Intro to Board to Board Connector Series Part 1

What are the ways to mount BTB Connectors?

Board-to-board (BTB) connectors are used to accurately interconnect printed circuit boards (PCBs) in a stackable manner. They can accommodate various types of PCB orientations, relative distances, and space constraints to allow design flexibility. In addition, multiple materials, plating finishes, and pitches are available to meet electrical and mechanical specifications. Depending on the purpose of the interconnection, connectors are featured further, such as high-speed, floating, or power. To achieve the desired performance, all the above should be considered to design the suitable interconnect system.

What are the types of Board to Board Connectors?

Headers

• Pin headers & Female headers
  Pin headers (male) and female headers (socket) are used as a set. They are separately installed to the PCBs. This allows these PCBs to be easily connected to complete the design or disconnected for replacement if any of them got damaged.

• Elevated headers
  Elevated headers and female headers are constructed with extra plastic holders in place. This offer great control of the mating height when the distance must be precisely kept between the PCBs.

• Box Header connectors
  Box Header are feature with plastic shrouded around the header. This help guiding the connectors during the mating process to avoid incorrect mating attempts.

• Polarized Connectors
  Polarized connectors are engineered with self-aligning features to allow mating only in a specific way. This eliminates the risk of misalignment especially when the connectors are not in a visible position, or blind mated.

Edge connectors:

Edge connectors are designed to be exceptionally robust and durable for frequent mating process. They are commonly used in personal computers for connecting expansion cards and computer memory to the system bus

Floating connectors:

Floating connectors are uniquely designed to equip with spring-like terminals. With automation widely applied to manufacturing, the connectors can absorb the alignment errors from pick-and-place machines. Additionally, the spring-like terminals also reduce the stress on connectors from vibration.