Electrical Plug-in Connector Assembly with Movable Contact Opener
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Solution Overview
Problem
The production of electrical connectors is complex and involves weakening of the clamping spring during assembly, requiring initial compression and preloading, which complicates the process and reduces the clamping force.
Innovation Solution
The electrical connector design includes a housing part with an inner surface that accommodates a contact opener, allowing it to move between positions without compressing the clamping spring, enabling assembly without preloading and maintaining the spring's clamping force, using a cage tension spring with a clip spring that stores tension for clamping wire ends.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the contact opener is inserted into the housing part during assembly, then the clamping spring can be moved to open the clamping opening, but the clamping spring experiences additional preloading and weakening of its clamping force
Solution Approach 1:
The contact opener is pre-assembled onto the contact carrier in a separate preliminary step, positioned in its retracted state away from the clamping spring. This allows the housing part to be mounted without forcing the contact opener through the clamping spring, thereby avoiding additional preloading and preserving the clamping spring's full clamping force while still enabling the opener to function for opening the clamping opening during wire insertion
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple contact openers are inserted into the housing part, then wire ends can be connected, but the assembly process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The assembly process is segmented into distinct steps: first, multiple contact openers are pre-assembled onto the contact carrier in their retracted positions; second, the housing part is mounted over the contact carrier with the pre-positioned openers. This segmentation allows multiple openers to be installed systematically without requiring complex coordinated insertion through the clamping springs, thereby enabling connection of multiple wire ends while keeping the assembly process manageable
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
This design simplifies the assembly process by allowing the contact opener to be fixed without compressing the clamping spring, maintaining the spring's clamping force and reducing assembly complexity, while enabling secure connection of multiple wire ends without initial compression.
Implementation Method 1
a cage tension spring (4), in particular a clip spring, which connects a contact leg (44) and a clamping leg (42) to one another, with a clamping or connection opening (41) being cut out in the clamping leg
Implementation Method 2
an electrically conductive clamping spring which is designed as a tension spring, in particular as a cage tension spring
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to an electrical plug-in connector and to a method for mounting an electrical plug-in connector which can be connected to one end of an electrical line or of a cable and comprises a contact carrier plus at least one contact element which is inserted in the contact carrier parallel to a longitudinal axis and held thereby in a supported manner, wherein a rear end of the contact element has a clamping spring, and a housing part, which is to be mounted on the contact carrier, has an inner surface which at least partially surrounds the clamping spring after a mounting operation, wherein an, in particular elongate, contact opener is arranged between said inner surface and the clamping spring, which contact opener is assigned to the clamping spring and is held so as to be movable between a first and a second position, and wherein this inner surface forms a region in which at least part of the contact opener is received in order, in the first position thereof, to release the clamping spring.