CN217507819U - Connector, battery and power consumption device - Google Patents

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a connector, a battery and an electric device. A connector comprises a shell and an inner main body which is inserted into the shell along a first direction and is fixedly connected with the shell after being inserted, wherein a flexible flat cable is fixed on the inner main body, and at least one pair of flat cable pressing plates and at least one pair of connector secondary locks are arranged on the flexible flat cable and used for clamping the flexible flat cable along a second direction. According to the embodiment of the application, the connection strength of the flexible flat cable can be improved through the assembled FFC connector structure.

Description

Connector, battery and power consumption device

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of batteries, and in particular to a connector, a battery comprising such a connector, and an electrical device comprising such a connector.

Background

In recent years, connectors have been frequently used in power batteries, energy storage batteries, electronic and electrical devices, mechanical devices, and the like. In the prior art, a technical scheme of directly inserting a Flat Cable slot by using a combination of an insulating rubber seat, an outer shell, a wiring terminal and a Flexible Flat Cable (FFC) is disclosed.

However, the above technical solution is only suitable for the FFC circuit board connector, the connection strength of the flexible flat cable is weak, and there is no protection between the PINs (PIN) in the technical solution.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

In view of the above, the present invention provides a connector, a battery and an electric device, which can improve the connection strength of a flexible flat cable by means of an assembled FFC connector structure.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a connector, including a housing and an inner main body inserted in a first direction into the housing and fixedly connected to the housing, a flexible flat cable is fixed on the inner main body, and at least one pair of flat cable pressing plates and at least one pair of connector secondary locks are arranged on the flexible flat cable along a second direction to clamp the flexible flat cable.

According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the inner main body is fixedly connected with the shell after being inserted into the shell, and the flexible flat cable is clamped by the at least one pair of flat cable pressing plates and the at least one pair of connector secondary locks along the second direction, so that the connection strength of the flexible flat cable can be improved through the assembled FFC connector structure.

In some embodiments, first openings are respectively provided on upper and lower surfaces of the housing opposite to each other in the second direction, card slots are provided on opposite side surfaces of the housing in a third direction perpendicular to the first and second directions, the connector secondary lock is received in the first openings, and first protrusions provided on side surfaces of the connector secondary lock in the third direction are inserted into the card slots. Like this, hold in the first opening of shell through connector secondary lock to can realize the centre gripping of connector secondary lock to soft winding displacement without increasing the thickness of connector, moreover, imbed in the draw-in groove of shell through the first convex part of connector secondary lock, thereby can firmly fix connector secondary lock in order to realize the reliable centre gripping of connector secondary lock to soft winding displacement, from this, can further improve the joint strength of soft winding displacement.

In some embodiments, each of the at least one pair of flat cable platens is connected to each other by screw fastening. In this way, the pair of flat cable pressing plates are connected with each other by screw fastening, so that the pressing force between the pair of flat cable pressing plates can be increased to reliably clamp the flexible flat cable by the flat cable pressing plates, and thus, the connection strength of the flexible flat cable can be further improved.

In some embodiments, the peripheral edge of the connector secondary lock coincides with or is located inside the peripheral edge of the first opening when viewed from the second direction. Thereby, the connector secondary lock can be reliably accommodated in the first opening of the housing.

In some embodiments, a spacer is disposed on the inner body between the pins. In this way, the partition plate can isolate the PINs from each other even when condensed water exists, so that the condensed water can be prevented, the occurrence of abnormal withstand voltage caused by the condensed water can be effectively reduced, and the withstand voltage capability among PINs can be enhanced.

In some embodiments, the outer shell and the inner body are fixed to each other by a second protrusion provided to the inner body being caught in a second opening provided to the outer shell. In this way, the second protrusion of the inner body is locked to the second opening of the outer shell, whereby the outer shell and the inner body can be reliably fixed to each other.

In some embodiments, the second protrusion is wedge-shaped with an inclined surface. In this way, by providing the second projection with a wedge shape having an inclined surface, the second projection can be easily locked to the second opening of the housing when the inner body is inserted into the housing.

In some embodiments, the end of the flexible flat cable is formed into a hook shape so as to be capable of being locked with a locking member provided to the mating member. In this way, the end of the flexible flat cable is formed into a hook shape capable of being engaged with the engaging member provided on the mating member, so that the inserted flexible flat cable main body can be engaged by the engaging member when the flexible flat cable is inserted, thereby preventing the FFC from withdrawing the PIN.

In a second aspect, embodiments of the present application further provide a battery, including the connector of the first aspect.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides an electric device, including the battery of the second aspect, where the battery is used to provide electric power.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the application and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the application and together with the description serve to explain the application and not to limit the application. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a general structure of a connector according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing an overall structure of the connector of one embodiment of the present application after being mated with a mating member.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing a connector of one embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of an end portion side of a connector mated with a mating member according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a charging method of a battery according to an embodiment of the present application.

