Copper-aluminium connector

Abstract

A copper-aluminum connector includes at least one copper terminal for connection to a power consumption device, and at least one aluminum wire for connection to an electrical circuit, wherein, the copper-aluminum connector further includes a connecting part, and the connecting part includes at least one first connecting end for connection to an end portion of the copper terminal and at least one second connecting end for connection to the aluminum wire.

Claims

1. A copper-aluminum connector, comprising a plurality of copper terminals each for connection to a different power consumption device, and a plurality of aluminum wires each for connection to an electrical circuit, wherein, the copper-aluminum connector further comprises a connecting part, and the connecting part comprises at least one first connecting end for connection to an end portion of the copper terminal and at least one second connecting end for connection to the aluminum wire, and wherein the connecting part connects the plurality of copper terminals with the plurality of aluminum wires, wherein, the aluminum wire is connected to the second connecting end by welding.

2. The copper-aluminum connector according to claim 1, wherein, the end portion of the copper terminal is connected to the first connecting end by crimping.

3. The copper-aluminum connector according to claim 1, wherein, the end portion of the copper terminal is connected to the first connecting end by welding.

4. The copper-aluminum connector according to claim 3, wherein, welding surfaces of the first connecting end and the end portion of the copper terminal are either a plane, a curved surface or a folded surface.

5. The copper-aluminum connector according to claim 3, wherein, a diameter of an end surface of the first connecting end is not less than 1/5 of a diameter of the end portion of the copper terminal, and not greater than 3 times the diameter of the end portion of the copper terminal.

6. The copper-aluminum connector according to claim 1, wherein, the copper-aluminum connector further comprises at least one crimping terminal for crimping to the aluminum wire, and after being connected by crimping, the crimping terminal and the aluminum wire are connected to the second connecting end by friction welding.

7. The copper-aluminum connector according to claim 1, wherein, a cross section of the second connecting end is circular or polygonal.

8. The copper-aluminum connector according to claim 2, wherein, the connecting part is a solid structure or a hollow structure.

9. The copper-aluminum connector according to claim 2, wherein, the connecting part is made of aluminum, aluminum alloy, copper, copper alloy, zinc, zinc alloy, magnesium, magnesium alloy, nickel, nickel alloy, tin, tin alloy, manganese, manganese alloy, lithium or lithium alloy.

10. The copper-aluminum connector according to claim 2, wherein, the connecting part is made of silver, silver alloy, gold, gold alloy, boron, boron alloy or graphene.

11. The copper-aluminum connector according to claim 3, wherein, the connecting part is a solid structure or a hollow structure.

12. The copper-aluminum connector according to claim 3, wherein, the connecting part is made of aluminum, aluminum alloy, copper, copper alloy, zinc, zinc alloy, magnesium, magnesium alloy, nickel, nickel alloy, tin, tin alloy, manganese, manganese alloy, lithium or lithium alloy.

13. The copper-aluminum connector according to claim 3, wherein, the connecting part is made of silver, silver alloy, gold, gold alloy, boron, boron alloy or graphene.

14. The copper-aluminum connector according to claim 4, wherein, the connecting part is a solid structure or a hollow structure.

15. The copper-aluminum connector according to claim 4, wherein, the connecting part is made of aluminum, aluminum alloy, copper, copper alloy, zinc, zinc alloy, magnesium, magnesium alloy, nickel, nickel alloy, tin, tin alloy, manganese, manganese alloy, lithium or lithium alloy.

16. The copper-aluminum connector according to claim 4, wherein, the connecting part is made of silver, silver alloy, gold, gold alloy, boron, boron alloy or graphene.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a first structure of a copper-aluminum connector according to the present application.

(2) FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a second structure of a copper-aluminum connector according to the present application.

(3) TABLE-US-00001 Reference numerals in FIGS. 1 and 2: 1 copper terminal, 2 connecting part, 3 aluminum wire, 4 aluminum terminal.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

(4) In order to further elaborate the technical means adopted by the present application to achieve an intended objective of the present application, the specific embodiment, structure and features of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the drawings and preferred embodiments.

First Embodiment

(5) FIGS. 1 and 2 show a copper-aluminum connector described in the present application, the copper-aluminum connector includes at least one copper terminal 1 for connection to a power consumption device, and at least one aluminum wire 3 for connection to an electrical circuit. In order to connect multiple copper terminals 1 with aluminum wire 3 together, the copper-aluminum connector further includes a connecting part 2. The connecting part 2 includes at least one first connecting end for connection to the copper terminal 1 and at least one second connecting end for connection to the aluminum wire 3, and in this way, it is convenient for people to determine the numbers of the copper terminal 1, the aluminum wire 3, the first connecting end and the second connecting end according to the actual needs, thus the copper-aluminum connector can be directly applied to a power consumption device with a large current demand, which not only saves the use space and cost, but also improves the assembly efficiency of the copper-aluminum connector.

(6) In order to improve the stability of the connection between the connecting part 2 and the copper terminal 1, an end portion of the copper terminal 1 is connected to the first connecting end by welding.

(7) In this embodiment, welding surfaces of the first connecting end and the end portion of the copper terminal 1 are either a plane, a curved surface or a folded surface. Specifically, when the welding surfaces of the first connecting end and the end portion of the copper terminal 1 are planes, the end portion of the copper terminal 1 can be more easily aligned with the first connecting end in welding, thereby facilitating the welding of the first connecting end and the end portion of the copper terminal 1. When the welding surfaces of the first connecting end and the end portion of the copper terminal 1 are curved surfaces or folded surfaces, an effective area of contact between an end surface of the first connecting end and the end portion of the copper terminal 1 can be increased, thus not only ensuring that the copper-aluminum connector has good electrical conductivity, but also enhancing the mechanical performance of the copper terminal 1 when welded to the first connecting end.

