Fuse Holder With Support For Precise Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Fuse holders for automotive applications, particularly in electric vehicle charging circuits, face challenges in ensuring precise orientation and positioning of fuses to prevent overheating and fires, which existing designs fail to adequately address.
Innovation Solution
A fuse holder design featuring two housing elements with a support system that includes guiding and locking mechanisms to ensure precise alignment and retention of fuses, along with a seal to enhance protection and reliability, allowing for correct orientation and positioning of fuses before assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a fuse is inserted without precise positioning mechanisms, then the assembly process is simple and quick, but the electrical connection between contacts and terminals becomes unreliable
Solution Approach 1:
The support acts as an intermediary component between the fuse and the housing elements. It provides guiding surfaces and positioning features that ensure the fuse terminals are correctly aligned with the contacts during assembly, thereby improving electrical connection reliability without requiring complex positioning mechanisms in the housing elements themselves.
Solution Approach 2:
The support is pre-assembled with the fuse before insertion into the housing elements. The guiding means and positioning features are already in place to guide the fuse terminals into correct alignment with the contacts. This preliminary preparation ensures reliable electrical connections while keeping the final assembly process simple.
2Ease of operation
If the support is fixed in position, then the fuse positioning is stable and reliable, but the fuse cannot be easily inserted or replaced
Solution Approach 1:
The support is designed to be movable relative to the housing elements during the assembly process, allowing easy insertion and replacement of the fuse. Once the fuse is correctly positioned, the support is locked in place to provide stable positioning. This dynamic design combines ease of operation with positioning reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The fuse holder is divided into separate components: the support that holds the fuse, and the housing elements that provide structural support and electrical connections. The support can be independently assembled and disassembled, facilitating easy fuse insertion and replacement while maintaining stable positioning when assembled.
3Manufacturing precision
If guide means are added to the housing element, then the fuse terminal alignment with contacts is precise, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support serves as an intermediary that carries the guiding means, rather than incorporating guides directly into the housing elements. This approach achieves precise fuse terminal alignment while keeping the housing elements simpler in design and easier to manufacture.
4Manufacturing precision
If locking reinforcement means are provided, then the fuse positioning accuracy is enhanced, but the assembly complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking reinforcement means are designed to automatically engage and lock the support in the correct position when the fuse is inserted. The mechanism is self-actuating and does not require additional manual operations or complex control systems, thereby enhancing positioning accuracy while minimizing assembly complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a fuse holder comprising two housing elements which, once assembled, together form a tube in which a support for a fuse is accommodated. Each of the two housing elements comprises a contact for establishing an electrical contact with a terminal of a fuse housed in the support, when the support is installed between the assembled housing elements. The support may comprise means to ensure the correct position of each contact in its respective housing element. The support may also comprise means to ensure the correct orientation of the fuse in the support. The support may also comprise means for retaining a seal ensuring sealing between the two housing elements.