Electrical Connector Layout With Dummy Terminals for Sweat Corrosion

The patent introduces curved or inclined surfaces between adjacent terminals instead of flat surfaces. The insulating base includes curved surfaces that extend from the front end toward the rear end, creating a longer and more complex sweat flow path. This curvature increases the creepage distance between terminals, reducing the electric field strength and preventing corrosion while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through mold-based forming processes.

The patent extends the creepage path from a two-dimensional flat surface to a three-dimensional curved surface. By introducing vertical and diagonal components to the sweat flow path through curved and inclined surfaces, the creepage distance is significantly increased without increasing the horizontal spacing between terminals. This dimensional transformation allows close terminal spacing while maintaining low electric field intensity through the extended path length.

The curved surfaces create a longer, more winding sweat flow path that increases the creepage distance between terminals. This curvature ensures that sweat must travel a longer route to reach from one terminal to another, reducing the concentration of corrosive substances at any given point and diluting the electrochemical reaction intensity, thereby preventing corrosion.

The insulating dummy terminals serve multiple functions: they extend the creepage distance between adjacent terminals, provide additional insulation barriers, and guide sweat flow along a longer path. By combining these functions into a single structural element, the patent achieves improved corrosion resistance without proportionally increasing complexity. The dummy terminals are integrated into the insulating base structure, sharing the same manufacturing process and material composition.