Description of reference numerals:

1 connector

2 mating parts

10 outer casing

101 upper surface

102 lower surface

Side 103

Side surface of 104

105 second opening

106 first opening

107 card slot

20 inner body

201 second projection

202 clamping plate

203 baffle

204 inclined plane

30 flexible flat cable

40 row line pressing plate

50 connector secondary lock

501 side of the plate

502 first projection

21 locking part

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some embodiments of the present application, but not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs; the terminology used in the description of the application herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application; the terms "including" and "having," and any variations thereof, in the description and claims of this application and the description of the above figures are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. The terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and claims of this application or in the above-described drawings are used for distinguishing between different elements and not for describing a particular sequential or chronological order.

Reference in the specification to "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the specification. The appearances of the phrase in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. It is explicitly and implicitly understood by one skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein can be combined with other embodiments.

In the description of the present application, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly stated or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "attached" are to be construed broadly and may be, for example, fixedly connected, detachably connected, or integrally connected; they may be connected directly or indirectly through intervening media, or they may be interconnected between two elements. The specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art as the case may be.

The term "and/or" in this application is only one kind of association relationship describing the associated object, and means that there may be three kinds of relationships, for example, a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" in this application generally indicates that the preceding and following associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

The appearances of "a plurality" in this application are intended to mean more than two (including two).

Reference to a battery in embodiments of the present application refers to a single physical module that includes one or more battery cells to provide higher voltage and capacity. For example, the battery may include a battery module or a battery pack, etc. Batteries generally include a case for enclosing one or more battery cells. The box can avoid liquid or other foreign matters to influence the charging or discharging of battery monomer.

The battery cell can be in a cylinder, a flat body, a cuboid or other shapes. The battery cells are generally divided into three types in an encapsulation manner: the battery comprises a cylindrical battery monomer, a square battery monomer and a soft package battery monomer.

A plurality of battery cells may be connected in series and/or in parallel via electrode terminals to be applied to various applications. In some high power applications, such as electric vehicles, the application of batteries includes three levels: battery monomer, battery module and battery package. As technology develops, this level of battery modules may be omitted, i.e., battery packs are formed directly from battery cells. The improvement leads the weight energy density and the volume energy density of the battery system to be improved, and simultaneously, the number of parts is obviously reduced.

The applicant finds that the technical scheme disclosed in the prior art is only suitable for the FFC circuit board connector, the connection strength of the flexible flat cable is weak, and meanwhile, the technical scheme has no protection between PINs (PINs).

In view of this, the present application provides a technical solution, and the connector of the present application includes a housing and an inner main body inserted into the housing along a first direction and fixedly connected to the housing after being inserted, wherein a flexible flat cable is fixed on the inner main body, and at least one pair of flat cable pressing plates and at least one pair of connector secondary locks for clamping the flexible flat cable along a second direction are disposed on the flexible flat cable. According to the technical scheme of the embodiment of the application, the inner main body is fixedly connected with the shell after being inserted into the shell, and the flexible flat cable is clamped by the at least one pair of flat cable pressing plates and the at least one pair of connector secondary locks along the second direction, so that the connection strength of the flexible flat cable can be improved through the assembled FFC connector structure.

Some embodiments of the present application provide a battery including a connector of the present application.

In order to meet different power requirements, the battery may include a plurality of battery cells, wherein the plurality of battery cells may be connected in series or in parallel or in series-parallel, and the series-parallel refers to a mixture of series connection and parallel connection. The battery may also be referred to as a battery pack. Alternatively, a plurality of battery cells may be connected in series or in parallel or in series-parallel to form a battery module, and a plurality of battery modules may be connected in series or in parallel or in series-parallel to form a battery. That is, a plurality of battery cells may directly constitute a battery, or a battery module may be first constituted and then a battery may be constituted.

The battery described in the embodiments of the present application is applicable to various devices, such as mobile phones, portable devices, notebook computers, battery cars, electric toys, electric tools, electric vehicles, ships, and spacecraft, for example, including airplanes, rockets, space shuttles, and space vehicles.

It should be understood that the technical solutions described in the embodiments of the present application are not limited to be applied to the above-described devices, but may also be applied to all devices using batteries, and for brevity of description, the following embodiments are all described by taking an electric vehicle as an example.

