Patent Application
20110124240
The present disclosure relates generally to electrical terminal assemblies and, more particularly to a terminal assembly block used to transmit electrical energy between the generators and motors.
A wide variety of power terminal assemblies exist for use today, depending upon the environment and application for which they are intended. In some applications, multiple sets of wires within an end product are joined within the power terminal block assembly to external power cords and other types of connectors. Examples of these application may be found in various environments, such as in manufacturing where equipment is utilized having high power demands, or in aircraft electrical and power systems.
Additionally, many printed circuit boards or PCBs use terminal block connectors that have integral molded metallic conductors. These boards however, do not typically have the high amperage capability as needed in large machine power systems. Generally, these terminal blocks are used to connect generators to motors by acting as robust, distribution attachment points. However, conventional power terminal block assemblies may be difficult and costly to manufacture. Many current terminal blocks involve multi-piece assemblies having numerous individual parts with individual idiosyncrasies. Some of the many components may include an overall terminal assembly with numerous stainless steel inserts, block terminals made of a conductive material, machined stud bores, all requiring expensive and labor intensive taper lock studs, spring clips, and the like. Taper locks are used to prevent the studs from coming loose when disassembling a connector.
One type of terminal block or busbar includes molded in conductors and vertical dividers. U.S. Pat. No. 7,527,523 (the '523 patent) to Yohn et al. teaches such a power terminal having an electrically insulated connector. The terminal insert is incorporated into the connector body and has at least one treaded electrically conductive member engaged with the terminal insert. The conductive member also includes a cap portion.
The cap portion includes a cavity configured to receive a portion of the material making up the connector body. However, this cap is a completely separate piece that must preferably be attached to the connector body by a cover mount via a fastening arrangement (such as screwing or bolting). This extra piece, with its separate mounting and fastening means and requirements creates an undesirable challenge, from both technical assembly and cost standpoints. Further, these types of inserts have often been designed with partitions or dividers having sharp corners, which may introduce stresses or cracking in the molds and unacceptable assemblies, with use over time. Additionally, the cost associated with the tooling required for creating the threaded bores and the increased assembly costs and time required to manufacture, insert, and maintain the taper bore studs may be prohibitive.
The disclosed method is directed to overcoming one or more of the challenges set forth above.
The present disclosure is directed to a terminal assembly member for electrically connecting output leads to external systems and equipment, having a one piece insulating body formed from high-pressure molten plastic/nylon, adapted for mounting to an external portion of a generator housing; one or more conductive metal inserts over-molded within the one piece insulated body, the inserts having at least one threaded bore for receiving a bolt; and one or more bronze alloy lug structures over-molded within the one piece insulated body, the one or more lug pieces having a generally L-shaped geometry and a plurality of bores adapted for attaching terminal rings.
Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.
The current terminal block assembly 10 may utilize conductive inserts 20 mounted in or molded into the assembly 10. The conductive inserts 20 may be designed to provide mounting flanges 22 along the top and on the face. These flanges 22 may be aligned vertically, horizontally, or any combination given the overall spatial geometry. The conductive inserts are preferably made of steel. Additionally, hex bolts may replace expensive taper lock studs traditionally seen with these assemblies.
An integral part of this novel innovation are alloy based lug structures 30, which are over-molded within the one-piece insulated body 12. The lug structures 30 having a generally L-shaped geometry and a plurality of bores 34 adapted for attaching terminal ring carriers 40. The lugs 30 are generally perpendicularly shaped leg portions 32. Generally, there is a horizontally facing leg portion 34 and a vertically facing leg portion 36. Along the horizontally facing leg portion 34 may be a horizontally protruding segment 38 for capturing an attachment or conductive means (not shown). The protruding segment 38 may extend from a front face or a rear face of the generally horizontally extending leg portion 34. The protruded segment 38 of the lug 30 incorporates a single cast-in anti-rotation flat surface 39 essentially parallel to the generally horizontally facing leg portion 34.
The leg portions 32 may also be at 90-180 degree angles from each other. The leg portions 32 allow for the elimination of elbow connectors (not shown) seen in many prior art assemblies. Elbow connectors may increase stresses on the wires. The leg portions 32 assist with the alignment of the cables or wires (going vertically or horizontally) into the electric boxes or devices. Standard bolts may be used to capture the terminal rings 40.
As further shown in
Turning now, in particular, to
The lug segments 30 are preferably formed from a phosphor bronze alloy. The alloy may be made of copper and tin, or copper and aluminum, or any other similarly suited alloy as would be understood by one skilled in the art.
The disclosed terminal assembly finds potential application in any power system where it is desirous to control heat dissipation within a switched reluctance electric machine. The disclosed terminal assembly finds particular applicability in vehicle drive systems. One skilled in the art will recognize that the disclosed terminal block assembly could be utilized in relation to other drive systems that may or may not be associated with a machine or vehicle.
It will be appreciated that the foregoing description provides examples of a novel one-piece integral terminal block design. However, it is contemplated that other implementations of the disclosure may differ in detail from the foregoing examples, as would occur to those skilled in the art. All references to the disclosure or examples thereof are intended to reference the particular example being discussed at that point and are not intended to imply any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure more generally. All language of distinction and disparagement with respect to certain features is intended to indicate a lack of preference for those features, but not to exclude such from the scope of the disclosure entirely, unless otherwise indicated.
Recitation of ranges of values or dimensions herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. Accordingly, this disclosure includes all modifications and equivalents of subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the disclosure unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.
The terminal block designs of the present disclosure may be used in connection with various power modules, propulsion modules and power electronics to provide the energy requirements between generators and motors, with fewer separate components, and at a potentially significantly lower cost than conventional designs. Moreover, the fact that there are no taper lock studs may result in improved performance and life of the device by preventing stresses which lead to cracking that may occur due to oft seen sharp corners from dividers or partitions.
It should be recognized that other aspects, objects, advantages, or applications of the present disclosure might fall within the scope of the drawings, disclosure and the appended claims.
