DE202021101221U1 - High-voltage management system, especially for vehicle energy storage - Google Patents

Abstract

Terminal housing (1) having a terminal area (10) with cylindrical socket contacts (20) for electrical connection to mating contacts of a battery management system (BMS), with at least one contact holder (30) which is stationary in the housing (10) and on which the cylindrical socket contacts (20 ) are movably mounted at least transversely to the plug-in direction (S), the respective contact holder (30) being formed from a plurality of elastically deflectable spring arms (31), which together each have a common receiving space for receiving a socket contact (20) and bear with their free spring arm end (32) against an outer jacket (21) of the socket contact (20) accommodated in the receiving space.

Description

The present invention relates to a battery management system (BMS), in particular for vehicle energy stores, such as vehicle batteries.

Known battery management systems (BMS) or simply battery management is a measure, but mostly an electronic circuit which is used for monitoring, regulating and protecting batteries in vehicles.

These are z. B. charge status detection, deep discharge protection, overcharge protection or complex systems with data interfaces. In many mobile devices, the BMS also includes the automatic switching of the power supply depending on whether a charger or a data interface with limited power supply is connected.

With the topology of such systems, pluggable terminals are also used for the high-voltage terminals. These are solutions in which several electrical contact sockets are integrated in a complex housing, which are plugged together with the counter housing of the battery management system during assembly. For this purpose, however, a blind plugging takes place, since the contact sockets in the housing cannot be seen by the user during the plugging process. Since solutions with a non-symmetrical interface also exist or are required, the plugging process turns out to be a challenge.

Furthermore, the dimensions of a typical battery management system are quite large, and consequently so are the system-related tolerances that a housing and the components arranged therein have. Thus, a tolerance problem also arises in the positional tolerances of the contact sockets. The contact sockets must, on the one hand, be aligned as precisely as possible with the corresponding positions of the contact plugs on the opposite side and, on the other hand, also sit in defined positions opposite the housing. The position of the contacts also determines, among other things, the insertion and withdrawal forces of the connector system.

In the pamphlets DE 3 536 142 A1 , DE 6002 6208 T2 , DE 68913828 T2 , DE 7047251 B , EP8938562 A2 and WO 2003103104A1 there are solutions regarding "blind" plugging without a view of the system's interface during assembly and regarding tolerance problems. However, these solutions cannot be transferred to a housing and the terminal area of a battery management system (BMS) without further ado and with the desired success. Due to the sometimes very complex geometry, a different, especially flexible solution is required in order to overcome the aforementioned problems.

The present invention is therefore based on the object of overcoming the aforementioned disadvantages and proposing a flexible, universally usable and cost-effective solution for battery management systems (BMS).

A basic idea of the invention is to mount the individual contact sockets in a flexible and, so to speak, “floating” manner and, in particular, to make their busbar supply lines flexible.

According to the invention, a terminal housing having a terminal area with cylindrical socket contacts (generally contacts) for electrical connection with mating contacts of a battery management system (BMS) is proposed for this purpose, wherein at least one contact holder is provided that is stationary in the housing and on which the cylindrical socket contacts are movable at least transversely to the plug-in direction (thus To achieve said radial mobility, the respective contact holder is formed from a plurality of elastically deflectable spring arms, which together each form a common receiving space for receiving a socket contact and with their free spring arm end against an outer jacket of the in the receiving space recorded socket contact.

In other words, several spring names extend away from the contact holder in the plug-in direction and form a common bearing for a socket contact that can be accommodated in it in a “floating” manner. When plugging together with the mating connector, even with blind mating and the system-related tolerances, the socket contact can be deflected radially and the two mating contacts (socket contact and e.g. high-voltage pin) "find" each other and can be brought together.

In a preferred embodiment it is provided that the dimension for the radial mobility is at least 10% -15% of the outer diameter of the socket contact. So z. B. allows about 2 mm radial play in each radial deflection for a socket contact with a diameter of 2 cm.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention it is provided that the multiple spring arms of a contact receptacle of a contact holder are each arranged to one another in such a way that they together form a cylindrical receiving space for a cylindrical socket contact. The contact is then in it centrally received and can be held in a radially movable manner by means of the flexibly deflectable spring arms. It is also conceivable to design the spring name as a snap hook, the end of which engages in a groove on the contact, so that a fixed axial bearing is achieved.

