Elcon Products International (Fremont, CA) has expanded its Crown Edge family of modular card edge connectors by adding signal contacts to the original power modules. These connectors
now offer power and signal. According to Elcon, by adding modules with signal contacts to the Crown Edge family, there is a significant boost to the design versatility of the power interconnect system in power supply applications.
The Crown Edge connectors use Elcon's Crown Band technology configured to mate directly with a .062" (1.6 mm) thick printed circuit board edge or, for higher ratings, with a solid bus bar. Intended for power supply to backplane interconnect applications, this design eliminatwes the need for a pin connector on the power supply side, resulting in component cost savings and reduced labor. Current rating for the power contacts is 25A — UL recognized rating using a mating card with 5 oz. of copper — while the signal contacts are rated at 3A each. To achieve the current carrying capability required by the application, the design engineer can choose any combination of modules and bus together multiple power contacts or even multiple modules. Opposing contacts can be bussed or they can serve separate circuits to have power connections at different voltage levels on one side of the mating board and power return on the other. Also, sequenced mating can be achieved by designing the mating card edge with one or more setback traces (last mate), with one or more extended traces (circuit precharge and/or premate ground), or with a notch on the edge of the card. Volume pricing is less than $1.50 for the 2 segment modules and less than $2 for the 3 segment modules. These connectors are currently available.
