JP2023114602A - fusible link unit - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a fusible link unit capable of reducing in simple configuration a load which is applied to a battery enclosure side by the movement of a housing, etc., with vibration, etc., of a vehicle.SOLUTION: An FL unit 1 comprises: a fusible link 3 consisting of a metal plate having conductivity; a housing 4 having an insulation property, holding the fusible link 3 and being supported on an enclosure top face 103 of a battery enclosure 101; and an elastic body 6 interposed between the housing 4 and the battery enclosure 101. The housing 4 includes: a housing outer bottom face 41 opposed to the enclosure top face 103 in a vertical direction Z; and a mounting part 42 which is provided on the housing outer bottom face 41 and to which the elastic body 6 is mounted. The housing is supported by the elastic body 6 while interposing the elastic body 6 between the housing outer bottom face 41 and the enclosure top face 103.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to fusible link units.

As a technique related to a conventional fusible link unit, for example, Patent Document 1 can be cited. In Patent Document 1, a fusible link is held in a protector to which a battery terminal is attached, a spring body formed to be elastically deformable, and a spring body movably attached to the protector between a locked position and a released position. A fusible link unit is disclosed in which the protector is locked onto the post erecting surface by a locking mechanism having a supporting linear member, thereby ensuring proper assembling to the battery.

JP 2017-107824 A

By the way, the conventional fusible link unit described above has a locking mechanism that reduces the vibration of the fusible link unit. There is room for improvement in terms of

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a fusible link unit that can reduce, with a simple structure, a load applied to a battery housing due to movement of a housing or the like due to vehicle vibration or the like.

To achieve the above object, a fusible link unit according to the present invention includes a fusible link made of a metal plate having conductivity, a fusible link having insulation properties, holding the fusible link, and a battery housing. a housing supported on an upper surface; and an elastic body interposed between the housing and the battery housing. a mounting portion provided on a bottom surface to which the elastic body is mounted, and the elastic body is interposed between the outer bottom surface of the housing and the top surface to be supported by the elastic body.

According to the fusible link unit of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the load applied to the battery housing due to movement of the housing due to vehicle vibration or the like with a simple configuration.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a fusible link unit according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view including a partial cross section of the fusible link unit according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the fusible link unit according to the embodiment, viewed from the outer bottom surface of the housing. FIG. 4 is a side view of the fusible link unit according to the embodiment; FIG. 5 is a side view of the fusible link unit according to the embodiment, showing changes in the gap S due to the maximum tolerance of the battery height.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Below, embodiment which concerns on this invention is described in detail, referring drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited by the following embodiment. That is, the constituent elements in the following embodiments include those that can be easily assumed by those skilled in the art, or substantially the same elements, and various omissions, replacements, and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. can be done.

[Embodiment]
A fusible link unit (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "FL (Fusible Link) unit") 1 according to the present embodiment is connected to a battery 100 mounted on a vehicle or the like, as shown in FIGS. It is applied to the battery terminal 2 and used for overcurrent protection of the electric circuit. The FL unit 1 is assembled to a battery post 102 of a battery 100 and includes battery terminals 2 , fusible links 3 , housings 4 , bus bars 5 and elastic bodies 6 . 2, part of the housing 4 is omitted from the C section.

In the following description, the illustrated X direction is the width direction of the FL unit 1 and the battery 100 in this embodiment. The Y direction is the depth direction of the FL unit 1 and the battery 100 in this embodiment, and is orthogonal to the width direction. The Z direction is the vertical direction of the FL unit 1 and the battery 100 in this embodiment, and is the direction perpendicular to the width direction and the depth direction. Also, in the following description, unless otherwise specified, each part of the FL unit 1 is assembled to the battery post 102 in an appropriate positional relationship, and the directions are described as being mounted on the vehicle. Further, the above directions are respectively described as "width direction X", "depth direction Y", and "vertical direction Z".

Here, the battery 100 to which the FL unit 1 is applied is, for example, mounted on a vehicle or the like as a power storage device. As shown in FIG. 1, the battery 100 includes a battery housing 101 that houses battery fluid and various components that make up the battery 100, the above-described battery post 102 provided in the battery housing 101, and the like. be done. The battery housing 101 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole. Here, the battery housing 101 has long sides along the width direction X and short sides along the depth direction Y, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The battery post 102 is made of conductive lead or the like, and is erected on the post erection surface 105 .

