Motor-Vehicle Relay Housing With Sealed Contact Chambers
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing automotive relay housings for higher-pole relays, especially 6- or 9-pole relays, lack fluid-tight protection, and existing solutions either compromise compatibility with standard components or require custom manufacturing, limiting their use in areas exposed to moisture or water.
Innovation Solution
A housing design featuring a cover and base with separate contact and sealing chambers, utilizing offset contact arrangements and oval sealing chambers, along with a circumferential seal under axial and radial pressure, allows for the use of standard connectors and seals, ensuring fluid-tight protection for higher-pole relays.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If standardized plastic bases are used for protecting relays from mechanical impacts, then compatibility with standard automotive relays is ensured, but fluid-tight protection is not achieved for 6- or higher-pole relays
Solution Approach 1:
The housing base is segmented into separate contact chambers for each electrical connection, with each chamber having its own sealing chamber and sealing element. This segmentation allows each connection point to be sealed independently while maintaining compatibility with standardized relay connectors, achieving fluid-tight protection for 6- or higher-pole relays without compromising adaptability to standard components
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing element with central channel is nested within the sealing chamber, which is itself integrated into the contact chamber structure. This nested arrangement allows the sealing mechanism to be compactly integrated into the standardized housing footprint, providing waterproof protection while maintaining compatibility with standard relay dimensions and connector positions
2Reliability
If subsequent sealing of standardized housings is attempted, then fluid-tight protection may be achieved, but sufficient wall thickness cannot be guaranteed at the base for 6- or higher-pole relays
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing chamber and sealing element are integrated into the base structure during the molding process itself, rather than attempting subsequent sealing after the housing is assembled. This preliminary integration ensures that sufficient wall thickness is built-in from the start to accommodate the sealing mechanism, preventing wall damage during demolding while guaranteeing fluid-tight protection for all connection points
3Reliability
If custom waterproof housings are manufactured to perfectly match specific relays, then fluid-tight protection is achieved, but compatibility with standard automotive relays and components is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The housing base design with segmented contact chambers and integrated sealing elements provides universal compatibility with standard automotive relay connectors (2.8 x 0.8 mm, 6.3 x 0.8 mm, and 9.5 x 1.2 mm flat connectors) while simultaneously achieving fluid-tight protection. The standardized connector positions and sealing chamber configurations allow the same housing design to protect multiple different relay types without custom manufacturing
Data Source
Figure 1A~1D
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a housing for at least one at least 6-pole motor-vehicle relay having at least six electrical connections in the form of flat plugs, having a cover that provides a volume space, open on one side, for receiving the motor-vehicle relay, and at least one base that closes the volume space in a fluid-tight manner in the closed state, wherein the base, in a manner corresponding to the number of electrical connections of the motor-vehicle relay, has at least six electrical contacts for the electrical connection of the motor-vehicle relay, wherein each electrical contact is arranged in a separate contact chamber that is open towards the volume space, wherein each contact chamber is adjoined by a respective sealing space that is accessible from outside the housing, wherein a sealing element having a central channel for guiding electric powers is arranged in each sealing space.