 and the second bent structure 23 may be determined as needed. For example, in this embodiment, the first bent structure 22 is a circular plate, the connection body 21 is a right-angled triangular plate with transition arcs and the length direction thereof extended along the axial direction of the aluminum wire harness 1, and the second bent structure 23 is a rectangular plate.

[0024] Due to the requirements of the stamping process itself, the distance L between an axis of the aluminum wire harness 1 and an outer surface of the connection body 21 must be greater than the distance T between the axis of the aluminum wire harness 1 and an outer surface of the other bent structure (i.e. the second bent structure 23), as illustrated in FIGS. 6 to 8. Moreover, due to the requirements of the friction welding process of the large square friction welding terminal, the value of the distance L is relatively large and within a certain range.

[0025] Further exemplarily, the two bent structures are both extended in a direction parallel to the length direction of the male terminal 3. Compared to the existing large square friction weld terminal, this design can reduce the space occupied by the terminal, and ensure that the lateral dimension occupied by the electrical connection device 2 is small (the lateral dimension is perpendicular to both the axis of the aluminum wire harness 1 and the plate surface of the male terminal 3), so as to reduce the lateral dimension of the connector. Particularly, for the multi-core terminal (i.e., the number of the aluminum wire harnesses 1 is greater than or equal to two, and the aluminum wire harnesses 1 are arranged in parallel), the lateral dimension is reduced more obviously. Moreover, the second bent structure 23 can ensure sufficient contact area with the male terminal 3 to meet the requirement of large square number. The bending line between the second bent structure 23 and the connection body 21 is oriented along the axial direction of the aluminum wire harness 1, and is as close as possible to the centerline of the aluminum wire harness 1 while meeting the requirements of the friction welding process, so that the structure is more compact.

[0026] Optionally, an insulating layer is integrally injection-molded onto the outer surface of the electrical connection device 2. The insulating layer should avoid covering the connection positions between the first bent structure 22 and the aluminum wire harness 1 and between the second bent structure 23 and the male terminal 3. In other words, the areas of the electrical connection device 2 that are in contact with the aluminum wire harness 1 and the male terminal 3 are not covered by the insulating layer, while the remaining areas of the electrical connection device 2 are covered by the insulating layer, so as to achieve an insulating protection and prevent any current leakage. The plurality of embedding holes 231 are distributed on both sides of a first end of the male terminal 3. These embedding holes 231 enhance the strength of the integral injection-molded structure.

[0027] Exemplarily, the male terminal 3 includes a transition terminal 31 and a device-side terminal 32. A first end of the transition terminal 31 is fixedly plugged with the electrical connection device 2 (specifically, the second bent structure 23), and a second end of the transition terminal 31 is fixedly plugged with a first end of the device-side terminal 32.

[0028] The transition terminal 31 and the device-side terminal 32 may be arranged with their plate surfaces parallel to each other as illustrated in FIG. 5, or they may adopt other shapes and be arranged in other ways as required. A plate surface of the second bent structure 23 is parallel to a plate surface of an end of the male terminal 3, i.e., parallel to a plate surface of the first end of the transition terminal 31, so as to facilitate the connection between the second bent structure 23 and the first end of the transition terminal 31, while ensuring that the contact area therebetween meets the requirement of large square number. By dividing the male terminal 3 into the transition terminal 31 and the device-side terminal 32, users can flexibly combine transition terminals 31 of different structural forms such as different shapes and lengths with device-side terminals 32 (which may be copper busbar terminals) of different structural forms such as different shapes (which may be curved shape) and lengths as required. This design is more flexible and diverse, enabling the connector to be more suitable for various environments, meeting the diversified requirements of the connector and achieving a stronger versatility.

[0029] To facilitate plugging, referring to FIGS. 5 and 9, a first clamping groove 311 and a second clamping groove 312 are formed at the first end and the second end of the transition terminal 31, respectively. The electrical connection device 2 (specifically, the second bent structure 23) is inserted into the first clamping groove 311, and the first end of the device-side terminal 32 is inserted into the second clamping groove 312. The transition terminal 31 may be a single-piece terminal, or may be composed of a plurality of sheet terminals which are laminated and then connected to the device-side terminal 32 as illustrated in FIG. 5.

[0030] Further, the male plug further includes a plug outer shell 5 and an insulating inner shell 4, a part of the electrical connection device 2 and a part of the aluminum wire harness 1 are inserted into the insulating inner shell 4, and the insulating inner shell 4 is fixed in the plug outer shell 5. The insulating inner shell 4 mainly provides insulation protection for the electrical connection device 2 and the aluminum wire harness 1. A corresponding end of the aluminum wire harness 1 may extend out of the insulating inner shell 4.

