Connection Module Bus Bar Locking Mechanism
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The attachability of external connection bus bars in power storage modules is impaired due to deformation when the bus bar thickness is small relative to its width, causing them to come off from the insulating protector during attachment.
Innovation Solution
A connection module with an external connection bus bar featuring a plate-shaped extension portion and an insulating protector with a locking surface and extended locking piece, which increases rigidity and prevents flexural deformation, ensuring secure attachment and preventing the bus bar from detaching.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the plate thickness of the external connection bus bar is made small relative to its width dimension, then the bus bar becomes more flexible and easier to install, but it deforms during attachment and attachability is impaired
Solution Approach 1:
The bus bar is segmented into a body portion and a protruding portion that extends in the plate thickness direction. This segmentation allows the bus bar to maintain flexibility for installation while the protruding portion provides structural support to prevent deformation during attachment to the locking piece.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention adds a dimension by creating a protruding portion that extends in the plate thickness direction (z-axis), transforming the traditionally two-dimensional flat bus bar into a three-dimensional structure. This dimensional change provides rigidity where needed while maintaining flexibility in the plane of the bus bar for installation purposes.
2Ease of manufacture
If the external connection bus bar is made thin and flexible, then it can be easily attached to the locking piece, but it tends to deform such that both end portions in the width direction approach each other
Solution Approach 1:
The bus bar structure is divided into a flat body portion for flexibility and a vertical protruding portion for shape maintenance. The protruding portion acts as a structural element that prevents the bus bar from deforming during attachment while the body portion remains flexible for ease of manufacture and installation.
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the bus bar have different structural properties: the body portion is thin and flexible for ease of attachment, while the protruding portion is thicker and more rigid to maintain the bus bar's shape and prevent deformation during the attachment process.
3Reliability
If the external connection bus bar is held by a locking piece on the resin protector, then it is securely attached, but the locking piece may deform the thin bus bar during attachment
Solution Approach 1:
The bus bar is segmented into a body portion and a protruding portion, where the protruding portion specifically engages with the locking piece. This segmentation allows the locking piece to secure the bus bar while the protruding portion's increased thickness provides resistance to deformation during the attachment process.
Solution Approach 2:
By adding the protruding portion in the plate thickness direction, the bus bar gains structural strength at the attachment point without compromising the flexibility of the main body. This dimensional addition creates a reinforcement that prevents the locking piece from deforming the bus bar during attachment.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enhances the rigidity of the connection module, preventing deformation and ensuring reliable attachment of the external connection bus bar to the insulating protector, thereby maintaining the bus bar's position and improving attachability.
Implementation Method 1
the external connection bus bar may be deformed by the locking piece and attachability may be impaired
Implementation Method 2
an elastic piece that extends from the placement portion in a direction perpendicular to a placement surface of the placement portion and is capable of being elastically displaced in a direction along the placement surface
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a technique that prevents impairment of attachability of an external connection bus bar. The present specification discloses a connection module to be attached to a power storage element group constituted by a plurality of power storage elements each having positive and negative electrode terminals and arranged side by side, the connection module including: a negative-electrode external connection bus bar that includes a plate-shaped extension portion and is configured to be electrically connected to an electrode terminal; and a second protector that holds the negative-electrode external connection bus bar. The second protector includes a placement portion on which the extension portion is placed and a locking portion that has a locking surface facing the placement portion, and the extension portion is provided with an extended locking piece 49 that extends from the extension portion toward the locking surface.