Push-pull D-sub connector housings: What took so long?

Harting introduces push-on, push-off hardware that saves time when connecting and disconnecting D-Sub connectors.

When I worked for a company that made semiconductor process equipment, our engineers and technicians were constantly connecting and disconnecting DB-25 connectors attached to cables that connected control boards to electromechanical modules such as wafer spinners and cassette elevators. Before shipping a machine, all of those cables needed to be screwed down to keep them from falling out.

Today, I still use VGA computer monitors with 15-pin D-Sub connectors. Whenever I have to swap out a computer, I must reach behind it and turn the plastic thumbscrews that hold the connectors in place. The other option is to not use the thumbscrews and hope that the pins and shells themselves will hold the connectors in place. There should be a better way.

Enter the D-Sub PushPull connector housing from Harting. Available for 9-pin, 15-pin, and 25-pin sizes, the PushPull connector housing sets provide pins that you screw into the mating connector’s threaded sockets. Once you attach the pins and assemble the housing and mating pins to your cables, you simply connect the cable connector to its mating connector on your board the chassis panel. That’s helpful in situations such as for bench test or even production test situations where you routinely attach and detach cables.

Frequently attaching and detaching cables means you run the risk of damaging them if you’re not careful. Fortunately, the PushPull housings also provide strain relief that minimizes damage to the connections inside. The page linked above contains two short videos, one shows the strain relief while the other shows how to assemble the housing to your D-Sub connector to make a cable assembly.

The PushPull connector housing is one of those things that makes you wonder, “Why didn’t anyone think of this many years ago?”

Remember, the D-Sub connectors are not “DB” connectors. They are actually DA-9, DB-25, and DE-15. Don’t believe it, see D-sub connectors: Everyone speaks of them incorrectly.