The new Datamate back covers enable a fully shielded EMI/RFI connection on a horizontal circuit board up to the cable connection and complement Harwin's existing range of shielding products between the vertical board and cable connection. These back covers ensure complete shielding when used with a ground plane.
Harwin's horizontal back covers are not attached to the connector but rather sit over it and are then independently secured to the board. This means that shielding can be incorporated into the design at a much later stage, which is advantageous when additional EMI issues arise during development. They are suitable for both insert-on-board and surface-mount terminations, as well as for internal or top-mounted screw closures. Provided there is sufficient space, these back covers can be added to existing PCB designs or retrofitted to installed equipment.
The new horizontal back covers for Datamate connectors are primarily targeted at applications such as satellites, aviation, robotics, and defense. These environments are likely to face significant space constraints due to the high density of the boards, which may also be located near enclosures or sources of interference. Aspects such as mission-critical or security-critical applications must also be considered for a high-reliability interconnect solution to be deemed as such.
“We are seeing increased demand for horizontal PCB connections in customer designs, particularly in high-density applications where boards are very close together, such as CubeSats and UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles),” says Ryan Smart, NPI Product Manager at Harwin. “Thanks to these new back covers, we can now reduce the risk of signal interference due to EMI/RFI, regardless of the interconnect orientation.”.
