Application characteristics and development trend of automotive connector

Automobile connector is a kind of component that electronic engineering technician often contacts.Its function is very simple: in the circuit is blocked or isolated between the circuit, set up a bridge of communication, so that the current flow, so that the circuit to achieve the intended function.The form and structure of automobile connector are changeable, and it is mainly composed of four basic structural components, which are: contact piece, shell (depending on the type), insulator, and accessory.In the industry is often called sheath, connector, plastic case.

There are nearly 100 kinds of connectors used in general automobile, and hundreds of connectors used in a single model.With the increasing demand for safety, environmental protection, comfort and intelligence of automobile, the application of automotive electronic products is increasing day by day.

The contactor is the core part of the automobile connector to complete the electrical connection function.Generally, the contact pair is composed of positive contact parts and negative contact parts.The positive contact is a rigid part, and its shape is cylindrical (round pin), square column (square pin) or flat (insert piece).Positive contacts are generally made of brass and phosphor bronze.The negative contact piece is the jack, which is the key part of the contact pair. It relies on the elastic structure to form close contact with the positive contact piece through the elastic deformation when the contact pin is inserted.There are many types of socket structures, including cylinder (split, taper), tuning fork, cantilever (longitudinal grooving), folding (longitudinal grooving, figure 9), box (square) and hyperboloid wire spring socket.

The Shell is a housing for automotive connectors that provides mechanical protection for the built-in insulating mounting plates and pins, and provides alignment when plugs and sockets fit, thereby securing the connectors to the device.The insulator is also often referred to as the automotive connector base or mounting plate. Its function is to arrange the contacts according to the required position and spacing, and to ensure the insulation performance between the contacts and between the contacts and the housing.Good insulation resistance, voltage resistance and ease of processing are the basic requirements for choosing insulating materials to be processed into insulators.The attachment includes structural attachment and installation attachment.Structural accessories such as clamping ring, positioning key, positioning pin, guide pin, connection ring, cable clamp, sealing ring, gasket, etc.Install accessories such as screws, nuts, screws, spring coils, etc.Most of the accessories are standard and universal.It is these four basic structural components that enable the automotive connector to act as a bridge for stable operation.

From the purpose of the use of automotive connectors, in order to ensure a better driving of the car, we can divide the reliability of the connector into the connector in use, the performance of the car in the running of the fire flower, in addition to the driving of the car, the connector can also show the performance of shielding and temperature control performance.Generally, when discussing the sealing property of automobile connector, it is not only for the sealing property of water in automobile.In this field, the current international management standard is IP67, and this standard is now the highest level in the automotive industry.Although different parts of the car have different requirements for waterproofing, many car manufacturers will choose IP67 to ensure the airtight performance of their car connectors.

Power supply is a very important source of energy in the running of a car, which is not only related to the normal operation of the engine, but also involves the use of power supply in the process of driving.Therefore, in the power supply system of the automobile, the automobile connector has different divisions, between the common end connector and the equipment, between the common end connector and the cable, between the common end connector and the parent end connector, and between the parent end connector and the cable have certain closure measures that can be implemented.

The sealing ring is a common tool to realize the airtight performance of automotive connectors, which can not only achieve the fixed effect between different holes, but also achieve the sealing effect.It can not only ensure the stable operation of automotive equipment, but also ensure the waterproof performance of automotive equipment in the work.Most of the sealing rings are made of silicone rubber, which is made by chemical changes in liquid and solid silicon.

Now in the use of automobiles, electronic circuit technology is an important aspect of the automobile industry, not only in the driver entertainment, but also in the driver driving the control system of the automobile, electronic circuit technology plays an important role in the stable work of automobiles.In order to ensure that the electronic circuit technology can work stably, people now apply a lot of shielding technology in the production of automobiles.These shielding technologies not only play a protective role in the electronic circuit of the car, but also play an anti-interference and anti-radiation ability in the parts of the car, in addition to the stable work of the car connector can also play a protective effect.These shielding technologies can be divided into two types: internal shielding and external shielding.

When external shielding is used to protect automobile connectors, two identical shielding shells are usually assembled together to form a shielding layer, and the length of the shielding layer can cover the whole length of the connector. The shielding shell should also ensure that there are enough lock structure to ensure the reliable installation of the shielding layer.In addition, the shielding materials used should not only be treated by electroplating, but also be treated to prevent chemical corrosion.

At present, the global automotive connector industry accounts for about 15%, which is expected to occupy a larger proportion in the future driven by automotive electronic products.In terms of product cost structure, the average cost of connectors used by every car in China is only a few hundred yuan. Compared with the cost of connectors in foreign countries, the cost of connectors in each car is about $125 ~ $150, which shows that there is still great development potential in China's automotive connector market.Between 600 and 1,000 electronic connectors will be used per car in the future, far more than are used today.

China is expected to become an important manufacturing base for automotive connectors in the future.In addition to the existing well-known international factories, other manufacturers who have not set up factories in China will gradually establish production bases in China to supply the needs of local auto parts manufacturers due to the increasing local demand, local procurement, cost advantages and other factors.Therefore, in the future, China's automotive connector industry will be a very competitive market between foreign enterprises and Chinese local enterprises!China will also become one of the important manufacturing countries of automotive connectors with the development of foreign enterprises and local enterprises.In the future, we will see who will become the hegemony of China's automobile connector among local enterprises, foreign enterprises and three enterprises.