Types of FPC / FFC Connectors

Types of FPC / FFC Connectors

ZIF and NON-ZIF connectors

ZIF connector
ZIF is an abbreviation for Zero Insertion Force, and refers to a connector that has zero insertion force, that is, no force is applied when mating the FPC/FFC to the Mating. On the other hand, the terminals must have contact pressure at the Mating part of the connector and the card, and it is also necessary to hold the card.

The ZIF connector has a locking mechanism for that purpose. There are mainly three types of locking mechanisms, called slider cover type, front flip type, and back flip type.

slider cover type

After inserting the card into the connector, a part called a slider cover pushes down the card together with the terminals, and has a locking mechanism that maintains contact pressure and card retention. It has been used from the beginning among the three types of locking methods. While it has high card holding power, it is disadvantageous in terms of size and workability.

Front flip type
Compared to the slider cover type, this type has improved workability and size disadvantages. By occupying the cover that falls to the card side, it has a mechanism to hold down the card. As mentioned above, it has superiority in terms of size and workability, and is now being used more than the slider cover type. On the other hand, there are issues with the holding power when the card is tilted upwards, and if a strong holding power is required, it may be avoided.

Back flip type
It is a type that knocks down the lever behind when viewed from the card insertion side. Compared to the front flip type, it is more resistant to card tilt and tends to have better holding power.

On the other hand, there are cases where the connector size tends to increase in the depth direction, it is disadvantageous for inspection of the SMT mounting part because the terminal is hidden, and additional measures such as making the mounting part long tail are required. I have.