Alps Electric has added the SCTA-B series to their product line of spring contacts. A spring contact is a component that uses spring pressure to create an electrical connection between PC boards or between a PC board and a device. These contacts are employed in a wide range of markets, including markets for consumer devices, industrial equipment, and many are used in smartphones, in particular, for the RF antenna, ground, battery, and speaker connection.
The SCTA-B series added to the product line has insulation coating around the outer surface of the spiral spring. It is ideal for the connection of devices, such as a RF antenna, which require stable high-frequency performance. The series has four mounting heights variety; 0.85, 1.6, 1.8, and 2.0 mm. As of September 2016, this was the smallet spring contact in the industry, measuring only 1.4 × 1.4 mm. This spring contact was developed using a unique double-spiral spring construction and precision processing technology. High resilience against vibration and impacts, and therefore high contact reliability, were achieved by employing a spring construction that enables vertical movement despite the square shape. Automatic adsorption is also supported.
The need to reduce the number of components integrated into end products is growing as PC boards become smaller and components are arranged in higher density layouts. Responding to these needs, Alps Electric developed the SCTA-A series of spring contacts and started mass production last year. In August 2016, they added the SCTA-B series, a model with insulation coating, to their product line which has now commenced mass production.
As a connection component, a single contact or multiple contacts can be used. Flexibility of the layout on the PC board is improved, by allowing an array arrangement taking advantage of the square shape. Furthermore, the construction prevents catching on fingers during assembly, helping to improve work efficiency during the device assembly process.
With the addition of this series, Alps Electric will promote the sales of the spring contact not only to the smartphone and wearable electronics markets, where compact size and a low profile are major requirements, but also to markets for other consumer devices and industrial equipment, contributing to reliable connection within electronic products.
Features:
- Insulation coating prevents stabilizes the signal path.
- The industry’s smallest mounting area of 1.4 x 1.4 mm and low height.
- Unique double-spiral spring construction realizes high resilience to vibration and impacts, ensuring high contact reliability.
- Square shape means orientation is not a concern during mounting, allowing flexible arrangement (e.g. arrays).
- Shape prevents catching on fingers, improving robustness during the assembly process.
Principal Applications
When connecting RF antennas of smartphones or wearable devices that require stable high-frequency performance and for internal connection between a wide variety of devices in the markets for consumer devices, and industrial equipment.
Mass production of these spring contacts has started.