The post-standing surface 105 is a surface (region) of the housing upper surface 103 of the battery housing 101 on which the battery post 102 is erected. Here, the housing upper surface 103 is the entire upper surface of the battery housing 101 and is composed of a post upright surface 105 , a post non-upright surface 106 and a step 107 . The post erecting surface 105 is the bottom surface of the recess formed in the upper surface 103 of the housing. The post non-upright surface 106 is a surface (region) located above the post upright surface 105 in the vertical direction Z and adjacent to the post upright surface 105 via a step 107 .

A pair of battery posts 102 are erected on post erection surfaces 105 formed in the vicinity of corner positions of the upper surface 103 of the housing. Each battery post 102 has a substantially cylindrical shape and is erected so as to protrude above the post erection surface 105 in such a positional relationship that the central axis line is substantially orthogonal (including orthogonal) to the post erection surface 105 . be. Each battery post 102 is typically tapered to a smaller diameter as it progresses axially distally. That is, each battery post 102 has a tapered shape in which the outer diameter of the distal end is smaller than the outer diameter of the proximal end. One of the pair of battery posts 102 (here, the battery post 102 on the right side as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2) constitutes an anode, and the other (here, the battery post 102 on the left side as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2). constitutes the cathode.

In the following description, a case where the FL unit 1 is applied to the battery post 102 on the anode side will be described, but the present invention is not limited to this. Also, the battery 100 of the present embodiment is a so-called EN standard (European Standards) battery, but the application target of the FL unit 1 is not limited to this.

As shown in FIG. 1, the battery housing 101 has a first height H1 from the outer bottom surface 104 of the battery housing 101 to the post erecting surface 105, and a first height H1 from the outer bottom surface 104 to the non-post erecting surface 106. and the second height H2 up to H1>H2. The first height H1 and the second height H2 are sized and have tolerances in the EN standard, but the dimension of the difference H3 between the first height H1 and the second height H2 is: Not specified. In the EN standard, since the dimensional tolerances of the first height H1 and the second height H2 are large, a maximum tolerance of 7 mm occurs for the dimension of the difference H3.

The battery terminal 2 is a component for electrically connecting the battery 100 and the bus bar 5 by being attached to the battery post 102, as shown in FIGS. The battery terminal 2 includes a body portion 21 , a stud bolt 22 and a tightening mechanism 23 . The body portion 21 is the main portion that has electrical conductivity and is fastened to the battery post 102 . The body portion 21 is made of a conductive metal material or the like, and has a post insertion hole into which the battery post 102 is inserted. The stud bolt 22 is a fastening member held by the main body 21 and electrically connected to a connection terminal (not shown). The stud bolt 22 is made of a conductive metal material or the like. The tightening mechanism 23 is a mechanism that tightens the body portion 21 to the battery post 102 by tightening the body portion 21 along the width direction X. As shown in FIG. The tightening mechanism 23 includes, for example, a plate nut as a penetrating member, a fastening bolt as a fastening member, and a bracket as a pressing force conversion member. to generate a tightening force. The tightening mechanism 23 constitutes a top tightening type mechanism that tightens the main body 21 to the battery post 102 by rotating a tightening bolt extending along the vertical direction Z. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the fusible link 3 is made of a conductive metal plate, and is connected to the battery terminal 2. When an overcurrent flows, a fusible body (fuse) (not shown) melts. . The fusible link 3 includes a fusible element (not shown) provided with a fusible element and a stud bolt 32 connected to the fusible element. The fusible link 3 of the present embodiment is integrated by embedding the fusible element and the stud bolt 32 inside the housing 4 by insert molding or the like, for example. Each stud bolt 32 is electrically conductive and has a shaft portion exposed from the housing 4. The shaft portion is inserted into a bolt hole of a load terminal (not shown) and fastened with a nut to connect the load terminal. electrically connected.

