Connectors for electronic products

Thu Jun 08 10:05:49 CST 2023

0_Connectors-for-electronic-products-Hornmic

Connectors for electronic products

Connectors play a very important role in electronic equipment and projects. The correct use of connectors in applications is critical. It plays an important role not only in safety, but also in PCB and product manufacturing to produce efficient and cost effective products. As a result, manufacturers have created a variety of unique electronic connectors designed to fit the application or product. In this article, we will see the commonly used connectors and their applications.

1. Pin headers

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Pin headers are mainly used for printed circuit boards. These connectors are very cheap and widely available. They are commonly used in development boards, breakout boards, sensor modules, etc. As. Using it, we can easily insert any PCB module and remove it at any time. Header pins are mainly used for low voltage DC circuits in power and data lines.

● Pin headers are available in through-hole or THT and surface mount or SMD devices.

● Two types are available - male and female headers.

● Its versatility lies mainly in its ability to stack or unstack headers according to our needs

● It comes with different pitch sizes, the most common being 2.54 mils or 0.1 inches.

● The header usually comes in a long strip with multiple pins that can be easily broken down to the correct number of pins.

2. JST Connector

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Very similar to a pin header in terms of usability, but with additional advantages over a simple header, the JST connector is used to connect two different boards or modules. The connector is also used for power and data transmission.

● This also includes both male and female versions, where usually the male connector is located on the PCB and the female connector as well as the extension cables are connected to peripheral devices that must be connected to the PCB. In this case, a ribbon cable is usually used.

● It is enclosed by a plastic shell that protects it from any external pressure to bend the thin pins

● This plastic housing also has a locking mechanism that prevents the connector from disconnecting, easily suitable for devices with mechanical components.

● JST connectors vary depending on the number of pins. Usually 2, 4, 6 and 8 pin variants are used.

3. Screw Terminal

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The screw terminal is also a connector that is mainly used to supply power to the PCB. The connector can easily handle high currents and voltages, so it is a good power connector for AC and DC applications. Here the screws connect the wires to this connector, hence the name. This terminal store has some great screw terminal variants.

● The 2-pin variant is the most common, while you will also find 4, 6 and 8-pin variants in the board.

● The actual metal terminals are wrapped in plastic to prevent short circuits or other electric shock hazards.

4. Barrel Connector

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The barrel connector is a power connector, mainly used for DC power, especially for wall adapters. Available in different diameters, the dimensions of the male and female connectors should be matched for use. The connector is known for its user-friendliness as its tip and sleeve setting prevents misuse by the user.

- It is available in printed circuit board mount and non-printed circuit board mount variants.

- Its cylindrical coaxial shape has been specifically selected to prevent accidental reverse connections.

5. Cable lug connectors

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These are commonly used power connectors. Available in different shapes, sizes, and are usually insulated. Often used in industrial applications, the control panels withstand mechanical strain. Among all connectors, ring, fork, spade and Butthead type connectors are very well known.

- The wires of these connectors are usually soldered, crimped or welded to create a strong connection

- These connectors have different thicknesses and their maximum current carrying capacity depends on their size and the type of metal used.

6. Molex Connector

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Molex connectors have the appearance of JST connectors, but the pin spacing is typically large. They are typically used in power supply applications. One common sighting of this connector is in our computers. You may have observed it in your computer's ATX power supply units, motherboards, hard drives and other peripherals.

- It has a cylindrical spring-loaded metal pin that fits into a cylindrical spring-loaded metal socket.

- The pins and sockets are covered with a plastic housing.

- A typical connector has 2 to 24 single or double rows of contacts, depending on the application.

- The pins and sockets are located in a single housing with a polarity locking mechanism to ensure proper orientation.

7. Flat Flex Connector(FFC)

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Light weight and flexibility are two important features of this connector. Most commonly used on cell phones, laptops, cameras, monitors and other modern gadgets that require bending of cables and use in limited spaces.

- This type of connector has a flat conductive material on a flexible cable.

- It is a minimized form of the normal ribbon cable for high density electronic applications.

- The cable ends will have extra thickness to make insertion easier and provide strain relief.

8. IDC connector

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IDC connectors or Insulation Displacement Connectors are very common in situations where multiple parallel connections in a board need to be connected. They are typically used to transfer data between boards. Most commonly used for network and signal connectors, LCDs, etc.

- Made using some sharp blades forced through ribbon cable.

- While IDC technology was originally designed to connect only single stranded conductors, it was eventually extended to multi-stranded wires to save some installation space.

- A locking mechanism is also provided to prevent the cable from moving or disconnecting from the board.

