JP2005347118A - Electromagnetic relay - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electromagnetic relay which prevents wear and tear due to the arc generated by the bouncing between both contacts without increasing the size of fixed contact and movable contact. <P>SOLUTION: The electromagnetic relay is composed of fixed contact parts 40, 41 fitted to housings 21, 22; movable contact parts 45, 46 which are supported by the housings capable of contacting and separating from the fixed contact parts; exciting means 30, 60, 61 which make the movable contact parts contact the fixed contact parts by electromagnetic action; and a damper means 65 which adds a damping force to the movable contact part in the direction opposite to the approaching direction to the fixed contact part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an electromagnetic relay that is inserted into an electric circuit and relays or interrupts a current.

One type of electromagnetic relay (relay) that is turned on and off in order to relay or cut off current is a blanker type electromagnetic relay. As shown in FIG. 7, a conventional blanker-type electromagnetic relay (see Patent Document 1) is attached to a fixed contact 102 fixed to the case 100 and a plunger 104 supported by the case 100 so as to be movable in the axial direction. The movable contact 106 includes a core 110 that attracts the plunger 104 and a coil 111. When the switch is on, an electric current is passed through the coil 111 to move the movable contact 106 by the attractive force. When the switch is off, the attractive force is released and the spring 113 returns the original position.
JP 2001-176370 A

  In the electromagnetic relay, an arc may be generated due to a bounce generated when the movable contact 106 contacts the fixed contact 102 (at the time of a collision), and the fixed contact 102 and the movable contact 106 may be consumed. If the amount of wear is large, measures such as increasing the dimensions of the fixed contact 102 and the movable contact 106 or increasing the stroke amount of the plunger 104 are necessary to ensure reliable contact. growing. If the dimensions of the fixed contact 102 and the movable contact 106 are not increased, problems such as poor continuity and welding may occur when the consumption exceeds the design expected value.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an electromagnetic relay in which wear due to arc between both contacts generated by bounce is prevented without increasing the dimensions of the fixed contact portion and the movable contact portion. With the goal.

  The inventor of the present application came up with the idea of applying the damping force in the direction opposite to the direction approaching the fixed contact portion to the movable contact portion to alleviate the collision at the time of contact of the movable contact portion with the fixed contact portion. completed.

  The electromagnetic relay according to the present invention includes a fixed contact portion attached to a housing, a movable contact portion supported by the housing so as to be able to contact and separate from the fixed contact portion, and a movable contact portion by electromagnetic action. Excitation means for contacting the fixed contact part; and damper means for applying a damping force to the movable contact part in a direction opposite to the direction approaching the fixed contact part.

  In this electromagnetic relay, the excitation means is relayed or interrupted by bringing the movable contact portion into contact with or away from the fixed contact portion, and when the movable contact portion contacts the fixed contact portion, the damper means is used as the excitation means. A damping force in the opposite direction to the excitation force is applied to the movable contact portion to mitigate the collision.

  According to the electromagnetic relay according to the present invention, the collision of the movable contact portion with the fixed contact portion is alleviated by the damper means that generates the damping force in the direction opposite to the excitation force of the excitation means. The occurrence of bounce is prevented. As a result, contact wear due to arcing can be prevented. In addition, it is not necessary to increase the dimensions of the fixed contact portion and / or the movable contact portion and the stroke of the plunger in order to prevent bounce.

  According to the electromagnetic relay of claim 2, since the movable contact portion is arranged on the opposite side to the excitation means with respect to the fixed contact portion and the movable contact portion is attracted by the excitation means, the high-voltage system and the low-pressure system can be easily separated can do. According to the electromagnetic relay of claim 3, the movable contact portion is arranged between the fixed contact portion and the excitation means, and the movable contact portion is pushed by the excitation means. The output can be easily extracted.

  According to the electromagnetic relay of the fourth aspect, since the damper means is made of a container-shaped diaphragm, an air chamber can be formed in cooperation with the peripheral member, and a desired damping action can be obtained. According to the electromagnetic relay of the fifth aspect, the damper means applies a damping force only when the movable contact portion is moved, and therefore hardly hinders the pulling or pushing of the movable contact portion by the exciting means.

  (B) There are no special restrictions on the use of the electromagnetic relay, and it can be used for the circuit of components such as the main circuit of an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle or an air conditioner inverter.

  The electromagnetic relay includes a fixed fixed contact portion, a movable movable contact portion, an excitation means that urges the movable contact portion, and a damper means that applies a damping force to the movable contact portion. As for the relative positional relationship between the fixed contact portion, the movable contact portion, and the excitation means, the fixed contact portion is arranged between the movable contact portion and the excitation means, and the movable contact portion between the fixed contact portion and the excitation means. May be placed.

