Hot Water Mat Connector Assembly With Floating Sockets for Leak Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing connector assemblies for hot water mats suffer from leakage issues due to manufacturing and assembly tolerances, causing misalignment of plugs and sockets, which leads to uneven compression of sealing members and subsequent water leakage.
Innovation Solution
A connector assembly with detachable sockets and clips that provide a degree of freedom, allowing sockets to align parallel to plugs even when their parallelism does not coincide, using support grooves and protrusions to ensure proper alignment and sealing, and a separating and coupling device to facilitate easy assembly and disassembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If plugs and sockets have fixed rigid structures, then manufacturing and assembly are simple, but misalignment occurs due to tolerance accumulation causing leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The socket is designed with a flexible body that can dynamically adjust its orientation to match the plug's angle. The flexible material allows the socket to bend and align with the plug even when their initial parallelism does not coincide, preventing misalignment and leakage while maintaining structural simplicity
Solution Approach 2:
The socket's physical parameters (shape and orientation) are changed through elastic deformation to adapt to the plug's angle. By allowing the socket to change its geometric parameters within elastic limits, the system compensates for manufacturing tolerances and achieves proper alignment without complex adjustment mechanisms
2Stability of the object's composition
If plugs and sockets are tightly fixed together, then connection stability is high, but sealing is compromised due to uneven compression
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible socket dynamically adjusts its shape during assembly to ensure uniform contact with the plug. This dynamic adaptation allows the sealing surface to conform evenly to the plug, achieving both stable connection and reliable sealing without over-compression or gaps
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible material acts as a cushioning element that absorbs and distributes compression forces uniformly across the sealing interface. This beforehand cushioning effect prevents localized over-compression or under-compression, ensuring even sealing pressure while maintaining connection stability
Data Source
AI summary
An embodiment of the present subject matter includes: a plurality of sockets connected to a plurality of hoses through which hot water is supplied and returned, and formed in a detachable structure; and clips provided outside the plurality of sockets with a clearance to support the plurality of sockets so as to have a degree of freedom.