FCI Develops Quickie® Shrouded Pin Headers For Strong, Reliable SMT Connections

ETTERS, PA (November 30, 2006) — FCI, a leading developer of connectors and interconnect systems, expands its successful FCI BASICS+® range of commodity connectors with two new versions of Quickie® Shrouded Pin Headers for cable-to-board applications. Both are specially designed for Pin-in-Paste (PiP) soldering.

“Pin-in-Paste technology allows through-mount (TMT) connectors to be attached using surface-mount (SMT) soldering processes, while still providing the mechanical strength of soldered TMT leads,” said David Sideck, Regional Market Manager, FCI. “By enabling the use of SMT reflow soldering processes, these new TMT connectors offer customers an opportunity for applied cost savings by eliminating the need for a separate wave-solder operation in the process flow.”

The Quickie PiP header body employs high-temperature thermoplastic to ensure compatibility with lead-free soldering temperatures, and the housing design is adapted to optimize the flow of solder paste during soldering. Solder tail lengths are reduced to avoid the risk of pushing solder paste out of the PCB through holes during connector placement. Connectors can be supplied either in tubes or tape-on-reel packaging to support automated pick-and-place during board assembly. The headers feature a 4-wall shroud and mate with Quickie IDC (insulation displacement connection) or Dubox™ CTW (crimp-to-wire) receptacles.

FCI has extensively tested the Quickie PiP connector and offers full application support including stencil design, paste application, and board layout recommendations.

Quickie headers and cable connectors are part of the product range included in the FCI BASICS+ program. The FCI Basics+ service program encompasses industry-standard 2.54mm and 2mm pitch connectors for board-to-board, wire-to-board and cable-to-board applications.

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