Connector Assembly Intermediate Position Blocking Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electrical connector assemblies for hybrid and electric vehicles fail to ensure power contacts are powered off during unmating, posing safety risks due to potential power flow.
Innovation Solution
An electrical connector assembly with a blocking system that secures connectors in an intermediate position, disconnecting interlocking contacts and retaining the guiding pin to prevent unmating along the mating axis, ensuring power contacts are disconnected before separation, utilizing a cam gear, slider, and blocking element to assist in safe disconnection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the connectors are allowed to unmate directly along the mating axis, then the unmating operation is simple and quick, but power contacts may remain powered during separation causing safety risks
Solution Approach 1:
The unmating process is segmented into distinct phases: the blocking system divides separation into an initial phase where power contacts remain connected but interlocking contacts disconnect, followed by a second phase where power contacts disconnect. This segmentation ensures safety while maintaining operational simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The blocking system performs preliminary action by preventing complete separation until interlocking contacts are disconnected. The retaining shoulder and guiding groove geometry pre-determine the unmating sequence, ensuring power contacts are disconnected before the connectors can be fully separated, thus eliminating safety risks before they can occur.
2Reliability
If a blocking system is introduced to prevent direct unmating, then power contacts are ensured to be powered off before separation, but the unmating process requires additional components and operational steps
Solution Approach 1:
The blocking system is self-actuating through the cam gear mechanism. When the user pulls the connectors apart, the guiding pin automatically engages the retaining shoulder at the correct moment to block further separation, and the cam gear automatically releases the block once interlocking contacts are disconnected. No additional user actions are required, maintaining ease of operation while ensuring safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The cam gear acts as an intermediary mechanism between the user's unmating action and the blocking function. It translates the linear pulling motion into the rotational motion needed to engage and disengage the retaining shoulder, mediating the interaction in a way that is transparent to the user and requires no additional operational complexity.
3Reliability
If the guiding pin is retained in the guiding groove with a tangent angle of 10°-20°, then a time-out is introduced preventing rapid unmating, but the unmating process becomes slower and more constrained
Solution Approach 1:
The tangent angle of the guiding pin (10°-20°) is optimized to balance two competing requirements: a larger angle would provide stronger retention and longer time-out but increase unmating time, while a smaller angle would allow faster unmating but reduce arc prevention effectiveness. This parameter optimization ensures adequate safety margin with minimal time penalty.
Solution Approach 2:
The time-out introduced by the retaining shoulder is excessive in the sense that it provides more retention than strictly necessary for safety, but this excess is acceptable because the unmating operation is already initiated by the user and the additional time is minimal. The guiding groove geometry ensures the pin is retained just long enough to prevent arcs but releases quickly once safety is ensured.
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 ensures power contacts are safely powered off during unmating, preventing electrical arcing and ensuring safe disconnection by introducing a time-out in the unmating process, thereby reducing the risk of power flow during separation.
Implementation Method 1
a cam gear rotatably mounted on the second casing around an axis perpendicular to the mating axis, wherein the guiding pin, the slider and the cam gear are adapted to cooperate with each other so as to assist the mating/unmating of the first and second connectors
Data Source
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AI summary
A connector assembly comprising a first and a second connector (10) each having a first and a second contact (20A, 20B), a first and a second interlocking contact (22C, 22D) arranged in the first connector (10), the first and second connectors (10) being adapted to mate/unmate along a mating axis (XX), the second connector comprising a blocking system adapted to block the first and second connectors (10) in an intermediate position upon the unmating, the first and the second contacts (20A, 20B) being connected to each other and the interlocking contacts (22C, 22D) being disconnected from each other in the intermediate position, wherein the second connector comprises a securing system adapted to secure the first and second connectors (10) in the intermediate position.