External Modular Unit for High-Voltage Battery Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
The maintenance of modular units containing switching means and fuses for high-voltage batteries in motor vehicles is complex, requiring qualified personnel and involving high-voltage operations, which complicates safe and efficient assembly and disassembly.
Innovation Solution
The modular unit is externally fastened to the high-voltage battery housing, with high-voltage and low-voltage contacts automatically connected during mechanical assembly, utilizing protruding and recessed contacts with insulating protection and sealing, allowing for safe and rapid assembly by non-qualified personnel, and including a touch protection device for high-voltage contacts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the modular unit is installed inside the high-voltage battery housing, then the electrical connections are integrated, but the maintenance requires opening the housing and involves high-voltage operations requiring qualified personnel
Solution Approach 1:
The modular unit containing switching means and fuses is extracted from the interior of the battery housing and mounted externally on the housing surface. This extraction allows maintenance personnel to access and service the modular unit without opening the housing, eliminating exposure to high-voltage internal components while maintaining all necessary electrical connection functions.
2Ease of manufacture
If the modular unit is accessed by opening the housing, then all electrical connections can be made, but the assembly process becomes complex and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The modular unit is pre-assembled with all switching means, fuses, and electrical connections configured before installation. The unit includes pre-configured contact arrangements that automatically connect to the battery housing upon mounting, eliminating the need for time-consuming on-site assembly operations and reducing installation time significantly.
Solution Approach 2:
The contact arrangements are designed with nested protruding and recessed contact structures that automatically engage with each other during the mounting process. This nested design ensures that all electrical connections are made automatically as the modular unit is attached to the housing, without requiring separate connection steps.
3Ease of operation
If high-voltage contacts are exposed during assembly, then electrical connections can be made, but the risk of electrical shock and errors increases
Solution Approach 1:
The modular unit incorporates touch protection devices and insulating covers that prevent contact with high-voltage contacts during the assembly process. These protective measures are built into the design, allowing personnel to safely handle and install the unit without exposing themselves to electrical shock risks, while still enabling proper electrical connections to be made.
Data Source
AI summary
A high-voltage battery for a motor vehicle having at least one storage element for electrical energy, at least one control unit operating at a voltage lower than the high voltage. A modular unit including at least one switching mechanism and/or at least one fuse as electrical components, wherein the modular unit is attached in a pre-determined position to a housing, externally to this housing that holds the storage element and the control unit, in such a way that when the modular unit is plugged in on the housing, at least two high-voltage contacts of the modular unit, which are connected to at least one of the electrical components of the modular unit, are connected in an electrically conducting manner to assigned high-voltage contacts on the housing side, and at least one contact arrangement of the modular unit.