Zero-Force PCB Connector with Lateral Engagement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional connectors for printed circuit boards are difficult to exchange and cause mechanical stress, leading to damage after a few insertion/withdrawal cycles, and existing lateral engagement connectors require board adaptation and are prone to faults.
Innovation Solution
A connector design featuring a plastic contacting part with encapsulated contact elements and a connection part that uses insulation-displacement or piercing connectors, where individual conductors are encapsulated in plastic, allowing for zero-force assembly and easy replacement without mechanical loading on the printed circuit board.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If connectors are soldered onto the printed circuit board, then connection stability is improved, but exchangeability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The connector is divided into two separate parts: a contacting part with contact elements and a connection part with conductors. This segmentation allows the connection part to be easily replaced while leaving the contacting part permanently attached to the printed circuit board, thus achieving both stable connection and easy exchangeability.
2Ease of repair
If connectors are reversibly attached onto the printed circuit board, then exchangeability is improved, but mechanical stress on the printed circuit board increases
Solution Approach 1:
The contact elements engage with the printed circuit board in a lateral direction (perpendicular to the board surface), rather than from the front. This dimensional change allows the connector to be attached reversibly for easy exchange while the lateral engagement geometry minimizes mechanical stress on the board during insertion and withdrawal cycles.
3Ease of repair
If contact elements engage laterally onto conductive tracks, then exchangeability is improved, but mechanical stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The contacting part and connection part are merged through a screw connection that mechanically couples them together. This merging ensures that when the contact elements engage laterally with the printed circuit board, the connection part and its conductors remain stably positioned, providing both easy exchangeability and mechanical stability.
4Ease of manufacture
If individual conductors are not encapsulated, then assembly complexity increases, but manufacturing simplicity improves
Solution Approach 1:
The individual conductors are pre-encapsulated in the connection part during the injection molding process. This preliminary action organizes the conductors and prepares them for assembly before the actual connector assembly takes place, reducing assembly complexity while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through integrated molding.
Data Source
AI summary
A connector for installation on a printed circuit board a contacting part has which includes at least two contact elements, each of which can be connected, on the connection side, to an individual conductor and, on the plug-in side, to a conductive track of the printed circuit board, wherein the connector a connection part which encloses the individual conductors and, in the region of each individual conductor, has a recess, into each of which a contact element engages for the electrical connection between individual conductor and contact element. The contacting part is formed in an injection molding process, wherein at least two contact elements having an insulation-displacement connector are inserted or engaged in the contacting part or are directly encapsulated, and the connection part is formed in an injection molding process, wherein at least two individual conductors, each having a cable sheath, are thus placed in an injection molding tool and are encapsulated.