Insert-Molded Connector Terminal Alignment for High-Frequency Signals
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing connectors used for high-frequency signal transmission face challenges in maintaining accurate positional alignment between terminals and housings, leading to variations in high-frequency characteristics due to insufficient positional accuracy.
Innovation Solution
A connector design featuring a terminal with a held portion, bent-back portion, support portion, and contact portion, where the terminal is insert-molded into a resin housing using a die with a closed space, allowing for precise positioning and reduced plastic deformation during molding, thereby enhancing the accuracy of the positional relation between the terminal and the housing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the terminal is attached to the housing using conventional attaching methods, then the connector can be easily connected to objects, but the positional accuracy of the terminal relative to the housing is degraded
Solution Approach 1:
The terminal and housing are merged into a single integrated component through insert molding. The terminal is partially embedded in the housing, creating a unified structure that eliminates separate attachment steps while ensuring precise positional alignment. This combining of components resolves the contradiction by achieving both high positional accuracy and manufacturing efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The terminal is pre-formed with specific geometric features (wide portion, opposite sides protruding beyond the support portion) before the molding process. These preliminary structural preparations enable the terminal to be accurately positioned and fixed during insert molding, ensuring high positional accuracy without requiring complex post-attachment procedures.
2Reliability
If the held portion is made long to accommodate a longer support portion, then the spring characteristics are improved, but the held portion is easily plastically deformed during insert molding
Solution Approach 1:
The held portion features a localized wide portion with specific geometric characteristics (opposite sides that protrude beyond the support portion). This local structural enhancement provides increased rigidity and resistance to plastic deformation during molding, while the rest of the held portion maintains its flexibility for spring characteristics. This localized quality improvement resolves the contradiction between spring performance and molding stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The wide portion of the held portion is designed with asymmetric geometry where opposite sides protrude beyond the support portion in opposite directions. This asymmetric design creates inherent stability during the insert molding process, preventing unwanted deformation while maintaining the necessary spring characteristics for connector functionality.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The proposed connector design improves the accuracy of the positional relation between the terminal and the housing, ensuring consistent high-frequency characteristics and reliable signal transmission by minimizing plastic deformation and maintaining precise alignment.
Implementation Method 1
a housing is molded of resin which is put into the die while the terminal is insert-molded in the housing
Implementation Method 2
The upper die is pressed against an upper surface of the wide portion of the held portion. The lower die is pressed against lower surfaces of the opposite sides of the wide portion of the held portion.
Data Source
AI summary
A connector comprises an insert-molded body. The insert-molded body comprises a housing and a terminal partially embedded in the housing. The housing has a main portion. The main portion is formed with a trace hole and an accommodation space. The terminal has a held portion, a bent-back portion extending forward from the held portion, a support portion extending rearward from the bent-back portion and a contact portion supported by the support portion. The held portion has a wide portion. When the insert-molded body is seen from above, the wide portion is, at least in part, visible through the trace hole. Each of the support portion and the contact portion has a size smaller than that of the wide portion in the lateral direction. The wide portion is partially visible through the accommodation space when the insert-molded body is seen from below.