  (B) The fixed contact portion has a pair of fixed contacts and a holding member that holds the pair of fixed contacts. The holding member is attached to the housing, and the fixed contact is attached to this at a predetermined distance. Each fixed contact is connected to external wiring or equipment. The movable contact portion has a pair of movable contacts and a holding member that holds the movable contact, and the holding member includes a shaft portion and a plate portion having a hole portion. The shaft portion is supported by the housing so as to be movable in the axial direction. A pair of movable contacts are attached to the holes of the plate portion apart from each other, and face the pair of fixed contacts in the axial direction (height direction). When each movable contact comes into contact with each fixed contact, the fixed contacts are electrically connected by the movable contact.

(C) Excitation means The excitation means includes a magnetic plunger, and a core and a coil fixed to the housing (see claim 7). When the fixed contact portion is disposed between the movable contact portion and the excitation means, the excitation means pulls the movable contact portion from the front toward the fixed contact portion by electromagnetic action (see claim 2). In this case, it is desirable to arrange the fixed contact portion downward and the movable contact portion upward. Moreover, when a movable contact part is arrange | positioned between a fixed contact part and an excitation means, an excitation means pushes a movable contact part from back (refer Claim 3). In this case, it is desirable to dispose the movable contact portion downward and the fixed contact portion upward.

(D) Damper means The damper means is provided to alleviate the collision when the movable contact part contacts the fixed contact part, and a damping force in a direction opposite to the direction in which the movable contact approaches the fixed contact is applied to the movable contact part. give. A fluid such as air is stored inside, and a damping force proportional to the moving speed of the movable contact portion is applied to the movable contact portion. Therefore, when the movable contact portion is stopped, no damping force is applied, and only when the movable contact portion is moved, that is, when the excitation means is operated, the magnitude thereof increases as the movable contact portion is moved (see claim 5).

  Since the damper means resists the action of the excitation means, it is desirable to arrange the damper means integrally with the movable contact portion or the excitation means. It can be made of a deformable material such as rubber, and can be made of a diaphragm whose inner peripheral portion is locked to the movable contact portion and whose outer peripheral portion is locked to the housing (see claim 4). In order to store air etc. inside, it has a container shape and defines an air chamber in cooperation with peripheral members.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In these, the electromagnetic relay of the present invention is applied to a power supply device of a hybrid vehicle.

<First embodiment>
(Constitution)
As shown in FIG. 1, a high-level wiring 11 and a low-level wiring 12 extend between a DC power supply 10 for a hybrid vehicle and an inverter 15 that includes a capacitor 16 and converts DC to AC. A first electromagnetic relay 20 is inserted into the high-level wiring 11, and a second electromagnetic relay 22 and a register 23 are arranged in series with the first electromagnetic relay 20. A third electromagnetic relay 25 and a current sensor 26 are inserted in series in the lower wiring 12.

  The first electromagnetic relay 20 is shown in FIGS. The blanker type electromagnetic relay 20 includes a case 22, a shaft 25 and a plunger 30, a stationary holder 40 and a stationary contact 41, a moving holder 45 and a moving contact 46, a core 60 and a coil 61. Each will be described in detail below. An insulator 27 is fitted to the upper end of the shaft 25, the lower end of the shaft 25 is inserted into a magnetic plunger 30, and the plunger 30 is held by a plate 33 so as to be movable up and down. The shaft 25 and the insulator 27 constitute a shaft portion.

  A pair of stationary contacts 41 is attached to one end of the pair of elongated rectangular stationary holders 40, and the other end extends outward from the pole 36. A conductive and elongated rectangular moving holder 45 is disposed above the stationary holder 40 in a direction perpendicular to the stationary holder 40, and a moving contact 46 at the center thereof is in contact with the upper end of the insulator 27. The moving holder 45 is urged downward by a spring 48 disposed between the central portion and the upper cover 47. Case 21 and case 22 constitute a housing.

  The moving contact 46 attached to the moving holder 45 is opposed to the stationary contact 41 in the height direction and forms a predetermined gap g. Two pairs of magnets 51 generate lines of magnetic force in a direction crossing the gap g between the stationary contact 41 and the moving contact 46 (perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 2).

  The shaft 25 is inserted into the hollow hole of the hollow cylindrical plunger 30, and the outer peripheral surface is loosely fitted into the hollow hole of the plate 33 with a gap. A magnetic columnar core 60 is disposed at the center of the bobbin 57 held by the case 22 and the plate 33, and a coil 61 is wound around the core 60. As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 5, the tapered convex portion 30 a at the lower end of the plunger 30 faces the tapered concave portion 60 a at the upper end of the core 60, and a return spring 63 is disposed therebetween.

