Feature: Connectors
Floating connector developments Recent years have seen significant growth in the types, capabilities and availability of floating connectors. Today’s designers can choose from product families that offer different connector pitches – usually in the sub-millimeter (0.5mm > 0.8mm) range – and contact counts up to and beyond 160 per connector. Options for vertical and horizontal female connectors allow boards to be connected parallel to each other or at right angles, while a broad spectrum of mounting heights down to as little as 6mm allows engineers to choose solutions that meet the inter-board space requirements of increasingly compact formats. Among the latest advances are connectors that support data
rates to 12Gbit/s, allowing them to deliver the performance expected by standards like SAS (Serial Attached SCSI), which is widely used in enterprise server and storage applications. At the same time, technologies that mix signals and power in a single connector will support applications where traces carry heavier currents. In addition to their inherent spring-like structure, many of the latest floating connectors offer further support for
accurate alignment and robust interconnects through features like location pegs and retention tabs; see Figure 3. Te former help to eliminate movement during solder reflow, whilst the latter provide additional mechanical strength for surface-mount connectors. Furthermore, among the connectors that mix signals and power are products with through-board solderable posts, to augment both location accuracy and mechanical strength, ensuring resistance to shocks.
Here to stay Te trend toward modular design means that fine-pitch board- to-board connectors are increasingly important in providing the flexibility needed to meet application requirements. Te right choice of interconnect will ensure an optimised product that is compatible with modern production processes, and also enhance reliability during its lifetime in the field. In particular, using floating connectors that accommodate and absorb misalignments and small movements in multiple axes is becoming much more prevalent across a variety of applications, from industrial automation to electric vehicles and security systems, to IoT devices.
www.electronicsworld.co.uk May 2024 31
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
