Insulative Housing Warpage Control via Segmented Contact Arms
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge is to reduce warpage in the insulative housing of electrical connectors used to connect IC chips and printed circuit boards, as thinner housings with more contact passageways become difficult to control in terms of flatness and often warp during molding due to varying contact structures.
Innovation Solution
The design features an insulative housing divided into two contact areas with opposite extending spring contact arms and recesses between them, which balances the flow of melting plastic during molding, and includes a metal stiffener, cover, and lever for assembly, ensuring stable electrical connections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the insulative housing is made thinner and more contact receiving passageways are aligned thereon, then the miniaturization and integration density are improved, but the flatness control and warpage resistance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The insulative housing is divided into a first area and a second area with different structures. The first area has contact receiving passageways with contact springs extending in a first direction, while the second area has contact receiving passageways with contact springs extending in a second direction opposite to the first direction. This segmentation balances the molding pressure and reduces warpage in the thin housing structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses asymmetric design of contact spring directions in different areas of the housing. By having contact springs in the first area extend in one direction and contact springs in the second area extend in the opposite direction, the design creates balanced stress distribution that compensates for the inherent warpage tendency of thin housings with multiple passageways.
2Adaptability or versatility
If different contact structures are used to adapt various contact types, then the adaptability is improved, but the housing warpage after molding increases
Solution Approach 1:
The housing is segmented into different areas (first area and second area) that can accommodate different contact structures. Each area can be designed with specific contact receiving passageway configurations suitable for different contact types, while the overall segmentation strategy maintains housing flatness by balancing molding pressures across different regions.
Solution Approach 2:
Different areas of the housing have different local structures to adapt to various contact types. The first area has contact receiving passageways configured for certain contact structures, while the second area has passageways configured for other contact structures. This local differentiation provides adaptability while the overall symmetric segmentation maintains global flatness.
Data Source
AI summary
An electrical connector includes an insulative housing having a number of contact receiving passageways and a number of contacts received in the contact receiving passageways of the housing. Each of the contacts includes a main body and a spring contact arm extending upwardly from the main body. The contacts disposed in the housing are divided into a first group in a first area and a second group in a second area of the housing. The spring contact arms of the first and second group extend in different directions and opposite to each other. The insulative housing defines a plurality of recesses between the first area and second area.