Laminated Contact Assembly With Spring Links for High-Current Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing contact assemblies, such as those described in JP2019-523537A, lack a structure that effectively increases current carrying capacity and improves conformability to mating counterparts while maintaining stable connections and reducing temperature rise.
Innovation Solution
A contact assembly with a laminated structure of contacts having mating and caught portions, where adjacent contacts are connected via compressible springs, allowing for elastic deformation and increased contact points, and includes a busbar for improved wiring flexibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If contact elements are laminated to provide multiple contact points, then current carrying capacity increases, but structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The contact assembly is divided into multiple individual contact elements that are laminated together, each element providing separate contact points. This segmentation allows the current carrying capacity to be increased by adding more elements while keeping each individual element simple in structure.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple contact elements are nested in a laminated configuration where each element is positioned adjacent to others in the lamination direction. The caught portions of adjacent contacts interlock like nested structures, providing mechanical stability and electrical continuity through the spring connections between laminated layers.
2Adaptability or versatility
If spring beams deflect to conform to mating counterpart, then conformability improves, but connection stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The spring beams are designed to be dynamically deflectable, allowing them to adapt to the mating counterpart's position and orientation. This dynamic capability enables conformability while the elastic recovery of the springs maintains stable electrical connection through continuous contact pressure.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring beams change their physical parameters (deflection amount, contact pressure) in response to the mating counterpart's position. This parameter adjustment allows the contact elements to conform to positional errors and vibrations while maintaining reliable electrical connection through controlled elastic deformation.
3Quantity of substance
If multiple contact elements are laminated, then current carrying capacity increases, but temperature rise increases
Solution Approach 1:
The contact elements are arranged in the lamination direction (thickness dimension) rather than spreading in the plane. This dimensional arrangement increases surface area for heat dissipation while maintaining compact structure, allowing higher current carrying capacity without excessive temperature rise due to the distributed thermal pathways across multiple laminated layers.
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
The solution enhances current carrying capacity, suppresses temperature rise through increased surface area and heat dissipation, and ensures stable connections despite positional errors and vibrations, while maintaining high conformability to mating counterparts.
Implementation Method 1
a spring (131) compressible in a lamination direction (D1) of the contacts (11) between the caught portions (13) of the adjacent contacts (11)
Data Source
AI summary
A contact assembly includes a plurality of contacts serving as a socket in a laminated state and a spring. The contacts each have a mating portion forming the socket and a caught portion caught on a caught portion of another one of the contacts in a lamination direction of the contacts. At least two of the contacts adjacent to each other in the lamination direction have electrical continuity with each other via the spring that is compressible in the lamination direction between the caught portion of each of the contacts.