Panasonic Corp. announced today that its Industrial Solutions Co. has commercialized the R35K series of board to FPC narrow pitch connectors for use in wearable devices and will launch full scale mass production this month. The new connectors reduce the board mounting areas and are configured to be highly resistant to vibrations and impacts, contributing to reducing the size and weight and improving the reliability of such small electronics devices.
Wearable devices such as wristbands, earphones, and AR/VR glasses are widely used in various fields, including healthcare, entertainment and manufacturing and are expected to further evolve and expand their market against the backdrop of increasing health awareness and labor shortages due to the declining birthrate and aging population. However, current mainstream connectors used in wearable devices have a problem that they require large board mounting areas due to complex wiring routes caused by their double row terminal structure.
The newly developed connectors, with a single-row terminal structure, enable wiring from terminals of only one side, achieving an approximately 49% smaller board mounting area than Panasonic’s conventional products (S35 series), which helps reduce the size and weight of wearable devices . With Panasonic’s unique structure, the header and socket cannot easily be removed or break, which also improves device reliability. The connectors have also achieved large currents despite their small size, with the power terminal supporting up to 3 A and the signal terminal 0.3 A, meeting needs for fast battery charging, thereby further promoting the widespread use of wearable devices.
Panasonic’s new R35K series board to FPC narrow pitch connectors have the following features:
- The single row terminal structure reduces mounting areas and facilitates circuit design.
- Panasonic’s unique structure, which is highly resistant to vibrations and impacts, improves device reliability.
- Their support for large currents meets needs for fast battery charging.
