Electrical connector

200px|thumb|Schematic symbols for male and female connectors

thumb|250px|This rear panel of an [[integrated amplifier features a variety of electrical connectors]]

thumb|Connectors on the back of a 2018 computer

Components of an electrical circuit are electrically connected if an electric current can run between them through an electrical conductor. An electrical connector is an electromechanical device used to create an electrical connection between parts of an electrical circuit, or between different electrical circuits, thereby joining them into a larger circuit.

The connection may be removable (as for portable equipment), require a tool for assembly and removal, or serve as a permanent electrical joint between two points. An adapter can be used to join dissimilar connectors. Most electrical connectors have a genderi.e. the male component, called a plug, connects to the female component, or socket.

Thousands of configurations of connectors are manufactured for power, data, and audiovisual applications. Electrical connectors can be divided into four basic categories, differentiated by their function:

• Inline or cable connectors permanently attached to a cable, so it can be plugged into another terminal (either a stationary instrument or another cable)
• Chassis or panel connectors permanently attached to a piece of equipment so users can connect a cable to a stationary device
• PCB mount connectors soldered to a printed circuit board, providing a point for cable or wire attachment.

Materials

Electrical connectors essentially consist of two classes of materials: conductors and insulators. Properties important to conductor materials are contact resistance, conductivity, mechanical strength, formability, and resilience. Insulators must have a high electrical resistance, withstand high temperatures, and be easy to manufacture for a precise fit

Electrodes in connectors are usually made of copper alloys, due to their good conductivity and malleability.

Contact carriers that hold the parts of a connector together are usually made of plastic, due to its insulating properties. Housings or backshells can be made of molded plastic and metal.

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Failure mode

! Relative probability

|-

| Open circuit || 61%

|-

| Poor contact || 23%

|-

| Short circuit || 16%

|}

Connectors are purely passive componentsthat is, they do not enhance the function of a circuitso connectors should affect the function of a circuit as little as possible. Insecure mounting of connectors (primarily chassis-mounted) can contribute significantly to the risk of failure, especially when subjected to extreme shock or vibration. Surface corrosion is a risk for many metal parts in connectors, and can cause contacts to form a thin surface layer that increases resistance, thus contributing to heat buildup and intermittent connections. However, remating or reseating a connector can alleviate the issue of surface corrosion, since each cycle scrapes a microscopic layer off the surface of the contact(s), exposing a fresh, unoxidised surface.

Circular connectors

Many connectors used for industrial and high-reliability applications are circular in cross section, with a cylindrical housing and circular contact interface geometries. This is in contrast to the rectangular design of some connectors, e.g. USB or blade connectors. They are commonly used for easier engagement and disengagement, tight environmental sealing, and rugged mechanical performance. They are widely used in military, aerospace, industrial machinery, and rail, where MIL-DTL-5015 and MIL-DTL-38999 are commonly specified. Fields such as sound engineering and radio communication also use circular connectors, such as XLR and BNC. AC power plugs are also commonly circular, for example, Schuko plugs and IEC 60309.

thumb|right|[[NMEA 2000 cabling using M12 connectors]]

The M12 connector, specified in IEC 61076-2-101, is a circular electrical plug/receptacle pair with 12mm OD mating threads, used in NMEA 2000, DeviceNet, IO-Link, some kinds of Industrial Ethernet, etc.

A disadvantage of the circular design is its inefficient use of panel space when used in arrays, when compared to rectangular connectors.

Circular connectors commonly use backshells, which provide physical and electromagnetic protection, whilst sometimes also providing a method for locking the connector into a receptacle. These housings may also allow intermixing of electrical and non-electrical interfaces, examples of the latter being pneumatic line connectors, and optical fiber connectors. Because hybrid connectors are modular in nature, they tend to simplify assembly, repair, and future modifications. They also allow the creation of composite cable assemblies that can reduce equipment installation time by reducing the number of individual cable and connector assemblies.

Mechanical features

Pin sequence

Some connectors are designed such that certain pins make contact before others when inserted, and break first on disconnection.

Locking mechanisms

Some connector housings are designed with locking mechanisms to prevent inadvertent disconnection or poor environmental sealing. Backshells typically protect the connector and/or cable from environmental or mechanical stress, or shield it from electromagnetic interference. Many types of backshells are available for different purposes, including various sizes, shapes, materials, and levels of protection. Backshells usually lock onto the cable with a clamp or moulded boot, and may be threaded for attachment to a mating receptacle. Backshells for military and aerospace use are regulated by SAE AS85049 within the USA.

Hyperboloid contacts

To deliver ensured signal stability in extreme environments, traditional pin and socket design may become inadequate. Hyperboloid contacts are designed to withstand more extreme physical demands, such as vibration and shock. They also require around 40% less insertion forcewhich extends the lifespan, and in some cases offers an alternative to zero insertion force connectors.

