Busbar Abutment Structure for Lower-Cost Electrical Connectors
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Solution Overview
Problem
The manufacturing cost of high-power electrical connectors, such as those used in electric vehicles, remains high despite existing designs that incorporate busbars with integrated abutments for precise positioning, which are costly to produce.
Innovation Solution
The design integrates abutments with busbars that are formed integrally with the straight portion, allowing for simplified manufacturing by reducing material usage and minimizing protrusion on non-major faces, thereby lowering production costs while maintaining effective positioning within the connector frame.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If abutments are integrally formed with busbar to stop insertion at the right position, then positioning precision is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the abutment function from the busbar by providing separate abutment elements within the housing. These abutments are independent components that can be manufactured separately and assembled into the housing, allowing the busbar to be produced without complex integral abutment features while still achieving precise positioning functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning function is segmented into separate components: the housing contains abutment elements that work independently to position the busbar. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function and manufactured using appropriate processes, reducing overall manufacturing complexity and cost.
2Manufacturing precision
If abutments protrude on side faces of busbar to stop insertion, then positioning precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The abutment functionality is extracted from the busbar structure and placed within the housing. The busbar maintains a simple rectangular cross-section without protrusions, while the housing contains abutment elements that perform the positioning function, thereby reducing busbar structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having abutments as protrusions on the busbar, the invention inverts the approach by having the housing contain abutment elements that interact with the busbar during insertion. This reversal simplifies the busbar design while achieving the same positioning effect.
Data Source
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AI summary
The electrical connector comprises a busbar (118) having an abutment (160, 162) located in a straight portion (124) to stop the insertion of the straight portion into a rectangular housing of the connector at a right position, the abutment being integrally formed with the straight portion. The abutment (160, 162) protrudes only on a front face of the straight portion and the width of the rectangular cross section of a mounting end (122) of the busbar (118) is equal to or smaller than the width of the rectangular cross section of the straight portion (124).