Terminal Conductor and Spring Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing female terminal designs face challenges in reducing material costs and maintaining spring properties while handling larger currents, as they require expensive metal plate materials with both spring and conductivity properties, which become rigid and difficult to form when thickness increases.
Innovation Solution
A terminal design featuring a conductive plate-shaped conductor and a separate, thinner, resilient spring with a cantilevered mount, where the spring only needs to possess spring properties, allowing for cost reduction and easier formation, and the conductor's thickness can increase without affecting the spring's performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a metal plate material with both spring property and conductivity is used, then the terminal can properly ensure contact pressure and electrical connection, but the material cost increases and material cost reduction becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The terminal is divided into two separate components: a conductor made of conductive metal material and a spring made of inexpensive metal plate material. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function, with the spring providing mechanical pressure and the conductor providing electrical connection, thereby reducing overall material cost while maintaining reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The spring and conductor are combined into a single integrated terminal structure where the spring is mounted on the conductor. This merging allows the inexpensive spring material to be combined with the conductive metal material, achieving both spring property and conductivity without using expensive dual-function material throughout the entire component
2Reliability
If the plate thickness of the metal plate material is increased to handle larger current, then the conductivity improves, but the rigidity increases making it difficult to form the rectangular tube portion and the terminal becomes quite large
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the conductor from the spring component, the design allows the conductor to be optimized independently for current handling. The conductor can be made with appropriate thickness for electrical performance without being constrained by the spring's formation requirements, simplifying manufacturing
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the terminal have different thickness requirements: the conductor has sufficient thickness for current handling and conductivity, while the spring is made thinner to maintain flexibility and ease of formation. This local differentiation of quality allows each component to meet its specific requirements without compromising the other
3Reliability
If the plate thickness of the metal plate material is increased, then the current handling capability improves, but the spring property is lost due to excessive rigidity
Solution Approach 1:
The terminal is segmented into a conductor for current handling and a separate spring for providing contact pressure. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by allowing the conductor to have sufficient thickness for electrical performance while the spring remains thin enough to maintain its elastic properties and spring behavior
Solution Approach 2:
The conductor is made with locally optimized thickness for electrical conductivity and current handling, while the spring is made with thinner material to preserve its spring properties. Each component's local quality is tailored to its specific function, eliminating the trade-off between current handling and spring behavior
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 configuration enables handling larger currents without enlarging the terminal's size, reduces material costs, and maintains the spring's properties by separating the spring and conductor, allowing for efficient electrical connection and reduced formation complexity.
Implementation Method 1
a spring formed to be thinner than the conductor and resiliently deformable and provided with a mount mounted on the conductor and a cantilever cantilevered from the mount and relatively displaceable with respect to the conductor
Data Source
AI summary
A terminal, including: a conductor made of a metal material, the conductor being in a form of a plate and being provided with a contact point to be conductively connected to a mating terminal; and a spring formed to be thinner than the conductor and resiliently deformable and provided with a mount mounted on the conductor and a cantilever cantilevered from the mount and relatively displaceable with respect to the conductor, the mating terminal being resiliently held in contact with the contact point by being pressed by the cantilever, a tip of the mating terminal being disposed between the mount and the contact point.