  On the shaft 25, a container-shaped diaphragm 65 made of rubber and including a hollow disk portion 66a, a cylindrical portion 66b, and a flange portion 66c is attached. The hollow disc portion 66 a is sandwiched between the flange 25 a of the shaft 25 and the plunger 30, the cylindrical portion 66 b extends downward at a right angle thereto, and the flange portion 66 c contacts the upper surface of the plate 33. Yes. The plunger 30, the middle disc portion 66a, the cylindrical portion 66b, and the plate 33 define an air chamber 67 having an annular shape and a rectangular cross section. Four air vent grooves (not shown) extending in the radial direction and communicating with the air chamber 67 are formed on the upper surface of the bobbin 57 so as to form 90 degrees. The air vent groove may be formed on the lower surface of the plate 33.

(Function)
In FIG. 1, when charging the capacitor 16 of the power supply device including the blanker type electromagnetic relay 20, the first relay 20 is turned off, the second relay 22 is turned on, and the third relay 25 is turned on. After the predetermined time has elapsed and the charging of the capacitor 16 is completed, the first relay is turned on, the second relay 22 is turned off, and the third relay 25 is turned on. Since the current at the time of closing is limited by the register 23, the current capacity of the second relay 22 may be smaller than that of the first relay 20.

  2 to 4, when the electromagnetic relay 20 is in the OFF state, the moving holder 45 is biased downward from the spring 48, and the plunger 30, the shaft 25, and the insulator 27 are biased upward by the return spring 63. The power is balanced and stationary. The moving contact 46 is separated from the stationary contact 41. When a current is passed through the coil 61, the core 60 attracts the plunger 30 downward by electromagnetic action. The plunger 30, the shaft 25, the diaphragm 65, and the insulator 27 integrally move downward against the urging force of the return spring 63, and the moving holder 45 follows this by the urging force of the spring 48.

  When the plunger 30 is lowered, the moving contact 46 comes into contact with the stationary contact 41. As a result, the electromagnetic relay 20 is turned on, and the pair of stationary contacts 41 are conducted by the moving contacts 46. The plunger 30 is lowered until the lower end of the shaft 25 comes into contact with the bottom of the cylindrical groove of the core 60, whereby the contact between the stationary contact 41 and the moving contact 46 is ensured.

  When the shaft 25 descends, the diaphragm 65 also moves integrally, the hollow cylindrical portion 66a and the cylindrical portion 66b are deformed, and the air in the air chamber 67 is compressed. As a result, the diaphragm 65 imparts an upward damping force to the shaft 25 and the moving holder 45, and mitigates the collision when the moving contact 46 contacts the stationary contact 41. Thus, the diaphragm 65 is an air damper.

(effect)
According to this blanker type electromagnetic relay 20, the following effects are obtained. First, the operation of the electromagnetic relay 20 is reliable. At the time of interruption, the moving contact 47 and the moving holder 45, the insulator 27, and the shaft 25, which are holding members thereof, are biased downward by the spring 48, and the plunger 30 is biased upward by the return spring 63. Since the biasing force of the return spring 63 is larger than that of the spring 48, the stationary contact 41 and the moving contact 46 are surely blocked. Further, since the plunger 30 is attracted downward by the electromagnetic action of the core 60 and the coil 61 at the time of relaying, the contact between the stationary contact 41 and the moving contact 46 is reliable.

  Second, the diaphragm 65 prevents the bounce from occurring when the moving contact 46 contacts the stationary contact 41. That is, the suction force of the plunger 30 by the core 60 and the coil 61 becomes stronger as the clearance between the convex portion 30 a and the concave portion 60 a becomes smaller, and the moving contact 46 comes into contact with the stationary contact 41.

  On the other hand, as the shaft 25 is lowered, the hollow disk portion 66a and the cylindrical portion 66b of the diaphragm 65 are deformed, and the air in the air chamber 67 is compressed. The pressure in the air chamber 67 gradually increases and becomes the maximum when contacting the stationary contact 41 where the speed change of the moving contact 46 becomes the maximum. This is because the damping force of the diaphragm 65 as an air damper is proportional to the moving speed of the moving contact 46. Therefore, the collision of the moving contact 46 with the stationary contact 40 is alleviated.

