A creepage-resistant connector

Abstract

The application discloses a creepage-resistant connector and belongs to the technical field of electric connectors. A reversed U-shaped partition plate is arranged in a plastic shell plug-in cavity of the connector, and the plug-in cavity is divided into independent terminal insertion grooves to block the creepage path of adjacent terminals. A raised rib strip extending along the plug-in direction is arranged on the inner side wall of the board end, so that an exhaust gap is formed during plugging to reduce the plugging resistance. An avoiding groove is arranged between the wire end plug-in convex columns to further extend the creepage distance. A multi-Y-shaped integrated terminal position assurance piece is adopted, so that secondary locking of multiple terminals can be simultaneously achieved, and the position of the reversed U-shaped partition plate is matched without the need of occupying additional space. The anti-creepage performance of the application is improved by more than 30%, the plugging resistance is reduced by 40%, the application is suitable for harsh scenes with high humidity and high vibration, and can be widely applied in the fields of new energy vehicles and industrial control.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of electrical connector technology, specifically relating to a low-resistance, high-reliability, anti-creep electrical connector, which can be widely used in scenarios with high requirements for electrical connection reliability and environmental adaptability, such as BMS signal connection in new energy vehicles, power distribution in industrial control equipment, and high-voltage power supply for consumer electronics. Background Technology

[0002] Electrical connectors are core components for transmitting signals and power between electronic devices. With the rapid development of new energy and industrial automation, the application scenarios of connectors are gradually extending to harsh environments with high humidity, high vibration, and high insertion and removal frequency, which puts forward higher requirements for their anti-creep performance, ease of insertion and removal, and terminal fixation reliability.

[0003] There are currently several technical approaches for connectors designed to prevent creepage: Chinese invention patent CN111211437A discloses an anti-creep connector for plasma surgical equipment. It improves the creepage distance through a structure of staggered pin arrangement and pin partition isolation. However, its structure is only suitable for special pin arrangement schemes in medical scenarios, has poor versatility, cannot adapt to the standardized connector size requirements in industrial and automotive fields, and has not been optimized for insertion and extraction resistance and terminal vibration resistance.

[0004] Chinese invention patent CN118712812A discloses an anti-creep connector, which uses a sleeve to individually wrap each plug terminal and fix it with an external limiting member to avoid creepage problems caused by loose terminals. However, this solution requires an independent sleeve for each terminal, resulting in a large overall structure volume, more than 40% more assembly steps compared to conventional connectors, high production costs, and does not solve the problem of high insertion and extraction resistance caused by air compression during insertion.

[0005] Chinese utility model patent CN223743961U discloses an anti-creep connector that uses a partition at the board end to separate adjacent terminals to achieve anti-creep, which is the mainstream anti-creep solution in the current industry. However, this solution still has three drawbacks: First, relying on a single layer of partition for isolation, there is still a risk of creep along the surface of the partition in high humidity and condensation environments; second, when the board end and the wire end are plugged in, there is surface contact, which prevents air from being discharged smoothly, resulting in high insertion and extraction resistance, which is not conducive to automated assembly; third, relying solely on the barbs of the terminals for fixation, the terminals are prone to pin retraction under long-term vibration scenarios. If an additional independent TPA (terminal position guarantee) is added, it will cause spatial interference with the partition structure, requiring an increase in the overall size of the connector.

[0006] In summary, existing anti-creep connectors cannot simultaneously meet the three core requirements of excellent anti-creep performance, low insertion and extraction resistance, and high-end sub-fixed reliability. Furthermore, adding additional functions will lead to an increase in connector size and cost, making them unsuitable for the current trend of miniaturization and high reliability in electronic devices. Summary of the Invention

[0007] To address the shortcomings of existing anti-creep connectors, such as insufficient anti-creep redundancy, high insertion and extraction resistance, and the inability to simultaneously achieve reliable terminal fixation and miniaturization, the present invention aims to provide an anti-creep connector with multi-structure collaboration. This connector achieves high anti-creep performance, low insertion and extraction resistance, and high terminal vibration resistance without increasing the overall size of the connector or the assembly cost, making it suitable for various harsh application scenarios.

[0008] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows: An anti-creep connector includes a board-end assembly and a wire-end assembly that are mated together. The board-end assembly includes a board-end housing, pins fixedly installed within the board-end housing, and positioning tabs for positioning the board-end housing on a PCB board. The wire-end assembly includes a wire-end housing, conductive terminals assembled within a terminal receiving cavity of the wire-end housing, and a terminal position guarantee (TPA) for locking the conductive terminals within the terminal receiving cavity.

