wire strain relief cable connector flex type

Interconnect components that see little or no movement when installed for their intended use often require little or no additional strain or flex relief at the connector terminations as the basic connector and backshell design incorporates these features into the original design.Ĭables that pass through an opening require some form of protection for the cable and a method of attachment whereby the cable does not pull out of the device. The primary design considerations for stationery applications are pull-force requirements between the cable and wire terminations, and mechanical protection for the cable as it passes through a panel cutout or other exit point. The overmolded flex relief is common in devices that have high flex rates, such as point-of-sale scanners and medical devices. Typically, flex life of the cable can be improved up to four times the manufacturer's rating by incorporating an overmolded flex relief. The point at which a cable exits a connector body or other component can be a critical failure point because of repeated flexing. However, other devices, because of other mechanical considerations, require additional strain relief. Overmolding the contact and wire termination area can improve the pull-force performance, typically by a factor of two to three times. It is common for 40-60# pull-force to be achieved by simply overmolding. Many connectors provide this in the connector design itself, such as the insulation support area of a contact and the wire bar clips used on insulation displacement connectors. Many devices require the addition of strain relief in this critical area. Internal to a connector or termination point, such as a breakout transition, is the point at which the wires are terminated to contacts or other wires. Strain relief in an interconnect component can be defined as internal stress relief at the termination point or flex relief at the cable exit area. The external connection point, such as a mini-DIN connector at the end of a mouse cable, and the internal connection point, where the cable terminates to a device, such as the other end of a mouse cable where it passes through a shell and is terminated at the PCB.

Wire and cable manufacturers can contribute to flex relief by developing high flex designs, but they cannot contribute to strain relief at the contact and wire termination area or flex relief at the cable exit or entry points in the final assembly.Ĭable assemblies involve at least two terminated ends. Strain relief and flex relief are terms that are frequently interchanged and mis-used. Strain relief is often an overlooked area of design as it crosses the boundary between the assembly of the interconnect components and the cable. Strain and flex relief as part of the overall interconnect design should be a major consideration for designers. Strain and Flex Relief for I/O Interconnects

Wire strain relief cable connector flex type