JP2012164477A - Battery connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable smooth implementation of battery connection work.SOLUTION: A bus bar holder 4 is formed by a main body part 8 having a bus bar housing part 15 that can accommodate a bus bar 3, and a lid 10 connected with the main body part 8 by a hinge 9. In the bus bar housing part 15, spring parts 6 are arranged at four positions so as to surround the bus bar 3. Each spring part 6 can be deflected in the inward and outward directions. Thereby, even if there is position shift between an insertion hole 5 of the bus bar 3 and a corresponding electrode 2, such the deflection of the spring part 6 enables the electrode 2 to be positioned at and inserted into the insertion hole 5.

Description

  The present invention relates to a battery connector.

  For example, a battery mounted on an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle is increasing in number as a battery assembly by combining a plurality of batteries. In this format, each battery is connected in series by a battery connector. As a battery connector, one having a configuration in which a plurality of connection conductors are incorporated in a holder made of an insulating material such as a synthetic resin is known. The following literature can be mentioned as such a specific example. Two insertion holes pass through the connection conductor in this device, so that adjacent electrodes of different polarities can be inserted.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 63-82370

  By the way, in the battery assembly, the variation in the distance between adjacent electrodes having different polarities becomes larger toward the both ends of the battery assembly. The cause is that the variation in the width of the battery itself and the variation in the size between the positive and negative electrodes of the battery are accumulated at both ends of the battery assembly. For this reason, since the battery connector is composed of a single member, there is a possibility that smooth connection work may be hindered due to a positional shift between the insertion hole of the connection conductor and the corresponding electrode. As a countermeasure, simply expanding the diameter of the insertion hole for the electrode can be considered. However, such a countermeasure reduces the contact area with the electrode, and there is a concern about heat generation due to an increase in electrical resistance.

  This invention is completed based on the above situations, Comprising: It aims at providing the battery connector which can perform the connection operation | work of a battery smoothly.

  As means for achieving the above object, the invention of claim 1 is a battery connector for connecting the batteries in series by arranging a plurality of batteries and connecting electrodes of different polarities of adjacent batteries. A plurality of bus bars that are formed of a conductive material through a pair of insertion holes that can be inserted into the electrodes having different polarities, and a bus bar holder that is capable of incorporating each bus bar and is formed of a synthetic resin material. In addition, the bus bar holder is formed with a plurality of bus bar accommodating portions for assembling each bus bar along the battery arrangement direction, and the bus bar accommodating portion is formed with an opening facing the electrode, In the bus bar housing part, a spring part is arranged in the battery arranging direction, and this spring part is connected to the bus bar. Characterized in was configured to the bus bar has a displaceable into the direction of arrangement of the battery.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the spring portion is also provided with another pair connected to both side edges along the battery arranging direction in the bus bar. Have

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, each spring portion is integrally formed with a locking portion, and the bus bar side is locked with the locking portion. It is characterized in that the receiving part is formed.

  Invention of Claim 4 is a thing in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 3 WHEREIN: At least the site | part connected with the said spring part among the peripheral parts of the said bus bar has higher heat resistance than the said spring part. It is characterized in that a heat-resistant resin portion formed of a resin material is provided.

  The invention of claim 5 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 4, the heat-resistant resin portion is integrally formed with the bus bar by insert molding.

<Invention of Claim 1>
According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the bus bar can be displaced in the battery alignment direction by the bending of the spring portion, the displacement between the insertion hole and the electrode is absorbed to simplify the connection work with the battery. Can be
<Invention of Claim 2>
According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the spring portion surrounds the bus bar from the battery arranging direction and the direction intersecting with the battery, the bus bar is also displaced in the battery arranging direction and the direction intersecting with the battery. Therefore, the positional deviation between the insertion hole and the electrode can be adjusted more smoothly.
<Invention of Claim 3>
According to the invention of claim 3, since the bus bar and each spring portion can be easily connected by the locking of the locking portion and the locking receiving portion, the work of assembling the bus bar into the bus bar housing portion is simplified. It can be carried out.
<Invention of Claims 4 and 5>
According to the fourth and fifth aspects of the present invention, even if the bus bar generates heat when energized, the heat-resistant resin portion having high heat resistance is formed at the connecting portion between the bus bar and the spring portion, so that the bus bar holder is caused by heat generation. It is possible to protect against a failure (such as thermal deformation).

