Cable Connector Holding Leg Surface Design for Abrasion Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional connectors with compression sleeves and union nuts experience significant material abrasion during use, leading to reduced service life and potential connection reliability issues, including short circuits.
Innovation Solution
A connector design featuring a cable holding device with holding leg elements having an outer surface with unprinted and imprinted areas, where the imprinted area is between the unprinted areas, to prevent abrasion by directing the force only onto the imprinted areas during screwing, and a method of manufacturing involving form milling to create these surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional compression sleeve and union nut are used to connect a cable section, then the connection can be established, but significant material abrasion occurs between the compression sleeve and union nut during screwing, reducing service life and potentially causing short circuits
Solution Approach 1:
The outer surface of the holding leg element is designed with spatially differentiated properties: imprinted areas with increased friction coefficient for force transmission, and unprinted areas with reduced friction for abrasion-free rotation. This local quality differentiation allows the compression element to exert force effectively while preventing material abrasion during screwing operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The outer surface of the holding leg element is segmented into distinct functional zones: imprinted areas for force application and unprinted areas for friction-free rotation. This segmentation separates the force transmission function from the rotation function, eliminating the harmful interaction that causes material abrasion in conventional designs.
2Strength
If the compression element is screwed onto the cable holding device, then the cable section can be compressed and held, but material abrasion and chips are generated that can impair connection reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The holding leg element's outer surface features imprinted areas with enhanced friction properties that concentrate compression force on specific zones, while unprinted areas provide low-friction surfaces that prevent chip generation during rotation. This local quality differentiation enables effective compression without harmful material abrasion.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention converts the potentially harmful friction that causes abrasion into a beneficial localized force application mechanism. By directing friction only to imprinted areas designed for force transmission, the harmful scattering of frictional forces is eliminated, and compression effectiveness is enhanced without chip generation.
3Reliability
If the outer surface of the holding leg element is designed with imprinted and unprinted areas, then material abrasion is prevented, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The surface properties of the holding leg element are modified by changing the friction coefficient parameter in specific zones. Imprinted areas have increased friction parameters while unprinted areas maintain low friction parameters. This parameter change approach allows conventional manufacturing processes to produce the differentiated surface without requiring complex multi-step operations.
Data Source
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AI summary
The disclosure relates to a connector (1) for receiving a cable section (50) of a cable, comprising: a cable holding device (10), wherein the cable holding device (10) is designed to at least partially enclose the cable section (50) in a circumferential direction with respect to a central axis (A) of the cable holding device (10), wherein the cable holding device (10) has at least one retaining leg element (11), wherein each retaining leg element (11) has an outer surface (12A), wherein the outer surface (12A) comprises: at least two pressure-free areas, and at least one imprint area, wherein the at least one imprint area is arranged between the at least two pressure-free areas. The disclosure further relates to a use of a corresponding connector and a method for manufacturing a corresponding connector.