[0031] To facilitate the fixing between the insulating inner shell 4 and the plug outer shell 5, a first clamping block 511 is protruded on an inner wall of the plug outer shell 5, a first clamping groove 41 is provided on an outer wall of the insulating inner shell 4, and the first clamping block 511 can be clamped in the first clamping groove 41. Therefore, the plug outer shell 5 and the insulating inner shell 4 are locked by snap-positioning, so as to enhance the connector's tensile strength.

[0032] Optionally, referring to FIG. 3, the inner wall of the plug outer shell 5 is further provided with a plug insulating liner 51, and the first clamping block 511 is formed on an inner wall of the plug insulating liner 51. The plug insulating liner 51 is a glue-poured structure, which is filled between the plug outer shell 5 and the insulating inner shell 4. The plug outer shell 5 can provide better protection for the electrical connection device 2 and the aluminum wire harness 1.

[0033] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, a connector tail shell 52 is connected to a rear end of the plug outer shell 5, and a shielding locking ring 53 is sleeved over the insulating inner shell 4 and is in contact with the connector tail shell 52 to realize an external shielding passage. The shielding locking ring 53 may be integrally injection-molded with the insulating inner shell 4.

[0034] Further, the female socket includes a socket housing 6, the male terminal 3 is inserted into the socket housing 6, and the plug outer shell 5 and the socket housing 6 are locked by a secondary locking device 7. The specific structure of the secondary locking device 7 may adopt any existing design, which is not limited in the present disclosure.

[0035] To facilitate the fixing between the male terminal 3 and the socket housing 6, a second clamping block is protruded on an inner wall of the socket housing 6, and the male terminal 3 is provided with a second clamping groove 321 (specifically, the second clamping groove 321 is provided on the device-side terminal 32), and the second clamping block can be clamped in the second clamping groove 321.

[0036] Optionally, the inner wall of the socket housing 6 is further provided with a socket insulating liner, and the second clamping block is formed on an inner wall of the socket insulating liner. The socket insulating liner is a glue-poured structure, which is filled in the socket housing 6. The socket insulating liner can provide better protection for the male terminal 3.

[0037] Optionally, a plating layer is disposed at a junction between the bent structure and the aluminum wire harness 1. The plating layer is a copper-aluminum transition layer, which is disposed on a connection surface of the copper bent structure and the aluminum wire harness 1. Under the action of heat and pressure, copper atoms and aluminum atoms are interpenetrated or combined with each other to form the copper-aluminum transition layer, which not only avoids an electrochemical corrosion between copper and aluminum, but also improves the electrical and mechanical properties of the copper-aluminum connection, thereby significantly improving the mechanical and electrical properties of the copper-aluminum joint.

[0038] It should be noted that the copper-aluminum transition layer at least includes pure copper, pure aluminum, copper-aluminum solid solutions and copper-aluminum compounds. The copper-aluminum compounds include one or more selected from the group consisting of Cu 2 Al, Cu 3 Al 2 , CuAl and CuAl 2 .

[0039] Optionally, the copper-aluminum transition layer includes the copper-aluminum solid solution not less than 6.5 wt%. If the copper-aluminum transition layer includes the copper-aluminum solid solution less than 6.5 wt%, other components in the transition layer are more than 93.5wt%. A large proportion of pure copper or aluminum in the copper-aluminum transition layer indicates that the welding of copper and aluminum is insufficient and the pure copper and the pure aluminum are not fused to form the copper-aluminum solid solution. A large proportion of the copper-aluminum compound in the copper-aluminum transition layer indicates that the copper-aluminum compound has a very poor electrical conductivity and is brittle, and the mechanical and electrical properties of the copper-aluminum joint will be degraded. Therefore, the copper-aluminum transition layer of the present disclosure includes the copper-aluminum solid solution of at least 6.5wt%.

