High Voltage Components

Abstract

The high-voltage component (1) comprises at least a housing (2) and a high-voltage terminal (3) arranged in the housing (2). The housing (2) has a cover element (4) closing an opening (5) in the housing (2), the high-voltage terminal (3) being accessible from the outside only through the opening (5). The cover element (4) is connected in a detachable manner to the housing (2) via a number of connection elements (6, 7). A non-detachable first connection (9) and a second connection (10) are arranged in the housing (2). A cable (8) runs from the first connection (9) outside the housing (2) at least partially beyond the cover element (4) to the second connection (10), so that at least one first connection element (6) is covered by the cable (8) and is therefore inaccessible from the outside.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a high-voltage component having at least a housing and a high-voltage terminal arranged in the housing. High-voltage components are used in particular in the automotive sector, high-voltage components being, for example, electric motors, traction drives and the like.

[0002] High voltage is defined as voltages above 60 volts (DC) or above 30 volts (AC), especially in the automotive field. Low voltage therefore includes voltages up to 60 volts (DC) or up to 30 volts (AC).

[0003] Such high voltage components pose a higher risk of injury to humans and therefore need to be protected in special ways, especially to protect electrical workers from electric shock.

[0004] Removing covers used to close openings on the housings of high voltage components, for example by disconnecting or connecting between the high voltage bus wires of an inverter and the respective high voltage terminals of the stator of an electric motor, can expose an individual to high voltage shock during maintenance or repair.

[0005] A technical solution is needed to, for example, discharge the high voltage in the inverter before opening the cover, thereby avoiding electric shock. A conventional solution would be, for example, to provide an additional contact switch on the cover that can detect when the cover is opened, but this involves the risk of failure and is expensive.

[0006] There is a constant need for improved safety when working with electrical components, especially high voltage components. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] The object of the present invention is to at least partially solve the above-mentioned problems found in the prior art. In particular, there is a need to propose a high-voltage component which can be maintained and repaired without risk of electric shock from high voltages. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] A high-voltage component having the features according to claim 1 contributes to solving these problems. Further advantageous developments are the subject matter of the dependent claims. The features individually recited in the claims may be combined with one another in any technically meaningful manner and may be supplemented by illustrative facts in the description and / or by details in the drawings. This represents further embodiments of the invention.

[0009] A high-voltage component is proposed which comprises at least a housing and a high-voltage terminal arranged in the housing. The housing has a cover element which closes an opening in the housing and a high-voltage terminal which is accessible from the outside (i.e. by a human being from outside the housing) only via the opening. The cover element is connected in a detachable manner to the housing via a number of (first and second) connection elements. A cable runs from a non-detachable first connection arranged on the housing, outside the housing, at least partially beyond the cover element to a second connection arranged on the housing, so that at least one first connection element is covered by the cable and is therefore inaccessible from the outside. The cable is electrically conductively connected to the high-voltage component in the second connection. Disconnecting the second connection discharges the high-voltage component.

[0010] Voltages above 60 volts are applied to the high voltage terminals.

[0011] In particular, the cover element is coupled to the housing via several connection elements (screws, clips, pins, etc.). Each of these connection elements can be attached and detached from the outside. In particular, the cover element can be removed from the housing only after all connection elements have been removed. When at least one first connection element (or all first connection elements) is covered by the cable, it is no longer accessible from the outside, i.e. the first connection element can only be removed when the cable is moved away from this position. In particular, the cover element can only be moved after at least one first connection element (or all first connection elements) has been removed, so that the opening is at least partially exposed.

[0012] When the cable is connected to the high-voltage component at the second connection, the connection element which is covered by the cable and is not accessible from the outside is in particular distinguished as the first connection element.

[0013] When the cable is connected to the high-voltage component in the second connection, each connection element that is not covered by the cable and is therefore always or independently of the cable and therefore accessible from the outside is distinguished in particular as a second connection element. In addition to the at least one first connection element, the cover element may also be connected to the housing by at least one second connection element. Each second connection element can thus be removed always or independently of the cable, whereby, if the at least one first connection element has not yet been removed, the cover element continues to cover the opening and prevents access from the outside to the high-voltage terminal.

[0014] In particular, the cable extends from a non-detachable first connection arranged on the housing, at least partially through the cover element, on the outside of the housing to a second connection arranged on the housing. The cable is electrically conductively connected to the high-voltage component at the second connection, e.g. via a plug connection. After the second connection (and possibly other fastening members / connections) is removed, the cable can move, in particular move around a pivot point realised by the first connection. As a result, at least one first connection element is accessible from the outside. Since the high-voltage component is discharged by removing the second connection, the cover element can be safely opened after the second connection is removed.

