Flexible Garment Connector With Segmented Contact Projections
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional smart clothing connectors made of low flexibility insulating materials can cause discomfort and reduce wear comfort due to their rigid design, which makes it difficult to bend them without compromising electrical connectivity.
Innovation Solution
A connector with a housing made of a bendable insulating material, featuring projections that allow contacts to be arranged orthogonally to the fitting direction, enabling flexible mounting on garments while maintaining reliable electrical connections through separate first and second projections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the connector body is made of low flexibility insulating material, then the electrical connection reliability is improved, but the wear comfort deteriorates due to rigidity
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is divided into multiple separate projection portions (first projection portions and second projection portions) instead of a single continuous structure. This segmentation allows each projection to independently flex while maintaining electrical contact, enabling the connector to bend without compromising connection reliability, thus improving wear comfort while maintaining electrical reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The projection portions are designed with dynamic flexibility to allow bending motion. The housing material and structure enable the projections to dynamically adapt to body movements and garment deformation, maintaining reliable electrical connection while accommodating the flexibility needed for wear comfort
2Reliability
If the protrusion portions are made with predetermined width and projection height to ensure electrical connection, then the electrical connection reliability is improved, but the flexibility in bending direction is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous protrusion structure is segmented into multiple discrete projection portions (first and second projection portions) arranged in specific patterns. This segmentation allows the structure to bend at multiple points while maintaining contact pressure and electrical connection reliability at each projection point, thereby preserving both reliability and bending flexibility
Solution Approach 2:
The projection portions are arranged in multiple dimensions and orientations (first projection portions extending in one direction, second projection portions in another direction). This multi-dimensional arrangement allows the connector to flex in multiple directions while maintaining electrical connection through the distributed projection structure, enhancing both adaptability and reliability
Data Source
AI summary
A connector includes a bendable housing and contacts retained in the housing with arranged in an arrangement direction orthogonal to a fitting direction, the housing having first projections arranged in the arrangement direction to correspond to the contacts and projecting in the fitting direction, each of the contacts having a contact portion retained in a corresponding one of the first projections and configured to make contact with a corresponding counter contact of a counter connector, a connection portion connected to a corresponding one of flexible conductors of a mounting object, and a joint portion joining the contact portion and the connection portion to each other, the plurality of first projections being separate from one another.