Floating Plug Element Mounting for Vibration-Resistant Electrical Connections
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Solution Overview
Problem
In utility vehicles, electronic modules with plug connections face challenges due to fabrication-related and design-related dimensional deviations, leading to potential damage during assembly and increased disassembly complexity, especially under vibration stress, and there is a risk of damaging cables or flex lines during blind mounting.
Innovation Solution
The module features plug elements mounted floatingly or movably within a clearance, allowing compensation for dimensional tolerances, and includes prestressing by spring elements or guide devices like sliding faces and form fits to ensure secure and vibration-resistant electrical connections without external screwing or manual locking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If plug elements are rigidly fixed to housing parts, then connection stability is improved, but dimensional tolerances cause misalignment and contact damage during assembly
Solution Approach 1:
The plug element is designed with a floating mounting that allows dynamic adjustment of its position. The plug element can move within a defined range to compensate for dimensional tolerances in the housing parts, while spring elements provide prestressing to maintain stable electrical contact. This dynamic design resolves the contradiction by allowing the connection to adapt to manufacturing variations while maintaining stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the mounting parameters of the plug element from rigid fixation to floating mounting with controlled degrees of freedom. The plug element is mounted movably in the plugging direction and laterally movable perpendicular to the plugging direction, transforming the static rigid connection into a dynamic system that can accommodate dimensional variations while maintaining stable contact.
2Reliability
If plug elements are screwed together from outside, then vibration resistance is improved, but disassembly complexity and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the screw connection from the external assembly and replaces it with an internal floating mounting system. The plug element is mounted floatingly within the housing part using spring elements and guide devices, eliminating the need for external screw connections. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining vibration resistance through internal prestressing while enabling easy disassembly by simply pulling the plug element out.
Solution Approach 2:
The floating mounting system with spring elements provides self-adjusting vibration resistance without requiring external screw connections. The spring elements automatically prestress the plug element to maintain stable contact under vibration, and the system allows easy self-service disassembly and reassembly without specialized tools or complex procedures.
3Productivity
If plug elements are guided blind using locating pins, then assembly speed is improved, but misalignment and contact damage risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces spring elements and guide devices as intermediary components between the plug element and housing part. These intermediaries provide both guiding function for alignment and prestressing function for stable contact. The spring elements act as mediators that accommodate dimensional tolerances while ensuring reliable contact alignment, resolving the contradiction between fast blind assembly and reliable contact alignment.
4Manufacturing precision
If plug elements are pre-assembled with visual contact, then connection precision is improved, but cable damage risk during assembly increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the plug element from its traditional fixed position and mounts it floatingly within the housing part. This allows the plug element to be precisely positioned through controlled movement in the plugging direction and lateral directions, achieving high connection precision without requiring external visual contact. The floating mounting protects cables from damage by allowing the plug element to self-align within tolerance ranges.
Solution Approach 2:
The floating mounting creates a dynamic system where the plug element can move to compensate for dimensional variations and achieve precise alignment automatically during assembly. This dynamic adjustment eliminates the need for visual contact guidance while preventing cable damage through controlled movement within defined ranges.
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
This solution enables reliable and vibration-resistant electrical connections even with dimensional inaccuracies, reducing the risk of damage during assembly and disassembly, and allows for single-step assembly without manual coupling of plug elements, ensuring consistent and secure plug connections.
Implementation Method 1
The plug element (18) is prestressed in the direction of the mating plug element (16) by way of a spring element (22)
Implementation Method 2
At least one of the plug elements is mounted floatingly or movably within a clearance
Data Source
AI summary
A module, particularly an electronic module of a commercial vehicle, includes at least one plug connection, having a plug element and a mating plug element, by which an electrical connection can be established when plugged together. At least one of the plug elements is mounted floatingly or movably within a clearance. A method for assembling the module plugs together the plug elements, at least one of the plug elements moving within a clearance relative to the mounting thereof.