In a likewise preferred manner, it is provided that the contact holder each have a passage opening for the respective socket contact and the socket contact extends at least with a partial section through the passage opening, while another partial section is held by the respective spring arms.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to the connection of the contacts as such. For this purpose, it is preferably provided that the cylindrical socket contact is connected at its end opposite the plug-in side to an electrically conductive flexible busbar, in particular an S-shaped, U-shaped, wave-shaped or a curved busbar, which is furthermore preferably electrically connected to its other connection end a busbar is firmly connected in particular screwed to this. This has the advantage that the movable contact also has mobility via the connection area. Conventional line materials and designs can be used as busbar lines for this purpose.

In a likewise advantageous embodiment of the invention it is provided that the respective busbar is led away from the respective socket contact transversely to the plug-in direction. This creates a 90 ° connection type, so to speak, in which the busbar connection is mounted transversely to the plug-in direction, thereby promoting or supporting radial mobility.

It is further advantageous if the spring arms are bent or bent inward at or near their free spring arm end in the direction of the receiving space for the socket contact or have a nose which extends radially inward in the direction of the receiving space. This results in a defined ring-shaped contact section on which the socket contact is held. Preferably at least 6, preferably 8 or more spring arms are provided per socket contact.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the socket contacts are provided as single-pole contact elements, so that each socket contact has, so to speak, its independent function from the other socket contacts and can be positioned at a suitable position on the contact carrier, which allows a high degree of flexibility in the design of such terminal housings .

It has also been shown to be advantageous if the vehicle-side mating contact (e.g. a HV contact pin) connected to the vehicle battery via a line has an external guide designed as contact protection around the respective contact pin, which is formed , to be brought into electrical contact with the contact socket, the contact protection then enclosing the contact socket in a touch-safe manner in the plugged-in state and, preferably, also in the non-plugged-in state, a touch protection which extends to the tip of the contact pin is present.

The invention was first described in its advantageous form, in which the socket contacts are floatingly mounted on the contact carrier as described. A so-called kinematic reversal and swapping of the contact positions would also be conceivable. For this purpose, it can advantageously be provided that the respective position of the socket contact and contact pin in the plug-in system are interchanged, so that the contact pin is mounted on the terminal side so that it can move radially and the respective corresponding contact socket is located on the opposite side.

Other advantageous developments of the invention are characterized in the subclaims or are shown in more detail below together with the description of the preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the figures.

• 1 eine schematische Darstellung einer Teilansicht einer Ausführungsform der Erfindung;
• 2 eine schematische Schnittansicht ergänzt mit einem schematisch dargestellten Gegenstecker;
• 3 eine Schnittansicht durch ein Ausführungsbeispiel im gesteckten Zustand;
• 4 eine Teil-Ansicht des Terminalgehäuses mit einer Kontaktbuchse, die via einer Busbarleitung elektrisch mit dem Stromverteiler verbunden ist und
• 5 eine beispielhafte Draufsicht auf eine Schnittstelle eines Terminalgehäuses mit vier Buchsenkontakten.

Show it:

• 1 a schematic representation of a partial view of an embodiment of the invention;
• 2 a schematic sectional view supplemented with a mating connector shown schematically;
• 3 a sectional view through an embodiment in the mated state;
• 4th a partial view of the terminal housing with a contact socket which is electrically connected to the power distributor via a busbar line and
• 5 an exemplary plan view of an interface of a terminal housing with four socket contacts.

In the following, the invention will be explained on the basis of an exemplary embodiment with reference to FIG 1 until 5 is described in more detail, the same reference numerals indicating the same functional and / or structural features in the figures.

First is in the 1 a schematic representation of a partial view of an embodiment of the invention is shown, which is part of a higher-level terminal housing 1 is, which is also shown in a partial view in the 4th is shown. The terminal housing 1 can have a complex shape and can be adapted to the application in order to connect it to the vehicle-side interface.

With reference to the 4th and 5 you can see that in the terminal housing 1 a terminal area 10 is provided with cylindrical socket contacts 20th , of which only one such socket contact is exemplary 20th is shown. Several of these socket contacts 20th are like in the 5 shown in the terminal housing 10 arranged.

The socket contacts 20th are for electrical connection with mating contacts 50 a battery management system (BMS) designed. In the case 10 are contact holders 30th provided on which the cylindrical socket contacts 20th are stored. One such example is in the 1 until 3 shown in more detail. The socket contact shown 20th is movable transversely to the insertion direction S on the elastically deflectable spring arms 31 stored. For this purpose, the spring arms form a common receiving space for receiving the socket contact 20th . At the free end of the spring arm 32 own the spring arms 30th a nose 33 protruding toward the recording room. The socket contact 20th is therefore stored on the annular section on the noses 33 .