The housing 4 is made of an insulating resin material and holds the fusible link 3 . As shown in FIG. 3, the housing 4 has a housing outer bottom surface 41 facing the housing top surface 103 in the vertical direction Z in a fastened state in which the battery terminal 2 is fastened to the battery post 102, and a housing outer bottom surface 41. and an attachment portion 42 provided to which the elastic body 6 is attached. The housing 4 is supported by the elastic body 6 interposed between the housing outer bottom surface 41 and the housing top surface 103 . The housing 4 is supported by the elastic body 6 attached to the attachment portion 42 of the outer bottom surface 41 of the housing in the fastened state in which the battery terminal 2 is fastened to the battery post 102 . The housing 4 has, for example, three mounting portions 42 on the housing outer bottom surface 41 . Of the three mounting portions 42, two are provided at one end in the width direction X of the housing outer bottom surface 41, and one is provided at the other end. Two mounting portions 42 provided at one end in the width direction X of the housing outer bottom surface 41 are spaced apart in the depth direction Y. As shown in FIG. Each mounting portion 42 is formed in a frame shape so as to surround the outer periphery with the elastic body 6 adhered to the housing outer bottom surface 41 with an adhesive or the like.

The housing 4 extends in the depth direction Y of the upper surface 103 of the housing when viewed from the vertical direction Z with the battery terminal 2 fastened to the battery post 102 . As shown in FIGS. 1, 4, and 5, in the above-described fastened state, the housing end portion 4a on the other side of the housing 4 in the depth direction Y extends outward from the housing side surface 108 of the battery housing 101. To position.

The bus bar 5 electrically connects the fusible link 3 and the battery terminal 2, as shown in FIGS. The bus bar 5 has one end connected to the fusible link 3 and the other end connected to the battery terminal 2 . Bus bar 5 connects stud bolt 32 a of fusible link 3 and stud bolt 22 of battery terminal 2 . Bus bar 5 is formed of a conductive metal plate. The bus bar 5 of the present embodiment extends in the vertical direction Z along the step 107 formed on the top surface 103 of the housing so as to correspond to the step 107 in the fastened state where the battery terminal 2 is fastened to the battery post 102 . It has an extending portion 51 that extends downward, and both ends of the extending portion 51 are bent. The bus bar 5 is fastened to the stud bolt 22 by screwing a nut or the like onto the stud bolt 22 in a state where the stud bolt 22 is inserted into an insertion hole provided at one end of the bus bar 5. The stud bolt 32a is fastened to the stud bolt 32a by screwing a nut or the like onto the stud bolt 32a while the stud bolt 32a is inserted into the provided insertion hole. Thereby, the bus bar 5 can electrically connect the stud bolt 22 and the stud bolt 32 a to each other and electrically connect the fusible link 3 and the battery terminal 2 .

The elastic body 6 is interposed between the housing 4 and the battery housing 101 . The elastic body 6 is attached to the attachment portion 42 of the housing outer bottom surface 41 . The elastic body 6 is an elastically deformable plate-like elastic body, and has a rectangular shape when viewed from the vertical direction Z. As shown in FIG. The elastic body 6 is preferably made of a material resistant to dilute sulfuric acid. Here, the friction resistance member 40 is made of, for example, ethylene-propylene-diene rubber (EPDM). The elastic body 6 has a plate thickness Pt that can absorb the maximum tolerance in the fastened state in which the battery terminal 2 is fastened to the battery post 102 . Since the maximum dimensional tolerance of the difference H3 is 7 mm, the plate thickness Pt is preferably 7 mm or more, for example. Moreover, it is preferable that the elastic body 6 has an elastic deformation region capable of absorbing the maximum tolerance.

A procedure for assembling the FL unit 1 configured as described above will be described. The FL unit 1 is assumed to have the elastic body 6 adhered to each mounting portion 42 provided in advance on the outer bottom surface 41 of the housing with an adhesive sheet or the like attached to the surface of the elastic body 6 . The battery post 102 is inserted into the post insertion hole of the battery terminal 2 of the FL unit 1 . In the FL unit 1, the body portion 21, which is the fastening portion between the battery post 102 and the battery terminal 2, is positioned on the post upright surface 105, and the housing outer bottom surface extends in the vertical direction Z with respect to the post non-upright surface 106. 41 are assembled so as to face each other. More specifically, the FL unit 1 is in a fastened state in which the battery terminal 2 is fastened to the battery post 102, and the fastened portion between the battery post 102 and the battery terminal 2 is located on one side of the upper surface 103 of the housing in the depth direction Y. The housing outer bottom surface 41 is supported by the non-upright surface 106 with three elastic bodies 6 interposed therebetween.

