Guide to specifying flat flex cable assemblies
With GCT’s ‘Back to basics’ guide, the company says, the engineers is assured of specifying exactly the connectors and cable assemblies required; products that are correct in every detail, while performing reliably and without signal loss or degradation. Installation during production also becomes as easy as possible.
The company quotes a series of example to show how customise cables can cut assembly time and cost as well as improve electrical performance.
In a robot vacuum cleaner application, a cable with complex folds ensured an accurate fit into a confined space. The folds also allowed the cables to be dropped directly onto their location, simplifying the manufacturing process.
An FFC design or a compact telecom base station featured not only angular folds, but also shielding to eliminate interference with the signal and other wireless frequencies.
Electrical screening was also critical to a medical audiometer and tympanometer manufacturer; they specified a shielded FFC assembly which prevents interference from impacting their instruments’ internal components, ensuring accurate readings.
Key points to consider include;
Basic parameters such as pitch, number of conductors, the cable type, (Connector Same Side or Connector Opposite Side), cable length in mm, conductor thickness x width, and plating (tin or gold).
Special shielding options; if standard shielding is sufficient, then choose Aluminium Foil. Copper Foil is available for higher-performance applications. You also need to decide on the number of connectors to be grounded to the shield, and, if the cable is Conductor Opposite Side type, the position of conductor 1.
Electrical, mechanical and environmental; is a higher temperature or voltage rating required? What about enhanced durability (insert/withdraw cycles)?
Dimensional aspects include exposed conductor length, support tape length, custom conductor thickness and width, and folding/bending to an angle.
Printing; part number or other information can be printed on a cable
GCT; https://gct.co/files/drawings/gct-flat-flex-cable.pdf and https://gct-europe.com/
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