Wiring Harness Plug Connector Sealing via Sealant
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sealing methods for wiring harness plug connectors using mat-type or single-wire seals are cost-intensive and laborious, and they fail to maintain a reliable sealing function over the service life of the connector.
Innovation Solution
A wiring harness plug connector design featuring a contact carrier with passthrough conduits and a sealing space filled with a sealant that surrounds the electrical leads, providing a redundant and long-lasting fluid-tight seal, which can be achieved by using a liquid sealant that cures into a non-fluid state, and a locking element with sealing lips to prevent sealant penetration into the conduits.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional mat-type seal or single-wire seal is used, then sealing function is provided, but manufacturing cost increases and production becomes laborious
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the sealing function from separate seal components (mat-type seal or single-wire seal) and integrates it into the contact carrier structure itself through the sealing space and sealant combination. This eliminates the need for separate seal parts and reduces assembly steps, directly addressing the manufacturing complexity issue while maintaining the sealing function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a sealant as an intermediary substance filled into the sealing space to achieve the sealing function. The sealant acts as a mediator between the contact carrier structure and the electrical leads, providing effective sealing without requiring complex mechanical seal components, thus simplifying manufacturing while ensuring reliability.
2Reliability
If conventional seal is used, then sealing is provided, but sealing reliability deteriorates over service life
Solution Approach 1:
The patent provides beforehand cushioning for sealing reliability by creating a redundant sealing system with both the sealing space structure and the sealant. This dual-mechanism approach ensures that if one sealing mechanism degrades over time, the other continues to provide protection, thereby maintaining sealing reliability throughout the service life of the connector.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a composite sealing approach by combining the structural sealing function of the contact carrier (partition and sealing space) with the material sealing function of the sealant. This composite sealing system leverages the advantages of both rigid structural containment and flexible material adaptation, ensuring long-term sealing reliability as different materials degrade at different rates over service life.
3Reliability
If sealant is introduced into passthrough conduit, then sealing improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing the sealing space and sealant system to serve multiple functions simultaneously: it seals around electrical leads, protects contact elements, and provides a fluid-tight barrier. This multi-functional approach achieves enhanced sealing reliability without proportionally increasing device complexity, as the same structural elements serve multiple protective roles.
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 provides a cost-effective, reliable, and long-lasting sealing solution that prevents fluid media from penetrating into the connector, combining the advantages of mat-type and single-wire seals, while ensuring the sealant remains effective even after curing and the locking element secures the electrical leads.
Implementation Method 1
Provision is made that the sealing space is filled with a sealant in such a way, and that the sealant at least locally fills up the at least one passthrough conduit in such a way, that the at least one electrical lead is surrounded in fluid-tight fashion
Data Source
AI summary
A wiring harness plug connector. The wiring harness plug connector encompasses a contact carrier and at least one electrical lead. The contact carrier has at least one passthrough conduit for the at least one electrical lead. The at least one electrical lead is passed through the passthrough conduit in an insertion direction. The contact carrier has, in front of the at least one passthrough conduit when viewed in the insertion direction, a partition that surrounds a sealing space. Provision is made that the sealing space is filled with a sealant in such a way, and that the sealant at least locally fills up the at least one passthrough conduit in such a way, that the at least one electrical lead is surrounded in fluid-tight fashion.