Modular Plug Connector With Angled Electronics Modules
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing modular plug connectors lack versatility and adaptability to various applications while maintaining a simple and stable structure, limiting their functional capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A modular plug connector with a strip-shaped design featuring modules connected by mechanical connectors, including electronics modules with angled housing limbs for series and transverse orientations, equipped with measuring devices and evaluation systems, allowing for expanded functionalities such as temperature, voltage, and current measurements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If modular plug connectors use a simple strip-shaped design with direct mechanical connections, then the structure remains simple and stable, but the functionality and adaptability to various applications are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The plug connector is divided into multiple independent modules (plug modules and electronics modules) that can be arranged in series to form a strip-shaped connector. Each module can be independently designed, manufactured, and assembled, allowing the system to achieve complex functionality through simple modular components connected by straightforward mechanical means.
Solution Approach 2:
The electronics modules are designed with universal housing limbs that can perform multiple functions: providing mechanical support, enabling series connection between modules, and accommodating various electronic components (measuring devices, evaluation systems, data/energy buses). This multi-functional design allows a single module type to serve different application needs without increasing structural complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If electronics modules are integrated into the plug connector, then expanded functionality is achieved, but the structural simplicity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the electronics modules from the plug modules and connecting them through standardized mechanical interfaces, the design maintains manufacturing simplicity. Each module type can be manufactured independently using optimized processes, and the final assembly involves straightforward mechanical connections rather than complex integrated manufacturing.
Solution Approach 2:
The housing limbs of the electronics modules are designed with specific local features (connection surfaces, mounting positions) that enable both mechanical stability and electronic functionality. This localized optimization allows the modules to be manufactured with standard processes while achieving complex functions at specific locations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If modules are mechanically connected directly without a holding frame, then the connector achieves greater versatility and adaptability, but the stability and bearing support may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The mechanical connecting mechanisms are designed with preliminary alignment features and self-centering characteristics that ensure proper positioning and stable bearing support during assembly. The connection geometry is optimized to automatically provide stable support without requiring additional holding frames or complex positioning mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
A modular plug connector in a strip-shaped design, which can be plugged together with a corresponding mating plug connector, in particular a circuit board plug connector has a plurality of modules arranged in series and mechanically connected to one another directly with mechanical connectors to form the strip shape. There are multiple plug modules and one or more electronics modules, wherein the respective electronics module has two housing limbs orientated at an angle to one another, of which one is a series-mounting limb that can be mounted in series between two of the plug modules and the other is a transverse limb orientated at an angle, in particular a right angle, thereto and which is arranged on a housing side of one or more of the plug modules. The housing side is orientated at an angle, in particular at a right angle, to series-mounting direction x.