Shielding Plate Thickening for USB Type-C Wear
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing USB Type C connectors with thin shielding plates face issues of side latches scraping plug latches and wear on insulating mating tongues due to their thinness, leading to ineffective electrical isolation and increased wear.
Innovation Solution
An electrical connector design featuring a terminal seat with a base and mating tongue, and a shielding plate with thickening sections forming side latches that enclose the mating tongue sides, providing enhanced mating surfaces and reducing abrasive wear by using metallic thickening sections with a thickness of 0.45 mm to support spring latches without resin, and a main sheet of 0.15 mm thickness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If a thin shielding plate (thickness < 0.02 mm) is used, then the electrical connector achieves better flexibility and smaller size, but the side latches of the shielding plate scrape the plug latches and cause wear on the insulating mating tongue
Solution Approach 1:
The shielding plate employs different thicknesses in different regions: the main body remains thin (0.02-0.05mm) for flexibility, while the side latch regions are locally thickened to 0.1-0.3mm to provide sufficient strength and prevent scraping wear on plug latches and insulating mating tongues. This local quality differentiation resolves the contradiction between overall thinness and localized durability.
2Device complexity
If a thin shielding plate is used, then the connector structure becomes more compact, but the electrical isolation effectiveness is reduced due to insufficient thickness
Solution Approach 1:
The shielding plate is designed with non-uniform thickness where the main body thickness (0.02-0.05mm) provides compactness while the locally thickened side latch regions (0.1-0.3mm) ensure effective electrical isolation and mechanical strength. This resolves the contradiction between compactness and isolation effectiveness by optimizing thickness distribution.
3Reliability
If the shielding plate thickness is increased uniformly, then the side latches become stronger and reduce wear, but the overall size and flexibility of the connector are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than uniform thickening, the invention applies thickness enhancement only to the side latch regions (0.1-0.3mm) while keeping the main body thin (0.02-0.05mm). This localized approach strengthens the side latches for reduced wear while maintaining overall connector compactness and flexibility, resolving the contradiction between strength and size.
Solution Approach 2:
The shielding plate is segmented into functional zones with different thickness requirements: the main body area remains thin for flexibility and compactness, while the side latch areas are thickened for strength. This segmentation allows each region to optimize its properties independently, resolving the contradiction between overall size and localized strength.
Data Source
AI summary
An electrical connector includes a terminal seat loaded with a plurality of terminals and a shielding plate. The terminal seat includes a base and a mating tongue extending from the base, the mating tongue defines two opposite mating surfaces, a confronting surface and two opposite sides connecting with the mating surfaces and the confronting surface. The terminals include contacting sections exposing upon the mating surfaces and leg sections out of the base. The shielding plate includes a main sheet disposed between the mating surfaces and two thickening sections, the two thickening sections enclose the two opposite sides of the mating tongue and each provides a side latch at an outer side face thereof. Each thickness defines two opposite first surfaces connecting with the outer side face thereof, the first surfaces complete the mating surfaces of the mating tongue.