The fragmentary top view which shows the connection condition of the batteries which concern on Embodiment 1 Plan sectional view showing a part of the battery connector in an open state Same side sectional view Cross-sectional side view showing the connection with the battery electrode Plan sectional drawing which shows a part of open state of the battery connector which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. Enlarged sectional view of the connection structure between the spring and the bus bar

<Embodiment 1>
1 to 4 show Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a battery assembly B and a battery connector J1 that connects a plurality of small batteries 1 constituting the battery assembly B in series. Each small battery 1 is formed in a thin rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a type having a positive electrode and a negative electrode on the same end surface is adopted. Moreover, in each small battery 1, both the electrodes 2 are arrange | positioned at the substantially diagonal position.

  The battery assembly B is configured by arranging a plurality of small batteries 1 in a state in which the long side surfaces are in close contact with each other and bundling the whole with a binding belt (not shown) in that state. More specifically, in configuring the battery assembly B, each small battery 1 is such that the surface on which the electrodes 2 are provided faces in the same direction, and the positive and negative polarities of the electrodes 2 of the adjacent small batteries 1 are small. The batteries 1 are arranged in parallel so as to repeat alternately at a constant pitch along the direction in which the batteries 1 are arranged.

  Next, the battery connector J1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the battery connector J1 is provided with a pair along the direction in which the electrodes 2 are arranged with respect to the battery assembly B. As shown in FIG. 2, each battery connector J1 includes a plurality of metal bus bars 3 and a synthetic resin bus bar holder 4 for incorporating them.

  Each bus bar 3 is formed of a rectangular flat plate material, and each is formed with a pair of insertion holes 5 through which the positive and negative electrodes 2 of the adjacent small battery 1 are inserted. Both insertion holes 5 are formed in a circular shape in accordance with the shape of each electrode 2 (screw shaft having a substantially circular cross section), and are formed to have a slightly larger hole diameter than the outside of each electrode 2. In addition, in the central part near both side edges on the long side (side along the battery arranging direction) of each bus bar 3 and the central part near both side edges on the short side (side perpendicular to the battery arranging direction), A connection hole 7 (locking receiving portion) for connection with each spring portion 6 described later is formed so as to penetrate in a circular shape.

  The bus bar holder 4 includes a main body portion 8 and a lid portion 10 connected to the main body portion 8 through a hinge 9 so as to be opened and closed. The main body 8 has a pair of side walls 11 extending along the direction in which the small batteries 1 are arranged, a pair of end face walls (not shown) that connect both ends of the side walls 11 in the length direction, and the side walls 11 are spaced apart from each other. The connecting wall 12 is connected to each other, and is formed into a long frame shape as a whole. On the side wall 11 on the side of the bus bar holder 4 where the hinge 9 is not provided, lock receiving portions 13 are formed so as to protrude at regular intervals. Each lock receiving portion 13 is formed penetrating in the height direction.

  On the other hand, the lid portion 10 is formed in a flat plate shape capable of closing the entire upper surface of the bus bar holder 4, and is a plurality of hinges intermittently disposed on one side wall 11 of the bus bar holder 4 corresponding to the connecting wall 12. 9 can be opened and closed. A work opening 20 is opened in the lid 10, and the work opening 20 can expose a predetermined region including both the insertion holes 5 in the bus bar 3 in a state where the lid 10 closes the main body 8. Is formed. Further, on the long side of the lid portion 10 where the hinge 9 is not provided, a lock claw 14 is formed so as to protrude corresponding to each lock receiving portion 13. Each lock claw 14 is inserted into the corresponding lock receiving portion 13 when the lid portion 10 is closed, and is engaged with the lower edge portion of the lock receiving portion 13 so that the entire lid portion 10 can be held in a locked state. .

  A bus bar accommodating portion 15 for accommodating the bus bar 3 is provided between the connecting walls 12 in the bus bar holder 4. That is, each bus bar accommodating portion 15 is arranged at regular intervals along the length direction, and is formed to open in both directions in the height direction, and the bus bar 3 is on the upper surface side (the side closed by the lid portion 10). ).

  In each bus bar accommodating portion 15, a spring portion 6 for supporting the bus bar 3 so as to be displaceable is arranged, and each is provided integrally with the bus bar holder 4. The spring portions 6 are a pair of symmetrically arranged central portions of the two connecting walls 12 in each bus bar accommodating portion 15 and a pair of symmetrically disposed central portions of the side walls 11. It is arranged in the place. Each spring portion 6 has a cantilevered elastic leg 16 having both ends connected to the connecting wall 12 or the side wall 11 and can be bent in a direction approaching or separating from the connecting wall 12 or the side wall 11. It has become.