[0009] The insertion cavity of the plate end plastic shell is integrally formed with at least two parallel inverted U-shaped partitions. The inverted U-shaped partitions divide the insertion cavity into three independent terminal slots corresponding to the number of conductive terminals. The sidewalls of the inverted U-shaped partitions completely block the direct creepage path of live parts in adjacent terminal slots.

[0010] On the two opposite inner sidewalls of the plate end plastic shell, there are multiple raised ribs extending along the insertion direction. When the plate end assembly and the wire end assembly are inserted, the raised ribs are in linear contact with the outer sidewall of the wire end plastic shell, and a gap is formed between them for air to be discharged.

[0011] The plug end of the wire end plastic shell is integrally formed with a first plug protrusion, a second plug protrusion and a third plug protrusion respectively corresponding to and adapted to the three terminal slots. A first recessed clearance groove and a second recessed clearance groove are respectively opened between the first plug protrusion and the second plug protrusion, and between the second plug protrusion and the third plug protrusion, to avoid the installation of multi-Y type TPA and extend the creepage path between adjacent conductive terminals.

[0012] The TPA is a multi-Y integrated structure, including a fixed base and two Y-shaped snap-fit ​​feet integrally formed on the fixed base. Each Y-shaped snap-fit ​​foot is respectively snapped to the tail of a conductive terminal to achieve secondary locking, and the gap position between the two Y-shaped snap-fit ​​feet corresponds to the position of the inverted U-shaped partition of the plastic shell at the end of the plate.

[0013] Preferably, the height of the inverted U-shaped partition is equal to the depth of the plastic shell insertion cavity at the end of the partition, the thickness is 0.8 to 1.2 mm, and the surface of the partition is a smooth insulating surface.

[0014] Preferably, each inner sidewall of the plate end plastic shell has 3 to 4 raised ribs, the raised height of all the raised ribs is 0.2 to 0.5 mm, and the surface roughness Ra≤1.6 μm.

[0015] Preferably, the end of the protruding rib facing the insertion direction of the wire end is provided with an introductory chamfer of R0.3 to R0.5mm to guide the plastic shell of the wire end to be smoothly inserted into the receiving cavity of the plate end during insertion.

[0016] Preferably, the depth of the first and second clearance grooves is 1.5 to 2 mm, and the inner wall edges of the grooves are provided with a radius of 0.2 mm to avoid stress concentration during injection molding.

[0017] Preferably, the fixing base of the multi-Y type TPA has two symmetrical snap-fit ​​protrusions on both sides of the fixing base, and the plastic shell at the end of the line has a matching snap-fit ​​groove at the corresponding position. After the multi-Y type TPA is inserted into place, the snap-fit ​​protrusions snap into the snap-fit ​​groove to achieve axial fixation.

[0018] Preferably, each Y-shaped snap-fit ​​leg of the multi-Y type TPA is provided with an inwardly protruding snap-fit ​​ridge at its end. The snap-fit ​​ridge is adapted to snap-fit ​​with the arc-shaped end face of the conductive terminal, thereby restricting the axial displacement of the conductive terminal.

[0019] Preferably, the first slot side of the plastic shell at the plate end is provided with a foolproof groove, and the first insertion protrusion of the plastic shell at the wire end is provided with a matching foolproof protrusion at the corresponding position. The cooperation between the foolproof groove and the foolproof protrusion only allows the wire end assembly to be inserted in the correct direction.

[0020] Preferably, the root of the plastic shell at the wire end is integrally formed with a blocking part on both sides, and an elastic buffer pad is provided on the end face of the blocking part facing the plate end. After the wire end is inserted into place, the elastic buffer pad abuts against the end face of the plastic shell at the plate end to buffer the insertion impact force and limit the insertion depth of the wire end assembly.

[0021] Preferably, the plate end plastic shell, the wire end plastic shell, and the multi-Y type TPA are all injection molded from reinforced flame-retardant PBT or PA66 material, with a flame retardant rating of UL94-V0 and a rated working voltage suitable for 60V to 600V scenarios.

[0022] Compared with existing anti-creep connectors, the advantages of this invention are reflected in the following aspects: 1. Significantly improved anti-creep performance: Through the physical isolation of the inverted U-shaped partition at the plate end and the extension of the creepage distance of the wire end avoidance groove, the creepage distance is increased by more than 30% compared with the existing single-layer partition solution. It can adapt to high humidity condensation environment with a relative humidity of 95% and has no risk of creepage breakdown.

