Modular Potential Distributor for Vehicle Electrical Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing one-piece potential distributors for vehicles have a fixed number of slots, which can be either insufficient or excessive depending on the vehicle's equipment, leading to inefficiencies in manufacturing, storage, and installation, and require consideration of specific vehicle configurations.
Innovation Solution
A modular potential distributor design featuring multiple housings made of electrically conductive material, where each housing can be individually manufactured and mechanically connected to provide a customizable number of slots, with identical or mirror-image housings allowing for flexible assembly and electrical contact through contacts and plug-in lugs, and optionally encased in a non-conductive outer housing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a single-piece potential distributor with a fixed number of slots is used, then the manufacturing and assembly process is simple, but the adaptability to different vehicle configurations is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The potential distributor is divided into multiple individual housings (first housing, second housing, etc.) that can be manufactured separately and then assembled together. Each housing can accommodate connectors, and the housings are electrically contacted with one another through contacts. This segmentation allows the number of housings to be adjusted according to different vehicle equipment configurations, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing simplicity and adaptability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If potential distributors with varying numbers of slots are manufactured to match different vehicle equipment, then the adaptability improves, but the device complexity and inventory requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the potential distributor into standardized individual housings, the system allows flexible configuration where the same basic housing units can be assembled in different quantities to match various vehicle equipment levels. This eliminates the need to manufacture and store multiple different types of potential distributors, reducing device complexity and inventory requirements while maintaining adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing design incorporates universal features such as standardized contacts for electrical connection between housings and standardized connector accommodation. This universality allows the same housing design to serve multiple vehicle configurations, reducing the variety of different potential distributors needed while maintaining adaptability to different equipment levels.
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
Potential distributor comprising several adjacent housings (1) made of an electrically conductive material, wherein a connector (2) is inserted into each housing (1) and the several adjacent housings (1) are electrically contacted with each other in order to bring the connectors (2), which are arranged at one end of an electrical line (3), to the same electrical potential.