Electrical Connector Limiting Member for Contact Retention

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Solution Overview

Problem

Traditional electrical connectors have a vulnerable structure and risk of misinsertion due to the retention mechanism, which affects their structural efficiency and retention.

Innovation Solution

An electrical connector design featuring an insulative housing with contact-receiving passageways and a limiting member that locks the contacts in place, providing improved structural efficiency and retention through a positioning slot and fastening mechanism.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the contact is retained in the insulative housing via a barb and locking slot mechanism, then the contact can be held in place, but the insulative housing has a vulnerable structure and there is a risk of misinsertion

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveconnection reliabilityVSAvoidhousing structure complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The connector is divided into separate functional components: the insulative housing for insulation and positioning, and a separate limiting member for locking the contacts. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function optimally without compromising the overall structure.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The limiting member acts as an intermediary component that mediates between the contact and the insulative housing. It provides the locking function without requiring complex features in the housing itself, thereby simplifying the housing structure while maintaining connection reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Strength

If a limiting member is added to lock the contacts, then the structural efficiency and retention are improved, but the device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestructural integrityVSAvoidnumber of components

Core Design Contradiction:

StrengthVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The limiting member combines multiple functions into a single component: it locks the contacts in place, prevents misinsertion, and works with the positioning slots in the housing. This merging reduces the need for multiple separate components while maintaining structural integrity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of making the insulative housing itself the locking mechanism (which would increase its complexity), the invention inverts the approach by using a separate limiting member that simplifies the housing while providing the necessary locking function.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

Data Source

PatentUS10177481B1Electrical connector and electrical connector assembly with the same

Publication Date: 2019.01.08 ALLTOP ELECTRONICS SU ZHOU

AI summary

An electrical connector includes an insulative housing having a plurality of contact-receiving passageways extending through thereof along a front-and-back direction, a plurality of contacts inserted into the corresponding contact-receiving passageways along a rear-to-front direction and a limiting member assembled to the insulative housing. The contacts includes at least one row arranged along a transverse direction, and each contact defines a contacting part contacting with a complementary contact and a crimping portion connected with a wire. The insulative housing defines a positioning slot on one side thereof along a height direction, and the positioning slot extends along a transverse direction, the limiting member is inserted and retained in the positioning slot for locking the plurality of contacts simultaneously.