The FL unit 1 according to the present embodiment described above includes the fusible link 3 made of a metal plate having conductivity, the fusible link 3 having insulation, holding the fusible link 3, and the housing of the battery housing 101. It includes a housing 4 supported on the upper surface 103 and an elastic body 6 interposed between the housing 4 and the battery housing 101 . The housing 4 has a housing outer bottom surface 41 that faces the housing top surface 103 in the vertical direction Z, and a mounting portion 42 that is provided on the housing outer bottom surface 41 and to which the elastic body 6 is attached. The elastic body 6 is interposed between the body upper surface 103 and supported by the elastic body 6 .

With the above configuration, the FL unit 1 prevents the movement of the housing 4 supported on the housing top surface 103 of the battery housing 101 due to vehicle vibration, etc., by the elastic body interposed between the housing outer bottom surface 41 and the housing top surface 103. It can be suppressed by the elastic force of 6. As a result, the FL unit 1 can reduce the load applied to the battery housing 101 side with a simple configuration. In addition, the FL unit 1 does not require, for example, a locking mechanism that reduces the vibration of the FL unit, suppressing an increase in the number of parts, an increase in the size and weight of the unit, and a space saving on the upper side of the battery 100 in the vertical direction Z. can be planned. Further, since the FL unit 1 is provided with the mounting portion 42 on the outer bottom surface 41 of the housing, the operator who mounts the elastic body 6 to the housing 4 can easily mount the elastic body 6 .

In addition, the FL unit 1 of this embodiment has conductivity with the battery terminal 2 fastened to the battery post 102 provided on the upper surface 103 of the housing, and one end is connected to the fusible link 3, A bus bar 5 having the other end connected to the battery terminal 2 is further provided. The battery housing 101 is positioned above the post erection surface 105 on which the battery post 102 is erected on the upper surface 103 of the housing, and above the post erection surface 105 in the vertical direction Z. It has a post non-upright surface 106 that is adjacent via a step 107 . The busbar 5 has an extension portion 51 extending in the vertical direction Z along the step 107 . The housing outer bottom surface 41 is supported by the post non-upright surface 106 with the elastic body 6 interposed therebetween in a fastened state in which the battery terminal 2 is fastened to the battery post 102 .

With the above configuration, the FL unit 1 can prevent the housing 4 from moving downward in the vertical direction Z about the fastening portion between the battery post 102 and the battery terminal 2 due to vehicle vibration or the like. It can be easily suppressed by the elastic force of the elastic body 6 interposed between the standing surface 106 and the standing surface 106 . As a result, the FL unit 1 can move up and down in the vertical direction Z with the fastening portion to the battery post 102 as a fulcrum, thereby reducing the load applied to the battery post 102 with a simple configuration. In addition, when the housing upper surface 103 includes the post standing surface 105 and the post non-standing surface 106 as described above, a tolerance is likely to occur in the vertical height of the battery housing 101 at the step 107. There is a tendency. On the other hand, even when the FL unit 1 of the present embodiment is assembled on the upper surface of the housing 103 where tolerance tends to occur, the tolerance is absorbed by the elastic body 6, and the above-mentioned As described above, the load applied to the battery housing 101 can be reduced with a simple configuration.

