Explosion-proof housing for a power electronics device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing power electronics device housings lack effective and cost-efficient mechanisms to prevent detachment of housing parts during explosions while ensuring controlled pressure relief, posing safety risks to nearby individuals.
Innovation Solution
A housing design featuring deformable sleeves between fixing screws and the housing cover, which compress to create a predefined gap for pressure relief, combined with additional braking elements that engage only after a minimum gap width is reached, ensuring the cover remains attached and absorbing excess energy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a deformable fastening element with a closed ring is used to connect the cover and tray, then the housing remains stable during explosion, but the installation space requirement increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The fastening system is segmented into multiple fixing screws distributed around the housing perimeter, each independently capable of controlled detachment. This replaces the single large deformable ring with multiple smaller screw-sleeve assemblies, reducing overall space requirements while maintaining explosion safety through distributed failure modes.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution transitions from a two-dimensional planar deformable ring to a three-dimensional layered structure where fixing screws penetrate through the housing wall with sleeves positioned between the screw head and housing. This vertical dimensionality allows controlled detachment through screw compression rather than requiring large horizontal deformation space.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the cover is designed to detach completely in the event of explosion, then the explosion pressure can escape, but housing parts may come loose and injure people
Solution Approach 1:
The sleeves are pre-installed between the fixing screw heads and the housing tray, with deformation structures already positioned to control the detachment process. When explosion pressure builds, the sleeves compress along predetermined deformation paths, ensuring the cover detaches in a controlled manner that prevents uncontrolled flying parts while allowing pressure relief.
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanical properties of the sleeves are designed to change under explosion conditions. The deformation structures (ridges, grooves, or slots) allow the sleeve material to compress and deform plastically, transforming the rigid fastening state into a controlled detachment state. This parameter change enables the transition from holding the cover firmly to allowing controlled separation under excessive pressure.
3Stability of the object's composition
If conventional fixing screws are used without deformation structures, then the housing remains tightly sealed, but the cover may be torn off during explosion
Solution Approach 1:
The sleeves act as cushioning elements positioned between the fixing screws and the housing. During normal operation, they maintain tight sealing. During explosion, they compress to absorb and distribute the explosion force, cushioning the transition from sealed state to detached state and preventing sudden catastrophic failure that would tear the cover off.
Solution Approach 2:
The sleeves serve as intermediary elements between the fixing screws and the housing tray. They mediate the force transmission during explosion, transforming the direct tensile load on the screw-thread connection into a controlled compression and deformation process of the sleeve material, thereby preventing screw extraction while allowing controlled detachment.
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 design effectively prevents housing detachment and safely dissipates explosion pressure, enhancing safety by maintaining the cover's attachment and absorbing higher explosion forces without material-intensive redesign.
Implementation Method 1
the sleeve is compressed in a manner defined by the deformation structures such that a gap of predefined width is formed between the cover and the tray
Implementation Method 2
the deformation structures of the sleeve are formed such that, under the effect of an explosion force exceeding the pressing force, the sleeve is compressed in a manner defined by the deformation structures
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure relates to a housing for a power electronics device, including a tray for receiving power electronics components and a cover for placing on the tray so that a closed housing is formed. The cover is fixed on the tray by a plurality of fixing screws. At least one opening element is provided that is made of one of the fixing screws, each of which is guided through a sleeve with deformation structures. The sleeve is arranged between the screw head of the fixing screw and the housing such that a pressing force is exerted by the screw head between the cover and the tray via the sleeve. The deformation structures are designed such that under the effect of the force of an explosion that exceeds the pressing force, the sleeve is compressed in a manner defined by the deformation structures such that a gap with a specified width is formed between the cover and the tray.