Lever Connector Housing Restraint for Seal Bulging Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
The outer diameter of the sealing member in a lever-type connector bulges, causing deformation of the connector housing, which may lead to a reduction in waterproofness due to plastic deformation.
Innovation Solution
A lever-type connector design featuring a wire cover with outer covering parts and a lever with leg parts that overlap the connector housing, incorporating protrusions with inclined pressing surfaces to press the housing inward, preventing bulging and deformation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a sealing member is used to seal the connector housing, then waterproofness is improved, but the sealing member bulges causing deformation of the connector housing which reduces waterproofness
Solution Approach 1:
The wire cover with outer covering parts is installed beforehand to cover and restrain the connector housing at the location where the sealing member may bulge. This preliminary constraint prevents the bulging deformation before it occurs, maintaining both the sealing effectiveness and the shape integrity of the connector housing.
Solution Approach 2:
The wire cover acts as an intermediary component between the sealing member and the external environment. It provides an additional layer of constraint that prevents the sealing member from directly deforming the connector housing, thus maintaining waterproofness while accommodating the sealing member's presence.
2Reliability
If protrusions with inclined pressing surfaces are added to the lever to press the housing inward, then suppression of bulging is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The lever is designed to perform multiple functions: its primary function of actuating the connector is enhanced by adding protrusions with inclined pressing surfaces that simultaneously press the housing inward to prevent bulging. This multi-functional design suppresses deformation without requiring separate components, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The anti-bulging function is merged into the existing lever structure by incorporating protrusions with inclined pressing surfaces. This combines the actuation function and the constraint function into a single component, avoiding the need for additional separate mechanisms and minimizing the increase in device complexity.
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 effectively suppresses bulging of the connector housing, maintaining waterproofness by pressing the housing inward with a strong force, while minimizing the required fitting force and preventing plastic deformation.
Implementation Method 1
protrusions protruding toward the corresponding outer covering parts are provided on inner surfaces of the corresponding leg parts... the protrusions each include an inclined pressing surface that is inclined in a pivot progression direction... and inclined pressed surfaces that are inclined toward an opposite side in the pivot progression direction, and against which the corresponding inclined pressing surfaces are abutted
Data Source
AI summary
A lever-type connector 10 including; a connector housing 11; a sealing member 60 configured to be abutted against a rear surface of a terminal housing part 12; a wire cover 40 that covers a wire W; and a lever 50, wherein the wire cover 40 includes outer covering parts 43 that cover the connector housing 11 from the outside, the lever 50 includes leg parts 51 that overlap outer sides of the corresponding outer covering parts 43 when the lever 50 is at a fitting completion position, protrusions 55 protruding toward the corresponding outer covering parts 43, and each having an inclined pressing surface 57 are provided on inner surfaces of the corresponding leg parts 51, and inclined pressed surfaces 48 against which the corresponding inclined pressing surfaces 57 are abutted are provided on outer surfaces of the corresponding outer covering parts 43.