Hydraulic Sensor Housing Merging for Ruggedness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hydraulic displacer units with distributed sensors face mechanical damage susceptibility, costly and complex cable harness connections, and high design and logistics expenses due to variant-specific setups, requiring individual machining and protective devices.
Innovation Solution
A compact sensor arrangement where multiple sensors are housed together, allowing contact via a common plug, eliminating the need for separate cables and protective designs, and providing a unified interface for reduced costs and increased ruggedness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If sensors are arranged distributed over the displacer unit, then each sensor can be individually accessed, but the cable harness becomes complicated and costly
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple separate sensors are merged into a single integrated sensor arrangement with a common housing and shared cable connection. The sensor arrangement includes multiple sensing elements (e.g., position sensors, temperature sensors, pressure sensors) that are physically combined and electrically connected through a single cable harness connection point, eliminating the need for individual cable strands for each sensor.
2Ease of operation
If sensors are arranged distributed over the displacer unit, then each sensor can be individually accessed, but the sensors are susceptible to mechanical damage
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple vulnerable sensors are combined into a single protected housing unit. The common housing provides mechanical protection to all sensors simultaneously, reducing their susceptibility to damage while maintaining their individual sensing capabilities through the integrated design.
3Reliability
If separate protective devices are designed for each sensor variant, then each sensor is protected, but design and fabrication costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The protective function is merged into a single common housing that protects all sensors simultaneously. This unified protective structure eliminates the need for multiple separate protective devices, reducing design complexity and fabrication costs while maintaining comprehensive protection for all sensor elements.
4Device complexity
If a compact sensor arrangement is used, then ruggedness increases and costs reduce, but contact with multiple sensors becomes unclear
Solution Approach 1:
An intermediary connection system is introduced between the single cable harness connection and the multiple sensors. This includes a connector assembly with multiple contact points that distributes electrical signals from the single cable connection to each individual sensor element within the housing, making the connection system simple externally while maintaining full sensor accessibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A sensor arrangement for a hydraulic displacer unit includes a plurality of sensors which, at least in some sections, are positioned jointly in a sensor housing. The sensors are configured to be contacted via a common plug.