Bidirectional USB Connector Stepped Tongue Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional USB connectors lack bidirectional insertion and connection capabilities, leading to potential short circuits and user inconvenience due to the limited design of connection points on a single surface, which restricts the ability to securely connect USB plugs in both orientations.
Innovation Solution
The design of a USB connector with a tongue featuring stepped top and bottom surfaces allows for dual-position, bidirectional insertion and connection by positioning electrical connection points on both surfaces, preventing short circuits through strategically designed gaps and angles, enhancing structural strength and usability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If connection points are arranged on only one surface of the tongue, then the structure is simple, but bidirectional insertion capability is lost and user convenience deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dimensionality change by transitioning from a single-surface connection point arrangement to a multi-surface arrangement. Connection points are distributed across multiple surfaces of the tongue (front surface, rear surface, and side surfaces), enabling bidirectional insertion capability. This spatial redistribution of connection points across different dimensions resolves the contradiction by allowing the connector to be inserted from either direction while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
2Reliability
If connection points are exposed on the tongue surface, then electrical connection is enabled, but short circuit risk increases due to potential contact between metal housing and connection points
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the tongue into distinct functional zones: a connection region where connection points are exposed for electrical contact, and a non-conductive region where the metal housing is positioned away from connection points. This spatial segmentation ensures that when the plug is inserted, the metal housing contacts only the non-conductive region, preventing short circuits while the connection points remain accessible for reliable electrical connection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by creating different surface properties on the tongue: the connection region has exposed connection points for electrical contact, while the non-conductive region has an insulating coating or structure that prevents electrical contact between the metal housing and connection points. This localized differentiation of surface properties allows the same tongue structure to simultaneously enable reliable electrical connection and prevent short circuits.
3Volume of moving object
If the tongue is made thinner to reduce size, then the connector becomes more compact, but structural strength decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the principle of flexible shells and thin films by using a thin tongue structure that is sufficiently flexible to enable bidirectional insertion while maintaining adequate structural strength. The tongue is designed with appropriate thickness and material properties to withstand the mechanical stresses of repeated insertion and removal operations, while its thin profile allows for compact connector size. The flexibility of the thin tongue also helps in self-alignment during insertion.
Data Source
AI summary
An electrical connector includes: a plastic seat; a tongue; and two rows of terminals; characterized in that a front section of the tongue is a thinner plate body, top and bottom surfaces of the thinner plate body are two front-section surfaces, a rear section of the tongue is a thicker plate body, top and bottom surfaces of the thicker plate body are two rear-section surfaces, the rear-section surface of one of the top and bottom surfaces of the tongue projects more than the entire front-section surface of the corresponding one of the top and bottom surfaces of the tongue by a height so that a step is formed between the rear-section and front-section surfaces of each of the top and bottom surfaces of the tongue. A combination of the bidirectional duplex electrical connector and a docking electrical connector is also provided.