cjt terminal | Introduction of connecting parts and materials
Mehoo electronics
Starting from the question of what a connector is and what a connector is for, to the more professional knowledge of the use and installation of connector products, Hirose Electric, as a long-established professional connector manufacturer, will serialize this topic for you. For the "Basic Guide To Connectors You Need To Know!" series.
This time it's about the connector and its connecting parts. As we have seen, although they are all connectors, there are various substrate and cable connection methods, and there are many types of connection parts. In this issue, we will describe the typical connecting parts, according to the connector types "shielded cable", "FPC/FFC", "coaxial cable", and "optical fiber".
shielded connector
A shielded connector is a connector with a metal shell (surrounding parts) for noise prevention. Mostly used for interface connector construction.
Shielded cable
The shielded connector is connected using a shielded cable with a metallic shield part (shield braid). The metal shell and the shielded portion of the cable are clamped together, acting like a lightning rod, allowing excess noise to flow to the ground to protect the signal.
FPC/FFC Connector
A board-to-board or board-to-cable connector requires a pair of plugs and sockets, while a connector for FPC/FFC is the type of connector that accepts FPC/FFC, so only one connector is required. Basically it realizes the connection through the 3 actions of "open the cover, insert the FPC to the designated position, and close the cover".
FPC
Abbreviation for Flexible Printed Circuits. It is the wiring and circuit printed on the plastic sheet, the shape can be set freely, and the connector can also be installed on the FPC. In addition, it has the characteristics of high heat resistance.
FFC
Abbreviation for Flexible Flat Cable. It is formed by stacking a plurality of flat conductors in parallel. Basically, the construction of the connecting part is the same whether it is an FPC connector or an FFC connector. Unlike FPCs, connectors cannot be installed on FFCs. FFC can only make simple parallel connections, but it is cheap.
Coaxial connector
Primarily a connector dedicated to handling analog antenna signals. Also used to connect to home TVs. Coaxial connectors are divided into "cutting" based connectors and "pressing" based connectors. Others include "cold heading (plug) processing" and metal die-casting processing connectors.
Cutting Type Example: Broadcast 75Ω
Punch type Example: 50Ω for mobile equipment
Coaxial cable
The connection of coaxial connectors requires coaxial cable. As shown in the figure, it consists of a concentric inner conductor and an outer conductor. The signal flows in the inner conductor, and the higher the frequency, the waves are emitted from the inner conductor. If the radio wave flies out, the correct signal will be attenuated, and it will become "noise" that has a bad influence on others, so use an external conductor to receive it.
Optical connector
optical fiber
Finally, there is the "optical connector" that connects the "optical fiber". Optical fibers have spread all over the world, starting with submarine cables. Plus, it also covers around your home and inside your home. In order to accurately transmit the flickering optical signal, the function of the "optical connector" is to make the end faces of the optical fibers have no gaps, no deviation, and complete matching.
Through the "passive type" connector that directly transmits optical signals and the "active type" electrical signal connector, the electrical signal is converted into an optical signal, and the optical signal is converted into an electrical signal.
The advantage of "optical fiber" communication is that stable high-speed transmission can be achieved even over long distances without being affected by noise. It is mostly used where reliable electrical insulation is required. On the other hand, since it's made of glass, it breaks easily, so it can't be bent at an acute angle.
