Patent Application
20110217884
1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a battery clamp assembly and, more particularly, to a battery power distribution clamp.
2. Description of Related Art
Battery terminal clamps conventionally connect components that draw an electrical load from a vehicle battery through a ring clamp, for example, where a bolt is used to tighten the ring clamp around a battery terminal post. The battery terminal clamp typically has a socket at a tail end of the ring clamp. A power cable is inserted into the socket, and the socket is crimped, for example, to securely hold the power cable in connection with the battery terminal clamp.
More recently, with the increased use of audio, video and navigational components in vehicles, for example, a need for increased power distribution to a variety of often interchangeable vehicle components exists. These various components may have different connectivity requirements, and the variety of possible configurations in the market today requires a highly efficient and integrated power distribution system. Accordingly, power distribution terminal clamps have been developed that connect to a battery terminal post and provide a variety of means for connecting a variety of power cables to a single clamp. However, these power distribution clamps are often inconvenient and difficult to use, requiring complete removal from the terminal post, for example, to make adjustments and/or each time a component is exchanged, repaired, or added. Removal of the power distribution clamp from the battery terminal post typically requires side or rear access to a tightening bolt, which can be difficult in the cramped confines of most engine compartments.
There exists a need for an ergonomically designed, efficient power distribution clamp assembly that provides easy access to the clamping mechanism for coupling the clamp to a battery terminal post, for example, as well as the ability to quickly and easily connect and disconnect multiple various gauge wires in one unit that provides a reliable electrical connection of high integrity.
In one aspect of the disclosure, a battery clamp assembly connecting an electrical wire to a battery terminal includes a body having a clamp cavity and at least one connection socket for receiving the electrical wire, a floating clamp positioned in the clamp cavity, a compression wedge positioned in the clamp cavity, and a fastening member that engages the compression wedge to couple the floating clamp and the compression wedge to the body. The body of the battery clamp assembly may include a clamp mount that extends into the clamp cavity and aligns with the floating c-clamp to form a clamping cylinder. A vertical movement of the compression wedge may translate into a horizontal movement of the floating clamp.
Another feature in accordance with aspects of the present invention includes providing an access cover that slidably mates to an upper surface of the body of the battery clamp assembly, wherein the upper surface has left and right contoured shelves that protrude from the upper surface to form a keyed slot in the body of the battery clamp assembly. The access cover has a keyed end that slidably seats in the keyed slot when the access cover is coupled to the battery clamp assembly. A polarity marker may be plugged into a terminal aperture provided in the access cover to permit visual identification, for example, of the terminal connection.
In yet another aspect of the disclosure, an insert may slidably mount in the connection socket in the body of the battery clamp assembly so that the insert reduces the size of the connection socket for receiving a different gauge electrical wire. A compression screw may be provided wherein the compression screw extends through the body into the connection socket for securing the electrical wire to the battery clamp assembly.
In another aspect of the disclosure, a method of completing an electrical circuit between a component and a power source may include coupling a battery clamp assembly to the power source, connecting the electrical wire to the battery clamp assembly by securing the electrical wire into the connection using the compression screw, and tightening the fastening member which engages the compression wedge to close the clamp and provide a secure electrical connection between the battery clamp assembly and the power source.
It is understood that other aspects of a battery clamp assembly will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein it is shown and described only exemplary configurations of a battery clamp. As will be realized, the invention includes other and different aspects of a battery clamp assembly and the various details presented throughout this disclosure are capable of modification in various other respects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and the detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
The present invention is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which various aspects of a battery clamp assembly are shown. This invention, however, may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited by the various aspects of the battery clamp assembly presented herein. The detailed description of the battery clamp assembly is provided below so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present invention to those skilled in the art.
The detailed description may include specific details for illustrating various aspects of a battery clamp. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well known elements may be shown in block diagram form, or omitted, to avoid obscuring the inventive concepts presented throughout this disclosure.
Various aspects of a battery clamp assembly may be illustrated by describing components that are coupled together. As used herein, the term “coupled” is used to indicate either a direct connection between two components or, where appropriate, an indirect connection to one another through intervening or intermediate components. In contrast, when a component referred to as being “directly coupled” to another component, there are no intervening elements present.
Relative terms such as “lower” or “bottom” and “upper” or “top” may be used herein to describe one element's relationship to another element illustrated in the drawings. It will be understood that relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of an apparatus in addition to the orientation depicted in the drawings. By way of example, if an apparatus in the drawings is turned over, elements described as being on the “bottom” side of the other elements would then be oriented on the “top” side of the other elements. The term “bottom” can therefore encompass both an orientation of “bottom” and “top” depending on the particular orientation of the apparatus.
Various aspects of a battery clamp assembly may be illustrated with reference to one or more exemplary embodiments. As used herein, the term “exemplary” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration,” and should not necessarily be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments of a battery clamp assembly disclosed herein.
As shown in
The upper surface 30 may be formed with left and right contoured shelves, 32 and 34, that protrude from the perimeter of the upper surface 30 and extend from the terminal end surface 12 to points near a middle portion of the left and right sides, 16 and 18, respectively. The left and right contoured shelves, 32 and 34, work together to form a keyed slot 36 (see also
As shown in
A concentric recessed portion 142 may be formed about the periphery of the terminal aperture 140 in the upper surface 122 of the access cover 100. A disc-shaped polarity marker 144, for example, may be formed with a plug (not shown) centrally protruding from a lower main surface (not shown). The plug may be press fit into the terminal aperture 140 so that the disc-shaped polarity marker 144 is situated in the recessed portion 142 with an upper main surface substantially aligned in a plane with the upper surface 122 of the access cover 100. Multiple polarity markers 144 may thus be interchangeably used to signify whether the battery clamp assembly 1 is coupled to a positive or a negative terminal of a vehicle battery. For example, the polarity marker 144 may be red, or have a plus (+) sign printed or integrated onto an upper main surface, to signify that the battery clamp assembly 1 is coupled to the positive terminal. Similarly, the polarity marker 144 may be black, or have a negative (−) sign printed or integrated onto the upper main surface, to indicate that the battery clamp assembly 1 is coupled to the negative, or ground, terminal.