A bus bar receiving piece 17 formed in a flat plate shape thinner than the elastic leg 16 protrudes inward and horizontally at the center in the length direction of the elastic leg 16 and supports the side edge of the bus bar 3 from the lower surface side. it can. A connecting shaft portion 18 (locking portion) protrudes upward from the upper surface of the bus bar receiving piece 17. The outer diameter of each connecting shaft portion 18 is slightly larger than the hole diameter of the connecting hole 7 of the bus bar 3. Thus, when the connecting shaft portion 18 of each spring portion 6 is press-fitted into the corresponding connecting hole 7 of the bus bar 3 and the bus bar 3 and each spring portion 6 are connected, the bus bar 3 is approximately at the center of the bus bar accommodating portion 15. Positioning is performed in an aligned state.
As shown in FIG. 2, each bus bar 3 and each spring portion 6 (elastic leg 16) are not in contact with each other when the bus bar 3 is incorporated in the bus bar housing portion 15. May be set so as to be in the elastic contact state in which each spring portion 6 is bent outward.

  Next, the effect of this embodiment comprised as mentioned above is demonstrated concretely. The assembly work of the battery connector J1 will be described. The lid 10 of the bus bar holder 4 is opened, and the bus bar 3 is accommodated in each bus bar accommodating portion 15 from above. In that case, the side edge portion of the bus bar 3 is supported on the bus bar receiving piece 17 while the connecting holes 7 of the bus bar 3 are press-fitted into the connecting shaft portions 18 of the spring portions 6. As a result, the bus bar 3 is positioned in a centered state in the center of the bus bar housing portion 15. Thereafter, when the lid portion 10 is closed and the lock claw 14 is inserted into the lock receiving portion 13, the lock receiving portion 13 bulges and deforms outward so that the lock claw 14 can penetrate. Each bus bar 3 is incorporated in the bus bar holder 4 by being locked to the lower edge portion of the lock receiving portion 13.

  The battery connector J1 assembled in this way is carried into the connection site with the battery assembly B. In connection with the battery assembly B, first, a cylindrical spacer member 19 is fitted into each electrode 2 (see FIG. 4). In addition, one electrode 2 of the small battery 1 located on the most end side of the battery assembly B and the electrode 2 having a different polarity in the adjacent small battery 1 are fitted into both insertion holes 5 of the corresponding bus bar 3. wear. The electrode 2 of the small battery 1 corresponding to the insertion hole 5 of the other bus bar 3 is automatically inserted along with the fitting operation which becomes the reference of such an operation.

  However, as the distance from the reference position is increased, the amount of misalignment between the electrode 2 of the small battery 1 and the corresponding insertion hole 5 of the bus bar 3 increases, so that it becomes impossible to insert the electrode 2 as it is. In such a case, the target bus bar 3 is manually displaced in the bus bar accommodating portion 15 by hand. That is, when the bus bar 3 is operated in accordance with the direction of displacement between the insertion hole 5 and the electrode 2, the elastic bar 16 of each spring part 6 is bent inward and outward, so that the bus bar 3 can be moved in the plane direction. Thus, the positional deviation between the insertion hole 5 and the electrode 2 is easily adjusted. In this case, since the bus bar 3 is positioned at the center position of the bus bar accommodating portion 15 from the beginning, there is an effect that the moving distance of the bus bar 3 can be short regardless of which direction the bus bar 3 is moved.

  After performing the above operation on the two electrode rows in the battery assembly B, if all the electrodes 2 are tightened with the nuts 21, the battery connection operation by the battery connector J1 is completed.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, each bus bar 3 can be smoothly displaced in the bus bar accommodating portion 15 by bending the spring portion 6, so that the positional deviation between the electrode 2 and the insertion hole 5 is prevented. Can be easily absorbed. Further, when the battery connector J1 is transported, the bus bar 3 is surrounded from the four sides by the respective spring portions 6 and positioned in the planar direction, so that rattling in the planar direction is reliably prevented. The bus bar 3 is also moved in the vertical direction because it is connected to each connecting shaft portion 18 by press-fitting and there is almost no gap between the inner surface of the lid portion 10 when the lid portion 10 is closed. Since it is regulated, rattling in the vertical direction is also prevented.

<Embodiment 2>
5 and 6 show a battery connector J2 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In the second embodiment, the heat-resistant resin portion 22 is integrally formed on the peripheral portion of the bus bar 3. The heat resistant resin portion 22 is formed of a synthetic resin material having higher heat resistance than the bus bar holder 4, and is formed on the entire peripheral edge portion of the bus bar 3 by insert molding. That is, the heat-resistant resin portion 22 covers the peripheral portion of the bus bar 3 from both the front and back surfaces with a substantially uniform width along the entire circumference, and projects outward from the bus bar 3 with a substantially uniform width. In addition, in the central part of both long sides and the central part of both short sides of the heat-resistant resin part 22, connection concave parts 23 (locking receiving parts) for connection to the respective spring parts 6A are provided. Each connection recessed part 23 is dented and formed in the lower surface side of the outer edge part of the heat-resistant resin part 22, and each is formed in arrow feather shape.

