Flexible Mounting Clip for Electrical Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mounting clips are prone to damage during shipping and handling due to cantilevered latches and have a large footprint, limiting their reliability and space efficiency on panels or circuit boards.
Innovation Solution
A mounting clip design that includes a body with load distributors and flexible elements, allowing it to securely engage with a housing by sliding or rotating, distributing loading forces evenly and reducing stress on the clip, while minimizing its footprint.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If cantilevered latches are used to fasten the mounting clip to the housing, then the mounting clip can be securely fastened, but the latches are prone to damage during shipping and handling
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting clip uses a flexible body that can dynamically flex and deform during engagement and operation, allowing the locking features to engage and disengage without permanent damage. The flexibility enables the structure to absorb stresses during shipping and handling while maintaining fastening reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting clip changes its physical state from rigid to flexible by incorporating elastomeric or polymeric materials. This parameter change allows the locking features to deform elastically during engagement, reducing stress concentrations that would otherwise cause damage to traditional rigid cantilevered latches.
2Reliability
If traditional mounting clips are designed with a large footprint, then they provide sufficient engagement area, but they consume space on the panel or circuit board and limit proximity placement of other components
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting clip transitions from a two-dimensional planar engagement to a three-dimensional engagement by utilizing vertical locking features that extend into the housing. This dimensional change allows the clip to achieve reliable engagement with a smaller footprint on the panel surface, enabling closer placement of other components.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking features of the mounting clip are nested within the housing structure, with locking protrusions fitting into corresponding recesses. This nesting arrangement allows the mounting clip to secure the housing without requiring additional external space, minimizing the panel footprint while maintaining engagement reliability.
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 mounting clip provides reliable and robust securement of a housing to a panel with reduced stress and space requirements, enhancing its durability and flexibility in various panel thicknesses and configurations.
Implementation Method 1
the body of the mounting clip flexes to allow the locking features to engage and disengage
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
An electrical assembly (100) includes a housing (102) at a front side (112) of a panel (106) that extends between mating and receiving ends (126, 128). The mating end (126) extends through an opening (116) of the panel (106) from the front side (112) to a rear side (114) of the panel (106). A mounting clip (104) with a body (118) extends between a front end (122) and a rear end (124) and includes a passage (302) therethrough that receives the mating end (126) of the housing (102). First and second sides (304, 306) of the body (118) define the passage (302) and includes a locking feature (324) extending therefrom the first side (304) into the passage (302). The clip (104) moves between unlocked and locked positions by sliding the rear end (124) of the clip (104) along the rear side (114) of the panel (106) and the body (118) is flexed outward to allow the locking feature (324) to bypass the housing (102). The mating end (126) of the housing (102) is coupled with an electrical connector (120) in a locking operation to secure the housing (102) to the panel (106).