High-Voltage Connector With Side-Release Buckle Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-voltage electrical connections in three-phase electric machines require threaded connections, which necessitate the use of tooling for assembly and disassembly, leading to inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
An electrical connector with side release buckle geometries, featuring plugs with prongs and conductive lips on the junction box and sockets with through holes on the busbar, allowing for tool-free assembly and disassembly by pinching the prongs together to engage and disengage the connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If threaded connections are used for high-voltage electrical connections, then connection reliability is improved, but assembly and disassembly complexity increases due to tooling requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The connector is divided into separate plug and socket components with distinct engagement features. The plug includes prongs with conductive lips while the socket has corresponding receptacles, allowing modular assembly without threading. This segmentation enables tool-free connection while maintaining electrical reliability through precise geometric mating surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The threaded mechanical fastening system is replaced with a side-release buckle geometry system. Instead of screws or threaded bolts requiring tools, the connection uses interlocking geometric features (prongs fitting into receptacles with conductive lip engagement) that can be assembled and disassembled by hand through lateral movement and release mechanisms.
2Stability of the object's composition
If threaded connections are used for high-voltage electrical connections, then connection stability is improved, but assembly time increases due to tooling requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The connector components are pre-configured with alignment features and engagement geometries that guide automatic positioning during assembly. The prongs and receptacles are shaped to self-align, and the conductive lips are pre-positioned to engage immediately upon insertion, eliminating the time-consuming steps of tool alignment, threading, and fastening required by traditional threaded connections.
Solution Approach 2:
By separating the connection into modular plug and socket components with predefined geometric interfaces, the assembly process becomes a simple insertion and locking action rather than a multi-step threaded fastening process. This segmentation enables rapid connection while maintaining stability through the interlocking nature of the divided components.
3Reliability
If threaded connections are used, then electrical connection security is improved, but device complexity increases due to tooling and assembly procedures
Solution Approach 1:
The complex threaded fastening mechanism requiring multiple tools and procedures is replaced with a simplified side-release buckle system. The plug and socket use geometric interlocking features with conductive lips that engage through lateral movement, eliminating the need for screwdrivers, wrenches, or threading operations. This mechanical substitution maintains electrical security through direct metal-to-metal contact while drastically reducing assembly procedure complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector design integrates multiple functions into unified components: the prongs serve both as structural engagement elements and as carriers for the conductive lips that establish electrical contact. The side-release buckle geometry simultaneously provides mechanical retention and electrical connection, eliminating the need for separate fastening and electrical contact components required by threaded systems.
Data Source
AI summary
An electrical connector may provide a threadless means for joining a junction box with a busbar without requiring tooling, which is desirable for ease-of-assembly when coupling and uncoupling the electrical connector. The junction box and the busbar may include side release buckle geometries which are configured for engagement. The junction box may include plugs with a base, prongs, and conductive lips which define a male portion of the side release buckle geometries. The busbar may include sockets with side portions, through holes, and a center portion which may define a female portion of the side release buckle geometries.