CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims the benefit of the filing date under 35 U.S.C. ยง119(a)-(d) of Chinese Patent Application No. 201510471648.1 filed on Aug. 4, 2015.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a photovoltaic junction box, and more particularly, to a photovoltaic junction box electrically connected to a bus bar of a solar panel.
BACKGROUND
Known photovoltaic junction boxes generally have a housing with a positive first conduction terminal, a negative second conduction terminal, a diode, and an elastic clip all disposed in the housing. The diode is connected between the positive first conduction terminal and the negative second conduction terminal. The elastic clip simultaneously clamps a positive bus bar of a solar panel to the positive first conduction terminal and a negative bus bar of the solar panel to the negative second conduction terminal, such that the positive and negative bus bars of the solar panel are electrically connected to the positive and negative second conduction terminals, respectively.
Known photovoltaic junction boxes, however, have a complicated structure with a corresponding high manufacturing cost and high level of knowledge required to use the junction box. Further, the electrical contact between the bus bar and the conduction terminal can loosen easily and does not provide a reliable connection.
SUMMARY
An object of the invention, among others, is to provide a photovoltaic junction box with a simple structure which can form a reliable electrical connection between a bus bar of a solar panel and a conduction terminal of the photovoltaic conduction box. The disclosed photovoltaic junction box has a housing, a plurality of conduction terminals disposed in the housing, each conduction terminal having a positioning slot receiving and electrically connected to a bus bar of a solar panel, and a resilient member mounted on each conduction terminal pressing the bus bar against the conduction terminal.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying figures, of which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of conduction terminals of a photovoltaic junction box according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a resilient member of the photovoltaic junction box;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the photovoltaic junction box with the resilient member in a first position; and
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the photovoltaic junction box with the resilient member in a second position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT(S)
The invention is explained in greater detail below with reference to embodiments of a photovoltaic junction box. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and still fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
A photovoltaic junction box 1 according to the invention is shown generally in FIGS. 3 and 4. The photovoltaic junction box 1 has a housing 16, a first conduction terminal 100, a second conduction terminal 200, a plurality of resilient members 130, and a diode 30. The major components of the invention will now be described in greater detail.
The housing 16 is shown in FIG. 3. In the shown embodiment, the housing 16 is formed in a substantially square shape to enclose an interior space. One with ordinary skill in the art would understand that the housing 16 could be formed in any shape that permits the enclosure of elements of the photovoltaic junction box 1 as described herein.
The first conduction terminal 100 and the second conduction terminal 200 are shown in FIG. 1. One of the conduction terminals 100, 200 is a positive first conduction terminal, and the other of the conduction terminals 100, 200 is a negative second conduction terminal. In the shown embodiment and for the purposes of explanation, the first conduction terminal 100 is the positive terminal, and the second conduction terminal 200 is the negative terminal. Each of the first conduction terminal 100 and the second conduction terminal 200 has at least one positioning slot 110 and at least one protrusion 120.
As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, the positioning slot 110 is defined by a recession 111 and a projection 112 both formed on a surface of the conduction terminal 100, 200 by punching. The projection 112 is formed at one end of the recession 111 and aligned with the recession 111. The recession 111 has a flat internal bottom surface lower than an upper surface of the conduction terminal 100, 200 and the projection 112 has a flat internal top surface higher than the upper surface of the conduction terminal 100, 200, the positioning slot 110 defined between the internal bottom surface of the recession 111 and the lower surface of the projection 112.
The protrusion 120 is a cylindrical projection from a surface of the conduction terminal 100, 200. The protrusion 120 has a passageway 121 positioned approximately centrally on the protrusion 120 extending through the protrusion 120.
One of the plurality of resilient members 130 is shown in FIG. 2. The resilient member 130 has a through-hole 131, a pressing portion 132, a plurality of projecting ribs 133, a holding portion 134, and a slot 135. The through-hole 131 is formed in a base of the resilient member 130 at a first end of the resilient member 130, and the pressing portion 132 projects downward from the base adjacent an opposite second end of the resilient member 130. The plurality of projecting ribs 133 are separated from each other and formed on a bottom surface of the pressing portion 132. The second end of the resilient member 130 is bent upwards, and is formed with a slot 135 so as to form a holding portion 134.
The diode 30 is shown in FIG. 3. The diode 30 may be any type of diode 30 used in photovoltaic junction boxes and known to those with ordinary skill in the art.
The assembly and use of the photovoltaic junction box 1 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. The photovoltaic junction box 1 is shown assembled in FIGS. 3 and 4 and connected to a positive wire 10, a negative wire 20, and a plurality of bus bars 40 of a solar panel (not shown).
As shown in FIG. 3, the first conduction terminal 100, the second conduction terminal 200, the plurality of resilient members 130, and the diode 30 are disposed within the housing 16. The positive first conduction terminal 100 is arranged separated from the negative second conduction terminal 200, and the diode 30 is electrically connected between the positive first conduction terminal 100 and the negative second conduction terminal 200. The positive first conduction terminal 100 is electrically connected with the positive wire 10, and the negative second conduction terminal 200 is electrically connected with the negative wire 20.
The plurality of resilient members 130 are mounted on the conduction terminals 100, 200. Each resilient member 130 is mounted to one protrusion 120. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the resilient member 130 is disposed such that the protrusion 120 extends through the through-hole 131, with the pressing portion 132 facing a surface of the conduction terminal 100, 200. The resilient member 130 is rotatably connected to the conduction terminal 100, 200 by a screw 140. The screw 140 passes through the through-hole 131 and is screwed in the passageway 121. An operator may operate the resilient member 130 through the holding portion 134, for example, by rotating the resilient member 130 between a first position shown in FIG. 3 and a second position shown in FIG. 4.
When the resilient member 130 is in the first position shown in FIG. 3, the pressing portion 132 is located outside the recession 111, and each bus bar 40 can be inserted in one positioning slot 110 on conduction terminals 100, 200. In an embodiment of the invention, the internal bottom surface of the recession 111 is provided with soldering material, such as tin solder, for soldering the bus bar 40 on the internal bottom surface of the recession 111. In this way, it is possible to prevent the bus bar 40 from moving with respect to the conduction terminal 100, 200 and to form a reliable electrical connection therebetween. The bus bar 40 may also be removed or pulled out of the positioned slot 110 when the resilient member 130 is in the first position.
One resilient member 130 and one positioning slot 110 together form a bus bar holding mechanism. When the resilient member 130 is rotated to the second position shown in FIG. 4, the pressing portion 132 is disposed in the recession 111 and presses the bus bar 40 against an internal bottom surface of the recession 111. Only the projecting ribs 133 of the pressing portion 132 press against the bus bar 40. The bus bar 40 reliably comes into electrical contact with the conduction terminal 100, 200 when pressed by the resilient member 130 and further, since only the projecting ribs 133 come into contact with the bus bar 40, the contact resistance between the resilient member 130 and the bus bar 40 is reduced.
In an embodiment of the invention, the bus bar 40 is soldered on the conduction terminal 100, 200 after the resilient member 130 is moved to the second position. Since the bus bar 40 has already been tightly pressed on the flat internal bottom surface of the recession 111 by the resilient member 130, a cold solder joint may be avoided, improving the soldering connection quality.
Patent Application
20170040938
