Socket Contact With Offset Mating Beams Reduces Insertion Force
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electrical connectors with deflectable mating beams are prone to failure due to mechanical shock, vibration, and thermal expansion, leading to increased mating forces and potential solder joint stress, which existing technologies have not adequately addressed.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a socket contact with a mating socket featuring longitudinally offset mating beams, which stagger the mating forces during insertion, reducing overall contact insertion forces and mitigating stress on the mating beams and solder joints.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple mating beams are used for redundant points of contact, then reliability is improved, but mating force increases
Solution Approach 1:
The socket contact is divided into multiple independent mating beams (first beam, second beam, third beam) that are spatially segmented along the longitudinal axis. Each beam can deflect independently to make contact with the pin, providing redundant contact points while distributing the mating force across separate locations rather than concentrating it at a single point.
Solution Approach 2:
The mating beams are arranged in multiple spatial dimensions - the first and second beams are positioned opposite each other, while the third beam is longitudinally offset from both. This three-dimensional arrangement allows the beams to engage the pin at different locations and angles, distributing the mating force across multiple dimensions rather than along a single line.
2Ease of operation
If deflectable mating beams are used, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates under mechanical shock and vibration
Solution Approach 1:
The socket contact is divided into multiple independent mating beams that can deflect independently. This segmentation allows each beam to absorb mechanical shock and vibration individually, preventing stress concentration that would occur in a single deflectable beam, thereby maintaining reliability under mechanical stress while preserving ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The longitudinal offset of the third beam from the first and second beams creates a three-dimensional distribution of mating interfaces. This spatial distribution ensures that mechanical shocks and vibrations affecting one beam do not directly transmit to all beams, as they are separated along the longitudinal dimension, thereby improving reliability under mechanical stress.
3Strength
If longitudinally offset beams are used, then stress on solder joints is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The socket contact is segmented into multiple beams with different longitudinal positions. This segmentation naturally distributes stress away from any single solder joint location, as each beam engages at a different position along the pin. The segmentation approach achieves stress reduction without requiring additional complex stress-distribution mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple mating beams are merged into a single integrated socket contact structure that is terminated to the circuit board as one unit. This merging allows the complex multi-beam configuration to be manufactured and installed as a single component, reducing the practical complexity despite the increased number of internal mating surfaces.
Data Source
AI summary
A socket contact includes a main body extending along a longitudinal axis between a mating end and a terminating end of the socket contact. The main body has a first side and a second side. The main body has a front and a rear extending between the first side and the second side. The socket contact includes a contact tail at the terminating end configured to be terminated to a circuit board. The socket contact includes a mating socket at the mating end. The mating socket includes a first beam and a second beam opposite the first beam. The mating socket includes a third beam longitudinally offset from the first beam and longitudinally offset from the second beam.