Single two-piece contacts now available with locking plug

The 70-9159 series locking plug contact features a positive latching mechanism that effectively replaces costly thermal adhesives, unreliable hand soldering and large, light-blocking connectors in low-cost linear LED lighting, as well as other commercial and industrial coplanar and extended card applications.

Based on AVX’s market-proven 9159 series gold-plated beryllium-copper (BeCu) spring contact system, the SMT locking plug contacts provide a reliable gold-to-gold active contact interface; can absorb a millimetre of tolerance in the x and y direction, maximising lateral PCB alignment and mating tolerances for board-to-board applications; and deliver enough force to keep PCBs securely fastened during both shipping and handling, as well as in high stack tolerance applications.

Compatible with existing 70-9159 series sockets, the locking plug contacts are not only fully interchangeable with the series’ non-locking plug contacts, but are sold at the same price. The new locking plug also features the same minimal 1.2mm height profile as the rest of the series, which prevents shadowing effects in LED lighting applications, and can be individually placed and spaced to support any pin count and any voltage rating with a full 5A current rating.

Tom Anderson, Connector Product Manager, AVX, commented: “Most PCB mating applications use a costly thermal adhesive, unreliable hand soldering process or large, light-blocking connector to hold PCBs in place. Standing a mere 1.2mm above the board, our insulator-less 70-9159 Series contacts - which, for years now, have proven cost-effective and robust in linear LED lighting fixtures - eliminate the need for these costlier or less reliable and repeatable connections, while simultaneously optimising functionality, assembly and economic ROI.

“Adding a small latch to our original plug contact has allowed us to offer our customers the proven performance of the series with an added-value benefit at no additional cost and while maintaining full backward compatibility with existing designs. Individual 70-9159 series contacts can also support both board-to-board and wire-to-board applications, further improving their already attractive price/performance ratio.”

70-9159 series single two-piece contacts are rated for 300V (based on placement distance), 5A current, five-cycle durability and operating temperatures from -40 to +125°C. RoHS compliant and packaged on tape and reel for automated SMT placement, the series is also UL-approved based on a 3.2mm minimum gap between pads or 5.6mm contact centre spacing (UL E90723), with the exception of the new locking plug contact, which is still in the midst of the UL approval process.