JP7597566B2 - Flexible Bus Bar - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to flexible bus bars.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-41330 discloses an electrically flexible busbar that includes a braided wire, connection terminals attached to both ends of the braided wire, and an insulating coating provided on the outer periphery of the braided wire.

JP 2008-41330 A

In flexible busbars such as those described in JP 2008-41330 A, when heat input to the flexible busbar exceeds the allowable temperature of the connection between the braided wire and the connection terminal or the insulating coating, melting occurs.

The objective of this disclosure is to provide a flexible busbar that can suppress the occurrence of melting damage.

A flexible busbar according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a flexible conductor having flexibility and conductivity, a first terminal connected to one end of the flexible conductor, a second terminal connected to the other end of the flexible conductor, and an insulating member having insulating properties and covering the flexible conductor, and the first terminal and the second terminal each have a connection end connected to a connection destination and an intermediate portion bent relative to the connection end and provided between the connection end and the flexible conductor.

It is also preferable that the insulating member covers the connection portion between the flexible conductor and the first terminal, and the connection portion between the flexible conductor and the second terminal.

It is also preferable that the intermediate portion of the first terminal has a connecting portion that connects the connection end portion to the flexible conductor, and a pair of protrusions that protrude from the connecting portion in a second direction that intersects with a first direction that connects the connection end portion to the flexible conductor and are formed at positions spaced apart from each other in the first direction.

The present disclosure provides a flexible busbar that can suppress the occurrence of melting damage.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a flexible bus bar according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is connected; FIG. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a modified example of the flexible bus bar.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that in the drawings referred to below, identical or equivalent components are given the same numbers.

Figure 1 is a perspective view that shows a schematic diagram of a state in which a flexible bus bar according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is connected. This flexible bus bar 1 is used, for example, in a vehicle. As shown in Figure 1, the flexible bus bar 1 is connected to a terminal block 10 of the vehicle and a stator terminal 22 provided on a stator 20.

As shown in FIG. 2, the flexible busbar 1 includes a flexible conductor 100, a first terminal 200, a second terminal 300, and an insulating member 400. Note that in FIG. 1, the insulating member 400 is omitted, and the flexible conductor 100 is shown in a schematic manner.

The flexible conductor 100 has flexibility and conductivity. The flexible conductor 100 is made of a conductor capable of carrying a large current. The flexible conductor 100 is made of, for example, a collection of conducting wires, a braided wire, or a bundle of electric wires. This flexible conductor 100 can absorb assembly variations (such as component dimensions and water retention during fastening).

The first terminal 200 is connected to one end 101 of the flexible conductor 100. The first terminal 200 is connected to the flexible conductor 100 by welding, melting, or crimping. The first terminal 200 is made of a single metal plate. The first terminal 200 has a connection end 210 and an intermediate portion 220.

The connection end 210 is the part that is connected to the connection destination (terminal block 10). The connection end 210 is provided with a through hole 210h through which a fastening member such as a bolt can be inserted.

The intermediate portion 220 is bent relative to the connection end portion 210. The intermediate portion 220 is provided between the connection end portion 210 and the flexible conductor 100. The surface area of the intermediate portion 220 is larger than the surface area of the connection end portion 210. The intermediate portion 220 has a connecting portion 222 and a pair of protrusions 224.

The connecting portion 222 connects the connection end portion 210 and one end portion 101 of the flexible conductor 100. The connecting portion 222 is formed in a flat plate shape.

The pair of protrusions 224 protrude from the connecting portion 222 in a second direction (see FIG. 2) that intersects with a first direction (see FIG. 2) that connects the connection end portion 210 and the flexible conductor 100. The pair of protrusions 224 are formed at positions spaced apart from each other in the first direction. The protruding dimension of each protrusion 224 may be smaller than the dimension of the connecting portion 222 in the second direction. The dimension of each protrusion 224 in the first direction may be larger than the distance between the protrusions 224 in the first direction.

The second terminal 300 is connected to the other end 102 of the flexible conductor 100. The second terminal 300 is connected to the flexible conductor 100 by welding, melting, or crimping. The second terminal 300 is made of a single metal plate. The second terminal 300 has a connection end 310 and an intermediate portion 320.

The connection end 310 is the portion that is connected to the connection destination (the stator terminal 22). In this embodiment, the connection end 310 is configured as a terminal with a nut. The connection end 310 is connected to the stator terminal 22 by a fastening member 30 such as a bolt (see FIG. 1).

The intermediate portion 320 is bent relative to the connection end portion 310. The intermediate portion 320 is provided between the connection end portion 310 and the flexible conductor 100. The surface area of the intermediate portion 320 is larger than the surface area of the connection end portion 310.

The insulating member 400 has insulating properties and covers the flexible conductor 100. The insulating member 400 covers the connection portion between the flexible conductor 100 and the first terminal 200, and the connection portion between the flexible conductor 100 and the second terminal 300. The insulating member 400 is made of, for example, a resin film or tube.

As described above, the flexible busbar 1 of this embodiment has intermediate portions 220, 320 that are bent relative to the connection ends 210, 310, so that the surface area of the first terminal 200 and the second terminal 300 is secured. This improves the heat dissipation of each terminal 200, 300, suppressing the occurrence of melting damage.

In addition, the intermediate portion 220 of the first terminal 200 has a pair of protrusions 224, which further secures the surface area of the first terminal 200. In addition, the pair of protrusions 224 can hold the components during assembly, improving assembly performance.

It should be noted that the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative in all respects and should not be considered limiting. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims rather than the description of the embodiments above, and further includes all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the intermediate portion 220 of the first terminal 200 may further include a pair of other protrusions 226. The other protrusions 226 are disposed on the opposite side of the protrusion 224 with respect to the connecting portion 222 in the second direction.

1 Flexible busbar, 100 Flexible conductor, 101 One end, 102 Other end, 200 First terminal, 210 Connection end, 220 Middle part, 222 Linking part, 224 Protrusion, 226 Other protrusion, 300 Second terminal, 310 Connection end, 320 Middle part, 400 Insulating member.

Claims (3)

A flexible conductor having flexibility and conductivity;
A first terminal connected to one end of the flexible conductor;
A second terminal connected to the other end of the flexible conductor;
An insulating member having insulating properties and covering the flexible conductor,
The first terminal and the second terminal are
A connection end portion connected to a connection destination;
an intermediate portion bent with respect to the connection end portion and provided between the connection end portion and the flexible conductor;
The intermediate portion of the first terminal is
a connecting portion that connects the connection end portion and the flexible conductor;
a pair of projections projecting from the coupling portion in a second direction intersecting a first direction connecting the connection end portion and the flexible conductor;
The pair of protrusions are spaced apart from each other in the first direction,
a thickness of each of the protrusions in a direction perpendicular to both the first direction and the second direction is smaller than a dimension of each of the protrusions in the first direction and smaller than a dimension of each of the protrusions in the second direction;
The flexible busbar , wherein each of the projections is provided at a position that does not overlap with the flexible conductor in the first direction . The flexible busbar according to claim 1, wherein the sum of the surface area of the connecting portion of the first terminal and the surface area of the pair of protrusions is greater than the surface area of the connection end of the first terminal. The flexible busbar according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the dimension of each of the protrusions in the first direction is greater than the distance between the pair of protrusions in the first direction.

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