Electrical Connector Pre-Mold Control Finger Cable Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional methods for molding electrical connectors are labor-intensive and do not completely encapsulate cables, leading to unwanted movement and reduced lifespan and reliability due to incomplete strain relief and impact resistance.
Innovation Solution
An improved mold with control fingers that position cables to allow thermoplastic to flow around and between them, ensuring complete encapsulation and secure attachment during the pre-mold process, followed by an over-mold process for additional protection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional two-step molding process is used, then labor intensity is reduced, but cable encapsulation is incomplete leading to cable movement and reduced reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The mold is divided into two separate pre-mold plates instead of a single mold, allowing independent positioning and control of each plate. This segmentation enables the first pre-mold plate to form the initial encapsulation while the second pre-mold plate provides additional support and completes the cable encapsulation, ensuring complete coverage and eliminating cable movement issues.
Solution Approach 2:
The first pre-mold plate performs preliminary encapsulation of the cable and connector assembly before the second pre-mold plate is applied. This preliminary action creates an initial bond and positioning structure that the second plate then reinforces and completes, ensuring proper cable strain relief is established early in the process and maintained through final encapsulation.
2Strength
If pre-mold and over-mold process is used, then strain relief is provided, but cables are not completely surrounded allowing unwanted movement
Solution Approach 1:
The encapsulation process is segmented into two distinct pre-molding steps using two separate pre-mold plates. The first plate provides initial strain relief encapsulation while the second plate adds complementary encapsulation that completely surrounds the cables, eliminating gaps that would allow cable movement and ensuring complete positional stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The two pre-mold plates use different thermoplastic materials with complementary properties. The first plate material provides primary strain relief while the second plate material fills remaining gaps and provides secondary encapsulation, creating a composite structure that completely surrounds the cables and eliminates unwanted movement through combined material properties.
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 solution provides a more stable and reliable electrical connector assembly with enhanced strain protection and increased life expectancy by ensuring complete encapsulation of cables and terminations, reducing unwanted movement and improving durability.
Implementation Method 1
a pre-mold process encapsulates the contacts and wires with a polypropylene material
Implementation Method 2
an over-mold process which covers the taped portion of the cables and the pre-mold with a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) material
Data Source
AI summary
An electrical connector assembly is provided and includes a plurality of cables, each of which have a conductor, and an electrical connector having a connector housing which houses a plurality of pins/sockets, each of which are connected to a pin/socket termination, wherein each pin/socket termination is connected to a conductor of the cables. The connector further includes a thermoplastic pre-mold covering which securely covers a portion of the connector housing, the pin/socket terminations and a portion of the plurality of cables, wherein the pre-mold covering is securely attached to the portion of the connector housing, the pin/socket terminations and the portion of the plurality of cables via a pre-mold process which incorporates a mold having a control finger configured to position the cables away from the wall of the mold cavity and flow channels for injecting plastic on both sides of the control finger during the molding process.