Segmented Rubber Plug Connector for Easier Lip Molding
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing connector designs face challenges in molding lips on the inner peripheral surface of wire insertion holes due to the formation of constricted portions in molds, leading to potential mold catching and difficulty in forming the lips effectively.
Innovation Solution
The connector is designed with a rubber plug composed of multiple rubber plug members, each with at most one lip, allowing for easy molding without constricted portions in the molds, and featuring a sealing hole configuration that minimizes mold catching and facilitates smooth lip formation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If constricted portions are formed in molds to create lips on the inner peripheral surface of the wire insertion hole, then lips can be molded, but the large-diameter part between constricted portions may be caught by the lips during mold removal, making it difficult to mold the lips well
Solution Approach 1:
The rubber plug is divided into multiple separate rubber plug members (first, second, third, and fourth members) arranged in the front-rear direction. By limiting lips to at most one per member, the segmentation reduces the complexity of mold design and removal, as each member can be molded independently with simpler mold structures that do not require constricted portions.
Solution Approach 2:
The lip-forming function is extracted from the mold structure itself and instead achieved through the geometric configuration of the rubber plug members during assembly. The lips are formed by the interaction between the rubber plug members and the housing, rather than being directly molded by constricted portions in the mold, thereby eliminating the mold catching problem.
2Reliability
If multiple lips are formed on the inner peripheral surface of a single rubber plug, then sealing performance improves, but mold complexity increases and lip molding becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The rubber plug is segmented into multiple rubber plug members, with each member having at most one lip. This segmentation distributes the sealing function across multiple simpler components rather than requiring one complex component with multiple lips, thereby reducing mold complexity while maintaining overall sealing performance.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple rubber plug members with individual lips are combined in series along the front-rear direction to achieve cumulative sealing效果. The sealing holes of adjacent members overlap or connect to form a continuous sealing barrier, merging the sealing functions of individual lips to achieve the reliability of multiple lips without the molding difficulties.
Data Source
AI summary
A connector 10 is provided with a housing 11 and a rubber plug 12 to be mounted into the housing. The rubber plug 12 includes a plurality of rubber plug members (e.g. a first rubber plug member 12A, a second rubber plug member 12B and a third rubber plug member 12C) configured separately from each other and arranged side by side in a front-rear direction and a sealing hole 40 penetrating through the plurality of rubber plug members in the front-rear direction. An inner peripheral surface of the sealing hole 40 includes at least one lip (e.g. a first lip 43, a second lip 44) projecting inward. The number of the lips formed in each of the rubber plug members is at most 1.