Smartphone connectors aligned with chip components to save board space

The flexible printed circuit (FPC) connectors from Hirose offer ultra-low profile and space-saving that smartphone designs demand due to limited internal space on the main board. The FH64MA Series connector features 0.5-mm height, 0.25-mm contact pitch, and 3.15-mm depth.

Modern smartphones are increasingly using organic electroluminescent (EL) display, and that inevitably requires smaller chips like driver ICs and other components such as connectors. Furthermore, smartphone designers are moving away from connecting the display and touchscreen to the main board toward employing relays for connecting the touchscreen to the display.

However, while using relay connections, driver IC and other chip components fall into the vicinity of the connector. And it mandates that the FPC connector height is aligned with chip components.

Hirose claims that the FH64MA Series connectors perfectly align with the height of driver IC and other chip components in the connector vicinity. These connectors can also be mounted in the narrow dead space between FPCs and the main board, further boosting the efficient utilization of the board space.

The FPC connectors include mating guides and support offset pitch and slanted insertion of the FPC from the top. Additionally, they boast superior FPC insertion, which is crucial in automatic robotic mounting operations.