Surface-Mount Terminal Spring Nesting for Vacuum Pickup
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surface-mount type electric connecting terminals face challenges in achieving reliable reflow soldering with vacuum pickup, maintaining a low height and long operating distance, minimizing delamination and leaning, and reducing manufacturing costs, while ensuring the spring is not distorted during object movement.
Innovation Solution
A surface-mount type electric connecting terminal with a cylindrical fixed member and a movable member, where the movable member is slidably inserted into the fixed member, and an electrical conductive spring maintains connection, featuring a hook portion to prevent disengagement and a flat surface for vacuum pickup, with a weight distribution that minimizes center of gravity issues during reflow soldering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a metallic spring is temporarily fixed to a metallic sheet to maintain the spring before reflow process, then the spring can be kept in place, but the vacuum pickup process becomes difficult for surface-mounting work
Solution Approach 1:
The spring is extracted from the temporary fixation method and instead inserted into the hollow interior of the movable member, where it is retained by the internal cavity rather than external attachment. This eliminates the need for temporary fixing while maintaining spring position stability throughout the reflow process.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring is nested within the hollow interior of the movable member, creating a compact structure where the spring resides inside the movable member's cavity. This nested arrangement provides stable spring positioning without requiring external fixation that would interfere with vacuum pickup.
2Ease of manufacture
If the metallic sheet and metallic spring are not surely coupled, then the vacuum pickup process is easier, but the top cylinder may be disengaged by hot air blowing during reflow-soldering
Solution Approach 1:
The spring is preliminarily inserted into the hollow interior of the movable member before the reflow soldering process. This preliminary positioning ensures the spring is securely retained within the movable member's cavity, preventing disengagement by hot air during reflow while maintaining ease of vacuum pickup.
3Reliability
If the spring is not maintained in a simple inserted state, then connection reliability improves, but the top cylinder may be disengaged by spring recovery force when objects move
Solution Approach 1:
The spring is nested within the hollow interior of the movable member, creating a self-contained structure. The movable member's cavity serves as both the retention mechanism and structural element, maintaining connection reliability through the nested arrangement without adding complex external retention structures.
4Length of moving object
If a guide portion is made longer to balance the plunger, then operating distance increases, but the height of the fixed member must increase making economic manufacture difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The solution shifts from increasing vertical height to optimizing horizontal arrangement. The fixed member and movable member are arranged with optimized horizontal dimensions and reduced vertical profile, allowing sufficient operating distance through efficient space utilization rather than simply increasing overall height.
Solution Approach 2:
The design optimizes the dimensional parameters of the fixed and movable members, adjusting their heights, widths, and thicknesses to achieve the required operating distance while maintaining a compact overall height that is economically manufacturable.
5Stability of the object's composition
If the pogo pin is assembled to a mould, then structural stability improves, but surface-mounting by vacuum pickup becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The electric connecting terminal is segmented into separable components: a fixed member that remains on the circuit board and a movable member with the spring that can be independently positioned. This segmentation allows the movable member to be picked up by vacuum for surface-mounting while the fixed member provides structural stability on the board.
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 enables reliable reflow soldering with reduced delamination and leaning, maintains a low height and long operating distance, and lowers manufacturing costs, while preventing spring distortion and ensuring stable electrical connections.
Implementation Method 1
a spring which provides elastic force so that the movable member may elastically move in up and down directions
Implementation Method 2
a flat surface which enables a vacuum pickup work
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a surface-mount type electric connecting terminal which is disposed between opposing conductive objects and is configured to electrically connecting the objects while easily adjusting pressing force and recovery force. The electric connecting terminal includes a cylindrical fixed member which is made from a metallic material; a cylindrical movable member which is slidably inserted in the fixed member and is made from a metallic material; and an electrical conductive spring which is accommodated in the fixed member and whose one end contacts with the bottom of the fixed member and the other end contacts with the bottom of the movable member for thereby allowing the movable member to elastically slide against the fixed member.