[0023] 2. Significantly reduced insertion and extraction resistance: The raised ribs on the inner wall of the plate end achieve linear contact with the wire end, while forming a continuous exhaust gap to avoid the resistance caused by air compression during insertion. Compared with the traditional surface contact insertion solution, the insertion and extraction resistance is reduced by more than 40%, which is suitable for automated high-speed assembly scenarios and doubles the assembly efficiency.

[0024] 3. Balancing terminal fixation reliability and miniaturization: The multi-Y integrated TPA simultaneously locks three terminals, eliminating the need for a separate TPA structure for each terminal, reducing assembly steps by 50%. Furthermore, the TPA leg gap perfectly matches the position of the board end partition, without occupying extra space or increasing the overall size of the connector. The terminal vibration resistance meets the level 4 vibration requirements of automotive connectors, and there is no risk of pin retraction under long-term vibration conditions.

[0025] 4. Improved assembly yield: The combination of the anti-misfit groove and the anti-misfit protrusion avoids reverse insertion, and the blocking part limits the insertion depth to avoid over-insertion. The defect rate in the assembly process is reduced to below 0.2%, which is suitable for mass production.

[0026] All structures in this solution are injection molded in one piece, requiring no additional special production processes. They can be directly adapted to existing connector production lines, making them highly industrially applicable. Attached Figure Description

[0027] The accompanying drawings are provided to further illustrate the invention and form part of the specification. They are used in conjunction with embodiments of the invention to explain the invention and do not constitute a limitation thereof. In the drawings: Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall assembly structure of the anti-creep connector described in this invention; Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the plate-end assembly described in this invention; Figure 3 This is an exploded view of the wire end assembly described in this invention; Figure 4 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the multi-Y type TPA described in this invention.

[0028] In the diagram, 101-board end plastic shell; 102-PIN pin; 103-positioning piece; 104-inverted U-shaped partition; 105a-first terminal slot; 105b-second terminal slot; 105c-third terminal slot; 106-protruding rib; 107-introducing chamfer; 108-foolproof groove; 201-wire end plastic shell; 202-conductive terminal; 203a-first insertion protrusion; 203b-second insertion protrusion; 203c-third insertion protrusion; 204a-first clearance groove; 204b-second clearance groove; 205-foolproof protrusion; 206-blocking part; 301-TPA fixing base; 302-Y-type snap-fit ​​support; 303-buckle protrusion; 304-buckle ridge; 305a-first protrusion; 305b-second protrusion. Detailed Implementation

[0029] The technical solution of the present invention will now be clearly and completely described with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of them. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention. The embodiments are only used to explain the present invention and do not constitute a limitation on the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0030] The overall assembly structure of the anti-creep connector described in this embodiment is as follows: Figure 1 As shown, it consists of two parts: a board-end assembly and a wire-end assembly that plug into each other. Its overall dimensions are fully compatible with the industry-standard 3PIN socket, and it can directly replace existing connectors of the same specification.

[0031] The specific structure of the board-end assembly is as follows: Figure 2 As shown, the assembly includes a board-end plastic shell 101, three pins 102 crimped and fixed inside the board-end plastic shell 101, and two snap-fit ​​metal positioning pieces 103 located at the bottom of the board-end plastic shell 101. The positioning pieces 103 are used to fix the board-end plastic shell 101 to the PCB board to ensure that the board-end assembly does not shift under vibration conditions.

[0032] The insertion cavity of the plastic shell 101 at the plate end has two parallel inverted U-shaped partitions 104 integrally formed. The height of the inverted U-shaped partitions 104 is exactly equal to the depth of the insertion cavity, the thickness is 1mm, and the surface is a smooth insulating surface. The two inverted U-shaped partitions 104 divide the insertion cavity into three independent first terminal slots 105a, second terminal slots 105b, and third terminal slots 105c, completely blocking the direct creepage path between the pins in adjacent slots.

[0033] Three raised ribs 106 extending along the insertion direction are integrally formed on the two opposite inner sidewalls of the plate end plastic shell 101. The protrusion height of all raised ribs 106 is 0.3mm, and the surface roughness Ra is 1.6μm. The end of the raised rib 106 facing the insertion direction of the wire end is provided with a guide chamfer 107 with an R0.4mm diameter to guide the wire end plastic shell to be inserted smoothly during insertion and avoid scratching the surface of the plastic shell. The left inner wall of the first terminal slot 105a is provided with a foolproof groove 108, which only allows the wire end protrusion of the corresponding shape to be inserted to avoid reverse insertion during assembly.

[0034] The exploded structure of the wire terminal assembly is as follows Figure 3 As shown, it includes a wire end plastic shell 201, three conductive terminals 202 for crimpable cables, and a multi-Y type TPA.

