To provide customers with greater choice and increase design flexibility, Harwin now offers rear panel mount cable connectors for both its 2mm-pitch Datamate and 1.25mm-pitch Gecko high-reliability (Hi-Rel) series. These will complement the company’s existing front panel mount solutions, broadening the scope of how connector housings are attached to an enclosure or panel.

The clear advantage that the rear panel mount has over the front panel mount is that the bulk of the connector housing is located on the inside of the enclosure or panel. This means that the connector is much better protected from the external environment, with just its mating face being exposed. As a result, there is less risk of potential interconnect damage occurring, and the overall design looks better aesthetically.

Versions of Harwin’s Datamate J-Tek and Datamate Mix-Tek (combining power and data pins) connector products will be available with rear panel mounting jackscrews. These will be fitted to male cable connector housings. The more compact Gecko-SL and Gecko-MT products with rear panel mounting are fitted to both male and female cable connector housings. For all these products, contact counts of up to 50 per connector are supported.

The new rear panel mount cable connectors utilize a proprietary fixing structure. As well as incorporating internal screw fixings for mating purposes, the connectors also feature extensions to each end. These allow a second hole to be accommodated for panel attachment. All of Harwin’s rear panel designs are compatible with the company’s existing mating cable connector portfolio. Because of this, there is a provision to retrofit them into legacy deployments. It also means that no further design work is required to replace the existing external cable harness.