Electrical Connector With Symmetrical Terminals For Reversible Mating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrical connectors, such as those disclosed in China Patent No. 204315752, are not designed to handle high current or auxiliary signal transmission, limiting their functionality and versatility, especially in reversible mating applications.
Innovation Solution
The electrical connector features an insulative housing with upper and lower terminals arranged in a symmetrical pattern, including five intermediate terminals for auxiliary signal transmission and a grounding terminal, along with a shielding plate, allowing for reversible mating and supporting current transmission up to 3-5A, while also accommodating auxiliary signals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If existing electrical connector design is used, then the connector can be manufactured with standard terminal arrangements, but it cannot support high current transmission or auxiliary signal transmission
Solution Approach 1:
The terminal arrangement is segmented into distinct functional groups: five intermediate terminals for auxiliary signals, one grounding terminal, and reserved spaces for future expansion. This segmentation allows the connector to handle multiple functions (auxiliary signals, grounding, and high current) through specialized terminal zones, resolving the contradiction between versatility and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector design achieves multi-functionality by incorporating terminals that can simultaneously handle auxiliary signal transmission, grounding, and high current transmission (3-5A). The symmetrical upper and lower terminal arrangements with reserved spaces provide universal adaptability for different connection scenarios, allowing a single connector design to serve multiple purposes without increasing overall complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If symmetrical terminal arrangement is implemented, then reversible mating is enabled, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
While the overall terminal arrangement is symmetrical to enable reversible mating, asymmetry is strategically applied within individual terminals through the offset ear design. The ears of each terminal are offset from the terminal's central axis, creating an asymmetric feature that guides proper alignment during insertion. This resolves the contradiction by using asymmetry at the component level to achieve symmetry at the system level, enabling reversible mating while maintaining manufacturing feasibility.
3Productivity
If offset ear design is used, then manufacturing efficiency is improved through mold resistance, but terminal structure complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The offset ear design incorporates mold resistance features directly into the terminal structure during the molding process. The ears are pre-formed with asymmetric offset positioning that provides both structural integrity and manufacturing advantages. This preliminary integration of the offset feature into the molding process improves manufacturing efficiency by eliminating secondary operations while the modular terminal structure keeps overall complexity manageable.
Data Source
AI summary
An electrical connector includes: an insulative housing comprising a base portion and a tongue portion extending forwardly from the base portion; a number of upper and low terminals mounted in the insulative housing and exposed to an upper surface and a lower surface of the tongue portion, the upper terminals and the lower terminals being equal in number, both the upper terminals and the lower terminals comprising five intermediate terminals arranged centrally in succession and one grounding terminal spaced from the five intermediate terminals by two terminal positions, each of the five intermediate terminals having a reserved space for not arranging a terminal, the five intermediate terminals comprising an auxiliary terminal; and a shielding plate disposed between the upper terminals and the lower terminals.