(8) In order to improve the firmness of connection between the copper terminal 1 and the connecting part 2 after being welded together, a diameter of the end surface of the first connecting end is not less than ⅕ of the diameter of the end portion of the copper terminal 1, and not greater than 3 times the diameter of the end portion of the copper terminal 1.

(9) In order to improve the stability of connection between the connecting part 2 and the aluminum wire 3 and prevent the aluminum wire 3 from being separated from the connecting part 2 under the action of an external force as far as possible, the aluminum wire 3 is connected to the second connecting end by welding.

(10) The copper-aluminum connector further includes at least one crimping terminal for crimping to the aluminum wire 3, and after being connected to the aluminum wire 3 by crimping, the crimping terminal is connected to the second connecting end by friction welding. Specifically, in this embodiment, the crimping terminal is an aluminum terminal 4, and in connection, the aluminum terminal 4 is crimped onto the aluminum wire 3 to form a crimping surface, and the crimping surface is connected to the end surface of the second connecting end by friction welding. Since the aluminum terminal 4 is crimped onto the aluminum wire 3 to form a hard joint, when the joint is connected to the connecting part 2 by friction welding, the amounts of the deformation of the joint and the connecting part are substantially the same, so that the aluminum wire 3 and the aluminum terminal 4 will not bear a large upsetting pressure in the process of welding, thereby avoiding the problem of cracking or insufficient welding of the aluminum terminal 4 and the aluminum wire 3 after the crimping. Moreover, the hard joint is not only conducive to the welding between the connecting part 2 and the aluminum wire 3, but also ensures the mechanical performances of the aluminum wire 3 after being welded to the connecting part 2.

(11) In order to facilitate the welding between the copper terminal 1 and the aluminum wire 3, the shape of the cross section of the second connecting end is circular or polygonal.

(12) The connecting part 2 is a solid structure or a hollow structure. When the connecting part 2 is the solid structure, not only the stability of the connecting part 2 when being connected to the copper terminal 1 and the aluminum wire 3 can be improved, but also the mechanical strength of the connecting part 2 can be further improved after being connected to the copper terminal 1 and the aluminum wire 3. When the connecting part 2 is the hollow structure, the production cost of the connecting part 2 can be effectively reduced.

(13) Specifically, the connecting part 2 is a hollow tubular structure with openings at two ends, a hollow tubular structure with an opening at one end, or a structure with a hollow portion between the first connecting end and the second connecting end. In order to ensure the reliability of the connection among the connecting part 2, the aluminum wire 3 and the copper terminal 1, a wall thickness of the hollow portion of the connecting part 2 is 0.5 mm to 8 mm.

(14) In order to reduce the electrochemical corrosion caused by different electrode potentials after the aluminum wire 3 is connected to the connecting part 2, the electrode potential of the material of the connecting part 2 is between copper and aluminum. Specifically, the connecting part 2 is made of aluminum, aluminum alloy, cooper, copper alloy, zinc, zinc alloy, magnesium, magnesium alloy, nickel, nickel alloy, tin, tin alloy, manganese, manganese alloy, lithium or lithium alloy.

(15) In order to ensure that the connecting part 2 has good electrical conductivity, the connecting part 2 is made of silver, silver alloy, gold, gold alloy, boron, boron alloy or graphene.

(16) In addition, since the connecting part 2 can connect multiple copper terminals 1 with multiple aluminum terminals 4 together, in order to make the copper-aluminum connector applicable for different power consumption devices, the connecting part 2 can be arranged to have different shapes according to the installation positions and spaces, for mounting the copper-aluminum connector, of the different power consumption devices, thereby improving the convenience of installation of the copper-aluminum connector while saving the installation space.

Second Embodiment

(17) The only difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is described as follows.

(18) The end portion of the copper terminal 1 is connected to the first connecting end by crimping, so that the copper terminal 1 can be connected to the connecting part 2 without using an auxiliary tool, thus greatly saving the time for connecting the copper terminal 1 with the connecting part 2.

Third Embodiment

(19) The only difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is described as follows.

(20) The aluminum wire 3 is connected to the second connecting end by crimping, so that the aluminum wire 3 can be connected to the connecting part 2 without using an auxiliary tool, thus greatly saving the time for connecting the aluminum wire 3 with the connecting part 2.

Fourth Embodiment

(21) The only difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is described as follows.

(22) The end portion of the copper terminal 1 is connected to the first connecting end by crimping, so that the copper terminal 1 can be connected to the connecting part 2 without using an auxiliary tool, thus greatly saving the time for connecting the copper terminal 1 with the connecting part 2.

(23) Moreover, the aluminum wire 3 is connected to the second connecting end by crimping, so that the aluminum wire 3 can be connected to the connecting part 2 without using an auxiliary tool, thus greatly saving the time for connecting the aluminum wire 3 with the connecting part 2.

(24) The above embodiments are only the preferred embodiments of the present application, which cannot be used to limit the scope of protection of the present application, and any insubstantial changes and substitutions made by those skilled in the art based on the present application belong to the scope of protection of the present application.