flat copper traces on poly film and their connectors.

[TorontoBuilder]

Can anyone tell me what the flat connectors that are used in laptop to connect remote components to the motherboard are called? And the clamp type connectors the use are called?

I'm not referring to ribbon connectors used in desktop pcs but rather the stuff in the pic

 

[TorontoBuilder]

The product I was looking for is called flexible flat cable and the FFC/FPC connectors are a type of connector intended to connect FPCs (Flexible Printed Circuits) and PCBs (Printed Circuit Boards).

I'm on a quest to make the smallest possible magnetic read head by adding a FFC connector to an existing pcb product so it can be deeply embedded inside a slideway and only the thinnest slot can be milled allowing a clearance to epoxy a FFC into

 

[PeterT]

I had to source the white cable in your post#2 for my RC transmitter, but it already had the female connector receptacle on its motherboard. Are you saying that (receptacle) is what you are after? I remember seeing them in Digikey type catalogs but ended up getting the style I required off Ali of all places. I recall there are different styles but I suspect you know this already.

https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-ffc.html?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20230413204931&SearchText=ffc&spm=a2g0o.order_list.1000002.0

 

[Susquatch]

Sorry, I can't help. There is a similar connector inside the Ditron DRO that is used to connect the motherboard to the display.

It is a complete and total Bit** to reconnect.

Wouldn't you be better off with a solder on system and an external connector?

What is the cable that you posted for? I was blown away by all the in-cable components. Are those wiggly paths resistors or cable length tuners or......

 

[TorontoBuilder]

I had to source the white cable in your post#2 for my RC transmitter, but it already had the female connector receptacle on its motherboard. Are you saying that (receptacle) is what you are after? I remember seeing them in Digikey type catalogs but ended up getting the style I required off Ali of all places. I recall there are different styles but I suspect you know this already.

https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-ffc.html?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20230413204931&SearchText=ffc&spm=a2g0o.order_list.1000002.0

I wanted to know the name to input into google since I was striking out on my previous searches and getting inundated with ribbon cables.

I need to order 4 pin connectors and cable for a potential project

 

[TorontoBuilder]

Sorry, I can't help. There is a similar connector inside the Ditron DRO that is used to connect the motherboard to the display.

It is a complete and total Bit** to reconnect.

Wouldn't you be better off with a solder on system and an external connector?

What is the cable that you posted for? I was blown away by all the in-cable components. Are those wiggly paths resistors or cable length tuners or......

here is what I wish to address.

Say this is your lathe's cross slide and compound. Where are you going to mount a scale on this compound?



If it were mine I'd use the micro read head set into a slot milled in the underside of the upper slide. But I'd replace the huge clunky connector with a FFC connector set on the same side of the PCB as the magnetic sensor chip, so that I could mill a slot 0.25 mm deep to run the cable out to the front of the slide where I could connect to another tiny pcb that has an appropriate connector for attaching a standard cable.



I'd embed the magnetic strip in a slot milled into the top of the bottom piece. in order to mask it as much as possible I'd fill the gap with epoxy resin mixed with graphite and some white pigment perhaps to give the appearance of cast iron.

Of course I'd make some milled test pieces to assure that graphite or white pigment does not impact the read head operation, and to determine mixing ratios to colour match cast iron.

I'm looking to find the ultimate solution for my Chipmaster lathe DRO installation since I will be pimping that lathe out to the nines.... I'm getting so much grief over buying, restoring and ultimately keeping it I want to make sure I get an awesome machine in the end.

 

[PeterT]

Sorry all I can tell you is I ordered FFC & specified the pitch & wire count. It fit my existing installation so that was the end of that particular journey.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/223586000134?hash=item340ec39d06:g:0C8AAOSwse1dKZ8X&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4JX6QKz8ulKactZYHRJD%2Bop%2B33OkMLLVHNKsh%2B4ScgDnlGeap4jwGlKX%2FAf%2BHthGFBIUxGXnzwMd%2FTNhZGk3YY8XyFLHDOiJIiXdg%2FaLiDsEOva0d6p5M%2Fetwp1MLdNaEldkhVKW92tVZd%2B2fvW%2BpoDffvfdnfo0s4NbYsRO4TnEHRUpR97vcPDpFt4TgttP06BGUJF0uvXdQXy9TKWIQT3HlVFBZjelMgUgE3c6bVNaB%2FuajIn59saWaA3vuF2LpcRntSoEuljjDH2oqW0QQ%2F4V%2FhCAAvMgmT%2FKoPUXKDF2%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR9aN2YbwYQ

mine was on a board for a switch


If enter 'FFC connector' it turns up hits like this which I assume are the matching receptacles?

