Terminal for Round Pin Contact With Asymmetric Spring Guide
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing terminals with spring contacts experience wear due to lateral displacement and poor workability during mounting, particularly in connectors for electric vehicles and hybrid cars, where the spring contact's rotation is unregulated and the composite material's cylindrical shape causes friction and difficulty in assembly.
Innovation Solution
A terminal design featuring a cylindrical conductive main body with a slit for guiding and locking a spring terminal, which includes a resilient contact member with trumpet-shaped ends and knob portions that fit into recesses, preventing rotation and ensuring secure engagement, thereby reducing wear and improving assembly efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stress or pressure
If the spring terminal is made cylindrical to apply contact pressure, then the contact pressure is evenly distributed, but the spring terminal rotates and laterally displaces causing wear
Solution Approach 1:
The spring terminal is designed with an asymmetric D-shaped cross-section instead of a symmetric circular shape. The flat side of the D-shape engages with a corresponding recess in the terminal body, preventing rotation while the curved side maintains contact pressure. This asymmetric geometry resolves the contradiction by eliminating rotational movement that causes wear, while preserving the even pressure distribution through the curved surface contact.
Solution Approach 2:
A guiding groove is provided in the terminal body that aligns with and guides the spring terminal during insertion. This preliminary guiding action ensures the spring terminal is correctly positioned and oriented before contact pressure is applied, preventing misalignment and lateral displacement that would lead to wear. The guiding groove prepares the assembly in advance to avoid problematic lateral movements during operation.
2Ease of manufacture
If the spring terminal is inserted without guidance, then the assembly process is simple, but the spring terminal laterally displaces and wears
Solution Approach 1:
A guiding groove acts as an intermediary structural feature between the spring terminal and the terminal body. This groove provides a predefined path that guides the spring terminal during insertion, ensuring proper alignment without requiring complex assembly mechanisms. The guiding groove mediates between the simple insertion action and the need for precise positioning, preventing lateral displacement and wear while maintaining assembly simplicity.
3Reliability
If the spring terminal is secured with a locking mechanism, then lateral displacement is prevented, but the mounting workability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The guiding groove and locking function are merged into a single integrated structural feature. The groove serves dual purposes: it guides the spring terminal during insertion and simultaneously provides the locking engagement when the spring terminal is properly positioned. This merging eliminates the need for separate locking mechanisms, preventing lateral displacement while maintaining simple assembly operations. The integration of guidance and locking functions resolves the contradiction between reliability and ease of operation.
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 design effectively reduces wear on the electrical contact and enhances workability by stabilizing the spring terminal's position, preventing rotation and lateral displacement, and facilitating smoother assembly, thus improving the terminal's performance and productivity.
Implementation Method 1
a resilient contact member provided with an opening divided in the cylindrical direction, the resilient contact member including knob portions formed to protrude outward from the opening at opening ends of the opening
Implementation Method 2
an end to be inserted with the electrical contact of the resilient contact member is formed into a trumpet shape which expands in diameter outward
Implementation Method 3
the electrical contact portion is formed with a slit for guiding the spring terminal in a cylindrical direction and a locking portion to lock the spring terminal to the slit
Data Source
AI summary
A terminal includes a conductive terminal main body and a spring terminal. The terminal main body includes an electric wire crimping portion which caulks a crimping piece and an electrical contact portion which and accommodates the spring terminal to be electrically connected with the electrical contact. The electrical contact portion is formed with a slit for guiding the spring terminal in a cylindrical direction and a locking portion to lock the spring terminal to the slit. The spring terminal includes a resilient contact member provided with an opening divided in the cylindrical direction, the resilient contact member including knob portions formed to protrude outward from the opening at opening ends of the opening, the knob portion being locked to the locking portion, and an end to be inserted with the electrical contact of the resilient contact member is formed into a trumpet shape which expands in diameter outward.