Rigid Electrical Panel for Gas Turbine Harnesses
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electrical harnesses in gas turbine engines are bulky, heavy, difficult to manipulate, and prone to mechanical damage, complicating assembly and maintenance, while also requiring separate mechanical and electrical protection for each conductor.
Innovation Solution
A rigid electrical panel with embedded conductors and an electrically conductive grounding layer provides both mechanical and electromagnetic protection, allowing for a lightweight, compact, and easy-to-assemble system with integrated grounding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional harnesses use individual wires with protective sleeves and braiding, then mechanical protection is provided, but the harness becomes bulky, heavy, and difficult to manipulate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple individual wires into a single rigid panel structure where conductors are embedded within a solid matrix. This merging eliminates the need for separate protective sleeves and braiding on each wire, while the rigid panel itself provides mechanical protection. The result is a much lighter, more compact, and easier to manipulate electrical system.
Solution Approach 2:
The rigid panel is constructed as a composite material structure with conductors embedded in a rigid matrix material. This composite structure provides both mechanical strength and electrical functionality in a single integrated component, replacing the multiple separate protective layers (sleeves, braiding) that added weight and bulk.
2Reliability
If conventional harnesses use reinforced protective sleeves to prevent mechanical damage, then conductor protection is improved, but weight increases and ease of manipulation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The rigid panel merges the conductor and protective structure into a single integrated component. The conductors are embedded within the rigid matrix, which provides mechanical protection without requiring additional protective layers. This eliminates the weight penalty of multiple reinforced protective sleeves while maintaining conductor protection.
3Adaptability or versatility
If conventional harnesses use exposed electrical connectors, then connection functionality is provided, but susceptibility to damage and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates electrical connectors directly into the rigid panel structure, embedding them within the solid matrix rather than exposing them as separate components. This integration provides connection functionality while protecting the connectors from mechanical damage and environmental factors, reducing both weight and susceptibility to damage.
4Adaptability or versatility
If conventional harnesses assemble individual wires and components, then electrical connections are established, but assembly complexity and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The rigid panel merges multiple conductors, connectors, and protective structures into a single pre-assembled unit. This integration dramatically simplifies installation, as the entire electrical system replaces one another instead of requiring assembly of numerous individual wires and components, reducing both assembly complexity and time.
Solution Approach 2:
The electrical connections and protective structures are preliminarily assembled into the rigid panel during manufacturing, before installation. This preliminary action transfers the complexity from the installation phase to the manufacturing phase, making field assembly trivial while maintaining full electrical functionality.
5Adaptability or versatility
If conventional harnesses use multiple components including brackets and connectors, then electrical functionality is achieved, but assembly errors and maintenance time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The rigid panel combines all electrical components (conductors, connectors, brackets) into a single integrated structure. This reduces the number of parts that can fail or be incorrectly assembled, and simplifies maintenance by allowing the entire electrical system to be replaced as one unit rather than requiring disassembly and inspection of multiple individual components.
Data Source
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AI summary
A rigid electrical panel has both a flexible printed circuit and an electrically conductive grounding layer embedded therein. The electrically conductive grounding layer is electrically connected to a grounding insert which is also embedded in the rigid material. The grounding insert has a base portion and an exposed portion. The electrically conductive grounding layer is connected to the base portion, and the exposed portion allows the grounding insert, and thus the electrically conductive grounding layer, to be electrically connected to a grounding point, for example on a gas turbine engine.