Electrical Connecting Device Locking Mechanism and Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrical connecting devices for battery packs in vehicles and chargers often face issues with ensuring proper orientation and connection, leading to unsafe consequences and degraded performance due to undesired conductive or nonconductive materials between terminals, which existing technologies have not effectively addressed.
Innovation Solution
An electrical connecting device featuring a base with a rotatable locking member, a linkage, and a detector, where the locking member rotates to a locked position to engage with the linkage, ensuring secure connection, and the detector confirms proper installation by detecting the engagement, utilizing an actuation module and resilient members to maintain and verify the locked position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a battery pack is installed in a proper orientation, then electrical connection should work as designed, but undesired conductive or nonconductive materials could still be lodged between terminals resulting in damaged or broken terminals
Solution Approach 1:
The detector is activated before the locking member is fully rotated to the locked position. It detects whether the abutting portion is engaged with the engaging portion in advance, allowing the system to prevent or alert about potential terminal damage before it occurs, rather than waiting for the harmful effect to manifest
Solution Approach 2:
The detector provides real-time feedback about the engagement status between the abutting portion and engaging portion during the locking process. This feedback mechanism allows the system to monitor and respond to the connection status, preventing terminal damage by detecting improper engagement conditions
2Reliability
If the locking member is rotated to locked position to secure battery pack, then connection reliability is improved, but the device complexity increases due to linkage and detector mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The linkage mechanism is integrated within the locking member structure itself. The abutting portion is part of the linkage that rotates along with the locking member, creating a nested arrangement where the linkage is contained within or integrated into the locking member, reducing overall structural complexity while maintaining the interlocking function
Solution Approach 2:
The linkage serves multiple functions: it connects the locking member to the base, provides the abutting portion for engagement detection, and rotates to indicate locking status. The detector also serves dual purposes by both detecting engagement and providing feedback for safety control, reducing the need for separate components
Data Source
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Figure 3A
AI summary
A connecting device includes a base (210), a locking member (230, 330, 430), linkage (240, 440), and a detector (250). The locking member (230, 330, 430) is rotatably disposed on the base (210) and configured to rotate about an axis to a locked position along a first rotational direction (D1) and to an unlocked position along a second rotational direction (D2) opposite to the first rotational direction (D1). The locking member (230, 330, 430) has an engaging portion (233) at a peripheral edge (232) thereof. The linkage (240, 440) is rotatably disposed on the base (210) and includes an abutting portion (241) configured to abut against the peripheral edge (232). When the locking member (230, 330, 430) is rotated to the locked position, the abutting portion (241) is moved to and is engaged with the engaging portion (233) accompanied with a rotation of the linkage (240, 440). The detector (250) is disposed on the base (210) and configured to detect the rotation of the linkage (240, 440).