Hirose’s BM50 series has been selected as an Innovation Award Honoree for CES 2022, the Consumer Electronics Show held annually in Las Vegas. The CES Innovation Awards internationally recognizes noteworthy products in 28 product fields based on the following criteria: product quality, design aesthetic, value provided to users, uniqueness and newness of product specifications, and innovation over competing products.

The compact BM50 Series FPC-to-board connector has been distinguished as a CES Innovation Awards Honoree in the Mobile Devices & Accessories category. The innovative BM50 Series connector supports a high-power supply capacity of 15 A in a compact size that reduces the PCB mounting space by approximately 40% compared to other products. This contributes to a significant reduction of both the space used inside the device and the size of customer’s end products.

A unique board mounting design suppresses heat generation to 30°C or less, even when 15 A is applied. It also supports USB Power Delivery, which allows up to 100 W of power to be delivered via USB for fast charging. In addition, the fully armored design covers both ends of the housing with metal for enhanced robustness and a significant reduction in the risk of housing damage when mating with misalignment.

The BM50 FPC-to-board connector is commonly used in smartphones and emerging applications such as wearable devices.

“As power consumption increases along with advances in smartphone functionality, the capacity and mounting space of the installed battery has also increased. At the same time, demand for smaller, thinner smartphones is on the rise, making it difficult to balance both device size reduction and larger batteries. Larger battery capacity results in longer charging times, and demand for fast charging is on the rise,” said Mark Kojak, VP of Sales and Marketing for Hirose Electric USA. “For these reasons, connectors used for battery connections are required to be small and have high power supply capacity. Hirose has developed the BM50 Series to meet these demands.”

Selection for the CES 2022 Innovation Awards program occurred ahead of CES. A panel of experts in the consumer electronics industry consisting of media members, designers, and engineers evaluate submissions based on engineering, functionality, aesthetic, design, and what makes the product unique and innovative. This year’s honorees were selected from a record number of over 1,800 submissions. This is the third time Hirose products have been selected as Innovation Awards Honorees, following the FX26 Series and BM46 Series at CES 2020.

Hirose Electric Co. Ltd.
www.hirose.com/us