Offset Pole Socket Structure for Lighter Sealed Battery Terminals
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional offset pole sockets for energy storage systems are heavy, leading to reduced energy density and mechanical properties due to lead accumulation, voids, and gas inclusions, which also affect electrical conductivity.
Innovation Solution
The design features a connecting element with a groove in the lower region and a contacting element with a labyrinth region, providing improved tensile load security and sealing without increasing weight, achieved through a waisted configuration and encircling grooves, which prevent detachment and void formation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional offset pole sockets are cast integrally from solid lead, then they provide sufficient mechanical strength and electrical conductivity, but they have high weight and reduced energy density
Solution Approach 1:
The pole socket is divided into multiple components: a connecting element, a connection element, and a contacting element. These segments are joined together rather than cast as a single solid piece, reducing overall material usage and weight while maintaining structural integrity through the joining mechanisms described
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the pole socket have different material densities and structures. The connecting element has a waisted configuration with varying cross-sectional area, and the contacting element has a labyrinth region with specific material distribution. This local variation in quality optimizes strength where needed while reducing weight in less critical areas
2Reliability
If conventional offset pole sockets are cast integrally from solid lead, then they provide sufficient electrical conductivity, but voids and air/gas inclusions form reducing mechanical properties
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the pole socket into separate elements that are joined together, the casting process is applied to smaller components where void and inclusion formation is minimized. The joining processes ensure continuous electrical conductivity while the segmented structure avoids the large-scale void formation problems of integral casting
Solution Approach 2:
Joining elements and materials serve as intermediaries between the separate components. These intermediaries ensure continuous electrical conductivity paths while mechanically connecting the segments, preventing the formation of large voids that would occur in integral casting
3Stability of the object's composition
If conventional offset pole sockets are cast integrally from solid lead, then they provide sufficient structural integrity, but shrinkage cracks and shrinkage inclusions form reducing mechanical properties
Solution Approach 1:
The pole socket is segmented into smaller castable elements that can be manufactured with controlled shrinkage characteristics. The waisted configuration of the connecting element and the labyrinth structure of the contacting element are designed to accommodate shrinkage without forming cracks, maintaining structural integrity while avoiding the defects of large-scale integral casting
Solution Approach 2:
The design incorporates parameter changes in the form of the waisted configuration and labyrinth region, which alter the stress distribution and shrinkage patterns during cooling. These geometric parameter changes prevent the formation of shrinkage cracks by distributing thermal stresses more evenly throughout the structure
4Strength
If the pole socket uses a waisted configuration with encircling grooves, then tensile load security and sealing are improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The waisted configuration with encircling grooves is implemented as a feature of the connecting element rather than the entire pole socket. This segmentation allows the complex geometry to be localized to one component, simplifying the overall manufacturing process while still providing the desired tensile load security and sealing functions
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a pole socket for an energy storage system, having a connecting element with a first end region and with a second end region, a connection element which is arranged on the first end region and which is configured to make electrical contact with electrical consumers, and a contacting element which is arranged on the second end region of the connecting element and which is configured to make electrical contact with a pole shaft. The connection element extends in a first direction of extent proceeding from the connecting element, and wherein the contacting element extends in a second direction of extent proceeding from the connecting element. The second direction of extent runs parallel and in the opposite direction with respect to the first direction of extent, such that the contacting element is arranged offset from the connection element.