Terminal Seating Verification

Terminal seating is one of the most critical quality checks in connector assembly. A terminal that isn't fully seated, even by fractions of a millimeter, can result in intermittent connections, increased resistance, or complete mating failures in the field. In the connector industry, proper terminal position assurance (TPA) is fundamental to connection reliability, affecting everything from automotive wire harnesses to medical device cables.

The challenge is consistency at high volumes. With hundreds or thousands of terminals per shift, human inspectors simply cannot maintain the focus needed to catch subtle seating variations. And traditional height sensors can miss terminals that are tilted or laterally displaced. Modern connector assemblies compound the problem with multiple terminal types in a single housing: power contacts, signal pins, coaxial elements, and shielding connections, all requiring proper seating verification.

Terminal retention depends on proper seating. An incompletely inserted terminal may not engage the housing's primary lock, leading to terminal pullout during wire harness handling or vehicle assembly. Secondary locks (TPA clips) can mask seating issues during visual inspection but won't prevent field failures. Overview AI inspects terminal position before secondary locks are applied, catching seating issues at the point where they can still be corrected.

• !Unseated terminals cause 30%+ of connector field failures in automotive applications
• !Height differences of 0.1mm can prevent proper mating and create increased contact resistance
• !Tilted or angled terminals may pass height-only checks but fail during connector mating
• !Wire seal positioning depends on correct terminal depth for IP67/IP68 sealing