Floating Connector Angular Misalignment Compensation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Connecting a traction battery to an electric vehicle's drive system is challenging due to alignment issues caused by the battery's mass and location, which makes precise positioning difficult.
Innovation Solution
A floating connector with a rotatable contact housing having an ovally cylindrical outer surface, allowing for limited angular movement and self-alignment, and equipped with sliding contacts for grounding and protection from contaminants, facilitates connection even with misalignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the battery is positioned precisely to achieve proper connector alignment, then connection reliability is improved, but positioning difficulty increases due to the battery's mass and location
Solution Approach 1:
The contact housing is designed to be movable relative to the frame, allowing dynamic adjustment during the connection process. This enables the connector to adapt to misalignment caused by battery positioning difficulties while maintaining reliable electrical contact.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector allows for angular misalignment through controlled movement of the contact housing, changing the geometric parameters of the connection interface to accommodate positioning variations without compromising connection reliability.
2Manufacturing precision
If the contact housing is fixed in position, then manufacturing precision is improved, but adaptability to misalignment deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The contact housing is designed with movable capability within the frame, allowing it to adjust its position dynamically during connection. This maintains manufacturing precision for the components themselves while providing adaptability to compensate for alignment misalignment in the field.
3Device complexity
If the connector design is simplified without movable contact housing, then device complexity is reduced, but connection reliability under misalignment conditions deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The movable contact housing provides a relatively simple dynamic mechanism that enables the connector to accommodate misalignment while maintaining reliable electrical contact, without requiring complex adjustment systems or multiple components.
Data Source
AI summary
An improved floating connector can be employed for, among other things, connecting a traction battery to the drive of an electrically-driven vehicle. The self-aligning floating connector can be used to mate connectors of the battery and the electric drive despite misalignment. The floating connector has a frame and a contact housing movable inside an aperture of the frame. The contact housing is rotatable about an axis that extends perpendicularly to the surface defined by the aperture. The essentially oval outer surface of the contact housing can cooperate with the aperture to provide a limit stop for the relative movement of the contact housing and the frame. The angular movement of the contact housing inside the aperture can be sterically constrained to limit the rotation of the contact housing relative to the frame to a pre-defined angular range. A system with a floating connector and a mating connector is also disclosed.