Battery Pack Locking Mechanism for Stable EV Bracket Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for locking and unlocking battery packs in electric vehicles suffer from weak connections between the battery pack and the battery bracket, leading to complications and instability during vehicle movement.
Innovation Solution
A locking mechanism where the lock shaft is placed in an accommodating cavity and locked by a lock tongue, with the shaft center of the rotary shaft higher than the lock shaft, ensuring the lock tongue rotates downward even under external forces, preventing unintended unlocking, and utilizing multiple lock bases and tongues for enhanced stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a multi-point locking method is used to secure the heavy battery pack, then the connection strength and reliability are improved, but the device complexity and operational difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is divided into multiple independent locking points (first locking part and second locking part) that can independently engage with the lock shaft. This segmentation provides multi-point locking for enhanced reliability while keeping each individual locking component simple and easy to operate.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring bolt automatically engages with the lock shaft when the battery pack is mounted, providing self-locking functionality. The spring-loaded design ensures the locking parts automatically move into the locked position without requiring complex manual operation or additional actuation mechanisms.
2Reliability
If the shaft center of the rotary shaft is positioned higher than the lock shaft, then the locking stability is improved by preventing unintended unlocking, but the design complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The rotary shaft is intentionally positioned asymmetrically relative to the lock shaft, with its shaft center located higher than the lock shaft center. This asymmetric positioning creates a geometric constraint that prevents the lock tongue from rotating upward to an unlocked position, thereby enhancing locking stability through the structural design itself rather than additional locking mechanisms.
3Ease of operation
If manual or automatic mounting methods are used for battery replacement, then the ease of operation varies, but the time required for battery replacement and charging operations increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spring bolt and locking parts are pre-configured in the locking mechanism before battery installation. When the battery pack is mounted, the lock shaft automatically engages with the pre-positioned locking parts, enabling rapid locking without requiring time-consuming manual adjustment or complex actuation sequences.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5a~5c
AI summary
Disclosed are a locking mechanism, a battery bracket, an electric vehicle, and a method for locking and unlocking a battery pack. The locking mechanism comprises a lock base and a lock tongue; the lock tongue is rotatably mounted on the lock base around a rotary shaft; the lock base is provided with an accommodating cavity; the lock tongue is rotated so that a lock shaft located within the accommodating cavity is in a locked state and an unlocked state. When the lock shaft is in the locked state, a shaft center of the rotary shaft of the lock tongue is higher than the shaft center of the lock shaft. When the lock shaft is in the locked state, the lock shaft is locked in the accommodating cavity by the lock tongue. When the lock tongue rotates upward, the lock shaft is converted into the unlocked state and may be removed from the accommodating cavity, and the operation is relatively simple. As the shaft center of the rotary shaft of the lock tongue in the locked state is higher than the shaft center of the lock shaft, thus when the lock shaft moves in the accommodating cavity, the lock tongue may be driven to rotate downward, preventing the lock tongue from rotating upward and causing the lock shaft to convert into the unlocked state, and improving the reliability of fixing a battery pack.