There are many types of connectors, including communication interface terminals, wiring terminals, wire-to-board connectors, and board-to-board connectors. Each type can be subdivided into a number of categories, such as: board to board connector including pin bar, board to board connector; Wireline board connectors include FPC connectors, IDC sockets, and simple horn seats. So what should we consider when choosing connectors that are suitable for hardware use?

● Pins, spacing

Pin number and pin spacing are the basic basis of connector selection. How many pin numbers of connectors you choose depends on the number of signals you need to connect. For some patch connectors, the number of pins in the patch row shown below should not be too large. Because in the welding process of the SMT machine, due to the action of high temperature, the connector plastic will be heated and deformed, the middle bulge, resulting in virtual welding of the pin.

Now electronic equipment to miniaturization, precision development, connector pin spacing from 2.54mm to 1.27mm to 0.5mm. The smaller the pin spacing, the higher the production process requirements.

● Electrical performance

The electrical properties of connectors mainly include: limit current, contact resistance, insulation resistance and electrical strength. When connecting a high-power power supply, pay attention to the limit current of the connector. Pay attention to the contact resistance when transmitting high-frequency signals, such as LVDS and PCIe signals. Connectors should have low and constant contact resistance, typically tens of mΩ to hundreds of mΩ.

● Environmental performance

Connector environmental performance mainly includes: resistance to temperature, humidity, salt spray, vibration, impact, and so on. Select according to the specific application environment. If the application environment is humid, the requirements for the connector moisture resistance and salt spray resistance are high, to avoid corrosion of the metal contacts of the connector. In the field of industrial control, the vibration impact performance of the connector is required to be high, so as to avoid the connector falling off in the process of vibration.

● Mechanical properties

Mechanical properties of connectors include plugging force, mechanical stay, etc. Mechanical anti-stay is very important to the connector, once inserted backwards, it is likely to cause irreversible damage to the circuit!

Insertion force is divided into insertion force and separation force. The maximum insertion force and minimum separation force are specified in the relevant standards. From the perspective of use, the insertion force should be small and the separation force should be large. Too little separation force will reduce the reliability of contact, but for connectors that need to be plugged and removed frequently, too much separation force will increase the difficulty of pulling out and reduce the mechanical life.

The actual test shows that the connector has the unique directional slot, the anti-stay effect is obvious, and the insertion force is small, the separation force is moderate, the insertion and pulling feel is good, greatly improving the use convenience of the insertion and pulling parts.

connector, or connector as engineers call it, is used to connect two circuit boards or electronic devices to allow the transmission of power or signals. Through the connector, the circuit can be modularized, simplify the assembly process of electronic products, and make the product easy to maintain and upgrade. For modular circuits, the selection of connectors plays an important role.