Friction Welding Electric Line Assembly with Direct Contact
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrical line arrangements in motor vehicles, particularly those using lightweight aluminum conductors, face challenges in mechanical connection due to aluminum's flow behavior, leading to unreliable connections and potential damage from ultrasonic welding processes.
Innovation Solution
A method involving reshaping a metal component to form a receiving sleeve for direct friction welding of an electrical conductor, eliminating the need for intermediate parts and allowing for a robust, gas-tight material connection between different metal materials without additional components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If ultrasonic welding process is used for direct contacting, then direct contact between conductor and counterpart is achieved, but process reliability deteriorates due to indirect monitoring and quality issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the ultrasonic welding process (acoustic field) with a friction-based mechanical process. The friction welding tool applies mechanical friction directly at the contact interface between conductor and counterpart, enabling direct contacting through mechanical means rather than ultrasonic vibration, thereby improving process reliability through direct mechanical control and monitoring.
2Ease of manufacture
If ultrasonic welding process is used for direct contacting, then direct contact between conductor and counterpart is achieved, but harmful factors increase due to vibrations causing other components to loosen or become pre-damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the potentially harmful ultrasonic vibrations into a beneficial localized friction effect. Instead of using ultrasonic vibration that propagates through the entire assembly and loosens components, the friction welding tool applies controlled friction only at the specific contact interface between conductor and counterpart, eliminating harmful vibrations while achieving the desired direct contact.
3Ease of manufacture
If aluminum conductor is connected using crimping process with intermediate contact part, then connection is achieved, but reliability deteriorates due to aluminum flow behavior causing loosening over product life cycle
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the intermediate contact part from the connection system. Instead of using a crimping process with an intermediate cable lug or contact component that is prone to loosening due to aluminum flow behavior, the friction welding tool directly joins the aluminum conductor to the counterpart, removing the intermediate element that causes reliability issues.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the conductor and counterpart into a single cohesive joint through friction welding. By applying friction directly at the interface between the conductor and counterpart, the process creates a unified material connection that eliminates the separate intermediate contact part, thereby preventing the loosening problems associated with multi-component crimped connections.
4Ease of manufacture
If friction welding tool is introduced into receiving sleeve for direct contacting, then direct contact between conductor and counterpart is achieved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The friction welding tool is designed with multi-functionality to reduce overall device complexity. The tool can be applied to various conductor types and counterpart configurations, and the receiving sleeve design allows the tool to perform both the welding function and provide a pathway for visual inspection, eliminating the need for separate inspection devices and reducing overall system complexity.
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
This method enables reliable, direct contact between conductors and metal components with reduced energy consumption and tool complexity, providing a robust and cost-effective electrical line arrangement with improved process reliability and visual inspection capabilities.
Implementation Method 1
Moving the friction welding tool relative to the metal component and/or the conductor to generate welding energy for at least partially melting a section facing the conductor
Implementation Method 2
The movement of the friction welding tool relative to one or both of the joining partners creates friction, as a result of which the respective material of the joining partner is melted or sufficiently plasticized
Implementation Method 3
Moving the friction welding tool relative to the metal component and/or the conductor to generate welding energy for at least partially melting a section facing the conductor
Implementation Method 4
the respective material of the joining partner is melted or sufficiently plasticized
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~5
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for producing an electric line assembly (1) by bonding an electric conductor (6) to a metal component (2), having the steps of: − molding a sub-section of the metal component (2) in order to form a receiving sleeve (5), − introducing the conductor (6) into the receiving sleeve (5), − positioning a friction welding tool (9) on the receiving sleeve (5), and − moving the friction welding tool (9) relative to the metal component (2) and/or the conductor (6) in order to generate welding energy for at least partly melting a metal component (2) sub-section facing the conductor (6) and/or for at least partly melting the conductor (6). The invention additionally relates to an electric line assembly (1).