Connector Wire Holder Lateral Clamping for Miniaturization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional connectors require a large layout space due to the need for bending wires in the strain relief portion, leading to increased size and inefficiency.
Innovation Solution
A connector design featuring a wire holder mounted in a direction intersecting the wire extension, which bites into the insulation coating to prevent movement without bending, allowing for a smaller layout space and incorporating a mounted-state detector for reliable connection detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the wire layout path is bent in the strain relief portion to restrict wire movement, then the wire is securely held, but a large layout space is necessary resulting in an enlarged connector
Solution Approach 1:
The wire holder is mounted from the side of the housing in a direction intersecting the inserting direction of the terminal fitting, rather than from the rear. This changes the spatial dimension of wire restraint from a longitudinal bending approach to a lateral clamping approach, enabling the wire to be held securely without requiring a bent layout path and reducing the overall connector size.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of bending the wire to achieve strain relief (conventional approach), the invention inverts the approach by having the wire holder bite into the insulation coating of the wire directly. This reverse method achieves wire fixation without bending, eliminating the need for a large bent layout space.
2Reliability
If the wire holder is mounted to restrict wire movement, then wire stability is improved, but the mounting process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The wire holder is mounted into the housing beforehand in a direction intersecting the inserting direction of the terminal fitting, before the terminal fitting and wire are inserted. This preliminary mounting simplifies the overall assembly process by pre-positioning the wire restraint mechanism, ensuring proper wire stability without adding complexity to the final assembly steps.
3Reliability
If a mounted-state detector is added to detect wire holder position and connection status, then detection reliability is improved, but the number of parts increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mounted-state detector serves multiple functions: it detects both the mounted state of the wire holder and whether the connector is properly connected with a mating connector. This multi-functionality improves detection reliability while avoiding the need for separate detection mechanisms, thereby not increasing the number of parts excessively.
Solution Approach 2:
The detection function is merged into a single mounted-state detector component that handles both wire holder position detection and connection status detection. This consolidation improves reliability through comprehensive monitoring while reducing the total number of separate parts compared to having independent detection systems for each function.
Data Source
AI summary
A wire holder (50), when correctly mounted in a housing (10), bites in insulation coatings (33b) of wires (33), whereby the wires (33) are so held as not to move. The wire holder (50) mounted in a direction intersecting the inserting direction of terminal fittings (30) and the extending direction of the wires (33) bite in the insulation coatings (33b) of the wires (33). Therefore, it is not necessary to bend the wires (33) and a layout space for the wires (33) can be smaller.