Automotive Connectors and Electrical Use Connecting Cables

The automotive connector products of ECT are mainly Fakra board terminal & cable terminal, HSD board terminal & cable terminal, HD Camera connector, car USB, etc. It is mainly used in various OEMs and TIER 1 customers for RF connection and HD connection.
Automotive connectors are a component that electronic engineers and technicians often come into contact with. Its function is very simple: to build a bridge of communication between blocked or isolated circuits in the circuit, so that the current can flow and the signal can be transmitted as intended. The form and structure of automotive connectors are ever-changing. It is mainly composed of four basic structural components, namely: contact plug-in, shell (depending on the variety), insulator, and accessories. In the industry, it is usually also called sheath, connector, and plastic case.

About Automotive Connectors
There are nearly a hundred types of connectors used in general cars, and there are hundreds of connectors used in a single model. As people have higher and higher requirements for automobiles in terms of safety, environmental protection, comfort, and intelligence, the application of automotive electronic products is increasing. This will lead to an increase in the number of automotive connector applications.

Basic structure of automotive connectors
Four basic structural components of automotive connectors
1. Contact pin: It is the core part of the automotive connector to complete the electrical connection function. Generally, a contact pair is composed of a male contact pin and a female contact, and the electrical connection is completed through the insertion of the female and male contact pins.
Male contact pins are rigid parts that can be cylindrical (round pins), square cylinders (square pins) or flat (blades). Male contacts are generally made of brass, phosphor bronze. The female contact is the socket, which is the key part of the contact pair. It relies on the elastic structure to elastically deform when it is inserted into the pin to generate elastic force and form a close contact with the male contact to complete the connection. There are many types of socket structures, including cylindrical pin holes (splitting, shrinking), tuning fork type pin holes, cantilever beam type pin holes (longitudinal slotting), folding pin holes (longitudinal slotting, 9-shaped) , box-shaped pin holes (square jacks) and hyperboloid wire spring jacks, etc.
Second, the connector shell (shell): It is the outer cover of the automotive connector, which provides mechanical protection for the built-in insulating mounting plate and pins, and provides alignment when the plug and socket are mated. This in turn secures the connector to the device.
3. Connector insulator: The insulator is also often called the base or insert of the car connector. Its function is to arrange the contacts according to the required position and spacing, and to ensure the insulation performance between the contacts and between the contacts and the shell. Good insulation resistance, withstand voltage performance and ease of processing are the basic requirements for selecting insulating materials to be processed into insulators.
Fourth, connector accessories, accessories are divided into structural accessories and installation accessories. Structural accessories such as collars, positioning keys, positioning pins, guide pins, coupling rings, cable clamps, sealing rings, gaskets, etc. Installation accessories such as screws, nuts, screw rods, spring rings, etc. Most of the accessories have standard parts and general parts.
It is these four basic structural components that enable the automotive connector to act as a bridge and operate stably.

Wire Connectors for Automotive and Electrical Use

Automotive ECU Connector Plug

Design Standards for Automotive Connectors
With the rapid development of the automobile industry, various functional parts and various parts of the automobile are constantly developing in the direction of intelligence, refinement and reliability. Higher requirements are also put forward for the structural design, appearance design and materials of automotive connectors.
Automotive connectors must comply with USCAR-20 standards. This is the performance standard of the automotive electrical connector system, which stipulates that the electrical connector contact surface of the automotive connector should always be reliable throughout the life cycle, including the following factors:
1. The material of the contact pin head of the connector is stable and reliable
2. The positive force is stable
3. The voltage and current of the circuit are stable
4. The temperature requirement is within the specified range, including the surrounding temperature and its own temperature rise
5. Better robustness
6. It must be the same as the connector used for high-speed long-distance communication computers. Automotive connectors must perform reliably under harsh conditions
7. Connector insertion force: below 20.5kg;
8. Connector holding force: more than 2.5kg;
9. Heat resistance: -40~120℃

Development Trend of Automotive Connectors
At present, global automotive connectors account for about 15% of the connector industry. Driven by automotive electronic products, it is expected to occupy a larger proportion in the future. In terms of product cost structure, the average cost of connectors used in each car in China is only a few hundred yuan. The cost of the connector with each foreign car is about 125 US dollars to 150 US dollars. China’s automotive connector market still has great potential for development. In the future, each car will use 600-1,000 electronic connectors, far greater than the number used today.
China is expected to become an important production base for global automotive connectors in the future. In addition to the existing first-tier well-known international manufacturers, other manufacturers that have not set up factories in China will gradually establish production bases in China due to factors such as increasing local demand, localized procurement, and cost advantages. Supply local auto parts manufacturers.
Therefore, in the future, China’s automotive connector industry will be a fiercely competitive market between foreign-funded companies and local Chinese companies! Under the development of foreign-funded enterprises and local enterprises, China will also become one of the important production countries of automobile connectors. It will wait and see who will become the overlord of China’s automotive connectors in the future, whether local enterprises or foreign-funded enterprises!

