Hermaphroditic PCB Connector Layout for Secure Defined Contact
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing printed circuit board connectors with hermaphroditic contact elements are complex, intricate, and expensive, often failing to ensure a secure and defined contact, particularly in electronic data transmission applications.
Innovation Solution
A compact printed circuit board connector design featuring hermaphroditic contact elements with flexible and rigid regions, arranged in pairs within a housing, includes shielding elements and connecting elements to ensure secure and defined contact, while allowing for easy manufacturing and minimizing electromagnetic interference.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If complex hermaphroditic contact elements with rough structures are used, then secure contact is ensured, but manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the contact elements by providing them with substantially identical simple geometries rather than complex rough structures. The contact elements have uniform cross-sections and standardized shapes that facilitate easy manufacturing while maintaining reliable electrical contact through precise geometric alignment and controlled elastic deformation.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of making the contact surfaces rough to ensure secure contact, the patent inverts the approach by using smooth, precisely defined geometric shapes with controlled elasticity. The security of contact is achieved not through surface roughness but through the elastic deformation capability of uniformly shaped contact elements that can adapt to mating contacts.
2Ease of manufacture
If thin wire contact elements are used, then manufacturing is simplified, but secure and defined contact cannot always be guaranteed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical state and geometric parameters of the contact elements from thin wires to plate-like structures with controlled thickness. These plate-shaped contact elements can be manufactured using standard sheet metal forming processes, maintaining ease of manufacture while providing sufficient structural integrity and defined contact surfaces for reliable electrical connection.
Solution Approach 2:
The contact elements are designed with elastic properties that allow them to dynamically adapt during connection. The plate-shaped elements can elastically deform to ensure secure contact with mating contacts while maintaining their overall geometric definition, combining the advantages of simple manufacturing with reliable contact establishment.
3Volume of moving object
If contact elements are arranged in pairs within housing, then compact design is achieved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the contact elements into pairs arranged within the housing, with each contact element having identical geometry. This segmentation allows for modular manufacturing where pairs can be produced and assembled systematically, reducing overall manufacturing precision requirements compared to producing all contacts as a single complex component.
Solution Approach 2:
All contact elements are made homogeneous in terms of their geometric shape and dimensions. This homogeneity allows for standardized manufacturing processes and simplifies the alignment requirements, as identical elements can be interchangeably positioned within the housing without requiring individual precision adjustments for each contact element.
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 design ensures secure and defined contact with minimal manufacturing complexity and cost, while providing effective electromagnetic interference protection and compatibility with narrow grid spacings on printed circuit boards.
Implementation Method 1
The flexible contact region can be taken to mean a region of the contact element that can be elastically deformed in a desired manner along a narrow side, in order to facilitate and/or enable a contact to be made with an identical contact element along the narrow side.
Data Source
AI summary
A printed circuit board connector for connecting at least one circuit board to at least one additional circuit board or at least one corresponding circuit board connector, comprises a housing, at least two contact elements which are arranged in pairs and have at least two narrow sides and at least two wide sides, the contact elements having at least one flexible contact region, at least the flexible contact region of the contact elements being substantially identically shaped, the housing being designed to orient the contact elements substantially perpendicularly to the receiving circuit board, each contact having a rigid contact region that adjoins the flexible contact region, the rigid contact region having at least one fastening element for fastening the contact element in the housing.