Connector Frame With Circumferential Guide Portion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional connectors face challenges in smoothly guiding a counter connector into the frame during fitting, leading to potential misalignment and damage due to incomplete guide structures.
Innovation Solution
A connector design featuring a frame with a continuous guide portion around its entire circumference, ensuring the counter connector is accurately positioned and securely fitted by extending the lateral wall's guide feature over the entire opening, preventing misalignment and damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a guide portion is provided only at corner portions of the frame, then the structure is simple, but the counter connector cannot be smoothly guided during fitting
Solution Approach 1:
The guide portion is segmented into multiple regions: corner portions with bent guide structures and side portions with extended lateral walls. This segmentation allows each region to contribute differently to the guidance function, achieving smooth counter connector insertion while maintaining structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide portion is formed in advance as an integrated structure of the frame, with pre-bent corner portions and pre-extended side portions. This preliminary formation ensures the counter connector is guided smoothly from the beginning of insertion without requiring additional guiding components during the fitting process.
2Ease of operation
If the lateral wall is discontinuous, then the manufacturing process is simpler, but the guide portion cannot be provided over the entire circumference
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous lateral wall is segmented into multiple sections, with discontinuities strategically positioned where they do not interfere with the guide portion functionality. This allows the lateral wall to be manufactured in separate pieces that are then assembled, simplifying production while maintaining circumferential guide coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide portion acts as an intermediary element that bridges the gaps created by lateral wall discontinuities. The bent corner portions of the guide structure provide continuous guidance coverage even where the lateral wall is discontinuous, ensuring smooth counter connector insertion throughout the entire circumference.
3Reliability
If the guide portion is incomplete, then the frame structure is simpler, but misalignment and damage occur during fitting
Solution Approach 1:
The guide portion is provided with different structural qualities at different locations: corner portions feature bent structures for directional guidance, while side portions feature extended lateral walls for linear alignment. This local differentiation ensures accurate alignment and prevents damage at each specific insertion point.
Solution Approach 2:
The complete guide portion structure is formed in advance as part of the frame, with all necessary bending and extension completed during frame manufacturing. This preliminary formation ensures that the counter connector encounters proper guidance structures from the beginning of insertion, preventing misalignment and damage throughout the fitting process.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a connector capable of allowing a counter connector to be properly fitted with the connector. The connector of the invention includes a frame provided with an opening and is capable of allowing a counter connector to be fitted in an inside of the frame through the opening, and the frame includes a lateral wall that extends in a fitting direction and that surrounds the counter connector being fitted with the connector, and a guide portion that is provided at an end portion of the lateral wall on an opening side where the opening is situated in the fitting direction and that guides the counter connector to an inside of the frame. The lateral wall is continuous over an entire circumference of the frame, and the guide portion is provided at the end portion of the lateral wall on the opening side over the entire circumference of the frame.