Single-Carrier Electrical Connector Contacts for Balanced One-Shot Molding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrical connectors require multiple molding steps to integrate contacts with an insulative housing, leading to potential structural imbalances and increased material consumption.
Innovation Solution
The contacts are formed from a single contact carrier, molded with the insulative housing in a one-shot process, and then severed into upper and lower groups to ensure balanced structural symmetry and reduced material waste.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If multiple molding steps are used to integrate contacts with insulative housing, then contacts can be separately formed and attached, but structural imbalance and increased material consumption occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the formation of upper and lower contacts into a single molding operation using one contact carrier. The contact carrier is designed with a single body that forms both upper contacts and lower contacts simultaneously, eliminating the need for separate molding steps and reducing material waste from multiple manufacturing processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The single contact carrier serves multiple functions: it forms both upper contacts and lower contacts, provides structural support for all contacts, and enables symmetrical structural integrity. This multi-functional design replaces what would traditionally require separate carriers and multiple molding operations.
2Adaptability or versatility
If contacts are formed from separate contact carriers, then each carrier can be optimized independently, but device complexity and manufacturing steps increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple contact carriers into a single integrated contact carrier that forms both upper and lower contacts. This unified structure reduces device complexity by eliminating the need for separate carriers, alignment features, and multiple attachment operations while maintaining design flexibility through the single-carrier configuration.
3Ease of manufacture
If separate contact carriers are used for upper and lower contacts, then each carrier can be manufactured independently, but structural symmetry and balance are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs asymmetry in the design of the single contact carrier to achieve symmetrical structural balance in the final connector. The carrier is designed with an asymmetric configuration that, when molded, produces symmetric upper and lower contact arrangements, ensuring structural balance and stability.
Solution Approach 2:
By merging the formation of upper and lower contacts into a single molding operation using one contact carrier, the patent ensures inherent structural symmetry and balance. The single carrier provides a unified reference frame that naturally balances the structural composition, eliminating alignment issues that arise from using separate carriers.
4Ease of manufacture
If multiple molding operations are performed, then contacts and housing can be formed separately, but production time and process complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by forming both upper and lower contacts on the contact carrier before the molding operation. This pre-arrangement of contacts on a single carrier allows the entire assembly to be molded in one operation, eliminating subsequent assembly steps and improving production efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple molding operations into a single molding step by integrating the formation of upper contacts, lower contacts, and insulative housing into one process. This consolidation reduces production time, simplifies the manufacturing process, and improves overall productivity while maintaining process flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
An electrical connector includes an insulative housing having a tongue with two opposite surfaces and plural contacts with contacting portions exposed to the two opposite surfaces of the tongue. The plural contacts are originally formed from a same sheet metal to have one group of contacts thereof each with a respective contacting portion exposed to one surface of the front tongue and the other group of contacts thereof each with a respective contacting portion exposed to the other surface of the front tongue and the contacting portions of the one group of contacts are situated beside the contacting portions of the other group of contacts. The contacting portion in the one group includes more offset structures or experiences more offset distances than that in the other group.