 

[PeterT]

I thought it was in this post #500 but apparently not. Somewhere along the way someone told me those connector types don't like to me moved or jostled. It was either determined to be a source of a signal loss problem or the guy just knew about them for a living. My memory is foggy. So not quite sure how you were planning on implementing the housing but maybe something to be aware of. My DRO cable/housing is shielded & pretty rigid right where it enters the encoder block, which I assume is for strain relief to pass the bending onto the upstream cabling as the table/carriage surfaces are moving back & forth. I learned the hard way having things too neat & tidy tied down actually causes fatigue problems & signal interruption/loss over time.

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?3450777-Jeti-Duplex-DS-12-Radio-Review/page34#post46941171

 

[TorontoBuilder]

I thought it was in this post #500 but apparently not. Somewhere along the way someone told me those connector types don't like to me moved or jostled. It was either determined to be a source of a signal loss problem or the guy just knew about them for a living. My memory is foggy. So not quite sure how you were planning on implementing the housing but maybe something to be aware of. My DRO cable/housing is shielded & pretty rigid housing right where it enters the encoder block, which I assume is for strain relief to pass the bending onto the upstream cabling as the table/carriage surfaces are moving back & forth. I learned the hard way having things too neat & tidy tied down actually causes fatigue problems & signal interruption/loss over time.

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?3450777-Jeti-Duplex-DS-12-Radio-Review/page34#post46941171

I wish I had a sketch to post to make the concept easier to envision, but you are correct, that type of connector is meant to be inside protected housing where there is no movement or strain.

Think of the cross slide as being a laptop. I want to use flat flex cable to connect two remote pcb boards that are both rigidly connected to the laptop shell. One of those connectors will be the transition point from the flat flex cable rigidly connected to the cross slide, and the standard connectors and cabling.

 

[PeterT]

Just to throw out another thought, the FFC ribbon is very thin all right, but the physical size of connector block isn't that much different than standard (well, much more common) pin style blocks which come in all kinds of pin layouts. These are the locking style you see in RC/robot stuff but it obviously has a much bigger industrial use. Anyways I'm sure I've seen quite compact pin type boards/receptacles. Also I'm not sure what the amp duty of the ribbons are but they cant be very much if that's a consideration.

.100" (2.54mm) Rectangular Connector Housings, Terminals, and Headers

Hansen Hobbies - Electronics for Radio Controlled Aircarft

www.hansenhobbies.com

 

[PaulL]

You won't find what you're looking for, I think. These are flexible PCBs are a pita to manufacture, and you order them with the connectors onboard already. What you probably want is these guys, with flat cables:

Here's a jumping off point: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10000000655217.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000060.2.18736954VW4h6v

 

[TorontoBuilder]

Just to throw out another thought, the FFC ribbon is very thin all right, but the physical size of connector block isn't that much different than standard (well, much more common) pin style blocks which come in all kinds of pin layouts. These are the locking style you see in RC/robot stuff but it obviously has a much bigger industrial use. Anyways I'm sure I've seen quite compact pin type boards/receptacles. Also I'm not sure what the amp duty of the ribbons are but they cant be very much if that's a consideration.

.100" (2.54mm) Rectangular Connector Housings, Terminals, and Headers

Hansen Hobbies - Electronics for Radio Controlled Aircarft

www.hansenhobbies.com

View attachment 33562View attachment 33563

There are several styles of connectors and tapes. That connector is for a tape that has physical pins added to the strip.

The type I'm after just clamps the tape to a block and is thinner. It of course will also be in the same pocket as the pcb itself so that there is room for the connector, and yet it is much smaller than typical read head.

 

[PaulL]

If it were mine I'd use the micro read head set into a slot milled in the underside of the upper slide. But I'd replace the huge clunky connector with a FFC connector set on the same side of the PCB as the magnetic sensor chip, so that I could mill a slot 0.25 mm deep to run the cable out to the front of the slide where I could connect to another tiny pcb that has an appropriate connector for attaching a standard cable.

