Piercing Connector with Blind Insert Slot and Needle Clamping

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing piercing connectors for electric wires with stranded cores and insulation sheaths often fail to provide reliable electrical contact due to improper wire positioning, especially in complex situations where the wire is hidden or inaccessible.

Innovation Solution

A piercing connector with a blind insert slot and a tightening mechanism featuring a metal needle and clamping mechanism, allowing for proper wire positioning and penetration by engaging a clamping claw and protrusion system that ensures reliable electrical contact when a threshold force is applied, even in complex configurations.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If the wire is positioned and penetrated in one operation using a known piercing connector, then the device structure is simple, but the electrical contact reliability deteriorates when the wire is not properly positioned

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveelectrical contact reliabilityVSAvoiddevice structure complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The piercing connector is divided into distinct functional sections: a positioning section with an insert slot that guides and secures the wire, and a penetration section with a needle that pierces the insulation. This segmentation allows the wire to be properly positioned before penetration occurs, ensuring reliable electrical contact while maintaining reasonable structural complexity through modular design.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Adaptability or versatility

If a blind insert slot is used for wire insertion, then the connector can be hooked behind hidden wires in complex situations, but the device complexity increases due to additional positioning mechanisms

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveadaptability to complex wire configurationsVSAvoidpositioning mechanism complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The blind insert slot is designed to perform preliminary positioning of the wire before the penetration action occurs. The slot's geometry pre-positions the wire in the correct location, and the protrusion-claw mechanism maintains this positioning during the subsequent needle penetration. This preliminary action enables the connector to adapt to hidden or inaccessible wires while keeping the positioning mechanism relatively simple through geometric design rather than complex active components.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP3782230B1Piercing connector
Publication Date: 2022.04.20 BUYSMAN HLDG BV
  • EP3782230B1 patent drawingFigure 1A
  • EP3782230B1 patent drawingFigure 1B
  • EP3782230B1 patent drawingFigure 2A

AI summary

The invention relates to a piercing connector configured for making an insulation-piercing contact with an electric wire having stranded core and an insulation sheath, wherein the piercing connector comprises a head and at one side thereof a blind insert slot for inserting the electric wire from aside, a shaft with an inner channel in which a wire clamp is enclosed, and a tightening knob around the outer thread with a metal needle that extends through the shaft towards the insert slot, wherein the wire clamp comprises a clamping body with a clamping claw that is slidable through the inner channel between a retracted position and a clamping position, and a protrusion that displaceable with respect to the clamping body wherein the protrusion retracts with respect to the clamping body after a threshold force exerted by the tightening knob on the protrusion is exceeded.