JAE|Japan Avionics Introduces Reliable MA01 Series Floating Connectors for the Automotive Market - Solving Tough Problems!

At present, the automotive market is focusing on the research of ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) and unmanned driving system, which requires the installation of more high-performance in-vehicle ECUs (in-vehicle electronic control units) to ensure the safety performance of automobiles. More information processing is needed inside this high-performance ECU. Since multiple PCBs are used inside it, the demand for board-to-board connectors also increases. In addition, since the board-to-board connector used inside the ECU is key to the safety performance of the car, it is necessary to ensure the high reliability of its connection. This time we will introduce various thorny problems faced in the automotive market and MA01 floating connector solutions.

-----------------------------------------------------------1. Problems you may encounter: Case 1: I want to use robots to achieve automatic assembly Case 2: Want better assembly operability Case 3: Achieve high-speed transmission and contact reliability Case 4: Want to solve conduction failures caused by external factors. Case 5: Difficulties encountered in the adsorption surface and inspection during automatic installation

Case 1: I want to implement automatic assembly with a robot Which connector should I use when performing automatic assembly with a robot? Board-to-board connectors are divided into two types: "rigid" and "floating". Connections between "rigid" connectors are fixed, compared to "floating" connectors, which are movable and can absorb misalignments that may occur during board mounting or robotic assembly. In addition, when two or more board-to-board connectors need to be used on the same board, the floating connector can still absorb the installation error and improve the freedom of circuit board layout and circuit design. In the case of rigid connectors without floating function, if misalignment occurs during installation, this will lead to damage when the connector is fitted; Even if the fitting is successful, vibration, shock or heating generated when stress is applied to the weld may cause solder to crack and cause conduction failure. The MA01 series of floating connectors solve the problem of automatic robot assembly.

Case 2: Better assembly workability is desired. Board-to-board connectors are assembled with blind insertion characteristics. Because the relative positional relationship is grasped by feeling for connecting and plugging, it is not uncommon for connectors to be misaligned or embedded at an oblique angle. If the connector is not designed to take this blind or oblique insertion into account, contact curl may be induced during board assembly. In addition, as the function of the connector is enhanced, the number of signal pins also increases, and the fitting assembly is also complex and deteriorated. Poor assembly workability is easy to cause contact bending, which not only fails to transmit signals, but also requires long-term maintenance. The MA01 Series floating connectors feature guide posts for oblique fitting from the lateral and longitudinal directions, limiting connector tilting and preventing contact falling off and curling. In addition, the guide column also plays a guiding role during fitting. By controlling the fitting offset of the guide column to XY ± 1. 0 mm, it is suitable for blind insertion or automatic robot assembly (see Figure 1). In addition, by using a rolled face instead of a fracture face as a contact of the terminal, wear of the plating can be prevented, and there is a low insertion and removal force and good assembly workability even in the case of multiple core counts (see Figure 2).

Case 3: Achieving high-speed transmission and contact reliability With the progress of the times, the products we use in our daily lives have also undergone tremendous changes. As far as the household appliances we are familiar with are concerned, cathode ray tube TVs have been replaced by liquid crystal monitors, and digital picture quality has replaced analog picture quality and become mainstream. The automotive market is evolving in the same way, with autonomous driving equipped with in-vehicle cameras and advanced driving systems (ADAS) nearing reality. Undoubtedly, these changes have increased the amount of automobile information processing and required faster information processing speed. Therefore, it has become a basic requirement that connectors used inside automobiles need to support high-speed signal transmission. The MA01 series floating connector adopts a high-reliability dual-contact structure and supports 8Gbps + (10GBASE-KR, equivalent to PCIeGen3). Compared with traditional floating connectors, it has higher contact reliability and faster transmission speed.

Case 4: Trying to Resolve Conduction Failures Caused by External Factors Have you ever been troubled by unexplained contact or conduction failures when using board-to-board connectors? With the high performance of the automobile industry, the demand for electronic control of important parts is also increasing rapidly. Considering the possibility of causing major accidents when the connector fails, high reliability of the connector is required. As a typical failure in automobiles, it is mainly due to foreign matter adhering to the contact area. Foreign matter adhesion in the contact area is believed to occur during the circuit board assembly process. Since it is difficult to visually confirm whether there is dust, gas, flux, and other foreign matter in the connector contact area, and the contact state cannot be confirmed from the outside in the connector fitted state, it is difficult to find a fault. Furthermore, most board-to-board connectors employ a single contact structure as shown in FIG. 1, so poor contact may be caused when foreign matter adheres to the connector. In order to avoid these problems, the MA01 series floating connector adopts a double-contact structure. Even if a foreign object is attached to one of the contacts, the other contact will remain in contact state, thus ensuring high reliability of contact. (During installation, we have also taken measures to prevent flux intrusion. See Case5 for details.)

Case 5: Difficulties encountered in adsorption surface and inspection during automatic installation When installing the SMT connector patch on the circuit board, the automatic placement machine transports the connector to the installation area through the suction nozzle. Therefore, it is necessary to secure a "pick-up face" on one side of the connector so that the suction nozzle picks up the connector. Because the irregular shape of many connectors makes it difficult to secure the adsorption surface, polyimide tape is used in most cases to provide the adsorption surface. When the adhesive tape is attached to form a suction surface, because the area where the adhesive tape is attached is very small, the adhesive force of the adhesive tape cannot withstand the suction force of the vacuum suction nozzle, which may cause errors. In addition, have you ever encountered the problem that the soldered part (terminal part) of the angular connector that has been reflow soldered can't perform image recognition well? In the floating connector MA01 series, a "adsorption surface" is provided through the protective cover to prevent the placement machine from making errors when adsorbing the connector. At the same time, the protective cover covers the entire assembly part, which can prevent flux, dust, foreign matter, etc. from entering Case4 from the outside (see Figure 1). In addition, for image recognition of the soldered portion of the angle connector, the soldered portion (terminal portion) adopts a shape that is easily inspected from the top, thus solving the problem of image recognition (see Figure 2).

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