Harwin’s T-Contact enters distribution network

Following the release of its narrow-pitch T-Contact offering last year, Harwin has now secured supply chain support from leading distributors Digi-Key, Mouser and TTI. Intended for incorporation into Harwin’s flagship Datamate series, each T-Contact makes use of an innovative 6-finger mechanical design, which has been machined out of a single piece of Beryllium Copper.

Consequently, these compact and lightweight female contacts are able to deliver up to 8.5A in a 2mm pitch high-reliability connector – thereby boosting the current carrying performance of the previous generation of Datamate contacts by 250% and setting a new benchmark for the industry as a whole.

In addition to its elevated conductive properties, Beryllium Copper exhibits considerably greater spring performance than conventional connector contact materials (such as brass or phosphor bronze).

Consequently, Harwin’s T-Contacts are able to endure 1000 mating cycles.

Thanks to their gold plating, they have heightened levels of operational robustness ­– with a working temperature range of -55°C to +125°C, 100G shock resistance and vibrational resilience of 40G (390m/s²) for 6 hours. This means that they are suitable for deployment in even the most uncompromising of application environments.

“The longstanding relationships that we have with Digi-Key, Mouser and TTI have been instrumental in the company’s continued growth ­– enabling us to address key markets all over the world,” states Giorgio Potenza, Strategic Market Manager at Harwin. “Now, through the assistance of these highly-valued distribution partners, and the extensive commercial reach that they command, we can explore opportunities for our improved T-Contact-based Datamate connector portfolio in areas like unmanned vehicles, avionics and satellites.”

“The T-Contact presents a unique proposition to engineers. Because of our proprietary one-piece design, the constituent materials can be significantly thicker, thus reducing the overall contact resistance and increasing conductivity, as well as allowing enhanced thermal properties to be benefited from,” adds Ridhwan Islam, Field Applications Engineer, Harwin.