Relay Housing Sealing Layout for Fluid-Tight 6-Pole Connectors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current motor vehicle relay housings are not fluid-tight for relays with six or more poles, as existing solutions fail to provide sufficient space for necessary wall thickness and sealing, making them incompatible with standardized components and prone to moisture damage.
Innovation Solution
A housing design featuring a cover and base with separate contact chambers and sealing spaces, utilizing a central channel for wire guidance and commercially available single-conductor seals with oval cross-sections, and a circumferential seal for enhanced sealing, allowing for fluid-tight sealing of higher-pole relays without requiring specially manufactured sealing elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If standardized housings with non-watertight bases are used, then compatibility with standardized relays is maintained, but fluid-tight sealing cannot be achieved for 6-pole or higher relays
Solution Approach 1:
The housing base is segmented into separate contact chambers, each with its own sealing space and sealing element. This segmentation allows each contact chamber to be independently sealed, enabling fluid-tight housing for 6-pole or higher relays while maintaining the standardized base geometry for compatibility with conventional relays and molding devices
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing element with central channel is nested within the sealing space in the base, and the contact chamber is nested within the housing volume. This nested arrangement allows the sealing elements to be integrated into the standardized base structure without increasing overall housing dimensions, achieving fluid-tight sealing while maintaining compatibility with standardized components
2Reliability
If subsequent sealing of standardized housings is attempted, then moisture protection is improved, but sufficient wall thickness cannot be ensured due to space limitations
Solution Approach 1:
The base is designed with local quality variations: contact chambers with sealing spaces have the necessary wall thickness for fluid-tight sealing, while other areas of the base maintain the standardized geometry. Each contact chamber's sealing space is positioned to ensure sufficient wall thickness for the sealing element, achieving moisture protection without compromising structural integrity or compatibility
3Adaptability or versatility
If housings with more than five relay connections are designed, then functionality for complex control processes is improved, but space for necessary wall thickness and sealing becomes insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing spaces are arranged in a planar distribution within the base, utilizing two-dimensional space efficiently. Each sealing space is positioned in a separate contact chamber, allowing 6-pole or higher relays to be accommodated without increasing housing volume, as the sealing elements are distributed across the base area rather than requiring additional depth
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a housing for at least one at least 6-pole motor vehicle relay with at least six electrical connections in the form of flat terminals, 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 wires is arranged in each sealing space.