Resilient Plug Outer Inner Lip Design for Sealing Friction Trade-off
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing connectors face challenges in maintaining stable sealing properties and reducing frictional resistance while ensuring waterproof integrity, especially when exposed to temperature variations that affect the insulating coating of wires, leading to impaired assembly operability.
Innovation Solution
A connector design featuring a resilient plug with specifically arranged outer and inner lips that deform to stabilize sealing and reduce friction, where the inner lip functions as a reinforcing portion and the outer lip is supported by the inner lip to manage reaction forces, ensuring a stable sealing property and reduced frictional resistance during insertion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the outer lips are displaced in the longitudinal direction to reduce frictional resistance, then the insertion resistance is reduced, but the sealing property between the outer lips and the inner circumferential surface of the cavity becomes unstable
Solution Approach 1:
The outer circumferential surface is divided into multiple outer lips that are spaced apart in the longitudinal direction. Each outer lip acts as an independent sealing element, allowing individual deformation and reaction force distribution. This segmentation enables the lips to maintain sealing contact while accommodating longitudinal displacement during insertion, thus reducing frictional resistance without compromising sealing reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The outer lips are pre-positioned and pre-deformed during manufacturing to establish initial contact with the inner circumferential surface of the cavity. This preliminary action ensures that the lips are already in a favorable position to distribute reaction forces evenly during insertion, preventing excessive displacement that would compromise sealing while still allowing sufficient movement to reduce insertion resistance.
2Reliability
If a squeeze margin of the rubber plug against the wire is set larger to ensure waterproof property, then the waterproof property is improved, but the insertion resistance upon inserting the wire into the rubber plug becomes excessive
Solution Approach 1:
The inner circumferential surface is equipped with inner lips that are strategically positioned to provide localized reinforcement and sealing contact. These inner lips create a concentrated squeeze margin at critical locations where waterproofing is most needed, rather than uniformly increasing the squeeze margin throughout. This localized approach ensures waterproof property while minimizing overall insertion resistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner lips are designed to be resilient and dynamically deformable, allowing them to adapt their squeeze force during the insertion process. During insertion, the lips deform to reduce resistance, and after insertion, they rebound to provide the necessary waterproof sealing. This dynamic behavior enables both easy assembly and reliable waterproofing without requiring a consistently large squeeze margin.
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
The design achieves a stable sealing property and reduced frictional resistance, maintaining waterproof integrity without compromising assembly operability, even when the insulating coating is deformed, by effectively managing the deformation and reaction forces within the connector.
Implementation Method 1
a cylindrical resilient plug (preferably a rubber plug) to be mounted on an end portion of the wire and held in close contact with the outer circumferential surface of the wire while being resiliently deformed
Data Source
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AI summary
An object of the present invention is to obtain a stable sealing property while reducing frictional resistance when a rubber plug is inserted into a cavity. In a cross section including axis lines of a rubber plug 40, a cavity 11 and a wire 30, areas of outer lips 44A, 44B not resiliently deformed radially outward of a virtual line 12L corresponding to the inner circumferential surface of the cavity 11 are specified as outer virtual deforming portions 45A, 45B, areas of inner lips 46A, 46B and 46C not resiliently deformed radially inward of a virtual line 31 L corresponding to the outer circumferential surface of the wire 30 are specified as inner virtual deforming portions 47A, 47B, and 47C and at least parts of the inner virtual deforming portions 47A, 47B and 47C correspond to only parts of the outer virtual deforming portions 45A, 45B.