  On the other hand, each spring portion 6 has basically the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, but does not have the bus bar receiving piece 17 and has a connecting projection (locking) formed in the shape of an arrow blade from the central portion of the elastic leg 16A. Part) is formed to protrude horizontally and toward the bus bar 3 side.

  In the second embodiment configured as described above, if each connection protrusion 24 of the bus bar 3 is inserted into the connection recess 23 of the bus bar 3 from the lower surface side, each connection protrusion 24 is aligned in the corresponding connection recess 23. It is press-fitted with. As a result, the bus bar 3 is held in a state surrounded by the springs 6A from all sides, so that the bus bar 3 is positioned at the center of the bus bar accommodating portion 15 and supported in a state of being prevented from coming off in the horizontal direction.

Also in this embodiment, the bus bar 3 is held by the four spring portions 6A that can be deflected so as to be displaceable in the direction in which the batteries are arranged and in the direction crossing the battery. Can be absorbed. In addition, according to the second embodiment, even when the bus bar 3 may generate heat when energized, the heat-resistant resin portion 22 made of a highly heat-resistant resin material is interposed between the bus bar holder 4 and directly. Since no contact is made, there is no worry of heat damage (thermal deformation, etc.). Therefore, it is also possible to select an inexpensive resin material with low heat resistance as the material of the bus bar holder 4.
Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment, and the detailed description is omitted by giving the same reference numerals.

<Other embodiments>
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described with reference to the above description and drawings. For example, the following embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) In the above embodiment, the lid 10 is integrally connected to the main body 8 by the hinge 9, but may be configured separately.

(2) In the said embodiment, although the small battery 1 of the type by which the positive / negative electrode 2 was distribute | arranged to the same end surface was illustrated, this invention is applicable also to the small battery 1 of a type distribute | arranged to a different end surface.
(3) In the above embodiment, the spring portions 6 and 6A are formed integrally with the bus bar holder 4, but may be formed separately and assembled to the bus bar holder 4.
(4) In the above embodiment, the spring parts 6 and 6A are arranged so as to surround the bus bar 3 from all sides, but it is sufficient that they are arranged at least in the direction in which the batteries are arranged. It is.
(5) In addition, the connection structure of each spring part 6 and 6A and the bus-bar 3 side can consider various forms, and should not be limited at all.
(6) Although the formation region of the heat-resistant resin portion 22 is the entire peripheral edge portion of the bus bar 3 in the second embodiment, the heat-resistant resin portion 22 may be formed only on the portion in contact with each spring portion 6A.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Small battery 2 ... Electrode 3 ... Bus bar 4 ... Bus bar holder 5 ... Insertion hole 6, 6A ... Spring part 7 ... Connection hole (locking receiving part)
15 ... Bus bar housing part 18 ... Connecting shaft part (locking part)
22 ... Heat-resistant resin part 23 ... Connection concave part (locking receiving part)
24 ... Connection protrusion (locking part)

Claims (5)

A battery connector for connecting the batteries in series by connecting electrodes of different polarities of adjacent batteries arranged side by side,
A plurality of bus bars that are formed of a conductive material through a pair of insertion holes that can be inserted into the electrodes having different polarities, and a bus bar holder that can be assembled with each bus bar and formed of a synthetic resin material,
The bus bar holder is formed with a plurality of bus bar accommodating portions for assembling each bus bar at a plurality of locations along the battery arrangement direction, and the bus bar accommodating portion is formed with an opening on the side facing the electrodes. The battery connection is characterized in that a spring portion is arranged in the battery arranging direction in the portion, and the spring bar is connected to the bus bar so that the bus bar can be displaced in the battery arranging direction. Ingredients.   2. The battery connector according to claim 1, wherein the spring portion is also provided with another pair connected to both side edges along the battery arrangement direction in the bus bar.   The battery according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a locking portion is formed integrally with each of the spring portions, and a locking receiving portion that locks with the locking portion is formed on the bus bar side. Connection tool.   2. A heat-resistant resin portion formed of a resin material having higher heat resistance than the spring portion is provided at least at a portion of the peripheral portion of the bus bar connected to the spring portion. The battery connector according to any one of claims 3 to 4.   The battery connector according to claim 4, wherein the heat-resistant resin portion is integrally formed with the bus bar by insert molding.

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