High-Current Connector Screw Support for Tilt-Free Isolation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing high current connector systems face challenges in preventing unintentional tilting and electrical contact misalignment, leading to potential safety hazards and connectivity issues, especially in high-voltage applications like electric vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A high current connector design featuring a screw with a radially extending support portion and a screw head cover that includes a cover portion and a convexity, which provides radial support and electrical isolation, along with a latching device to secure the screw in position, ensuring minimal tilting and maintaining a consistent annular gap for touch protection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the screw is allowed to move freely during assembly, then the assembly process is simpler and faster, but the screw may tilt or twist unintentionally causing misalignment and safety hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The support portion acts as an intermediary element between the screw and the receptacle internal wall. It provides guided contact that allows the screw to move into position while preventing unwanted tilting or twisting, thus maintaining both assembly simplicity and positioning accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The support portion is pre-positioned on the screw head cover to establish proper alignment before the screw is fully inserted. This preliminary guiding action ensures the screw enters the receptacle in the correct orientation, preventing misalignment while maintaining smooth assembly
2Reliability
If the support portion extends further radially to improve screw guidance, then tilting prevention is enhanced, but the connector size increases and tool access becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The support portion provides localized radial extension only at the specific location where guidance is needed, rather than uniformly increasing the entire connector size. This targeted approach maintains compact overall dimensions while achieving effective tilting prevention
Solution Approach 2:
The support portion extends in the radial direction perpendicular to the screw axis, creating guidance in a dimension different from the axial insertion direction. This allows effective tilting prevention without increasing the axial length or overall connector footprint
3Reliability
If the screw head cover provides extensive electrical isolation, then safety is improved, but the complexity of the isolation structure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support portion and cover portion are merged into a single integrated screw head cover component. This combines the mechanical support function and electrical isolation function in one piece, achieving comprehensive protection without the complexity of multiple separate isolation components
Solution Approach 2:
The screw head cover serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides mechanical support through the support portion, electrical isolation through the cover portion, and structural guidance. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional separate components, maintaining simplicity while ensuring safety
Data Source
AI summary
A high current connector includes a housing, a screw and a screw head cover. The screw extends along a screw axis and has a screw head. The housing has a first receptacle extending along the screw axis and a receptacle opening. The screw head and the cover are arranged in the first receptacle. The cover is on a side that faces the receptacle opening and covers the screw head to electrically isolate the screw. The screw head cover has a cover portion extending outwards in the radial direction and a support portion arranged radially outside on the cover portion extending about the screw axis. The first receptacle has a receptacle internal wall facing the support portion. The support portion has an outer circumferential side resting against the receptacle internal wall and supporting the screw in the radial direction.