Lever Connector Cover Geometry for High Wire Count Packaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Increasing the number of wires led out from a connector housing leads to an enlargement of the lever-type connector, which is undesirable.
Innovation Solution
A lever-type connector design featuring a cover with bulging portions and a lever with wide and narrow portions, where the wires are disposed inside the bulging portions, reducing the cover's length and suppressing the connector's overall enlargement, while the lever is guided and supported by the cover's base portions to prevent deformation and smooth rotation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the height of the wire cover is increased to accommodate more wires, then the number of wires that can be led out is increased, but the overall size of the connector is enlarged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a bulging portion that protrudes in the width direction (lateral dimension) rather than increasing height in the lead-out direction. This dimensional shift allows the cover to accommodate more wires by expanding laterally, thereby avoiding vertical enlargement and resolving the contradiction between wire capacity and connector size.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover is designed with non-uniform cross-sectional dimensions: the interval between side walls is enlarged at the bulging portion while remaining smaller at the base portion near the connector housing. This local variation in geometry allows the cover to expand only where needed to accommodate wires, rather than uniformly increasing overall dimensions.
2Quantity of substance
If the cover is enlarged to accommodate more wires, then wire capacity is increased, but the lever cannot be disposed outside the cover
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of expanding the cover in the height direction (which would encroach on lever space), the patent expands the cover in the width direction through the bulging portion. This creates sufficient vertical clearance for the lever to be disposed outside the cover while maintaining adequate wire accommodation capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover's cross-sectional interval varies locally: enlarged at the bulging portion for wire accommodation, but reduced at the base portion near the connector housing. This localized enlargement ensures wires are accommodated without unnecessarily increasing overall cover dimensions, preserving space for lever operation.
3Quantity of substance
If the cover height is increased to lead out more wires, then wire output capacity is increased, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves increased wire capacity by expanding in the width direction (bulging portion) rather than increasing height. This alternative dimensional approach allows the cover to accommodate more wires without proportionally increasing material volume and manufacturing complexity, thereby controlling production costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover features localized geometric variation with a bulging portion only where wire accommodation is needed, rather than uniform enlargement throughout. This selective expansion minimizes additional material requirements and manufacturing complexity, keeping costs lower compared to uniform size increases.
Data Source
AI summary
A lever-type connector is provided with a connector housing to be connected to a mating connector housing, a cover for covering wires pulled out from the connector housing in a state bent in a direction different from a pull-out direction from the connector housing, and a lever rotatable between a connection start position and a connection end position. The cover includes two side walls, a rear wall coupling the two side walls, base portions provided at positions near the connector housing with the cover mounted on the connector housing and bulging portions having a larger interval between the two side walls than the base portions at positions near the rear wall.