Connector Alignment Members and Retention Device for Circuit Board
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing connectors for circuit boards are difficult to position and secure due to their small size, making soldering challenging, and often result in a permanent connection that is hard to remove, while alternative connectors can be expensive or fragile.
Innovation Solution
A connector system comprising a body with alignment members and contact elements that extend through alignment holes in the circuit board, combined with a retention device featuring a supporting element and sockets to securely attach and detach from the board without soldering, allowing for temporary or permanent connections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If connectors are soldered to circuit boards, then a secure connection is achieved, but the connection becomes permanent and difficult to remove
Solution Approach 1:
The connector system is divided into separate components: a connector device with alignment members and contact elements, and a retention device with sockets. This segmentation allows the connector to be securely attached yet easily removed by separating the two components, resolving the contradiction between secure connection and ease of removal.
Solution Approach 2:
The retention device provides a dynamic connection mechanism where alignment members can be inserted into and removed from sockets. This dynamic system allows the connection to transition between secured and removed states, enabling both secure attachment during operation and easy removal when needed.
2Volume of moving object
If connectors are made small in size, then space efficiency is improved, but positioning and soldering become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment members extend through the circuit board in the vertical dimension, providing positioning accuracy without increasing the horizontal footprint of the connector. This dimensional approach allows small connectors to be precisely positioned during assembly by engaging alignment members with alignment holes in the board.
3Ease of operation
If alternative connectors are used instead of soldering, then removal ease is improved, but cost or fragility increases
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment members and sockets are designed to work together as a self-contained retention system. The alignment members automatically engage with the sockets to provide secure retention without requiring additional fasteners or complex mechanisms, achieving both ease of removal and connection security.
Data Source
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AI summary
A connector for mounting to a circuit board for comprising a connector device with a body, a plurality of alignment members, and one or more contact elements, wherein the alignment members extend through a plurality of alignment holes of the printed circuit board from the first surface and past the second surface of the circuit board and wherein the contact elements engage one more contact pads on the first surface of the circuit board, and a separate retention device having a supporting element and a plurality of fixed sockets is positioned along the second surface of the printed circuit board to receive the alignment members of the connector device therein so that the circuit board is positioned between the body of the connector device and the retention device to temporarily or permanently retain the contact elements of the connector device in contact with the contact pads of the circuit board.