[0015] In particular, the cable itself or the cable guide attached to the cable has a high resistance to deformation or has a precisely matched length between the first and second connections, so that when the cable is connected to the high-voltage component in the second connection, it is at least impossible for the cable to be deformed to such an extent that at least one first connection element becomes accessible from the outside.

[0016] Removing the second connection in particular breaks the electrical circuit provided in the pin header of the plug connection, thereby discharging, for example, a high voltage terminal accessible through an opening (such as an inverter).

[0017] In particular, the cover element can only be moved after the at least one first connection element has been detached, whereby the high voltage terminal becomes accessible from outside the housing through the opening.

[0018] In particular, at least two first connection elements are covered by the cable, which ensures that the cover element cannot rotate around one first connection element, e.g. after all second connection elements have been removed.

[0019] In particular, the cable is connected to the housing in a detachable manner via at least one first fastening member between the first and second connections. The first fastening member can be a screw, a clip, a pin connection, etc. In particular, the first fastening member can be similar to the connection element, i.e. it can have a screw, a clip or a pin.

[0020] In particular, the first fastening member serves to further secure the cable to the housing, thereby ensuring that the at least one first connection element is not accessible from the outside.

[0021] In particular, the at least one first connection element is accessible from the outside only after the second connection and the at least one first fastening member have been detached.

[0022] In particular, the cable is at least partially arranged in a cable guide having a predefined bending stiffness or a predefined deformation resistance, and the cable is fixed at least to the at least one first fastening member via the cable guide, the cable guide in particular stiffening the cable, so that it is ensured that the cable cannot be deformed in such a way that the at least one first connection element is accessible from the outside unless the second connection is released.

[0023] In particular, the second connection is a plug connection. In particular, the cable has a plug at this end, which plug is connectable to a plug socket on the housing to form a plug connection. In particular, a (safety) circuit is closed by the plug connection. Removing the second connection or the plug connection thus breaks the circuit. For example, this discharges a high voltage terminal accessible through an opening (of an inverter, etc.) in the pin header of the plug connection.

[0024] In particular, the cable is a low voltage connection and the second connection is a low voltage terminal, so disconnecting the second connection does not involve a risk of (life threatening) electric shock.

[0025] A voltage of up to 60 volts (DC) or up to 30 volts (AC) is applied to the low voltage terminal.

[0026] In particular, at least one (or each) first connecting element at least comprises at least one thread, or alternatively, said (or each) second connecting element at least comprises at least one thread.

[0027] In particular, the high voltage component is a traction drive and the high voltage terminal has an electrically conductive connection between the inverter and the stator of the traction drive, but the described high voltage component may further have other electrical components having at least one covered high voltage terminal and one low voltage terminal (in a second connection).

[0028] In particular, the high voltage component comprises an inverter carrying a high voltage and a traction drive connected thereto: when the inverter is discharged, the high voltage cannot remain at the high voltage terminals.

[0029] In particular, in the claims and in the restatements of these claims, the indefinite articles ("ein", "eine", "einer", "eines") are intended to be understood as such, rather than as numerals, and therefore the correspondingly introduced terms or elements are intended to be understood as occurring at least once, but in particular as possibly occurring several times.

[0030] For the avoidance of doubt, ordinal numbers used herein ("first," "second," etc.) are primarily intended to distinguish between several similar objects, values, or steps; i.e., these ordinal numbers do not necessarily define any dependency or ordering of these objects, values, or steps relative to one another. If a dependency or ordering is necessary, this will either be set forth herein or will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon inspection of the actually described configuration. Where an element may occur more than once ("at least one"), a description of one of those elements may, but does not necessarily, apply equally to all or some of those elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0031] The present invention and technical background will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the detailed embodiments do not intend to limit the present invention. Unless otherwise specified, it is possible to extract partial features of the technical contents described in the drawings and combine them with other components and the knowledge of this specification. It should be noted that the drawings and the ratios shown in the drawings are merely schematic. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0032] Each figure shows: [Figure 1] FIG. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a top view of the high voltage components shown in FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a perspective side view of the high-voltage component according to FIG. 2. [Figure 4] 4 is a perspective view from above of the high-voltage component according to FIGS. 1 to 3 and a partial cross-section along the line IV-IV according to FIG. 2; FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a perspective side view of the high-voltage component according to FIGS. 1 to 4 after the second connection and the first and second fastening members have been removed; [Figure 6]6 is a partial side view of FIG. 5 taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 2. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a top view of the high-voltage component with the swirled cable and exposed cover elements according to FIGS. 5 and 6 .

