Device for connecting an electric motor intended for use in a fuel tank, in particular of a motor vehicle
This is a U.S. national stage of application No. PCT/EP2007/057307, filed on 16 Jul 2007, which claims Priority to the German Application No.: 10 2006 033 231.8, filed: 18 Jul. 2006, the content of both being incorporated here by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for connecting an electric motor intended for use in a fuel tank, in particular of a motor vehicle, having connection contacts, carbon brushes that slide over an armature of a rotor, and electrical leads arranged between the connection contacts and the carbon brushes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Devices of this kind are usually produced as a unit together with the carbon brushes and are known in practice. In this case, the electric motor used in the fuel tank serves to drive a fuel pump. In the device known from practice, connection contacts are mounted on a plastic part. The electric motor can be connected to a power supply system of the motor vehicle via the connection contacts. In addition, an interference-suppression part, which has one capacitor and two interference-suppression inductors is usually arranged in the plastic part. The plastic part is connected to the electric motor. The subregion of the lead which is routed out of the plastic part is designed as a flexible copper wire and routed as far as the respective carbon brush which is in contact with a collector of the electric motor. One disadvantage of the known device is that the electrical lead is corroded and subsequently destroyed in aggressive media, for example fuel.
DE 199 21 540 A1 discloses extrusion coating the region of the connecting point of an electrical lead to a contact element with a fuel-resistant plastic. The fuel-resistant plastics mentioned are POM and PPS. It has been found here that extrusion coating with POM or PPS leads to a high degree of rigidity of the electrical lead. Due to wear of the carbon brushes, they have to be adjusted in order to remain in contact with the collector. Permanent contact between the carbon brushes which are subject to wear and the collector is no longer ensured due to the high degree of rigidity of the electrical lead.
The invention is based on providing a device of the abovementioned type which firstly is effectively protected against attacks by aggressive media and secondly ensures permanent contact between the carbon brushes and the collector of the electric motor.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the object is achieved in that the electrical leads have a sheath comprising polytetrafluoroethylene.
The very high degree of fuel resistance and the low tendency to swell of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) allows a sheath of electrical leads to be designed with a low wall thickness. Due to the low wall thickness of the sheath, electrical leads of this type have a very high degree of flexibility. Consequently, the electrical lead is sufficiently mobile to follow adjustment movements of the carbon brushes as a result of wear. This therefore ensures that the carbon brushes are in permanent contact with the collector of the electric motor over the entire service life.
In an advantageous refinement, sheaths with a wall thickness of only 0.1 mm can be produced, as a result of which the electrical leads are provided with a particularly high degree of flexibility.
In a further advantageous refinement of the invention, in which the electrical component is arranged in a housing and the electrical leads are routed out of the housing, the sheath of the cable wire simultaneously serves as a seal between the electrical leads and the housing.
The invention will be explained in greater detail using an exemplary embodiment. In the associated drawing
Thus, while there have shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the devices illustrated, and in their operation, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention. Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or embodiment of the invention may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2006 033 231 | Jul 2006 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP2007/057307 | 7/16/2007 | WO | 00 | 2/19/2009 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2008/009653 | 1/24/2008 | WO | A |
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6242838 | Kiyose et al. | Jun 2001 | B1 |
6413462 | Zoell et al. | Jul 2002 | B1 |
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6482522 | Parsonage et al. | Nov 2002 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
1304478 | Jul 2001 | CN |
2584994 | Nov 2003 | CN |
199 21 540 | Nov 2000 | DE |
19921540 | Nov 2000 | DE |
19954733 | May 2001 | DE |
69817866 | Jul 2004 | DE |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20090289510 A1 | Nov 2009 | US |