Integrated Contact Member Assembly for Miniaturized Electronic Housings
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Solution Overview
Problem
As electronic devices become smaller and lighter, securing space for radiating conductors and designing wiring structures to connect them to communication modules becomes challenging, leading to difficulties in manufacturing and assembling contact structures, especially in miniaturized body-worn devices.
Innovation Solution
The contact member is integrated within the support member of the housing, allowing for simplified assembly through insert injection molding, where the contact member is formed with an electrically conductive plate and separated during mold coupling, facilitating handling and reducing defects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the contact member is miniaturized to reduce device size, then the electronic device becomes smaller and lighter, but the contact member becomes difficult to assemble and handle
Solution Approach 1:
The contact member is integrated with the conductive plate to form a single integrated structure. This merging of components allows the contact member to be handled as part of a larger assembly during manufacturing, making it easier to position and assemble despite its miniaturized size. The integrated structure is placed into the mold as a unit, eliminating the need to handle the tiny contact member separately during assembly operations.
2Volume of moving object
If the contact member is miniaturized to reduce device size, then the electronic device becomes smaller and lighter, but visual inspection becomes difficult and defect detection is challenging
Solution Approach 1:
By integrating the contact member with the conductive plate, the inspection process can focus on the larger integrated structure rather than the tiny contact member alone. Defects can be detected during the molding process or in the integrated assembly state, where they are more visible and accessible for inspection, thereby reducing the difficulty of defect detection despite miniaturization.
3Manufacturing precision
If the contact member is assembled separately to ensure precision, then assembly precision can be maintained, but assembly steps increase and manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The contact member and conductive plate are manufactured as an integrated structure, eliminating the need for separate assembly steps to join these components. This merging reduces the number of assembly operations required while maintaining precision through the molding process that forms the integrated structure in a single operation, thereby reducing manufacturing complexity without sacrificing assembly precision.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2~3
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AI summary
According to certain embodiments of the present disclosure, an electronic device and manufacturing method are disclosed. The electronic device includes: a housing including a first face, a second face, and a side member surrounding a space defined between the first face and the second face, a support member within the housing such that a side face of the support member is oriented towards an inner wall of the side member, a circuit board mounted on one face of the support member, an electrically conductive plate mounted on a second face, and a contact member mounted on the support member to electrically couple at least a portion of the side member to the circuit board, wherein the contact member includes an end portion adjacent to the plate, and an end face of the end portion includes a width smaller than a width of another portion of the contact member.