market problem
Service awareness and market awareness are relatively weak and need to be strengthened urgently.
When comparing the differences between domestic connectors and products of foreign companies, it is an objective fact that the technical level is low and the quality gap is large. But at the same time, the service awareness and market awareness of domestic enterprises are also worrying. Some companies don’t even have a sound website, so it’s very difficult to find them. Some companies with websites seem to sink into the ocean after sending an email, and there is no response. Some companies have a better service attitude when they call to inquire about purchasing products, but their attitude changes immediately when they hear that they have not yet decided to purchase. There are also some companies that have high requirements for customers and are unwilling to accept small orders. Some domestic private joint-stock enterprises are better off. In contact with some state-owned enterprises, the weak awareness of services and markets is sometimes surprising.
Lack of participation in vehicle design, no intellectual property rights for products
Since most domestic automakers appear in the form of “import”, it is difficult for my country’s auto connector manufacturers to participate in the design and development of vehicle electrical circuits, and there are few opportunities to communicate with automakers. It is difficult for domestic enterprises to obtain their own intellectual property rights for their products. Driven by localization and the decline in the cost and price of complete vehicles, it is a last resort for domestic companies to adopt imitation when participating in supporting equipment. Passive matching is a common phenomenon in domestic automotive connector factories.

Connector Technology Trends for Automotive Connectors
The “miniaturization”, “high-speed transmission” and intelligence of connector products are the future development trends. The future technological innovation of the industry will mainly focus on the following directions:

Miniaturization Development of Automotive Connectors
This technology is mainly developed for the miniaturization trend of connectors, and can be applied to micro-miniature connectors below 0.3mm. It belongs to the new variety of MINI USB series products. It can be used in multi-contact expansion card slot connectors, can meet and exceed the strict requirements of multi-contact surface mount technology on contact coplanarity, and has high precision and low cost.

Wireless Transmission of Automotive Connectors
High frequency and high speed wireless transmission connector technology
This technology is mainly aimed at communication applications of various wireless devices, and has a wide range of applications.

Simulation Application Technology Research
Simulation technology is based on a variety of disciplines and theories, using computers and corresponding software such as AutoCAD, Pro/E program stress analysis software as tools. Through the establishment of product models and corresponding boundary conditions, simulation analysis and confirmation of its mechanical, electrical, high-frequency and other properties are carried out. Thereby reducing the cost of product development failure caused by factors such as material selection and unreasonable structure, improving the success rate of development, and helping to provide support for complex system applications of products.

4. Intelligent connector technology
This technology is currently mainly used in DC series power connector products. Intelligent signal detection can be carried out before power transmission to ensure that the positive and negative poles are connected and the power is turned on after the plug is inserted in place. It can avoid the adverse consequences of electric arc injury and machine burn-in caused by the plug being inserted in place and conducting contact. In the future, enterprises need to develop similar intelligent technologies for other products.

Automotive Waterproof 6 pin/3 pin/8 pin/4 pin Connector

DEUTSCH Automotive crimp terminal

electrical Automotive male plug

Precision Automotive Connector Technology
Precision connectors involve many links such as product design, process technology and quality control technology. The main technologies include the following aspects:
(1) Precision mold processing technology:
Using CAD, CAM and other technologies, introducing high-precision processing equipment in the industry, using personnel production experience and advanced equipment and technical means to achieve high-precision and high-quality mold products.
(2) Precision stamping and precision injection molding technology:
Realize precise, efficient and stable all-round control and perfect surface quality of various stamping parts and injection molding parts to ensure product quality.
(3) Automatic assembly technology:
Through the application of precision control technology, semi-automatic inspection machine technology, etc., it overcomes the difficulty of manual operation of precision products and improves its core competitiveness.

Manufacturing Process Research
The competitiveness of products depends to a certain extent on the level of manufacturing technology. Continuously developing new manufacturing processes and improving existing production and processing processes can greatly improve product manufacturing efficiency and quality assurance capabilities.
(1) Fine manufacturing process:
This process is mainly aimed at technologies such as small spacing and thin thickness. Some companies have carried out research on the process of connectors with a pitch of less than 0.4mm. This type of technology can ensure that the company can reach the advanced level of the international industry in the field of ultra-fine manufacturing.
(2) Integrated development technology of light source signal and electromechanical structure:
The technology can be applied to audio connectors built into electronic components. By adding electronic components such as IC and LED to the audio connector, the audio connector has the function of transmitting analog signals and digital signals at the same time. Therefore, it breaks through the current design of the audio connector to perform conduction transmission in a mechanical contact manner.
(3) Low temperature and low pressure molding technology:
Utilize the tightness and physical and chemical properties of hot-melt materials to achieve insulation and temperature resistance. After encapsulation, the wire protects the welding point from being pulled by external force, and the encapsulation between the DC connector body and the wire has the functions of insulation, temperature resistance, and impact resistance. To ensure product quality and reliability, it will continue to be developed and applied to different products in the future.