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a general structure of a connector according to an embodiment of the present application. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing an overall structure of the connector of one embodiment of the present application after being mated with a mating member. Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing a connector of one embodiment of the present application. Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of an end portion side of a connector mated with a mating member according to an embodiment of the present application. For convenience of explanation, fig. 1 and 2 show an XYZ rectangular coordinate system, in which the X axis corresponds to the longitudinal direction of the connector 1, that is, the first direction, the Z axis corresponds to the thickness direction of the connector 1, that is, the second direction, the Y axis corresponds to the width direction of the connector 1, that is, the third direction, and the first direction X, the second direction Z, and the third direction Y are perpendicular to each other.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the connector 1 includes a housing 10 and an inner body 20. The shape of the housing 10 is not particularly limited as long as the housing can accommodate the inner body 20. Here, the housing 10 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and has an upper surface 101 and a lower surface 102 opposed to each other in the second direction Z, and side surfaces 103 and 104 opposed to each other in the third direction Y.

A flexible flat cable 30 is fixed to the inner body 20. A Flexible Flat Cable (FFC) is a signal transmission component, which has the advantages of free flexibility and high signal transmission, and is widely used in many connectors. As shown in fig. 1, the inner body 20 has a pair of clamping plates 202, 202 spaced apart from each other in the third direction Y, and the flexible flat cable 30 is fixed to the inner body 20 so as to be sandwiched between the pair of clamping plates 202, 202. However, any other fixing method may be adopted as long as the flexible flat cable 30 can be fixed to the inner body 20.

In some embodiments, the inner body 20 is inserted into the housing 10 along the first direction X and is fixedly connected with the housing 10 after insertion.

As a method of fixing the inner body 20 and the housing 10, there may be mentioned a method in which the second opening 105 is provided in the side surface 103 of the housing 10, the second protrusion 201 protruding from the clip 202 is provided in the clip 202 of the inner body 20, and when the inner body 20 is inserted into the housing 10 along the first direction X, the second protrusion 201 moves along the second opening 105 and is locked in the second opening 105, thereby fixing the inner body 20 and the housing 10 to each other. In this way, the second protrusion 201 of the inner body 20 is locked to the second opening 105 of the outer case 10, whereby the outer case 10 and the inner body 20 can be reliably fixed to each other. However, any other fixing method such as screw fastening, fixing with an adhesive, and welding may be employed as long as the outer case 10 and the inner body 20 can be fixed to each other.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, a pair of cable pressing plates 40 and a pair of connector secondary locks 50 are disposed on the flexible flat cable 30 for clamping the flexible flat cable 30 along the second direction Z.

In this way, the inner body 20 is fixedly connected to the housing 10 after being inserted into the housing 10, and the flexible flat cable 30 is held between the pair of flat cable pressing plates 40 and the pair of connector secondary locks 50 along the second direction Z, so that the connection strength of the flexible flat cable 30 can be improved by the assembled FFC connector structure.

Here, a pair of the flat cable platen 40 and the connector secondary lock 50 is illustrated. However, from the viewpoint of more firmly holding the flexible flat cable 30 to improve the connection strength of the flexible flat cable 30, it is preferable that two or more pairs of flat cable pressing plates 40 and/or two or more pairs of secondary connector locks 50 be provided. In this case, two or more pairs of the flat cable pressing plates 40 may be arranged on the flexible flat cable 30 along the first direction X with a predetermined interval therebetween, and two or more pairs of the secondary connector locks 50 may be arranged on the flexible flat cable 30 along the first direction X with a predetermined interval therebetween.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, first openings 106 are provided in the upper surface 101 and the lower surface 102 of the housing 10, respectively. The shape of the first opening 106 is not particularly limited as long as it can accommodate the connector secondary lock 50, and is substantially rectangular here, but may be any other shape.

A card slot 107 is provided in the side 103 of the housing 10. The shape of the notch 107 is not particularly limited as long as it can be fitted into the first projection 502 described below, and is substantially rectangular here, but may be any other shape.

The connector secondary lock 50 has a first projection 502 on a side 501 in the third direction Y.

When the flexible flat cable 30 is held by the secondary connector locks 50, the secondary connector locks 50 are first received in the first openings 106 so that the pair of secondary connector locks 50 hold the flexible flat cable 30 along the second direction Z, and then the secondary connector locks 50 are fixed to the housing 10 by inserting the first protrusions 502 into the slots 107.

In this way, the secondary connector lock 50 is accommodated in the first opening 106 of the housing 10, so that the flexible flat cable 30 can be held by the secondary connector lock 50 without increasing the thickness of the connector 1, and the secondary connector lock 50 can be firmly fixed by fitting the first protrusion 502 of the secondary connector lock 50 into the engaging groove 107 of the housing 10, so that the flexible flat cable 30 can be reliably held by the secondary connector lock 50, thereby further improving the connection strength of the flexible flat cable 30.

In some embodiments, a pair of cable platens 40 are attached to each other by screw fastening. In this way, the pair of flat cable pressing plates 40 are connected to each other by the screw fastening, so that the pressing force between the pair of flat cable pressing plates 40 can be increased to reliably clamp the flexible flat cable 30 by the flat cable pressing plates 40, thereby further improving the connection strength of the flexible flat cable.