Am I to understand you're ripping the read head out of their little aluminium blocks? I've been tempted to do this, but loathe to be the first to kill a $100 part...

 

[TorontoBuilder]

You won't find what you're looking for, I think. These are flexible PCBs are a pita to manufacture, and you order them with the connectors onboard already. What you probably want is these guys, with flat cables:
View attachment 33564View attachment 33565
Here's a jumping off point: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10000000655217.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000060.2.18736954VW4h6v

that is them paul thx

 

[TorontoBuilder]

Am I to understand you're ripping the read head out of their little aluminium blocks? I've been tempted to do this, but loathe to be the first to kill a $100 part...

I have yet to decide if I will go the same way as the "naked gopro" by stripping out a chinese read head, or if I will purchase a pcb and dro control designed by this fellow in the UK, or if I will just design my own entirely.

I have a feeling that the chinese pcb orientation is the opposite of what I want, but I haven't yet cracked one open. The PCBs by Nicholas Bull are the right orientation, but the availability is an issue, and I doubt he has the time to do a pcb design revision.

but yes the goal is a micro-read head to embed into pocket machined in the cross slide, and the problem to be solved is to connect to the read head with the smallest form factor possible and the least machining of the original equipment, some of which has next to no machining allowance to the parts.

The UK fellow probably just reverse engineered these read heads to change the orientation. He uses the same chip at the very least.

I think these RLS chips are the same orientation as the German origin chips in the Ditron DROs. Stupid if you ask me.

In all likelihood I'll just ask my buddy to reverse engineer the pcb to the same specs as the chinese heads but with the flat reading orientation I desire. then I can use them plug and play on any system out there.

 

[Johnwa]

Is it this style you’re looking for?

https://www.mouser.ca/datasheet/2/185/BM46_Catalog_ed_BM46_CAT-2585895.pdf

 

[TorontoBuilder]

Is it this style you’re looking for?

https://www.mouser.ca/datasheet/2/185/BM46_Catalog_ed_BM46_CAT-2585895.pdf

That is even better than what I'd wanted.

 

[Susquatch]

In all likelihood I'll just ask my buddy to reverse engineer the pcb to the same specs as the chinese heads but with the flat reading orientation I desire. then I can use them plug and play on any system out there.

Lots of things to absorb in your post.

Where did you find rotary strips?

Are the small boards in your photo read heads? If so, where are the magnetic sensors? I don't see anything like that in the photo.

I'm personally not liking your wiring attachment options.... LOL!

 

[Former Member]

FFC, FPC & Ribbon Connectors

Engineered for flexibility, TE's FFC, FPC, and ribbon connectors can help build smaller, lighter, and more reliable consumer electronics products.

www.te.com

 

[TorontoBuilder]

Lots of things to absorb in your post.

Where did you find rotary strips?

Are the small boards in your photo read heads? If so, where are the magnetic sensors? I don't see anything like that in the photo.

I'm personally not liking your wiring attachment options.... LOL!

The items in the images are just one commercially available encoders on a chip. These are designed to be embedded into the manufacture of industrial machinery that require multiple positioning sensors for high degree of accuracy. Hence the type of connecters chosen. They equipment is designed with hard mounting pockets and channels where the heads are generally fully enclosed.

The rotary strips are available everywhere... aliexpress has them in various diameters around 45 to 50 bucks. They're an expensive option for rotary purposes imo but I can think of many uses for them.

I can see that I'm not making myself clear on how I wish to connect wires to the read units.

I'm looking at a multi-component design with two micro pcbs.

One is the read head to be fully embedded in the machine with a 4 pin FFC connector as shown above

The other is a pcb with both a FFC connector and a 4 pin aviation type connector.

This will allow a 4 pin FFC cable to be encapsulated in a .25 mm deep slot in the machine using epoxy, with a different on pcb at either end. Then the regular stainless steel shielded cable will run from the waterproof aviation connector to the DRO unit. this design will allow the two boards to be mounted any distance apart on the machine. It will allow multiple mounting options from small external brackets to machined pockets that do not remove much material. It leaves the guts fully protected, and provides a very secure aviation connection that has a very low profile on the exterior of the component it is mounted to.

In my case all components will be in machined pockets, and fully encapsulated in epoxy resin.