Rotatable Lever Connector With Recessed Spring For Mechanical Strength
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Solution Overview
Problem
Lever-type connectors suffer from insufficient mechanical strength due to deformation of the resilient lock member, which affects reliable operation force transmission, especially when dealing with connectors having a large number of contacts, leading to reduced flapping strength and increased lever size.
Innovation Solution
A connector design featuring a lever with a flat main body, a recessed spring portion, and a locking mechanism where the spring portion faces a recessed bottom with varying distances between its free end and locking portion, preventing deformation and ensuring reliable force transmission, even with increased lever size.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the resilient lock member is made open at the lower side to enable operation, then the lever can be operated, but mechanical strength becomes insufficient causing deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The recess is provided only at the specific location where the resilient lock member is pressed during operation, creating local structural optimization. This allows the lever body to maintain sufficient thickness and strength in critical areas while providing operational access where needed, resolving the contradiction between operability and mechanical strength.
2Quantity of substance
If the lever size is increased to accommodate a large number of contacts, then more contacts can be connected, but protrusion before fitting increases and flapping strength decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the geometric parameters of the lever by providing a recess that reduces material in non-critical areas. This allows the lever to accommodate more contacts (increasing quantity) while maintaining adequate flapping strength by strategically removing material only where it does not compromise structural integrity.
3Strength
If the lever thickness is increased to improve flapping strength, then mechanical strength improves, but the lever size and protrusion increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of uniformly increasing lever thickness, the recess is strategically positioned to remove material only where it is not needed for structural strength. This local modification maintains flapping strength in critical areas while reducing overall lever protrusion, resolving the contradiction between strength and size.
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 enhances the mechanical strength and reliability of operation force transmission, improving flapping strength and maintaining operability without increasing lever thickness, even with a large number of contacts.
Implementation Method 1
a spring portion which extends from the main body in the recess to have a free end and which is elastically deformable in the thickness direction
Data Source
AI summary
In a connector including a housing to be fitted to a mating connector and a lever rotatable to the housing between a first and a second position, a main body of the lever has a generally flat shape and provided with a recess recessed from a principal surface of the main body in a thickness direction to have a bottom portion. A spring portion extends from the main body in the recess to have a free end and being elastically deformable in the thickness direction. A locking portion is formed to the spring portion at a first portion away from the free end and adapted to be locked with the housing when the lever is at the second position. The spring portion faces the bottom of the recess with a distance greater at a second portion between the free end and the first portion than that at the first portion.