Receptacle Connector With Segmented Mating Spaces
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional receptacle connectors with partition mechanisms to accommodate different connector shapes occupy more space, leading to increased length and volume, necessitating a solution to minimize these dimensions while maintaining compatibility with various connectors.
Innovation Solution
A receptacle connector design featuring an insulative housing with transversally spaced tongue pieces and a metal shell that defines multiple mating spaces, allowing for a common mating space for larger connectors and independent spaces for smaller ones, reducing overall length by eliminating the need for a partition mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a partition mechanism is used to partition the connector interface into multiple interface portions, then compatibility with various types of mating connectors is improved, but the total length of the connector along the transversal direction increases
Solution Approach 1:
The connector interface is segmented into multiple interface portions through partition walls, allowing different portions to accommodate different types of mating connectors. This segmentation enables the connector to handle various connector shapes and sizes while maintaining a compact overall structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector is designed with multi-functional interface portions that can accommodate different types of mating connectors (e.g., USB, MicroUSB, HDMI, MicroHDMI). Each interface portion can serve multiple purposes, allowing a single connector to provide universal compatibility across different connector types without requiring separate connectors for each type.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the connector interface is partitioned into multiple interface portions, then the ability to mate with different sized connectors is improved, but the volume of the connector increases
Solution Approach 1:
Smaller interface portions are nested within or adjacent to larger interface portions, allowing compact arrangement of multiple interface types. The partition walls are strategically positioned to create nested or adjacent spaces that efficiently utilize the available volume, reducing the overall connector volume while maintaining compatibility with different sized connectors.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector utilizes three-dimensional space efficiently by arranging interface portions in different spatial dimensions. Partition walls are configured to create vertical and horizontal divisions that maximize space utilization, allowing multiple interface portions to coexist in a compact volume without requiring excessive linear dimensions.
Data Source
AI summary
A receptacle connector includes an insulative housing, at least three terminal groups and a metal shell. The insulative housing has a base and at least three tongue pieces which integrally extend from the base and are transversally spaced apart to each other and in which a tongue piece of the tongue pieces at a left side thereof belongs to a left tongue piece, a tongue piece of the tongue pieces at a right side thereof belongs to a right tongue piece, and the other of the tongue pieces between the left tongue piece and the right tongue piece belongs to a middle tongue piece. The metal shell surrounds the tongue pieces and defines a common mating space as well as a first and second mating space.