Fixture Aligner for Cable Connector Engagement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Proper alignment and orientation of cable connectors during engagement and disengagement are challenging, leading to potential damage due to misalignment, which can cause bent, broken, or cracked components as computer cables increase in complexity.
Innovation Solution
A fixture aligner apparatus with a sleeve and handle is designed to receive a cable connector, allowing it to slide through and facilitate alignment with a port, preventing misalignment and damage by providing a channel for the attached cord and a grip for secure handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If cable connectors are engaged directly without alignment assistance, then the connection process is quick, but misalignment occurs causing bent, broken, or cracked components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a fixture aligner as an intermediary tool between the connector and the port. The fixture aligner includes a body with a cavity that receives the connector, and a guide feature that aligns the connector with the port during engagement. This mediator ensures proper alignment while preventing direct harmful contact between misaligned connector components and the port, thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and reliability.
2Manufacturing precision
If alignment fixtures are added to the connector system, then alignment precision improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the alignment function from the connector itself, placing the alignment features (guide features, alignment pins) on the fixture aligner rather than integrating them into the connector. This segmentation allows the connector to remain simple while the fixture aligner handles the complexity of alignment, thereby improving alignment precision without increasing connector complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The fixture aligner serves as a mediator that contains all alignment features (guide features, alignment pins, positioning elements). By concentrating alignment complexity in the fixture rather than the connector, the system achieves high alignment precision while keeping the connector design simple and the overall system complexity manageable.
3Reliability
If the fixture aligner includes a channel for the cord, then cord routing is protected and organized, but the fixture structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the cord routing function with the fixture aligner body by incorporating a channel directly into the fixture structure. The channel is formed as an integrated feature of the fixture body, allowing the cord to pass through while the fixture performs its alignment function. This merging protects the cord and organizes its routing without requiring separate complex cord management components.
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects of the present disclosure relate to an apparatus for aligning a connector during engagement or disengagement from a port. In some embodiments the apparatus includes a sleeve, a channel in the sleeve, and a handle extending away from the sleeve. In some embodiments, the sleeve is designed to receive a cable connector with a first opening at a first end of the sleeve and a second opening at the second end of the sleeve, the sleeve designed to receive a cable connector through the first end and allow the cable connector to exit through the second end after the cable connector has been engaged to a port. In some embodiments, the channel extends a length of the sleeve from the first end to the second end.