[0035] The plug-in end of the wire end housing 201 is integrally formed with a first plug-in protrusion 203a, a second plug-in protrusion 203b, and a third plug-in protrusion 203c, which are respectively adapted to the three terminal slots. A first clearance groove 204a with a depth of 1.8mm is formed between the first plug-in protrusion 203a and the second plug-in protrusion 203b, and a second clearance groove 204b with a depth of 1.8mm is formed between the second plug-in protrusion 203b and the third plug-in protrusion 203c. The inner wall edges of both clearance grooves are provided with a radius of 0.2mm to avoid stress concentration during injection molding, avoid the installation of multi-Y type TPAs, and further extend the creepage path between adjacent conductive terminals. The left outer wall of the first plug-in protrusion 203a is integrally formed with a foolproof protrusion 205 adapted to the foolproof groove 108, which can only be inserted smoothly when the wire end is plugged in the correct direction.

[0036] The base of the wire end plastic shell 201 has integrally formed blocking parts 206 on both sides. A ring of elastic buffer pads made of silicone rubber is pasted on the end face of the blocking part 206 facing the board end. After the wire end is inserted into place, the elastic buffer pads abut against the end face of the board end plastic shell 101 to buffer the insertion impact force and limit the insertion depth of the wire end assembly to avoid over-insertion and damage to the internal terminals.

[0037] The specific structure of the multi-Y type TPA is as follows: Figure 3 and 4As shown, the device includes a rectangular fixing base 301 and two Y-shaped snap-fit ​​feet 302 integrally formed on the fixing base 301. The gap between the two Y-shaped snap-fit ​​feet 302 corresponds perfectly to the position of the inverted U-shaped partition 104 on the end plastic shell. When inserted, the partition just fits into the gap between the feet, preventing structural interference. Two symmetrical snap-fit ​​protrusions 303 are provided on both sides of the fixing base 301. Corresponding snap-fit ​​grooves are provided on the end plastic shell 201. After the multiple Y-shaped TPAs ​​are inserted, the snap-fit ​​protrusions 303 engage with the snap-fit ​​grooves to achieve axial fixation and prevent the TPAs ​​from loosening. Each Y-shaped snap-fit ​​foot 302 has an inwardly protruding snap-fit ​​ridge 304 at its end. The snap-fit ​​ridge 304 engages with the arc-shaped end face of the conductive terminal 202, limiting the axial displacement of the conductive terminal and preventing the terminal pins from retracting under vibration conditions. The lower end face of the multi-Y type TPA is also provided with an axially extending first protrusion 305a and a second protrusion 305b. When the multi-Y type TPA is inserted into the wire end plastic shell 201, the first protrusion 305a and the second protrusion 305b are respectively inserted into the first clearance groove 204a and the second clearance groove 204b, so that the positional relationship between the multi-Y type TPA and the wire end plastic shell is more stable, and the conductive terminal 202 is further locked.

[0038] In this embodiment, the plate end plastic shell 101, the wire end plastic shell 201, and the multi-Y type TPA are all injection molded from reinforced flame-retardant PA66 material, with a flame retardant rating of UL94-V0, which can be adapted to working voltage scenarios from 60V to 600V.

[0039] When the connector described in this embodiment is mated, it is combined with Figure 2 and Figure 4 As can be seen, during the mating process, the raised ribs 106 on the inner side of the board end and the outer wall of the plastic shell 201 at the wire end form linear contact. The gap between them serves as a continuous exhaust channel, allowing internal air to escape smoothly during mating and preventing air compression from causing resistance. Actual tests show that the mating force in this embodiment is only 12N, which is 42% lower than the 21N mating force of traditional anti-creep connectors of the same specification, making it suitable for automated high-speed assembly scenarios.

[0040] The anti-creep principle of this embodiment involves an inverted U-shaped partition 104 at the board end blocking the direct creepage path of adjacent pins, while two clearance slots at the wire end further extend the creepage path, ultimately achieving a creepage distance of 8mm. This represents a 33% improvement compared to the 6mm of the traditional single-layer partition solution. It can operate stably for extended periods in condensation environments with a relative humidity of 95%, eliminating the risk of creepage breakdown. The terminal fixing performance has passed the Level 4 vibration test for automotive connectors. Under conditions of 10-2000Hz vibration frequency and 20G acceleration, continuous vibration for 100 hours showed no pin retraction, ensuring connection reliability meets the requirements of demanding application scenarios.