  Since the damping force of the diaphragm 65 is small while the moving speed of the moving contact 46 is low, the suction of the plunger 30 by the core 60 is hardly hindered. Further, the air chamber 67 communicates with the outside through an air vent groove formed on the surface of the plate 33, so there is no concern that the pressure in the chamber will rise too much.

  Since the insulator 27 is coupled above the shaft 25, the high pressure system and the low pressure system can be separated when the moving contact 46 and the stationary contact 41 are in contact with each other.

<Second embodiment>
In the second embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the movable contact portion 80 is disposed between the upper fixed contact portion 70 and the lower excitation means 75, and the damper means 85 is attached to the movable contact portion 80. More specifically, in the fixed contact portion 70, a stationary holder 72 to which a pair of stationary contacts 71 are attached is fixed to the case 73. The exciting means 75 includes a plunger 76, a core 92 and a coil 78.

  The movable contact portion 80 includes a moving contact 81, a moving holder 82 and a shaft 84. The moving holder 82 is attached to a portion slightly below the upper end of the shaft 84 so as to be movable in the axial direction, and a damper 85 is fixed to the upper end of the shaft 84. The damper 85 includes a circular hollow disc portion 85 a, a cylindrical portion 85 b, and a locking portion 85 c, and the hollow disc portion 85 a is fixed to the flange portion 84 b at the upper end of the shaft 84. Air can enter and exit the damper 85 through the gap between the locking portion 85 c and the cover 74.

  A spring 87 is disposed between the flange portion 84 a of the shaft 84 and the inner peripheral edge of the moving holder 82. A core 92 is attached to the plate 91, and a return spring 93 is disposed between the plunger 76 and the core 92.

  At the time of interruption, the plunger 76 is lowered by the action of the return spring 93, and the moving holder 82 is in contact with the flange portion 84 b of the shaft 84 by the biasing force of the spring 87. The moving holder 82 integrated with the plunger 76 at the shaft 84 is lowered, and the moving contact 81 is separated downward from the stationary contact 71.

  At the time of relaying, the plunger 76 is moved upward by the core 92 and the coil 78, the moving holder 82 is pushed upward via the shaft 84, and the moving contact 81 contacts the stationary contact 71. At this time, the hollow disk portion 85a and the cylindrical portion 85b of the damper 85 are deformed, and the internal air is compressed. As a result, a downward damping force is applied to the moving holder 82, and the collision of the moving contact 81 with the stationary contact 71 is mitigated.

  According to this electromagnetic relay, the same effects as the first and second effects of the electromagnetic relay 20 can be obtained. In addition, since the fixed contact portion 70 is disposed upward, the movable contact portion 80 is disposed in the middle, and the excitation means 75 is disposed downward, the structure can be easily taken out to the external terminal.

It is circuit explanatory drawing which shows the example in which 1st Example of this invention was applied to the power supply device of a hybrid vehicle. It is front sectional drawing which shows 1st Example (electromagnetic relay) of this invention, and is equivalent to XX sectional drawing of FIG. It is front sectional drawing which differs 90 degrees from FIG. It is also a plan view. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 2. It is front sectional drawing corresponding to FIG. 1 which shows 2nd Example of this invention. It is front sectional drawing of a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

10: DC power supply 20: Electromagnetic relay 22: Case 25: Shaft 27: Insulator 30: Plunger 40: Stationary holder 41: Stationary contact 45: Moving holder 46: Moving contact 60: Core 61: Coil 65: Diaphragm

Claims (6)

A fixed contact portion attached to the housing;
A movable contact portion supported by the housing so as to be able to contact and separate from the fixed contact portion;
Excitation means for bringing the movable contact portion into contact with the fixed contact portion by electromagnetic action;
Damper means for applying a damping force in a direction opposite to the direction approaching the fixed contact portion to the movable contact portion;
An electromagnetic relay characterized by comprising:   2. The electromagnetic relay according to claim 1, wherein the movable contact portion is disposed on the opposite side to the excitation means with respect to the fixed contact portion, and is pulled from the front in the moving direction of the movable contact portion by the excitation means.   2. The electromagnetic relay according to claim 1, wherein the movable contact portion is disposed between the fixed contact portion and the excitation means, and is pushed by the excitation means from behind in the moving direction of the movable contact portion.   4. The electromagnetic relay according to claim 2, wherein the damper means has an inner peripheral portion attached to the movable contact portion, an outer peripheral portion contacting the housing, and a container-shaped diaphragm having an air chamber.   The electromagnetic relay according to claim 4, wherein the damper means applies a damping force only when the movable contact portion moves.   The electromagnetic relay according to claim 5, wherein the excitation means includes a magnetic plunger coupled to the movable contact portion, and a core and a coil held by the housing.

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