Further, in the FL unit 1 according to the present embodiment, the battery housing 101 has a first height H1 from the housing outer bottom surface 104 of the battery housing 101 to the post erecting surface 105, and a height from the housing outer bottom surface 104 to the post. It has a maximum tolerance at the difference H3 from the second height H2 to the non-upstanding surface 106 . The elastic body 6 has a plate thickness Pt that can absorb the maximum tolerance in the fastened state in which the battery terminal 2 is fastened to the battery post 102 . For example, when the FL unit 1 has the minimum tolerance of the first height H1 and the maximum tolerance of the second height H2, the difference H3 is the minimum (H3min), and the housing 4 and the post non-standing surface 106 , the elastic body 6 having the plate thickness Pt can fill the gap S (FIG. 4). As a result, the FL unit 1 can be prevented from floating with respect to the post non-upright surface 106 . On the other hand, in the FL unit 1, when the tolerance of the first height H1 is maximum and the tolerance of the second height H2 is minimum, the difference H3 becomes maximum (H3max), and the housing 4 and the post non-upright surface 106 However, the elastic body 6 elastically deforms in the vertical direction Z to fill the gap S (FIG. 5). As a result, the FL unit 1 suppresses the upper side of the battery terminal 2 from floating in the vertical direction Z with respect to the battery post 102, so that the battery terminal 2 can be fastened to the battery post 102 at an appropriate position in the vertical direction. It becomes possible, and the electric conduction performance of the battery post 102 and the battery terminal 2 can be ensured appropriately.

Further, in the FL unit 1 according to this embodiment, the fastening portion between the battery post 102 and the battery terminal 2 is located on one side in the depth direction Y. As shown in FIG. In the fastened state in which the battery terminal 2 is fastened to the battery post 102 , the housing end 4 a on the other side in the depth direction Y is positioned outside the housing side surface 108 of the battery housing 101 . In this manner, the FL unit 1 can easily reduce the load applied to the battery post 102 even when the housing 4 extends in the depth direction Y so as to be separated from the fastening portion between the battery post 102 and the battery terminal 2. It can be reduced by configuration.

Although three elastic bodies 6 are arranged in the above-described embodiment, the number of elastic bodies 6 is not limited to this, and may be one, two, or four or more. Further, the shape of the elastic body 6 is not limited to the illustrated example, and may be circular when viewed from the vertical direction Z, for example. Moreover, although the elastic body 6 has an adhesive sheet attached to one surface in the vertical direction Z, an adhesive sheet may be attached to the other back surface. As a result, the post non-upright surface 106 and the housing outer bottom surface 41 can be more strongly connected, and the movement of the FL unit 1 upward in the vertical direction Z due to vehicle vibration or the like can be suppressed.

1 FL unit 2 Battery terminal 3 Fusible link 4 Housing 4a Housing end 5 Bus bar 6 Elastic body 21 Main body 41 Housing outer bottom surface 42 Mounting portion 100 Battery 101 Battery housing 102 Battery post 103 Housing upper surface 104 Housing outer bottom surface 105 Post Upright surface 106 Post non-upright surface 107 Step 108 Housing side surface

Claims (4)

a fusible link made of a conductive metal plate;
a housing having insulating properties, holding the fusible link, and supported on the upper surface of the battery housing;
an elastic body interposed between the housing and the battery housing,
The housing is
a housing outer bottom surface facing the top surface in a vertical direction;
a mounting portion provided on the outer bottom surface of the housing to which the elastic body is mounted;
The elastic body is interposed between the outer bottom surface of the housing and the top surface and is supported by the elastic body.
A fusible link unit characterized by: a battery terminal fastened to a battery post provided on the upper surface;
a conductive bus bar having one end connected to the fusible link and the other end connected to the battery terminal;
The battery housing is
a post erecting surface on which the battery post is erected, of the upper surface;
a post non-upright surface positioned above the post upright surface in the vertical direction and adjacent to the post upright surface via a step;
The busbar is
an extending portion extending in the vertical direction along the step;
The outer bottom surface of the housing is
In a fastening state in which the battery terminal is fastened to the battery post, the battery terminal is supported by the non-upright surface of the post with the elastic body interposed therebetween.
A fusible link unit according to claim 1. The battery housing is
having a maximum tolerance for the difference between a first height from the outer bottom surface of the battery housing to the post upright surface and a second height from the outer bottom surface to the non-upright post surface;
The elastic body is
In the fastened state, having a plate thickness that can absorb the maximum tolerance,
A fusible link unit according to claim 2. A fastening portion between the battery post and the battery terminal includes:
Located on one side of the upper surface in a depth direction orthogonal to the vertical direction and the width direction,
The housing is
In the fastened state, the end on the other side in the depth direction is located outside the side surface of the battery housing.
A fusible link unit according to claim 2 or 3.

Images