Tapered Adapter for Circuit Board Alignment in Personal Care
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electronic components in personal care products, such as razors, are prone to failure when exposed to wet environments due to their delicate nature and the challenge of reliable and cost-effective sealing against water ingress.
Innovation Solution
A method involving an adapter with a tapered guide surface is used to assemble and secure circuit boards within a housing, ensuring proper alignment and sealing, eliminating the need for complex fixtures and reducing the risk of water ingress.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If electronic components are made small to fit within personal care products, then device size is reduced, but reliability deteriorates due to delicate components breaking easily
Solution Approach 1:
The circuit board is segmented into rigid and flexible portions, with the rigid portion providing structural support and the flexible portion allowing movement. This segmentation enables small electronic components to maintain structural integrity while fitting within compact personal care products.
Solution Approach 2:
An adapter acts as an intermediary component between the circuit board and housing, providing mechanical support and alignment. The adapter with tapered guide surfaces facilitates precise positioning and connection, protecting delicate electronic components from damage during assembly and use.
2Reliability
If complex sealing methods are used to prevent water ingress, then reliability against water ingress is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tapered guide surfaces on the adapter and housing automatically align and seal components during assembly without requiring external fixtures or complex sealing mechanisms. The design self-aligns and seals itself, preventing water ingress while maintaining simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The tapered geometry of the guide surfaces creates a self-aligning sealing interface that adapts to manufacturing tolerances. This geometric parameter design ensures reliable sealing against water ingress without adding complex sealing components.
3Manufacturing precision
If precise alignment of circuit boards is achieved, then manufacturing precision is improved, but assembly complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tapered guide surfaces automatically align the circuit board with the housing during assembly without requiring external fixtures or complex alignment mechanisms. The geometry itself performs the alignment function, achieving precise positioning through self-alignment.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using complex fixtures to force alignment, the design inverts the approach by having the components self-align through their inherent tapered geometry. The alignment emerges from the component design itself rather than from external alignment tools.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic subassembly for a personal care product with a housing defining a chamber. The housing has a tapered guide surface. A first circuit board having a rigid end is positioned within the chamber and a flexible portion positioned outside the chamber. A second circuit board is positioned within the chamber of the housing. The second circuit board has an electrical connector dimensioned to receive the rigid end. An adapter is secured to the first circuit board between the rigid end and the flexible portion. The adapter has a corresponding tapered guide surface that engages the tapered guide surface of the housing to align the rigid end with the electrical connector.