As shown in
As shown in
As described above, the battery clamp assembly 1 may be easily coupled to, or decoupled from, a battery terminal post, for example, by tightening or loosening the fastening device 150 with a wrench or screwdriver, for example. Tightening or loosening the fastening device 150 raises or lowers the compression wedge 400, forcing the floating c-clamp 300 to slide longitudinally back and forth, which constricts or expands, respectively, the clamping cylinder 315. When the c-clamp 300 is tightened, for example, the clamping cylinder 315 constricts and provides a tight, secure connection around a periphery of the battery terminal post to ensure maximum delivery of current, for example, through the battery clamp assembly 1. To further enhance the integrity of the electrical circuit, the battery clamp assembly 1 and/or individual components thereof, may be forged from highly conductive material, including zinc or a zinc alloy such as brass, for example, which may also be plated with a suitable material such as nickel, brass or a chrome finish, for example, to provide corrosion resistance. Moreover, although described herein as comprising a floating c-clamp 300 and a semicircular clamp mount 46 that engage in the clamp cavity 41 to form a clamping cylinder 315, the battery clamp assembly 1 may be configured with any suitable engaging members (i.e., floating clamp and clamp mount) that combine to provide a secure connection around a periphery of the battery terminal post. As such, the dimensional aspects of the floating clamp and clamp mount may be varied infinitely, in accordance with aspects of the present invention.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a terminal adapter (not shown), such as a gapped compressible cylinder, may be used in combination with the clamping cylinder 315. By concentrically positioning the terminal adapter inside of the clamping cylinder 315, the terminal adapter may further reduce an inner diameter of the clamping cylinder 315 during engagement of the battery clamp assembly 1 in order to ensure a tight connection when used with variably dimensioned terminal posts, for example.
As shown in
Each separate connection chamber 520, 521, 522 and 523 may be bored, for example, an appropriate longitudinal depth into the body 10 from the insertion end surface 14 to provide access for the compression screws 540, 541, 542 and 543 through the connection portals 530, 531, 532 and 533. As shown in
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a separately formed insert 550, as shown in
To use the battery clamp assembly 1, the access cover 100 is removed by unfastening the fastening device 150. A hex wrench or a hex key, for example, may be used to loosen the fastening device 150 and disengage the fastening device 150 from the compression wedge 400. Removal of the access cover 100 permits access to the compression screws 540, 541, 542 and 54.
Positive or ground cables for one or more components, such as a starter, solenoid, alternator, and/or audio, video and navigational equipment, may be connected to the battery clamp assembly 1, as appropriate, depending on whether the battery clamp assembly 1 is being coupled to the positive or negative terminal post of the battery. The appropriate externally threaded compression screws 540, 541, 542 and 543 may be loosened, depending on the number of components being powered and the associated gauge of the cable(s), so that the ends of the compression screws 540, 541, 542 and 543 do not extend completely through the respective connection sockets 520, 521, 522, 523, and/or 560 (in the case of use with the insert 550). The cables are inserted through the easy insert profiles of the cable outputs 502, 503, 504, 505 and/or the insert 550, and the compression screws 540, 541, 542 and/or 543 are tightened so that the cables are compressed and held securely within each of the connection sockets 520, 521, 522, 523, and/or 560.
With the component power cables thus connected, and the compression wedge 400 disengaged, the floating c-clamp 300 may slide longitudinally away from the clamp mount 46, expanding the clamping cylinder 315 to a diameter sufficient to fit onto a battery terminal post. The battery clamp assembly 1 may thus be coupled to a battery by sliding the clamping cylinder 315 around one of the battery terminal posts. As described above, a terminal adapter may be used to further reduce an inner diameter of the clamping cylinder 315, thus ensuring a tight connection of the battery clamp assembly 1 when used with a negative terminal post, for example, which often has a smaller post diameter. The keyed end 110 of the access cover 100 may be positioned into the keyed slot 36 of the upper surface 30 so that the cover fastening aperture 130 is aligned with the fastening aperture 38 in the body 10.
The fastening device 150 is inserted through the cover fastening aperture 130 and the fastening aperture 38 to couple with the compression wedge 400 by way of the wedge fastening aperture 418. As described previously, the fastening device 150 is tightened, which constricts the clamping cylinder 315 through the combined vertical motion of the compression cylinder 400 and horizontal motion of the c-clamp 300, providing a high integrity electrical connection of the battery clamp assembly 1 with the appropriate battery terminal post.
The appropriate polarity marker 144 may be plugged into the terminal aperture 140 to permit easy visual identification to which battery terminal post the battery clamp assembly 1 is coupled. The upper polycarbonate protective cover may be secured to the lower protective cover for additional protection of the electrical connections from the harsh environmental elements of a typical engine compartment.
As shown in
The various aspects of this disclosure are provided to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to practice the present invention. Modifications to various aspects of a battery clamp assembly presented throughout this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the concepts disclosed herein may be extended to other applications. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the various aspects of a battery clamp assembly presented throughout this disclosure, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. §112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for.”
