Edge-connectors improved with LC Polymer

• connector accommodates two PC boards

• tight packaging requirements met

When Meritec, Inc, of Painesville, OH, was developing a 4.2-in. long compression mezzanine connector for a money-changer system, they selected Vectra L130 liquid crystal polymer, made by Ticona, to achieve flatness, rigidity and dimensional stability. The device accommodates two printed circuit boards: one a horizontal, fixed-interface card; and the other a part of a removable control module that plugs in at 31.5 degrees. The contacts within the connector have a high compliance with a minimum working travel of 0.12 in. and can vary 2.5A of continuous current on some lines.

The 1.0-in. high connector is injection molded in two sections, a housing and a header, with 14 short posts and 30 insert-molded metal contacts. Each contact is positioned between 0.03-in. thick partitions in the housing that insulate the contacts from each other when the sections are heat staked together using the posts.

“Both the header and the housing emerge from the mold free of flash and with a good surface finish,” says Alan Roath, a senior engineer at Meritec, “so no secondary operations are needed. In addition, the LCP is a good insulator and more than meets our solder reflow and thermal requirements.”