Pin Connector Assembly Alignment Slots
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pin connectors for artificial Christmas trees lack guiding and alignment structures, leading to inefficient installation, increased risk of damaging metal contacts, and insecure engagement with tube walls, reducing service life and assembly efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A pin connector assembly featuring a male connector with a tubular housing, metal contacts, alignment slots, and engaging protrusions, and a female connector with a plug portion, insertion holes, and engaging slots, allowing for precise alignment and secure engagement without requiring exact fitment with tube shapes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional connectors without guiding structures are used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the installation efficiency deteriorates and metal contacts are easily damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces alignment guides as intermediary structures that facilitate the connection process between male and female connectors. These guides act as mediators that guide the metal contacts into proper alignment during insertion, reducing damage risk and improving installation efficiency without significantly complicating the overall connector design
Solution Approach 2:
The alignment guides are pre-installed on the tube walls before the connectors are attached. This preliminary action ensures that when connectors are later installed, the alignment guides are already in position to guide the metal contacts, eliminating the need for complex real-time adjustment mechanisms
2Reliability
If conventional connectors without alignment structures are used, then the manufacturing cost is reduced, but the service life deteriorates due to easy damage of metal contacts
Solution Approach 1:
Alignment guides serve as protective intermediary structures that prevent direct misalignment impacts between metal contacts during installation. By guiding the insertion process, they reduce the risk of damage to the fragile metal contacts, thereby extending connector service life without requiring complex protective mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The alignment guides provide a protective guiding path before the metal contacts make final contact. This beforehand cushioning effect prevents sudden misalignment impacts that could damage the contacts, ensuring smoother insertion and reducing the likelihood of installation-related failures
3Reliability
If connectors are designed to securely engage with tubes of varying wall thicknesses, then the reliability of engagement is improved, but the ease of manufacture deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs elastic mounting elements with adjustable engagement forces that can adapt to different tube wall thicknesses. By using materials and designs that allow parameter variation in engagement pressure, the connector maintains reliable attachment across tubes with varying dimensions without requiring precise manufacturing tolerances
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting elements are designed with elastic properties that allow dynamic adjustment of engagement force. This dynamic characteristic enables the connector to automatically adapt to different tube wall thicknesses, maintaining secure engagement while accommodating manufacturing variations in tube dimensions
4Ease of operation
If alignment guides are added to the connector system, then the installation efficiency is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment guides are designed as simple intermediary components that attach to the tube walls and provide passive guidance. Rather than complex active alignment mechanisms, these guides offer a straightforward structural solution that improves installation ease while adding minimal complexity to the overall system
Solution Approach 2:
The alignment function is segmented from the main connector body and implemented as separate, modular alignment guides. This segmentation allows the guides to be independently manufactured and installed, simplifying the overall design and maintenance while providing the necessary alignment functionality
Data Source
AI summary
A pin connector assembly has male connector and a female connector. The male connector has a first alignment slot formed on a first housing of the male connector and a mounting hole. The female connector has a second alignment slot formed on a second housing of the male connector and a mounting hole. The first and second alignment slots allows the male connector and the female to be coupled with each other without damaging metal contacts on the male connector. Moreover, the installation efficiency of the male connector and the female connectors are improved. The mounting holes of the male and female connectors are used for detachably mounting the male and female connectors on tubes of a trunk of an artificial Christmas tree.