Consider robustness, flexibility, and processing necessities in your design to be confident that you are choosing the right board-to-board connectors to your utility. A main concern for system designers is find out how to get sign and energy to the system in a approach that doesn’t interfere with useful objectives, equivalent to portability, wearability, or size. Many options can be found for connectors that assist obtain these objectives. PCB terminal blocks and headers are generally used connectors for medical system applications. It will be important for designers who choose terminal blocks to contemplate how the PCB is linked inside of the machine. In markets equivalent to medical gadgets, course of automation, industrial automation, and constructing automation, models often include multiple circuit boards within their finish merchandise (Figure 1), which provides complexity to the system structure. Figure 1: Medical and industrial gadgets typically include a number of circuit boards. If you cherished this article so you would like to receive more info concerning pcb Connector assembly Supply nicely visit our own web page. Many connectivity products can be found in each of these configurations, however for SMT PCB connector assembly connector critical functions like interface and that i/O modules, controls, communication devices, and affected person monitoring units in medical gear, PCBs should additionally meet three necessities: robustness, flexibility, and processing potential.
First, let’s have a look at robustness. Board-to-board merchandise have to be very rugged and sturdy to endure the operation rigors of industrial and medical use. In high-vibration environments, the contact connection points should be stable with no intermittencies. A technique to realize that is by increasing the variety of connection points on the contact interface. Figure 2: Bifurcated contacts have two individual contact factors to provide an additional measure of confidence in high-vibration environments. Next, a robust mating interface will stop contact harm if the mating connectors develop into misaligned (Figure 3). High-tolerance compensation, whether for single or a number of mated pairs on a board, is crucial. Keying of the mating halves and indication of the primary pole on the connectors is important to forestall mismating of the connector halves. Finally, gold plating on the contact interface allows for a high number of mating and unmating cycles with out damaging or degrading the contact interface.
Figure 3: If the mating connectors are misaligned, excessive-tolerance compensation is essential. Flexibility can be necessary. For medical equipment, constructing system, and industrial automation functions, designers need flexibility when it comes to how they orient the PCBs inside of their enclosures. Figure 4: Connectors that enable for all three PCB configurations - mezzanine, coplanar, and orthogonal - will increase the design flexibility. Additionally, relying on the area constraints of the machine, having a selection of various pin sizes and centerline spacings is important. Common centerline spacings, like 1.27mm, are vital, however smaller centerline spacings, like 0.8mm, are more and more common in today’s higher-density PCB designs. Perhaps of even greater significance is the ability of the board-to-board connectors to have an allowance for the dimensional variations between circuit boards. This is named stack height. Figure 5: Connectors that enable for varying stack heights do not have to carry very tight tolerances on PCB stacking dimensions.
Another necessary consideration is the allowable tolerance if there may be multiple connector on the board. Due to the tight centerlines, tolerance stack-ups can cause issues with a number of connectors on a board. Fortunately, connector manufacturers can take this under consideration when designing their connectors, so that even with misalignments up to 0.3mm, the connector can nonetheless provide a solid connection to the mating halves. Lastly, given the high data charges board-to-board connectors can handle, shielding is crucial for protecting towards electromagnetic interference within gadgets. Parts processing and PCB manufacturing are one more crucial consideration. Given the numerous advances in PCB designs, the computerized placement of components, comparable to connectors, onto the PCB is essential. For this reason, high-pace board-to-board products need to be out there on tape-and-reel or tray packaging to facilitate automated assembly processes. Further, SMT PCB connector since most PCBs include no less than some floor-mount elements, board-to-board connectors have to withstand the temperature profiles of a excessive-temperature reflow process. Connector plastics, corresponding to liquid crystal polymers, are ideal for any such course of. Finally, board-to-board connectors ought to enable for automatic optical inspection or other inspection techniques. While unshielded elements are easily checked with automatic optical inspection, shielded components pose a problem, as their contacts are underneath the part to enhance shielding. Computed tomography offers a great resolution for all these products. By contemplating robustness, flexibility, and processing in your design, you will be confident that you're choosing the proper board-to-board connectors for your application. Visit Phoenix Contact on-line. Like this article? Try our board-to-board, terminal blocks and How one can Specify articles, our Medical and Industrial Market Pages, and our 2020 and 2019 Article Archives.