Industrial connectors protect sensitive electronics

In addition to energy and data, highly automated production plants require the reliable and powerful transmission of signals from measuring, control and regulation devices and systems. Minimal downtimes are a decisive factor in the profitability of production plants, according to engineers at HARTING, Espelkamp, Germany. And unpredictable failures, for example due to negligence, fire or overvoltages can be expensive.

Overvoltage protection for electronic measurement, control and regulation components often demands separate techniques that require extra space and necessitate additional installation work. This week, HARTING presented a new surge protection module from the Han-Modular series at the SPS IPC Drives Fair in Nuremberg. It brings surge protection into the connector and, thus, makes integration and installation considerably faster and more straightforward.

To actively protect the various signals in production systems, the reference potential of signal circuits must be recognized and taken into account when selecting the correct protective devices. A distinction is made between signals with a common reference potential and self-contained signal circuits. For both signal types, the surge protection module offers a suitable solution as part of HARTING’s smart Han concept.

The overvoltage protection module uses several protective elements such as gas arresters, suppressor diodes and resistors. If an overvoltage occurs, the combination of the components ensures a coordinated discharge of the disturbance variable. When used correctly, overvoltage protection modules reduce the number of operating faults, increase service life and ultimately improve plant uptime.

HARTING
www.harting.com