The spring arms 30th are on the retaining flange 34 connected and extend in the plugging direction S. The retaining flange 34 has a passage opening for the respective socket contact 20th . As in the viewer 1 and 3 to see, the socket contact extends 20th with an upper section through the passage opening, while another, more central, approximately in the middle of the contact 20th Viewed in the plugging direction, the lying section of the respective spring arms 31 is held.

In the view of the 4th is also the connection of the cylindrical socket contact 20th with a busbar (busbar line) 24 shown. The socket contact 20th has on its the mating side 22nd opposite front end 23 via an electrically conductive, flexible busbar connection to the busbar 24 connected is. The course of the busbar 24 shows a waveform. At its other end of the connection 25th it is electrically connected to a busbar 26th screwed. In the 5 are further busbar lines 24 shown, each to the four socket contacts 20th to lead. All of these busbar lines 24 are designed with a tolerance compensation section in the form of a downward curved shaft.

In the 2 and 3 is the mating contact connected to the vehicle battery via a cable 50 shown, the one extending in the plug-in direction designed as a contact protection guide 51 owns, as well as a central contact pin 52 , which is cylindrically surrounded by the contact protection. In the 3 it can be seen that the contact socket is enclosed by the electrically insulating contact protection when plugged in.

The implementation of the invention is not restricted to the preferred exemplary embodiments specified above. Rather, a number of variants are conceivable which make use of the solution shown even in the case of fundamentally different designs.

QUOTES INCLUDED IN THE DESCRIPTION

This list of the documents listed by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions.

Patent literature cited

• DE 3536142 A1 [0006]
• DE 60026208 T2 [0006]
• DE 68913828 T2 [0006]
• DE 7047251 B [0006]
• EP 8938562 A2 [0006]
• WO 2003103104 A1 [0006]

Claims (11)

Terminal housing (1) having a terminal area (10) with cylindrical socket contacts (20) for electrical connection to mating contacts of a battery management system (BMS), with at least one contact holder (30) which is stationary in the housing (10) and on which the cylindrical socket contacts (20 ) are movably mounted at least transversely to the plug-in direction (S), the respective contact holder (30) being formed from a plurality of elastically deflectable spring arms (31), which together each have a common receiving space for receiving a socket contact (20) and bear with their free spring arm end (32) against an outer jacket (21) of the socket contact (20) accommodated in the receiving space. Terminal housing (1) Claim 1 , characterized in that the several spring arms (31) of a contact holder (30) are arranged in relation to one another in such a way that they together form a cylindrical receiving space for a socket contact (20). Terminal housing (1) Claim 1 or 2 , characterized in that the contact holder (30) each has a passage opening for the respective socket contact (20) and the socket contact (20) extends at least with a section through the passage opening, while another section is held by the respective spring arms (31) will. Terminal housing (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cylindrical socket contact (20) is connected to an electrically conductive flexible busbar (24), in particular an S-shaped, at its end (23) opposite the plug-in side (22) , U-shaped, wave-shaped or a curved busbar (24), which is further preferably electrically connected to a busbar (26) with its other connection end (25), in particular screwed to it. Terminal housing (1) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the respective busbar is led away from the respective socket contact (20) transversely to the plug-in direction. Terminal housing (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the radial mobility is at least 10% -15% of the outer diameter of the socket contact (20). Terminal housing (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the spring arms (31) are curved at or near their free spring arm end (32) in the direction of the receiving space for the socket contact (20) or have a nose (33), which extends radially inward in the direction of the receiving space. Terminal housing (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least 6, preferably 8 or at least 8 spring arms (30) are provided per socket contact (20). Terminal housing (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the socket contacts (20) represent single-pole contact elements. Terminal housing (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the mating contact (50) connected to the vehicle battery via a line has a guide (51) which extends in the plug-in direction and is designed as a contact protection around a contact pin (52) which is formed to be brought into electrical contact with the contact socket and the contact protection (51) encloses the contact socket in the plugged-in state. Terminal housing (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the respective position of the socket contact (20) and contact pin (52) are interchanged, so that the contact pin (52) is mounted on the terminal side so that it can move radially and the respective corresponding contact socket is located the other side is located.

Images