Receptacle Connector Tapered Guide Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electric connector systems face challenges in efficiently aligning and fitting board-to-board connections due to initial misalignment of connectors, leading to difficulties in establishing a secure electrical connection.
Innovation Solution
The electric connector features a housing portion with guide areas that regulate the movement of the connector, ensuring alignment by gradually decreasing gap width, and includes chamfers to correct positional deviations, allowing for efficient alignment and fitting of connectors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If connectors are inserted directly without guide areas, then the insertion process is simple, but alignment precision deteriorates due to initial misalignment
Solution Approach 1:
The guide areas are formed in advance on the housing portion to preliminarily guide the plug connector during insertion. The gap width between guide areas decreases from the opening toward the bottom, creating a tapered structure that automatically aligns the connectors before they make full contact, thereby improving alignment precision without requiring complex external fixtures
Solution Approach 2:
The guide areas utilize the width dimension (gap width between guide areas) to control alignment in the lateral direction while the insertion proceeds in the depth direction. This dimensional approach allows the housing structure to provide alignment guidance through its geometric configuration rather than requiring additional active alignment mechanisms
2Reliability
If connectors require precise initial alignment, then connection reliability improves, but ease of operation deteriorates due to difficulty in positioning
Solution Approach 1:
The guide areas enable the housing structure to self-correct alignment deviations during insertion. As the plug connector enters the housing portion, the tapered gap width automatically guides it into proper alignment, eliminating the need for external alignment tools or skilled positioning operations while ensuring reliable connection
Solution Approach 2:
The guide areas act as an intermediary element between the opening and the terminal connection point. They mediate the transition from imprecise initial positioning to precise final alignment, allowing operators to insert connectors without requiring precise initial positioning while still achieving reliable connections
3Productivity
If guide areas with decreasing gap width are added, then alignment efficiency improves, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The guide areas are merged with the housing portion as an integrated structure rather than being separate components. The guide areas are formed directly on the housing portion during the same manufacturing process, combining the housing and alignment guidance functions into a single structural element, thereby improving alignment efficiency without proportionally increasing manufacturing complexity
Data Source
AI summary
A receptacle connector includes a receptacle housing including a housing portion and receptacle terminals connected to plug terminals. The housing portion includes a first principal inner wall face, a second principal inner wall face, and a first-end inner wall face. At least a part of the first-end inner wall face is first receptacle guide faces having a gap width in a Y-axis direction gradually decreasing. The first receptacle guide face guides a plug connector such that the direction of an axial line of the plug connector is lined up in the direction of an axial line of the housing portion by regulating movement of the plug connector.