MicroCon connectors in 0.8mm pitch with robust design

16th December 2019

Alex Lynn

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A highly compact design does not necessarily have to imply restrictions in terms of performance with regard to secure mating, current carrying capacity, reliability or robustness, and ERNI's MicroCon series in 0.8 mm pitch, aims to prove this.

In harsh industrial environments, they ensure that data and signal transmission run smoothly in and between programmable logic controllers (PLCs), central processing units (CPUs), input and output modules (I/Os), communication modules or power supplies.

Being extremely compact, shock and vibration resistant, they ensure reliable connections – whether in drives of automatic assembly machines, production lines, machine tools, packaging machines or industrial and process automation. In addition, they are also used in medical and consumer applications. The MicroCon range is now being supplemented by additional position sizes.

Despite its compact design – for example, the 50-pin male connector measures only 24.2x4.7mm for different heights – the two-row MicroCon series makes no compromises in terms of performance. Even in the basic version, the male connectors have a reinforced outer wall.

In addition to the polarisation, a blind mate pre-centring system with enlarged capture range ensures secure mating. The robust design with solder clips increases shear forces. In addition, the MicroCon connectors are highly vibration and shock resistant. This makes them suited for harsh industrial environments such as HMI (Human Machine Interface) applications.

A feature of connectors of this compact size is the use of double-sided spring contacts with the associated high degree of mating reliability. To achieve this, ERNI has scaled its proven spring contact design to the small pitch.

The MicroCon connectors are available with 12 to 100 pins as well as straight and angled versions. Variants with different design heights for the female and male connectors allow board-to-board spacing of five to ten millimetres in mezzanine applications. The PCB connectors have SMT connections. In addition, cable connectors with IDC connection for AWG 34 are planned for compact ribbon cable systems. Current carrying capacity is specified at 2.3A per contact (at 20°C), while data rates of up to gigabytes per second are supported.

For automatic assembly and placement, the MicroCon connectors are supplied in tape and reel packaging ready for reflow soldering.