Claims

1. A creepage-resistant connector, comprising mating board-end assembly and wire-end assembly, wherein the board-end assembly includes a board-end housing, PIN pins assembled within the board-end housing, and positioning tabs for fixing the board-end housing to a PCB board; the wire-end assembly includes a wire-end housing, conductive terminals assembled within the wire-end housing, and a TPA (Transient Terminal Apparatus) for locking the conductive terminals, characterized in that: The cavity of the plastic shell at the plate end is provided with at least two inverted U-shaped partitions, which divide the cavity into a first slot, a second slot, and a third slot that are independent of each other, physically isolating the conductive components in each slot to block the creepage path; The inner wall of the insertion side of the plate end plastic shell is provided with multiple protruding ribs along the insertion direction. When the plate end assembly and the line end assembly are inserted together, an air venting gap is formed between the protruding ribs and the outer wall of the line end plastic shell. The plug-in end of the line end plastic shell is provided with a first plug-in protrusion, a second plug-in protrusion and a third plug-in protrusion respectively adapted to the three slots. A first clearance groove and a second clearance groove are respectively opened between adjacent plug-in protrusions to avoid the installation of multi-Y type TPA and increase the creepage distance between adjacent conductive terminals. The TPA component is a multi-Y integrated structure. Each Y-shaped leg of the multi-Y TPA is respectively snapped into a conductive terminal to achieve secondary locking. The position of the multi-Y TPA corresponds to and matches the position of the inverted U-shaped partition of the plastic shell at the end of the board.

2. The anti-crawl electrical connector of claim 1, wherein, The height of the inverted U-shaped partition is equal to the depth of the cavity where the plastic shell at the end of the partition is inserted. The thickness of the inverted U-shaped partition is 0.8~1.2mm, and the surface of the partition is a smooth insulating surface, which further improves the performance of blocking creepage.

3. The anti -creep electrical connector of claim 1, wherein, The inner wall of each plate end plastic shell has 3 to 4 raised ribs, the raised height of all the raised ribs is 0.2 to 0.5 mm, and the surface roughness Ra≤1.6 μm, which reduces the contact friction force during insertion.

4. The anti-crawl electrical connector of claim 3, wherein, The protruding rib has a guide chamfer of R0.3~R0.5mm at the end facing the insertion direction of the wire end, which guides the plastic shell of the wire end to be smoothly inserted into the receiving cavity of the plate end during insertion, avoiding scratching the plastic shell.

5. The anti-crawl electrical connector of claim 1, wherein, The depth of the first and second clearance grooves is 1.5~2mm, and the inner wall edges of the grooves are provided with a radius of 0.2mm to avoid stress concentration during injection molding and to further extend the creepage path.

6. The anti-crawl electrical connector of claim 1, wherein, The fixing base of the multi-Y type TPA has two symmetrical snap-fit ​​protrusions on both sides of the fixing base. The plastic shell at the end of the line has a matching snap-fit ​​groove at the corresponding position. After the multi-Y type TPA is inserted into the position, the snap-fit ​​protrusions snap into the snap-fit ​​groove to achieve axial fixation and prevent the TPA from loosening.

7. The anti-crawl electrical connector of claim 6, wherein, Each Y-type snap-fit ​​leg of the multi-Y type TPA has an inwardly protruding snap-fit ​​ridge at its end. The snap-fit ​​ridge is adapted to snap-fit ​​the arc-shaped end face of the conductive terminal, restricting the axial displacement of the conductive terminal and preventing the terminal pin from retracting.

8. The anti -creep electrical connector of claim 1, wherein, The first slot side of the plastic shell at the board end is provided with a foolproof groove, and the first insertion protrusion of the plastic shell at the wire end is provided with a matching foolproof protrusion at the corresponding position. The cooperation between the foolproof groove and the foolproof protrusion only allows the wire end assembly to be inserted in the correct direction, avoiding reverse insertion and damage to the terminal.

9. The anti -creep electrical connector of claim 1, wherein, The root of the plastic shell of the wire end has a blocking part integrally formed on both sides. An elastic buffer pad is provided on the end face of the blocking part facing the plate end. After the wire end is inserted into place, the elastic buffer pad abuts against the end face of the plastic shell of the plate end to buffer the insertion impact force and limit the insertion depth of the wire end assembly.

10. The anti-crawl electrical connector of claim 1, wherein, The plate-end plastic shell, wire-end plastic shell, and multi-Y type TPA are all injection molded from reinforced flame-retardant PBT or PA66 material, with a flame retardant rating of UL94-V0 and a rated working voltage suitable for 60V~600V scenarios.

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