[0033] FIG. 1 shows an exploded perspective view of the high-voltage part 1. FIG. 2 shows a top view of the high-voltage part 1 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 shows a perspective side view of the high-voltage part 1 according to FIG. 2. FIG. 4 shows a perspective view from above of the high-voltage part 1 according to FIGS. 1 to 3 and a partial section along the IV-IV section line according to FIG. 2. FIG. 5 shows a perspective side view of the high-voltage part 1 according to FIGS. 1 to 4 after the second connection and the first clamping member 11 and the second clamping member 13 have been removed. FIG. 6 shows a part of the side view of FIG. 5 along the VI-VI section line according to FIG. 2. FIG. 7 shows a top view of the high-voltage part 1 with the swiveled cable 8 and the exposed cover element 4 according to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIGS. 1 to 7 are explained together below.

[0034] The top view, side view and top view can be understood from figures 1 and 2. The top view is a view along the direction of disassembly of the exploded view of figure 1. The side view is a view from the right or left of the high voltage component 1 according to figure 2. The top view is a view from above of the high voltage component 1 according to figure 2.

[0035] The high-voltage component 1 has a housing 2 and high-voltage terminals 3 arranged therein (details not shown). The housing 2 has a cover element 4 closing an opening 5 in the housing 2, whereby the high-voltage terminals 3 are accessible from the outside (i.e. from outside the housing 2) to a person only via the opening 5. The cover element 4 is connected in a detachable manner to the housing 3 via a number of (first and second) connection elements 6, 7. A cable 8 runs from a non-detachable first connection 9 arranged on the housing 2, outside the housing 2, at least partially beyond the cover element 4, to a second connection 10 arranged on the housing 2. The three first connection elements 6 are thus covered by the cable 8 and are therefore inaccessible from the outside. The cable 8 is electrically conductively connected to the high-voltage component 1 at the second connection 10. The high-voltage component 1 is discharged by disconnecting the second connection 10.

[0036] The high voltage component 1 is a traction drive for a motor vehicle, and the high voltage terminals 3 have an electrically conductive connection between an inverter and a stator (details not shown) of the traction drive. The inverter transmits a high voltage. When the inverter is discharged, the high voltage cannot remain at the high voltage terminals 3.

[0037] The cover element 4 is connected to the housing 2 via six connecting elements 6, 7 designed as screws. Each of the connecting elements 6, 7 can be attached and detached from the outside. The cover element 4 can only be removed from the housing 2 after all connecting elements 6, 7 have been removed. When the three first connecting elements 6 are covered by the cable 8, they are no longer accessible from the outside (see figures 2 and 4). This means that the first connecting elements 6 can only be removed when the cable 8 has left this position (see figures 5, 6 and 7). The cover element 4 can only be moved after the three first connecting elements 6 have been removed, which exposes the opening 5.

[0038] The second connection elements 7 are the connection elements 6, 7 that are not covered by the cable 8 when the cable 8 is connected to the high-voltage component 1 at the second connection 10 (see Figures 2 to 4), i.e. are accessible from the outside, either at any time or independently of the cable 8. In addition to the three first connection elements 6, the cover element 4 is also connected to the housing 2 by means of the three second connection elements 7. Each second connection element 7 can thus be removed either at any time or independently of the cable 8, whereby the cover element 4 continues to cover the opening 5 if the three first connection elements 6 have not yet been removed, thereby preventing access to the high-voltage terminal 3 from the outside.

[0039] The cable 8 runs from a non-detachable first connection 9 arranged on the housing 2, at least partially through the cover element 4 on the outside of the housing 2 to a second connection 10 arranged on the housing 2. The cable 8 is electrically conductively connected to the high-voltage component 1 at the second connection 10 via a plug connection (see figures 1 to 3). After the second connection 10 and the first and second fastening members 11 and 13 are removed, the cable 8 can move around the pivot point realized by the first connection 9. As a result, the three first connection elements 6 are accessible from the outside. By removing the second connection 10, the high-voltage component 1 is discharged, so that after the second connection 10 is removed, the cover element 4 can be safely opened.

[0040] The cable 8 itself and the cable guide 12 attached to the cable 8 are highly resistant to deformation or have a precisely matched length between the first connection 9 and the second connection 10, so that when the cable 8 is connected to the high-voltage component 1 at the second connection 10, it is at least impossible for the cable 8 to be deformed to such an extent that the respective first connection element 6 becomes accessible from the outside.