In a connector with hyperboloid contacts, each female contact has several equally spaced longitudinal wires twisted into a hyperbolic shape. These wires are highly resilient to strain, but still somewhat elastic, hence they essentially function as linear springs. As the male pin is inserted, axial wires in the socket half are deflected, wrapping themselves around the pin to provide a number of contact points. The internal wires that form the hyperboloid structure are usually anchored at each end by bending the tip into a groove or notch in the housing.

Whilst hyperboloid contacts may be the only option to make a reliable connection in some circumstances, they have the disadvantage of taking up greater volume in a connector, which can cause problems for high-density connectors. In the 1950s, Francois Bonhomme popularised hyperboloid contacts with his "Hypertac" connector, which was later acquired by Smiths Group. During the following decades, the connectors steadily gained popularity, and are still used for medical, industrial, military, aerospace, and rail applications (particularly trains in Europe). The connector consists of a barrel, a spring, and a plunger. They are in applications such as the MagSafe connector where a quick disconnect is desired for safety. Because they rely on spring pressure, not friction, they can be more durable and less damaging than traditional pin and socket design, leading to their use in in-circuit testing.

Crown spring connectors

thumb|Typical crown spring plug and its female socket

Crown spring connectors are commonly used for higher current flows and industrial applications. They have a high number of contact points, which provides a more electrically reliable connection than traditional pin and socket connectors.

Methods of connection

Whilst technically inaccurate, electrical connectors can be viewed as a type of adapter to convert between two connection methods, which are permanently connected at one end and (usually) detachable at the other end.

Plug and socket connectors

Plug and socket connectors are usually made up of a male plug (typically pin contacts) and a female socket (typically receptacle contacts). Often, but not always, sockets are permanently fixed to a device as in a chassis connector , and plugs are attached to a cable.

Plugs generally have one or more pins or prongs that are inserted into openings in the mating socket. The connection between the mating metal parts must be sufficiently tight to make a good electrical connection and complete the circuit. An alternative type of plug and socket connection uses hyperboloid contacts, which makes a more reliable electrical connection. When working with multi-pin connectors, it is helpful to have a pinout diagram to identify the wire or circuit node connected to each pin.

Some connector styles may combine pin and socket connection types in a single unit, referred to as a hermaphroditic connector. These connectors includes mating with both male and female aspects, involving complementary paired identical parts each containing both protrusions and indentations. These mating surfaces are mounted into identical fittings that freely mate with any other, without regard for gender (provided that the size and type match).

Sometimes both ends of a cable are terminated with the same gender of connector, as in many Ethernet patch cables. In other applications the two ends are terminated differently, either with male and female of the same connector (as in an extension cord), or with incompatible connectors, which is sometimes called an adapter cable.

Plugs and sockets are widely used in various connector systems including blade connectors, breadboards, XLR connectors, car power outlets, banana connectors, and phone connectors.

Jacks and plugs<span class="anchor" id="jack"></span>

thumb|left|upright=0.55|Male [[phone connector (audio)|phone plug]]

A jack is a connector that installs on the surface of a bulkhead or enclosure, and mates with its reciprocal, the plug. According to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the stationary (more fixed) connector of a pair is classified as a jack (denoted J), usually attached to a piece of equipment as in a chassis-mount or panel-mount connector. The movable (less fixed) connector is classified as a plug (denoted P), This convention is currently defined in ASME Y14.44-2008, which supersedes IEEE 200-1975, which in turn derives from the long-withdrawn MIL-STD-16 (from the 1950s), highlighting the heritage of this connector naming convention.

Crimped contacts are permanent (i.e. the connectors and wire ends cannot be reused).

Crimped plug-and-socket connectors can be classified as rear release or front release. This relates to the side of the connector where the pins are anchored:

When creating soldered connections, it is possible to melt the dielectric between pins or wires. This can cause problems because the thermal conductivity of metals causes heat to quickly distribute through the cable and connector, and when this heat melts plastic dielectric, it can cause short circuits or "flared" (conical) insulation.

Insulation-displacement connectors

Since stripping insulation from wires is time-consuming, many connectors intended for rapid assembly use insulation-displacement connectors which cut the insulation as the wire is inserted. applications for additions to existing wiring.

A common example is the multi-conductor flat ribbon cable used in computer disk drives; to terminate each of the many (approximately 40) wires individually would be slow and error-prone, but an insulation displacement connector can terminate all the wires in a single action. Another very common use is so-called punch-down blocks used for terminating unshielded twisted pair wiring.

thumb|upright=0.7|right|[[Binding posts on a bi-amplified loudspeaker]]

Binding posts

Binding posts are a single-wire connection method, where stripped wire is screwed or clamped to a metal electrode. Such connectors are frequently used in electronic test equipment and audio. Many binding posts also accept a banana plug.

Screw terminals

Screw connections are frequently used for semi-permanent wiring and connections inside devices, due to their simple but reliable construction. The basic principle of all screw terminals involves the tip of a bolt clamping onto a stripped conductor. They can be used to join multiple conductors, to connect wires to a printed circuit board, or to terminate a cable into a plug or socket.