Bulb Socket Terminal Fitting Eccentric Spring Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional bulb sockets experience reduced holding power and potential rattling or falling of bulbs due to uneven elastic deformation of holding pieces when holding bulbs with contact lead wires, leading to settling issues.
Innovation Solution
A bulb socket design with terminal fittings that are eccentrically positioned and have spring portions to evenly distribute stress, ensuring equal elastic deformation and maintaining consistent holding power by adjusting the terminal positions relative to the bulb's contact lead wires.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If holding pieces are used to hold the bulb base portion, then the bulb is secured in the socket, but unequal elastic deformation occurs causing settling and reduced holding power
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an asymmetric guide piece structure with different surface characteristics on opposite sides. One side has a smooth surface while the other has a rough surface, creating intentional asymmetry in the holding mechanism. This asymmetric design ensures that the guide piece interacts differently with the bulb base on each side, preventing unequal elastic deformation of the holding pieces and eliminating settling issues while maintaining reliable holding power.
2Reliability
If holding pieces are positioned to contact the bulb base, then electrical connection is achieved, but stress distribution becomes uneven leading to settling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing different surface characteristics at different locations of the guide piece. The smooth surface on one side and the rough surface on the other side create localized differences in friction and contact characteristics. This ensures that stress is distributed more uniformly across the holding pieces while maintaining reliable electrical connection through the contact lead wire insertion hole.
3Ease of operation
If conventional holding structure is used, then bulb insertion is simple, but bulb may rattle or fall out over time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the holding function into multiple components: the guide piece with its unique asymmetric structure, the holding pieces, and the contact lead wire insertion hole. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function optimally - the guide piece prevents unequal deformation, the holding pieces provide retention force, and the insertion hole ensures electrical connection - while maintaining simple bulb insertion and long-term retention stability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design prevents unequal settling of spring portions and maintains consistent holding power, reducing the risk of bulb rattling or falling, while ensuring reliable electrical connection and protection against external forces.
Implementation Method 1
each of the first and second terminal portions has a spring portion for biasing in a direction holding the base portion
Data Source
AI summary
A pair of terminal portions of a bus bar is composed of a first terminal portion and a second terminal portion extended along a sidewall of the base portion. Each of the first and second terminal portions has a spring portion for generating biasing force toward a direction of holding the base portion, and a contact portion provided on a tip of the spring portion. The contact portion of the first terminal portion abuts on a contact lead wire, and the contact portion of the second terminal portion abuts on the sidewall of the base portion, thereby the contact portions hold the base portion therebetween. In a natural condition that the bulb is not inserted and the spring portion is not elastically deformed, the pair of terminal portions is displaced from a center plane toward the one side corresponding to a projection size of the contact lead wire.