New board-to-board connector family offers many application variations

Hirose has developed FunctionMAX, a versatile board-to-board connector family that features specialized floating alignment capability and/or high-speed transmission. The FunctionMAX board-to-board connector family includes connector series that are available in various configurations including vertical / mezzanine, right angle / riser card and coplanar which are designed to meet the demands of the industrial, medical, communication, and other markets with maximum functionality. Particularly beneficial when multiple connectors are used on the same PCB, innovative floating structures in selected FunctionMAX connectors offer a degree of play between the contacts during mating, and allow the connector to absorb alignment errors. Ensuring correct and safe mating, the floating contacts self-centre in both the X and Y directions. This floating feature of the FunctionMAX connectors also eliminates stress imparted by mounting placement errors. Reducing the stress on mounted parts significantly decreases solder cracking and enhances reliability. By simplifying mating, the floating functionality also saves considerable assembly time and costs. Some members of the FunctionMAX connector family are designed with a differential transmission system that offers excellent noise resistance and signal integrity to deliver high-speed signals. Providing high-speed transmission up to 15GBs, the connectors ensure impedance-matching and low insertion loss. FunctionMAX connectors are particularly suitable for use in medical devices, office imaging equipment, measurement equipment, industrial computer systems, automotive navigation and audio systems, broadcast equipment, base station transceivers, industrial machinery and more, says the company. "Optimized for high performance and functionality, the FunctionMAX board-to-board connector family consists of Hirose's top industrial connector products designed for advancing technologies in demanding devices and systems," said Rick van Weezel, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing for Hirose Electric USA. "While traditional board-to-board connectors can only be used if the centre lines are perfectly aligned, FunctionMAX connectors with our unique floating contact structure offer mating flexibility and alignment error compensation." The FunctionMAX connector family consists of seven options : 1 - FX8 Series: parallel configuration, 0.6mm pitch, high-speed transmission. 2 - FX10 Series: parallel configuration, 0.5mm pitch, floating design high-speed transmission. 3 - FX18 Series: parallel, vertical and coplanar versions, 0.8mm pitch, high-speed transmission, power/signal hybrid. 4 - FX20 Series: right angle and parallel versions, 0.5mm pitch, floating design, dual contact. 5 - FX22 Series: coplanar configuration, 0.5mm pitch, floating design, dual contact. 6 - FX23 Series: right angle and parallel versions, 0.5mm pitch, floating design, high-speed transmission, power/signal hybrid. 7 - FX30B Series: right angle, parallel, and coplanar versions, 3.81mm to 7.62mm pitch, floating design, power/signal hybrid.