9. RF connector

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RF connectors are a special type of coaxial connector designed for high frequency radio applications. Applications include TV signal receivers and WiFi antennas and provide higher signal quality.

- This type of connector uses multiple wires wrapped around a single core that is used as a shield.

- Its coaxial design reduces signal interference and power loss.

10. Audio and video connectors

Several types of audio and video connectors are available, including: HDMI / DVI / VGA / D-Sub / RCA / SCART / SPDIF / Display Port / LVDS / Phone Jack.

10.1 Phone Jack

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Often referred to as the 3.5mm headphone jack, almost every smartphone has one. Other sizes of this connector are also available on the market.

- Widely seen in our smartphones and other audio devices.

- Supports audio input and output.

- It usually has 3 or 4 coaxial connections - tip, ring and sleeve.

10.2 DIN Connector:

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This is a circular connector, originally standardized by DIN for analog audio signals; DIN connector males are all 13.2 mm diameter metal shielded plugs, but they have different pin definitions. there are 7 common patterns of DIN connectors.

- The DIN connector has 2 to 8 metal pins placed inside the conductive ring.

- It has a notch to restrict the correct orientation of the plug and socket.

- This type of connector is typically used for analog audio applications, such as speaker inputs and MIDI devices.

10.3 RCA

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10.4 D-Sub

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10.5 VGA

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10.6 DVI

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10.7 HDMI

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10.8 SCART

Syndicat des Constructeursd' Appareils Radiorécepteurs et Téléviseurs with 21 pins.

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10.9 SPDIF

Sony/Philips Digital Interface for transmitting digital audio.

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10.10 Display Port(DP)

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10.11 LVDS

Low-Voltage Differential Signaling

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11. USB Connector

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USB or Universal Serial Bus is a standard protocol used for data transfer and power connectors. It is most commonly used in cell phones, computers and other peripheral devices.

- Latest version USB4.

- Standard USB always consists of VCC, GND, DIN and DOUT ports.

- Normally operates in the 5v voltage range.

USB Type :

1. Type-A - Consumer electronics, such as smartphones and computers.

2. Type-B - Printers and your old Arduino UNO.

3. Type-C - is the latest version of this series. It is more powerful, capable of transferring data at high speed and providing maximum power.

12. Parallel connector

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Once upon a time in the stone age of computers, we connect printers to computers using these parallel cables. They are built like tanks and wouldn’t even budge if you yanked hard at it. Of course, they could not handle large amounts of data fast enough and have been totally phased out.

13. Personal System/2 (PS/2)

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These are invented by IBM for their line of computers called Personal System, for the purpose of connecting the keyboard and mouse. It turned out to be a good idea, got adopted by many other manufacturers, and became the de facto standard – Until USB took over.

14. Firewire (IEEE 1394)

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The FireWire is Apple’s so-called early version of the USB, but this is not compatible with USB devices. While there are a couple of gadgets made for the FireWire, it was never too popular and was overshadowed by USB.

15. Thunderbolt

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Following up with a not-so-popular FireWire, the Thunderbolt is the successor with a twist.

The latest version is Thunderbolt 4 with three important features:

- Thunderbolt™ ports provide high bandwidth for connecting high-speed devices.

- Thunderbolt™ cables help to ensure a quality connection between the device and a PC.

- Thunderbolt™ accessories make it easy to expand the capabilities of your PC with docking options and external devices.

16. Lightning

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Lightning is specific to Apple devices only. But now Apple is slowly shifting to the Type-C interface.

17. RJ45 connector (Ethernet)

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Ethernet is what we use to connect the PC to the router. For you guys who want to sound like legit engineers – The standard for Ethernet is IEEE 802.3, and the connector is RJ45.

18. RJ11 (Telephone)

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19. Fiber Optic connector

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When it comes to a faster Internet – Electricity and light are 2 of the fastest things that we use to transmit data. Copper wires are reaching the technical limitations for data transfer. The newer generations of networking devices are skewed towards using fiber optic cables for ultra-fast data transfers.

20. Power Cords

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The power cords of a computer comply with the IEC standards, which is the same as almost all of our other household appliances. Here are 3 of the common power plugs that you see in computers:

- IEC 60320 C13 &C14: The standard plug for desktop computers. Also known as the “kettle plug”, because it looks just like the one we use for electrical kettles.

- IEC 60320 C5 & C6: This is the standard plug for the chargers of most laptops, also known as the “cloverleaf”.

- IEC 60320 C7 & C8: Yet another standard plug for the chargers of laptops and even some speakers.

21. DC Barrel Jack

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The common Joe that you see everywhere in the world of electronics… But take note – Even though it looks the same, these actually come in different diameter sizes.



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By HornmicLink_Mia.J @230608 10:08