Insulative Housing Bumps for USB Connector Coplanarity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional USB connectors are prone to deformation, leading to coplanarity issues with contact tail portions, resulting in unwanted defects due to the thin rear portion of the insulative housing.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a pair of first bumps and a second bump on the insulative housing, which interlock with corresponding notches on the metal shell, providing enhanced structural integrity and preventing warping, while the metal shell's top and bottom plates, along with side plates, secure the second bump, ensuring the tail portions remain coplanar.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the rear portion of the insulative housing is made thin to reduce size, then the compactness is improved, but the rear portion becomes prone to warping and deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The insulative housing is segmented into a front portion and a rear portion, with the rear portion featuring multiple protrusions (first protrusions at side walls, second protrusion at center) that interlock with corresponding recesses in the metal shell. This segmentation allows the rear portion to remain thin while the protrusions provide structural reinforcement against warping.
Solution Approach 2:
The rear portion of the insulative housing has non-uniform thickness with locally reinforced areas. The protrusions are strategically positioned at critical locations (side walls and center) where structural support is most needed, creating local quality variations that prevent warping while maintaining overall thinness for compactness.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the rear portion of the insulative housing deforms, then the housing becomes more flexible, but the tail portions of contacts lose coplanarity causing defects
Solution Approach 1:
The protrusions on the rear portion of the insulative housing are designed in advance to interlock with corresponding recesses in the metal shell before assembly. This preliminary structural arrangement ensures that when the connector is assembled, the rear portion is pre-positioned in a stable configuration, preventing deformation that would cause contact tail portions to lose coplanarity and ensuring reliable soldering.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the insulative housing is reinforced to prevent warping, then the structural stability is improved, but the housing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than uniformly thickening the entire rear portion of the housing, the design uses segmentation with discrete protrusions (first protrusions at side walls, second protrusion at center) that interlock with the metal shell. This segmented approach provides necessary rigidity and anti-warping capability while maintaining overall housing simplicity and avoiding excessive complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A connector (100) includes an insulative housing (1), a set of contacts (3) attached to the insulative housing, and a metal shell shielding the insulative housing. The insulative housing has a base portion (11) and a tongue portion (12) extending forwardly from the base portion. The base portion has a pair of first bumps (1124) protruding therefrom and located at two sides thereof, and a second bumps (1125) protruding therefrom and located between the first bumps. The metal shell has a pair of first notches (44) locating at two sides thereof and locking with the first bumps, and a second notch (45) located between the first notches and locking with the second bumps.