[0041] Removal of the second connection 10 breaks the electrical circuit provided in the pin header of the plug connection, thereby discharging the high voltage terminal 3 accessible through the opening 5 .

[0042] The cover element 4 can only be moved after the three first connection elements 6 (and the second connection elements 7) have been removed, thereby making the high voltage terminal 3 accessible from outside the housing 2 through the opening 5.

[0043] The cable 8 is connected in a detachable manner to the housing 2 between a first connection 9 and a second connection 10 via a first fastening member 11 and a second fastening member 13. The first fastening member 11 and the second fastening member 13 are each designed as a screw connection.

[0044] The first and second fastening members 11, 13 serve to further secure the cable 8 to the housing 2, thereby ensuring that each first connection element 6 is not accessible from the outside.

[0045] The first connection element 6 is only accessible from the outside after the second connection 10, the first fastening member 11 and the second fastening member 13 have been removed.

[0046] The cable 8 is at least partially arranged in a cable guide 12 having a predefined bending stiffness or a predefined deformation resistance. The cable 8 is also attached to the first and second fastening members 11, 13 via the cable guide 12. Alternatively, the cable guide is attached to the housing 2 via the first and second fastening members 11, 13. The cable guide 12 further stiffens the cable 8. As a result, it is ensured that the cable 8 cannot be deformed in such a way that the three first connection elements 6 are accessible from the outside unless the second connection 10 is removed.

[0047] The second connection 10 is designed as a plug connection. The cable 8 has at its end a plug 14 which can be connected to a plug socket 15 on the housing 2 to form the plug connection or the second connection 10. A (safe) circuit is closed by the plug connection. Removing the second connection 10 or the plug connection thus breaks the circuit. This for example discharges the high-voltage terminal 3 accessible via the opening 5 in the pin header of the plug connection.

[0048] The cable 8 is a low voltage connection and the second connection 10 is a low voltage terminal, therefore removing the second connection 10 does not involve any risk of (life threatening) electric shock. [Explanation of symbols]

[0049] 1 High voltage components 2. Housing 3 High Voltage Terminal 4 Cover Elements 5 aperture 6 First connecting element 7 Secondary connecting element 8 Cable 9. First Connection 10 Second Connection 11 First fastening member 12 Cable guide 13 Second fastening member 14 Plug 15 Plug holder

Claims

1. A high voltage component (1), A housing (2); A high voltage terminal (3) disposed in the housing (2); At least The housing (2) has a cover element (4) for closing an opening (5) in the housing (2), the high voltage terminal (3) is accessible from the outside only through the opening (5); The cover element (4) is connected to the housing (2) in a detachable manner via a number of connecting elements (6, 7), A non-detachable first connection (9) and a second connection (10) are arranged in the housing (2), a cable (8) extends from the first connection (9) outside the housing (2), at least partially beyond the cover element (4) to the second connection (10); Thus, at least one first connection element (6) is covered by the cable (8) and cannot be accessed from the outside; the cable (8) is electrically conductively connected to the high voltage component (1) at the second connection (10); Discharging the high voltage component (1) by disconnecting the second connection (10). High voltage components (1).

2. A high voltage component (1) according to claim 1, the cover element (4) can only be moved after the at least one first connection element (6) has been removed, whereby the high voltage terminal (3) becomes accessible from outside the housing (2) through the opening (5); High voltage components (1).

3. A high-voltage component (1) according to claim 1 or 2, At least two first connection elements (6) are covered by said cable (8), High voltage components (1).

4. A high-voltage component (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the cable (8) is connected in a detachable manner to the housing (2) via at least one first fastening member (11) between the first connection (9) and the second connection (10); High voltage components (1).

5. A high voltage component (1) according to claim 4, said at least one first connection element (6) is accessible from the outside only after said second connection (10) and said at least one first fastening member (6) have been removed; High voltage components (1).

6. A high-voltage component (1) according to claim 4 or 5, The cable (8) is at least partially disposed in a cable guide (12) having a predetermined bending stiffness, The cable (8) is fixed to at least the at least one first fastening member (11) via the cable guide (12). High voltage components (1).

7. A high-voltage component (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, the second connection (10) being a plug connection, High voltage components (1).

8. A high-voltage component (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, The cable (8) is a low voltage connection, the second connection (10) is a low voltage connection; High voltage components (1).

9. A high-voltage component (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, said at least one first connecting element (6) having at least one thread, High voltage components (1).

10. A high-voltage component (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, The high voltage component (1) is a traction drive, the high voltage terminal (3) having an electrically conductive connection between an inverter and a stator of the traction drive; High voltage components (1).

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