U-Shaped Battery Terminal with Orthogonal Fuse for Compact Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional battery terminals face challenges with strength and spatial constraints in vehicles, leading to potential protrusion issues when attached to batteries, especially with the advancement of space-saving designs.
Innovation Solution
A battery terminal design featuring opposed plates formed in a U-shape with electrode insertion holes, joined by a joint that is covered and fixed with insulating resin, and a fusible body that extends in intersecting directions to reduce size and protrusion, integrated from a single conductive metal plate with circuit terminals and fusible bodies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the battery terminal is designed with a conventional single-plate structure, then the manufacturing process is simple, but the strength against load is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The battery terminal is divided into two opposed plates that are folded in opposite directions from a central axis. This segmentation allows each plate to independently bear loads, distributing the stress and significantly increasing the overall strength against load compared to a conventional single-plate structure.
2Ease of operation
If the fusible body extends in the extending direction of the battery terminal, then the connection is straightforward, but the protrusion from the battery is significant
Solution Approach 1:
The fusible body is configured to extend primarily in the intersecting direction (width direction) rather than the extending direction (length direction) of the battery terminal. This dimensional change allows the fusible body to connect circuit terminals while minimizing protrusion from the battery, solving the space constraint problem.
3Reliability
If the battery terminal extends toward the outer edge of the terminal attaching surface, then the connection to the battery is secure, but the fuse unit protrudes significantly from the battery
Solution Approach 1:
The circuit terminals are arranged in the intersecting direction (width direction) perpendicular to the extending direction of the battery terminal. This orthogonal arrangement allows secure connection to the battery while minimizing protrusion in the length direction, accommodating space constraints in modern vehicles.
4Ease of manufacture
If multiple separate components are used for the battery terminal, circuit terminals, and fusible body, then each component can be optimized independently, but the manufacturing process becomes complex and costly
Solution Approach 1:
The battery terminal, circuit terminals, and fusible body are integrated into a single unit formed from one piece of conductive metal plate through fold lines. This merging eliminates the need for separate components and complex assembly processes, significantly simplifying manufacturing while maintaining the ability to optimize each functional area through the folding geometry.
Data Source
AI summary
A battery terminal includes a terminal main body provided in opposed plates thereof as a pair, formed by folding approximately in a U shape a strip plate made of a conductive metal, respectively with electrode insertion holes in which a rod-like electrode projecting from a terminal attaching surface in a battery is sequentially inserted, and formed to extend toward an outer edge of the terminal attaching surface at time of being connected to the rod-like electrode, and a joint joining the pair of the opposed plates in a state in which the opposed plates surface-contact and overlap each other on an opposite side of a folded part as seen from the electrode insertion hole.