Written by Gary Nelson, Sales & Marketing Manager- Device Connections.
The world is becoming more electrified, as we strive towards a carbon free sustainable future, and at Phoenix Contact we are continually developing new innovative connectivity solutions from our Device Connections (DC) product ranges.
Join us at PCB Design and Manufacturing Live on March 24th at the British motor museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire and talk to our DC product management team about how we can help you with your specific project needs.
Our wide portfolio consists of PCB terminal blocks & connectors, high IP rated products suitable for outdoor, harsh environments and renewable energy applications and a large selection of electronic enclosures customisable to house your designs.
Written by Chantelle Lane, Product Manager- Device Connections
Welcome to the last DC blog of 2021.
As this is my first ever blog I’d like to use this time to give you all a brief introduction of myself – although many of you may know me already, albeit maybe only via phone or email! My name is Chantelle Lane and I’ve been with Phoenix Contact for 11 years. I’ve had numerous job roles within the company, starting as an apprentice processing orders at the beginning of 2011 and became part of the DC team in 2015 as internal technical support and customer services, looking after all of the DC customers from an internal point of view and the external sales team – who need more looking after than our customers!
Written by Karl Fazakerley, Product Manager- Device Connections
In this blog I would like to bring your attention to our Finalist in the Electronics Industry Awards 2021 – SPT MODULAR PCB TERMINAL BLOCKS.
Design Engineers are looking for more flexibility when designing electronic devices. They require highly individualised connection solutions and, at times, with very special requirements. With that in mind I would like to tell you more specifically about a product range which enhances our own capabilities and also benefits the design engineer. With the SPT modular PCB terminals, moving to a fully digitalised, customisable platform is our first step in this direction. In order to make the almost unlimited variance manageable and quickly available, Phoenix Contact has, for the first time, implemented a continuous digital process chain of the SPT modular- from configurator to production .
Today’s world of electronic devices have become more diverse and colourful, so to speak. The product life cycles of these new devices are becoming shorter and shorter, and with increasing technical requirements.
An example of this is the trend towards higher electrical voltages. The higher the voltage, the lower are both transmission losses and the required use of copper materials. In the areas of renewable energies, dielectric strengths of up to 1500 V are now required- in both EV and Solar industries.
At the same time, the newly developed devices are becoming more compact (by no means more expensive), but the ease of installation and connection is important.
With the particularly flexible product architecture of the SPT modular line, Phoenix Contact offers the possibility of adapting PCB terminals specifically to the design and technical requirements of the device. So, for example, the dielectric strength of each individual connection terminal can be individually defined by inserting spacers at any point. In this way, the above-mentioned dielectric strength of 1500 V can also be achieved.
On request, even hybrid blocks are available in which different terminal sizes are combined in one block. This saves up to two manual assembly processes in PCB production.
To blend in visually with the device-Design and, at the same time, facilitate device installation, each individual element can be coloured with a choice of 25 different colours. Thanks to the proven and advanced push-in technology, the actual conductor connection is efficient, safe and error-free.
The configurator serves as a control for the downstream processes. It can be operated intuitively, and it guides the user through the various options as part of the configuration logic. The 3D visualised configuration is fast and fluid. When configuration is completed, all article data is available.
Just like you were shopping on Amazon, more and more industrial customers are starting to use online ordering options for components. So far, however, this has been used almost exclusively for “catalogue goods” like articles without any customer-specific characteristics. With SPT modular, Phoenix Contact goes one step further: As soon as a logged-in customer has completed the described configuration process and placed the article in the shopping cart, it is pronounced in the background in the IT subsystems and made orderable.
For the efficient and error-free control of variant production, a certain degree of digitisation as well as automation is indispensable, especially when implementing special customer requirements, sources of error can be effectively avoided by the “human factor”. The order from the above process arrives as a digital production order in the paperless smart factory.
The digital chain must not break off after delivery to the customer, especially with a varied article. For this reason, there is a QR code on every PCB terminal. If you read it, you will be redirected to a technical article detail page where you will find all technical information. The QR code is an important element to close the gap between the physical and the digital world.
What began as a vision with buzzwords such as Industry 4.0 and digitisation has long since arrived and established itself in industrial business. The SPT modular configurable PCB terminals make an important contribution to the electrification and digitisation of many areas of life such as industry, infrastructure and buildings due to their individuality and diverse application possibilities.
Written by Duncan Nicol, Sales & Marketing Manager- Device Connections
What is Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) and why is it so important for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)?
SPE is the new secure Ethernet protocol using just two wire cabling and is set to become the new standard for the IIoTs. Ethernet has been the leading communications protocol in LAN applications since the 1980s. The applications have been far reaching and critical to the rise in communication networks the world over.
Written by Gary Nelson, Senior Product Manager- Device Connections
When you’re looking for a cable assembly to be a specific length, a printed circuit terminal block to be marked or you want to create an electronics enclosure solution where do you start?
As a design engineer looking for interconnect and enclosure products you sometimes need something a bit different to suit your project. It may be a case of simply changing the colour of a printed circuit board (PCB) terminal block to help differentiate it from others or possibly having numbers or letters marked on the surface to help clearly show wiring positions. With electronics enclosures you may be looking to have holes milled to accommodate data ports or LEDs and you could be looking for printing perhaps with a company logo.
Written by Duncan Nicol, Sales & Marketing Manager- Device Connections
During these unprecedented times, the DC team have been busy hand-picking products with specific applications in mind and we thought is was about time we shared our findings. So, here are a few applications you may be interested in and solutions from our 2020 highlights.
If you are really interested, why not click here to find out more and request a sample, delivered free to your door.
Written by Brian Booth, Field Sales Engineer, North – Device Connections
Firstly, Happy
Monday!
My name is Brian
Booth and I have been working at Phoenix Contact for the last 6 years
(considerably longer in the Connector and Emech world generally!)
I work with the DC Division (Device Connections) and I manage technical and commercial sales within my area which covers Scotland down to Staffs and all points East and West.
Written by Gary Nelson, Senior Product Manager- Device Connections
With product catalogues becoming a thing of the past the ability to find products online needs to be simple and effective, not a challenge. So is there an easy way to narrow your search?
Written by Duncan Nicol, Sales & Marketing Manager- Device Connections
PCB designers often complain about the lack of space when laying out a PCB. The overall dimension of the device has often been defined right at the outset and before the circuit design is complete. Therefore finding extra space on the PCB is a very welcome and valuable asset.
Written by Gary Nelson, Senior Product Manager- Device Connections.
With temperatures rising and thunderclouds forming our weather systems create challenging environments for externally based electronic devices so how do you ensure they still function?
We all hear of global warming in the media almost daily and, whether you believe the hype or not, none of us can deny that our UK weather has a tendency to change dramatically very quickly. As people, we can change the layers of clothing we wear to compensate for temperature changes and it’s a worldwide commonly used myth that all British people carry an umbrella everywhere, so the constant rainfall doesn’t stop us going about our daily lives. All this is fine for us, albeit the umbrella reference really is a myth, however externally mounted electronic devices have no choice but to continue to function whatever the weather.
