Seven Tips for Connector Design

The smaller the connector becomes, the greater its importance.

The reason is simple: products are getting smaller. Nowadays, countless electronic devices, such as smartphones, tablets, blood sugar detectors, require more and more stringent sizes and tighter internals, leaving less space for connectors. This trend also appears in the field of national defense and aerospace, such as satellites, guided missiles and Avionics systems, where the compactness requirements can only be met by "miniature" connectors.

With the increasing demand for smaller connectors, design engineers are facing a series of new challenges. They can no longer put the connector design into the final phase of the project. Miniature connectors require foresight. It requires the designer to consider various factors in advance, such as packaging, durability, current load capacity and replaceability.

Designers should consider the ease of replacement, especially in enclosed enclosures. Molex VITA 67 is an easy-to-replace miniature connector.

Here are some design suggestions from micro connector suppliers. These suggestions come not only from the connector design experts, but also from the painful experience of designers, so it is worth the Designers'reference.

1. Consider connectors early in design"Engineers tend to concentrate too much on the design of the overall system, and put connectors in the final stage of design. Mitch Storry, director of product development and engineering at TE Connectivity, said, "They think connectors are simple, so they can put the design in the final stage. Then they got stuck in their own design.

Storry has seen too many stories of designers rushing to design connectors in the final stages of design. He told us that in many cases, designers had to choose non-standard connectors to complete the design, which not only increased costs, but also delayed delivery time.

To avoid such problems, experts suggest that connectors you will use should be considered early in the design, and then reserve design space for them, and design around them.

"There's no reason to hear you say,'First, decide what connectors you need,'" says Stephen T. Morley, a product development engineer at TE Connectivity. "But if they do, they actually save them a lot of time and a lot of trouble."

Molex's SlimStack Armor miniature connector is 0.35*0.6*2.0 (mm).

2. Understand the limitations of space

Although miniature board-to-board connectors are usually less than 1 mm thick, they are also commonly used in tightly packaged applications. In order to solve the potential packaging problems, the designer needs to consider the route on the PCB board and the additional wires connected to the connector. "Because the spacing becomes smaller, you have to make the wiring and wire narrower." Mike Higashikawa, Molex Regional Product Manager, said.

Also, keep in mind that some connectors (such as flexible cable connectors) provide forward and backward flip options. When designing a system, you need to consider these flip methods. For example, a backward-flipped connector may not be easily accessible if there is another component on the front and back.

Finally, designers need to be aware that surface mounting devices sometimes fail to handle smaller components. In some cases, they need new vacuum nozzles to solve these problems.

3. Understand the current load capacity

As the size of the connector decreases, the current load capacity of the connector also decreases. Generally speaking, micro-connectors can handle the current between 200 mA and 500 mA, which is about half of the rated current of larger board-to-board connectors. In order to compensate for the problems caused by low current carrying capacity, designers may need to increase the number of terminals.

4. Consider the stability of small/micro connections

"I need to suggest that this is not only in the design stage, but also in the assembly process, to ensure that they are not harmed." Morley of TE Connectivity said.

Morley, a microconnector designer in RF applications, recalls that half of the connectors he designed for military and space applications were destroyed during the testing phase.

If you don't take this issue seriously first, it may push up costs, he said. Damaged connectors need to be reconfigured, repaired, and marked. Even more expensive, field replaceable connectors may be needed, and such changes may extend the design time by another week or two.

"It should be noted that you always give priority to existing connectors. If these connectors are incompatible with your design, consider your own design, which can save you a lot of time," Morley said.

Molex's SlimStack Armor board-to-board connectors and FPC connectors are used in blood sugar detectors.

5. Consider replaceability

If the appearance of the product is closed, then you need connectors that can be replaced from outside. Otherwise, you need to do some welding work.

"The more you do, the more proficient you will be in welding and other skills, but the higher the risk of damage to the entire system," Morley said.

6. Understanding the functional requirements of connectors

Suppliers need customers to fully express their needs, otherwise they may misunderstand their needs. This is in need.