Quality Connectors for Consumer Product Design  

Lasting, high quality products begin with high quality connectors. The latest generation of durable, dependable connectors are raising the bar for consumer design innovation.

Billions of consumer electronics, from cheap toys to household appliances, are built with inexpensive, simple, and low-quality components. But low quality commercial connectors lack precision in manufacturing, leading to problems like loose or uneven fit, poor electrical contact and signal interference, and mechanical failure. These commodity connectors are made from weak materials with inconsistent plating, poor insulation, unreliable locking mechanisms, and poor tolerances, and may be paired with low quality cable assemblies that lack of adequate strain relief, lead to intermittent connectivity, unreliable functionality, and ultimately, a short product lifespan, contributing to consumer frustration and e-waste.

A cheap connector is adequate for a toy that will be quickly outgrown, but it won’t do for expensive gear that could be dropped, exposed to moisture, travel on or with a user, or endure frequent use. A growing subset of consumer product manufacturers specify high-quality connectors for high-reliability consumer products like gaming devices, audio equipment, home medical devices, and smart home appliances. These products must maintain a company reputation for durability and performance. Product designs include superior versions of common interconnects like USBs, RAST connectors, pin headers, and FFC/FPCs and ribbon cables. A quality mindset is expandING into more consumer product categories as connectivity and IoT functions, high-speed computing functions, and longevity concerns raise performance requirements.

Lumberg’s RAST connectors are produced in highly automated processes to achieve premium quality. These processes are 100% camera controlled from the punching and bending lines of the contacts and during the assembly of the connectors.

“Consumers today value appliances that are both sustainable and reliable. This requires OEMs to utilize high quality connectors in their applications,” said Weston Six, account manager, home appliance and building technology, Lumberg. “Appliance manufacturers must incorporate more smart features, while also improving energy usage and cost to the consumer. This presents a significant challenge to design engineers, who need to make efficient use of space on the PCB, as well as efficient use of energy. Appliance designers are also utilizing inverters or heat pumps, which make efficient use of heat and cold within the appliance.”

The RAST connector, a standardized interface specifically designed with the appliance market in mind, continues to evolve to meet the changing needs of the market. “Back in the ’80s, connector manufacturers in Europe all had their own designs. This created difficulty for appliance manufacturers when they tried to incorporate these different designs into their PCBs. So, a committee of European appliance manufacturers gathered a group of connector manufacturers together, including Lumberg, to create a standardized connector design so that appliance manufacturers could have more flexibility on their own board designs. From this committee, the RAST 5 design was created in 1986,” said Six.

Lumberg’s new 1.5 and 2.5 RAST connectors offer new flexibility. “As appliances become more advanced with more features, it becomes more difficult for design engineers to find enough space on the PCB. The biggest benefit of the RAST 1.5 for the appliance market is that it saves 43% of space on the PCB. It can be used for rated currents of 3 A with a rated voltage of 50 V, with all the same design benefits that you would get with RAST 2.5 or RAST 5,” said Six.

RAST connectors are highly modular, giving engineers many design options for boards and wire harnesses and ultimately reducing development time and cost, said Six. Also, with the recent release of RAST 1.5 and RAST 7.5, the portfolio of options for design engineers continues to expand. It allows for many keying/coding options, which reduces plugging errors during assembly. Also, many RAST connectors utilize an IDC (insulation displacement contact) connection, rather than a crimp. This creates an extremely reliable power connection because it has four points of contact at the mating interface and the wire without the need for stripping and crimping wires. As a standardized design, one-to-one alternative sourcing is available, which gives OEMs the safety of redundancy in the market. But it can also lead to problems when cheap commoditized versions are specified.

“In the appliance market, using cheap connectors can lead to disconnections with the PCB, leading to more warranty claims for spare parts, and creating more cost to the OEM. Furthermore, these repairs are frustrating for the consumer base, who today is willing to pay a premium for a sturdy, low-maintenance appliance. Therefore, it is important for OEMs to use high-quality RAST connectors to ensure solid electrical connections and lower maintenance cost,” said Six.

Connected homes

Smart home appliances have raised the bar for consumer product design. The boundaries between the consumer market and high-reliability markets like medical, industrial, and military are blurring as medical products come into homes, cellphones travel with military personnel, and consumers purchase appliances that integrate with smart home IoT networks. Common appliances are exposed to harsh environments, temperature fluctuations, moisture, and shock and vibration during home use. They also may interface with devices positioned outdoors, such as sensors or cameras, and need durable, weather-resistant connectors to prevent corrosion and maintain functionality.

The commercial connectors that were once sufficient for consumer goods lack the durability or performance required for these applications. In these instances, connectors designed with the same features and manufacturing standards that connectors destined for industrial applications are a better choice.

Adam Tech’s interconnects are specified for smart home technologies that require high-speed performance to interface with IoT networks and durability for repeated operations and potential harsh environment exposure.

Adam Tech’s connectors are engineered for industrial, automotive, and harsh environment applications but can also serve consumer products. “We have seen a shift from lower cost to higher grade interconnects as demanded by consumers,” said Chris Brana, Product Marketing Manager, Adam Tech.

“Adam Tech supports the Internet of Things and the focus on connecting the entire home to the outside world. To support this concept, we offer a range of different connectors that can blend seamlessly into applications like touch panel smart home interfaces, electronic shades, smart appliances, garage door openers, and WiFi devices that send out signals to the rest of the home, keeping everything connected.”

Adam Tech RF Assemblies including IPEX, SMA, MCX, and BNC are available in numerous lengths and are highly customizable to support specific application requirements.

Engineering the latest consumer connectivity products is just as rigorous a process as that an industrial connector goes through, including testing to achieve ingress protection ratings, shock and vibration resistance, as well as adherence to standards and certifications that apply to consumer goods, such as UL and USB standards.

To learn more about the companies mentioned in this article, visit the Preferred Supplier pages for Adam Tech and Lumberg.

Like this article? Check out our other articles on Harsh Environment and Smart Homes, our Consumer Market Page, and our 2024 Article Archives. 

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