Open Terminal Connector With Baffles For Structural Strength
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional open terminal connectors have weak structural strength due to separate top and bottom cover shells, which can be damaged by mounting and dismounting or accidental impacts, and are vulnerable to environmental factors like high humidity and temperature, exposing internal components to air and reducing their lifespan.
Innovation Solution
An open terminal connector design featuring electrically insulative inner and outer housings injection-molded directly onto the terminal block, with a baffle system to prevent molten material from entering wiring holes and enhance structural strength, ensuring the connector remains intact and protected from environmental exposure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If separate top and bottom cover shells are used to form the electrically insulative housing, then the housing can be assembled with internal fastening members, but the structural strength becomes weak and the housing is easily damaged by mounting/dismounting or accidental impacts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the top cover shell and bottom cover shell into a single integrated electrically insulative housing structure. This unified housing is secured to the terminal block as one piece, eliminating the weak joints between separate components and significantly improving structural strength while maintaining ease of manufacture through simplified assembly.
2Device complexity
If the top cover shell and bottom cover shell are simply capped on the connector body, then the assembly is simple, but the internal electrical devices are exposed to outside air causing circuit damage in high humidity or critical temperature environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the top and bottom cover shells into a single integrated housing that fully encloses the internal electrical devices. This unified structure provides complete environmental protection against humidity and temperature extremes while maintaining simple assembly through direct attachment to the terminal block, eliminating the vulnerability of separately capped components.
3Strength
If injection molding is used to form the electrically insulative housing directly on the terminal block, then structural strength and environmental protection are improved, but the process requires prevention of molten material entry into wiring holes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by installing baffles into the wiring holes before the injection molding process. These baffles act as preventive measures that block molten plastic material from entering the wiring holes during molding, thereby simplifying the overall manufacturing process by eliminating the need for post-molding cleanup or complex mold design while enabling direct injection molding for improved structural integrity.
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
The solution provides enhanced structural integrity and protection from environmental factors, allowing the connector to function reliably in critical environments by integrating the outer housing and using baffles to reinforce the structure and prevent material entry into wiring holes.
Implementation Method 1
a baffle set, which comprises a transverse baffle disposed adjacent to the rear side of the wiring holes of the terminal block, a bottom baffle bonded to a bottom side of the terminal block, and two lateral baffles disposed at two opposite lateral sides of the terminal block
Implementation Method 2
an electrically insulative inner housing formed of a material different from that of the terminal block and injection-molded on the plug-in connector, the circuit board, the terminal block and the baffle set
Implementation Method 3
a plug-in connector, which comprises a plurality of conducting terminals respectively electrically connected to the solder pins of the circuit board, and a plurality of mounting through holes
Data Source
AI summary
An open terminal connector formed of a plug-in connector, a circuit board, a terminal block, baffles, an electrically insulative inner housing and an electrically insulative outer housing, in which the baffles stop the molten material from entering wiring holes of the terminal block during molding of the inner housing and the outer housing and reinforce the structural strength of the connector after molding of the inner housing and the outer housing, and the outer housing is directly injection-molded on all parts to prohibit the internal metal conducting terminals and the circuit board from direct contact with the outside air, allowing the connector to be used under a high humidity and/or critical temperature environment.