ITT Interconnect Solutions is announcing a new Universal Contact Z series (UCZ) specially developed for the burgeoning market in hand-held devices, such as smart phones, GPS systems and hand-held medical monitoring devices. ITT ICS engineers developed the new UCZ series in response to a customer request for beryllium-free contacts and improved VSWR. The customer selected ITT ICS based on its strong history as a manufacturer of over 4 billion standard contacts without a single field failure. In hand-held applications, high hertz forces and effective repeatability are very important factors which maintain product reliability. A further critical consideration is a small form factor; the new UCZ product series offers on average a 25 per cent reduction in length over industry-standard contacts, freeing up significant board space.
ITT ICS design engineers selected a titanium copper alloy for the new UCZ "˜removed series' dry circuit pressure contact series in place of industry-standard beryllium copper. The alloy was tested for optimum electrical and mechanical performance. Once positive results had been proven, the thickness and required radii were determined in order to achieve high hertz forces, maximum deflection and low contact resistance. Further advantages of the new UCZ contacts are improved RF performance for antenna applications and increased tolerance during the assembly process.
The new Universal Contact Z series will be available in six different free heights. Heights available are 1.8mm, 2.5mm and 3.5mm. Further applications for UCZ beryllium-free contacts are military communications devices and computing equipment.
To find out more about the new Universal Contact Z series (UCZ), visit the website at www.ittcannon.com.