Written by Karl Fazakerley, Product Manager- Device Connections
I am going to keep this blog short and sweet as I don’t think I need to be the one telling the story. I think I will let the products do the talking itself.
This blog is all about celebration and as a company Phoenix Contact is proud of its past and welcomes the future. COMBICON, the world’s largest portfolio of PCB connection technology, is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Continue readingWritten 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 Karl Fazakerley, Product Manager- Device Connections
A building automation system (BAS) is a network designed to connect and automate various functions inside a building. In your own homes, if you enjoy telling your Alexa off for playing the wrong music, then you know Alexa gives you the ability to interconnect your heating, lighting, cameras, and various other interfaces through one set of controls. Albeit it far more complex, the same principle applies in commercial and industrial settings.
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!
Continue readingThe world as we know it is changing, with our politicians meeting at COP26 to discuss climate change right now, and with it comes new challenges for future-proof connectivity solutions for the all electric society.
In this new world we find ourselves in, renewable energy is becoming a more commonly used source of power generation and, with it, the need to store energy has never been more relevant than it is today. We currently create a lot of excess energy from wind turbines and solar farms for example, which is wasted if it’s not stored and it’s only in recent years that energy storage solutions have become available. The advent of these storage systems will not only help to ensure we have reliable renewable energy sources that can power our homes today, we will also have sustainable energy for future generations.
Continue readingWritten 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.
For more information, contact Karl on 07919005153 or email kfazakerley@phoenixcontact.com
Written by Gary Nelson, Senior Product Manager- Device Connections
The chances are that you either already have or are on the allocation list to be upgraded to smart meters within your home. This means you no longer need to supply regular meter readings to the energy provider as they obtain this directly from the meter itself. You also get a display monitor that shows you how much energy you are using at any time of the day and contains historical data about your usages, so you can see when you are using the most energy. The bill you receive however is still based on an estimated annual usage and not based on your actual usage each day, week, or month.
Written by Duncan Nicol, Sales & Marketing Manager- Device Connections
Solutions from the PCB to the field
Designing solutions with power electronics comes with many challenges including how to route the power from within the device to the outside world. Safety, heat loss, component size and conductor management are just some of the challenges to consider.
Voltage is a key factor in managing some of the challenges. In the example of a step-up transformer, when the voltage increases, the current decreases but the power remains the same. The important factor here is that for the same power output the conductor size can be reduced if the voltage is increased, reducing losses in the process.
Continue readingWritten by Duncan Nicol, Sales & Marketing Manager- Device Connections
Back in my childhood I recall being envious of my cousin’s petrol remote control car, which compared with my humble battery model, was fast and satisfyingly noisy. But looking back, I was well ahead of the curve with my battery RC. Now with a full-size battery car sitting on the drive, it seems like the right choice and the future of mobility.
Of course, one of the real benefits of having an electric car is the ability to charge overnight when energy prices are low and wake up every morning to a fully charged car. In the future it will also be possible to sell some of the car’s battery capacity back to the grid when demand is high and make money in the process.
Continue readingWritten by Gary Nelson, Senior Product Manager- Device Connections
When you think about energy storage what’s the first thing that comes to mind?
I would guess that your first thought will be about batteries as we are all familiar with what they do for us in our everyday lives whether for our TV remote controls, smoke detectors or re-chargeable devices. I suspect, however, that none of us ever expected to see them being used to supply us with power for our cars and electricity for our homes.
Continue reading