In some embodiments, the perimeter of the connector secondary lock 50 coincides with the perimeter of the first opening 106 when viewed from the second direction Z. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the peripheral edge of the secondary connector lock 50 may be located inside the peripheral edge of the first opening 106 when viewed from the second direction Z as long as the secondary connector lock 50 can be accommodated in the first opening 106. Thereby, the connector secondary lock 50 can be reliably accommodated in the first opening 106 of the housing 10.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 3, a spacer 203 is provided on the inner body 20 between the PIN PINs. In this way, the PIN PINs can be isolated from each other by the partition plate 203 even when condensed water is present, so that the condensed water can be prevented to effectively reduce the occurrence of the abnormal withstand voltage caused by the condensed water, and the withstand voltage capability between the PINs can be enhanced. As a material of the spacer 203, plastic can be used. However, the separator 203 may be made of any waterproof material as long as it can reliably function as a waterproof material, and for example, the separator 203 may be made of a metal material, a resin material, or the like.

In some embodiments, the second protrusion 201 is wedge-shaped with an inclined surface 204. By forming the second protrusion 201 in a wedge shape having the inclined surface 204 in this way, the second protrusion 201 can be easily locked to the second opening 105 of the housing 10 when the inner body 20 is inserted into the housing 10.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 4, the end 301 of the flexible flat cable 30 is formed into a hook shape so as to be capable of being locked with the locking member 21 provided on the mating member 2. Here, the locking member 21 is a snap. When the flexible flat cable 30 is inserted, the inserted flexible flat cable 30 main body is hooked through the buckle, so that the function of preventing the FFC from withdrawing the PIN can be achieved. However, the locking member 21 is not limited to the snap, and may have any structure as long as it can lock the end 301 of the flexible flat cable 30.

In addition, an embodiment of the present application also provides a battery, which may include the connector 1 in the foregoing embodiments.

In addition, an embodiment of the present application further provides an electric device, which includes the battery in the foregoing embodiment, and the battery is used for providing power.

The method for charging the battery according to the embodiment of the present application will be described with reference to fig. 5, wherein the detailed description is omitted.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method of charging a battery according to an embodiment of the present application. The charging method 3 of the battery according to the embodiment of the application comprises the following steps: providing a battery comprising the connector 1 of the previous embodiments; providing a charging head comprising a mating part 2 with a connector 1; the battery and the charging head are connected to charge the battery. Specifically, a pair of female terminals are provided in the connector 1, and the pair of female terminals are connected to the positive and negative electrodes of the battery, respectively. The mating member 2 of the charging head has a pair of male terminals, and the male terminals are engaged with the female terminals in the process of connecting the battery and the charging head, whereby the connector 1 and the mating member 2 can be electrically connected.

Finally, the present application is not limited to the above-described embodiments. The above-described embodiments are merely examples, and any embodiments having substantially the same configuration as the technical idea and exhibiting the same operational effects within the technical scope of the present application are included in the technical scope of the present application. In addition, various modifications that can be conceived by those skilled in the art are applied to the embodiments and other embodiments are also included in the scope of the present application, in which some of the constituent elements in the embodiments are combined and configured without departing from the scope of the present application.

Claims (10)

1. A connector comprising a housing and an inner body inserted into the housing in a first direction and fixedly connected to the housing after insertion,

a flexible flat cable is fixed on the inner main body,

at least one pair of flat cable pressing plates and at least one pair of connector secondary locks are arranged on the flexible flat cable along a second direction for clamping the flexible flat cable.

2. The connector of claim 1,

first openings are respectively provided in upper and lower surfaces of the housing opposed to each other in the second direction,

a card slot is arranged on the opposite side surface of the shell in a third direction, the third direction is perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction,

the connector secondary lock is received in the first opening,

and the first convex part arranged on the side surface of the secondary lock of the connector in the third direction is embedded into the clamping groove.

3. Connector according to claim 1 or 2,

each pair of flat cable pressing plates in the at least one pair of flat cable pressing plates are connected with each other through screw fastening.

4. The connector of claim 2,

when viewed from the second direction, the periphery of the connector secondary lock coincides with the periphery of the first opening, or the periphery of the connector secondary lock is located inside the periphery of the first opening.

5. Connector according to claim 1 or 2,

a partition board is arranged between the pins on the inner main body.

6. Connector according to claim 1 or 2,

the outer case and the inner body are fixed to each other by a second protrusion provided on the inner body being locked to a second opening provided on the outer case.

7. The connector of claim 6,

the second convex part is wedge-shaped with an inclined surface.

8. Connector according to claim 1 or 2,

the end of the flexible flat cable is formed into a hook shape so as to be capable of being locked with a locking member provided on the mating member.

9. A battery comprising the connector according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. An electrical device comprising the battery of claim 9, wherein the battery is configured to provide electrical power.

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