Primary Lance Segmentation for Plug Connector Insertion
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Solution Overview
Problem
In the manufacturing of miniaturized plug connectors for vehicles, there is a challenge in achieving both high flexural stiffness and resilient deformation in primary lances to securely latch contacts without plastic deformation during insertion and withstand tensile forces, while maintaining mechanical stability and reliability.
Innovation Solution
The primary lance is designed with distinct regions: a resiliently deformable curved region for easy insertion and a stiff region with a crimp for increased rigidity, along with a supporting region to enhance the force-bearing capacity, allowing the lance to deform and snap into place effectively while resisting pull-out forces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the primary lance is designed to be flexurally stiff to withstand pull-out forces, then the contact retention reliability is improved, but the lance becomes difficult to insert and may plastically deform during the insertion process
Solution Approach 1:
The primary lance is divided into functionally distinct segments: a resiliently deformable region for insertion and a stiff region for retention. This segmentation allows each region to be optimized for its specific function without compromising the other.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the primary lace are given different mechanical properties: the resiliently deformable region has lower flexural rigidity to facilitate insertion, while the stiff region has higher flexural rigidity to ensure reliable retention. This local differentiation of material properties resolves the contradiction between ease of insertion and retention reliability.
2Ease of operation
If the primary lace is made highly resilient to facilitate easy insertion and latching, then the ease of operation is improved, but the flexural stiffness is reduced and the contact may not reliably withstand tensile forces
Solution Approach 1:
The primary lace is segmented into a resiliently deformable region and a stiff region, each with optimized mechanical properties for its specific function. The resilient region facilitates easy insertion while the stiff region provides necessary strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The primary lace exhibits local quality variations where the resiliently deformable region has lower flexural rigidity for easy insertion, while the stiff region has higher flexural rigidity for withstanding tensile forces. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction between ease of operation and strength.
3Ease of manufacture
If the primary lace is designed with uniform mechanical properties throughout, then the manufacturing simplicity is improved, but it cannot simultaneously achieve both easy insertion and reliable retention in miniaturized contacts
Solution Approach 1:
The primary lace is designed with local quality variations, where different regions have different mechanical properties optimized for their specific functions. This allows the miniaturized contact to achieve both easy insertion and reliable retention while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through defined regional characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The primary lace is segmented into distinct functional regions with different mechanical properties. This segmentation enables the miniaturized contact to meet stringent mechanical demands by optimizing each region for its specific function while remaining manufacturable.
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
This design enables the primary lance to deform easily during insertion, latch securely, and withstand significant tensile forces without plastic deformation, ensuring reliable contact retention and ease of insertion in miniaturized connectors.
Implementation Method 1
the primary lace has a stiff region and a resiliently deformable region; the stiff region being designed to deform considerably less in response to a flexural load than the resiliently deformable region
Implementation Method 2
The resiliently deformable region has a curved region that extends at least partially in the plug-in direction
Data Source
AI summary
A contact for a plug connector has: a housing; and a primary lance which projects obliquely outwardly over the housing counter to a plug-in direction and which is inwardly deflectable for restraining the contact plugged into a contact chamber of a plug connector. The primary lance has both a stiffened region and a resiliently deformable region which is curved and extends at least partially in the plug-in direction. The stiffened region has a crimp that extends in the longitudinal direction. A supporting region is additionally provided, against whose contact surface the primary lance rests in response to a tensile load on the contact.