Connector Housing Locking Mechanism Suppresses Facing Surface Opening
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing connectors face issues with deformation and potential opening between facing surfaces of housings when wires are pulled, leading to a loss of relative positional relationship and clearance between the surfaces.
Innovation Solution
A connector design featuring a first housing with a receiving portion and a second housing with a rotating portion, where the second housing is rotated about an axis passing through the rotating portion, and includes a locking portion with a restricting portion that fits into a lock receiving portion with a restriction receiving portion, preventing opening between the surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If locking pieces and locking projections are provided only on side surfaces of housings, then the structure is simple, but opening between mutually facing surfaces cannot be suppressed
Solution Approach 1:
The locking structure is segmented into multiple independent locking portions: locking pieces on side surfaces and a central locking portion with locking protrusion and locking groove on facing surfaces. Each segment handles specific locking requirements, with the central portion specifically addressing the opening suppression problem between facing surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking mechanism transitions from two-dimensional side surface locking to three-dimensional multi-directional locking by adding the central locking portion that engages perpendicular to the side surface locking, providing restraint in multiple spatial dimensions simultaneously.
2Reliability
If housings are long in the width direction, then more locking points are needed to prevent opening, but the device becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple locking functions are merged into an integrated locking assembly where the locking protrusion and locking groove work together with the locking piece, combining central and side locking mechanisms into a unified structure that maintains positional relationships without requiring additional independent components.
3Ease of manufacture
If locking pieces are provided on both widthwise end sides only, then manufacturing is simple, but the locking piece may come out from the locking groove causing opening
Solution Approach 1:
The central locking portion with its protrusion and groove is positioned in advance to prevent the harmful effect of opening between facing surfaces before it can occur, acting as a preliminary restraint that counteracts the potential failure mode of the side locking pieces disengaging.
Data Source
AI summary
A connector includes a first housing and a second housing having facing surfaces facing each other. One of the first and second housings includes a receiving portion open forward in a front end part and the other includes a rotating portion to be arranged in the receiving portion in the front end part. The second housing is rotated with respect to the first housing about an axis passing through the rotating portion in the receiving portion along a width direction and is coupled to the first housing. The first housing includes a lock receiving portion open forward and rearward in the front end part. The second housing includes a locking portion projecting toward the first housing and to be fit to the lock receiving portion in the front end part. The locking portion includes a wide restricting portion, and the lock receiving portion includes a wide restriction receiving portion.