[0040] In order to verify the influence of different proportions of copper-aluminum solid solutions in the copper-aluminum transition layer on a drawing force and a voltage drop between the bent structure and the aluminum wire harness 1, the drawing forces, the voltage drops and the welding strengths of the electrical connector with different proportions of copper-aluminum solid solutions in the copper-aluminum transition layer are investigated, and the results are shown in Table 1. Table 1: Influence of the proportion of the copper-aluminum solid solution in the copper-aluminum transition layer on the drawing force and the voltage drop of the electrical connectorProportion of the copper-aluminum solid solution in the copper-aluminum transition layer (wt%)5.56.58.512.515253545556575859095Drawing force of the electrical connector (N)15272063226026022881307532123578373539334164442045684612Voltage drop of the electrical connector (mV)0.690.490.460.410.390.360.330.280250.210.180.170.160.14

[0041] As can be seen from the Table 1, when the copper-aluminum solid solution in the copper-aluminum transition layer is less than 6.5 wt%, the drawing force between the bent structure and the aluminum wire harness 1 is significantly decreases, and the voltage drop markedly increases, failing to meet the requirements of the mechanical and electrical properties of the bent structure and the aluminum wire harness 1. As the proportion of the copper-aluminum solid solution in the copper-aluminum transition layer gradually increases, both the mechanical and electrical properties of the bent structure and the aluminum wire harness 1 progressively improve. Therefore, the inventor sets that the transition layer includes the copper-aluminum solid solution not less than 6.5 wt%.

[0042] Those described above are merely illustrative of specific embodiments of the present disclosure rather than limiting the scope of the present disclosure. Any equivalent change or modification made by those skilled in the art without departing from the concept and principles of the present disclosure should fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. An electrical connector, comprising a male plug and a female socket pluggable to each other, and an electrical connection device; wherein the male plug comprises at least one aluminum wire harness and at least one male terminal, the electrical connection device comprises a connection body, and two ends of the connection body are provided with two bent structures, respectively; the two bent structures are extended toward a same side of the connection body, and connected to the aluminum wire harness and the male terminal, respectively; and the male terminal is inserted into the female socket.

2. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the electrical connection device is an integrally stamped plate-shaped structure.

3. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the bent structure and the aluminum wire harness are connected to each other by friction welding.

4. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein one of the bent structures is provided with a protrusion formed by recessing outwardly.

5. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the other of the bent structures is provided with a plurality of embedding holes.

6. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein a guide plugging portion with a thickness gradually decreased outward is formed at an end of the other of the bent structures.

7. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein at least part of the connection body is a flexible conductor.

8. The electrical connector according to claim 7, wherein the flexible conductor is a multi-core cable, a braided cable, or a flexible busbar formed by laminating a plurality of sheets.

9. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein a length direction of the male terminal is perpendicular to an axial direction of the aluminum wire harness, the connection body and the two bent structures are all plate-shaped, and plate surfaces of the two bent structures are perpendicular to each other and perpendicular to the connection body; wherein the plate surface of one of the bent structures is perpendicular to the axial direction of the aluminum wire harness, and the plate surface of the other of the bent structures is parallel to a plate surface of an end of the male terminal connected to the other of the bent structures.

10. The electrical connector according to claim 9, wherein a distance between an axis of the aluminum wire harness and an outer surface of the connection body is greater than a distance between the axis of the aluminum wire harness and an outer surface of the other of the bent structures.

11. The electrical connector according to claim 10, wherein the two bent structures are both extended in a direction parallel to the length direction of the male terminal.

12. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the male terminal comprises a transition terminal and a device-side terminal, a first end of the transition terminal is fixedly plugged with the electrical connection device, and a second end of the transition terminal is fixedly plugged with a first end of the device-side terminal.

13. The electrical connector according to claim 12, wherein a first clamping groove and a second clamping groove are respectively formed at the first end and the second end of the transition terminal, the electrical connection device is inserted into the first clamping groove, and the first end of the device-side terminal is inserted into the second clamping groove.

14. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein the male plug further comprises a plug outer shell and an insulating inner shell, a part of the electrical connection device and a part of the aluminum wire harness are inserted into the insulating inner shell, and the insulating inner shell is fixed in the plug outer shell.

15. The electrical connector according to claim 14, wherein an inner wall of the plug outer shell is further provided with a plug insulating liner.

16. The electrical connector according to claim 14, wherein a connector tail shell is connected to a rear end of the plug outer shell, and a shielding locking ring is sleeved over the insulating inner shell and is in contact with the connector tail shell.

17. The electrical connector according to claim 14, wherein the female socket comprises a socket housing, the male terminal is inserted into the socket housing, and the plug outer shell and the socket housing are locked by a secondary locking device.

18. The electrical connector according to claim 17, wherein an inner wall of the socket housing is further provided with a socket insulating liner.

19. The electrical connector according to claim 1, wherein a plating layer is disposed at a junction between the bent structure and the aluminum wire harness, and the plating layer is copper-aluminum transition layer.

20. The electrical connector according to claim 19, wherein the copper-aluminum transition layer comprises a copper-aluminum solid solution not less than 6.5 wt%.

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