Panasonic Corporation has announced that its industrial solutions company has marketed the R35K Series of Boards to FPC Narrow Pitch Connectors for use in wearable devices and will launch full-scale mass production in December 2020
The new connectors reduce the mounting areas of the board and are designed to be highly resistant to vibrations and impacts, contribute to a reduction in size and weight, and improve such small electronic devices’ reliability.
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 develop and expand their market in the context of increasing health awareness and labour shortages due to declining birth rates and ageing populations.
However, current mainstream connectors used in wearable devices have a problem requiring large board mounting areas due to complex wiring routes caused by their double-row terminal structure.
With a single-row terminal structure, the newly developed connectors allow wiring from terminals on one side only, achieving an approx. 49% smaller board mounting area than conventional Panasonic products (S35 series), which helps to reduce the size and weight of wearable devices. With Panasonic’s unique structure, the header and socket cannot be easily removed or broken, which also improves the devices’ reliability.
The connectors 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 the need for rapid charging of the batteries, further promoting wearable devices' widespread use.
Panasonic’s new R35K Series Board to FPC Narrow Pitch Connectors have the following features:
1. The single-row terminal structure reduces mounting areas and facilitates circuit design.
2. Panasonic’s unique structure, which is highly resistant to vibrations and impacts, improves device reliability.
3. Their support for large currents meets needs fast battery charging.
