Female Terminal Spring Spacer for Consistent Contact Gap

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional electrical terminals lack assurance of maintaining the necessary gap between their front portions to fully accommodate male terminals, leading to inconsistent contact and increased manufacturing costs due to unnecessary stamping processes.

Innovation Solution

A female terminal design that integrates a secondary spacer member within the terminal spring to maintain a proper contact interface gap width, eliminating the need for additional tabs and reducing manufacturing complexity.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Manufacturing precision

If conventional terminals are designed without additional spacer members, then the manufacturing process is simpler, but the gap between front portions cannot be maintained consistently

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvegap consistencyVSAvoidterminal structure

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The spacer member is nested within the terminal spring structure, integrating the spacing function into the existing terminal components rather than adding separate external elements. This allows the spacer to be formed as part of the spring assembly process, maintaining gap consistency without significantly increasing overall device complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

Solution Approach 2:

The terminal spring is segmented to include a dedicated spacer portion that maintains the gap between front portions. By dividing the spring structure into functional segments (contact portions and spacer portions), the design achieves precise gap control while keeping the overall structure manageable through modular construction.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Manufacturing precision

If additional tabs are added to maintain gap, then contact interface gap can be maintained, but manufacturing costs increase due to additional stamping processes

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontact interface gapVSAvoidmanufacturing cost

Core Design Contradiction:

Manufacturing precisionVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The spacer function is merged with the terminal spring structure, combining two functions (spring contact and gap maintenance) into a single integrated component. This eliminates the need for separate tabs and additional stamping processes, reducing manufacturing complexity and cost while maintaining precise gap control.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The terminal spring is designed to serve multiple functions: providing elastic contact force, maintaining gap between front portions, and enabling serviceability. By making the spring multi-functional, the design eliminates the need for dedicated separate components like tabs, thereby reducing manufacturing steps and costs.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Reliability

If terminal spring is designed to fully accommodate male terminal, then proper contact is ensured, but the structure becomes more complex

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecontact assuranceVSAvoidspring structure

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The terminal spring is designed with dynamic characteristics that allow it to adapt to the male terminal during insertion. The spring's elastic properties enable it to automatically adjust and accommodate the male terminal fully, ensuring reliable contact without requiring complex fixed-positioning structures.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The terminal spring's elastic nature allows it to self-adjust and self-accommodate the male terminal during the mating process. The spring automatically provides the necessary force and positioning to ensure full accommodation and proper contact, eliminating the need for additional complex guiding or positioning mechanisms.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

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 integrated spacer member ensures consistent and proper contact interface gaps, reducing manufacturing costs by eliminating unnecessary stamping processes and allowing for more efficient production from given stock lengths.

Implementation Method 1

The designs or configurations of the terminal systems often rely on the elastic nature of the material (i.e., the metal) of the female element to allow for joining with or disjoining from the male element

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectElasticity: Elasticity

Data Source

PatentUS12283767B2Terminal spring spacer, and a female terminal utilizing said spring spacer

Publication Date: 2025.04.22 JST CORP

AI summary

A terminal spring on a female terminal that integrates a terminal spring spacer to underlying terminal bases of said terminal spring to aid in maintaining proper contact interface gap for receiving therein a corresponding male terminal. The terminal spring spacer is integrally, contiguously, or unitarily connected to said terminal spring as a single piece. The female terminal, onto which the terminal spring with the terminal spring spacer is joined, includes a pair of terminal bases, each having a contact zone, a transition zone, and a terminal (wire) zone. The contact zones and transition zones of the first and second terminal bases are substantially contained within the terminal spring. The terminal spring spacer effectively maintains a correct gap through an interface gap between front ends of the contact zones of the first and second terminal bases through another gap between transition zones of the first and second terminal bases for accommodating therein the corresponding male terminal.