louvered contact band for every fprm of connector design

louvered contacts for sockets, pins and flat conntors such as busbars

What is Louver_tron contact band and what are the benefits of multiple contact points in a connector?

The basic common principle of all Louver_tron contact strips is to provide multiple contact points in a very dense arrangement of consecutively sprung contact elements that are arranged in parallel.

Louver_tron is a product family within the weftron product range of electrical contact band and electrical contact strip designs.

When inserted between precision machined metal parts they will provide precisely defined spring loaded contact points. For high performance electrical connections a high number of contact points is obviously a key requirement. Furthermore  the physical width, thickness and surface treatment of the required contact bands need to be considered. Therefore weftron contact bands with dense arrangements of contact points are available in several variations. Depending on the application and performance requirements different weftron louvered contacts or contact lamella may be selected.

The basic common principle of all Louver_tron contact strips is to provide multiple contact points in a very dense arrangement of parallel, consecutively arranged sprung contact elements. In absence of a defined technical term, the individual sprung contact elements are commonly compared with similar looking technical elements. Hence also referred to as contact lamella, louvered contacts or crown springs. In the final application these multiple current points have significant advantages over contact systems with less or with only one or two current paths.

Any contact system and hence any connector will cause a certain resistance in an electrical system. In critical and demanding applications it is essential to assure the least restriction to current flow. So the main design inherent advantage of Louver_tron louvered contact band is easily explained with Ohm’s law. In a system of electrical resistors arranged in parallel, the total resistance is a function of:
(average resistance per resistor) / (number of resistors)

So the resistance calculation of a contact system using Louver_tron is:
(average contact resistance of individual louvered contact) / (number of louvered contacts).
Find out how you can easily integrate your own design of a High Power Connector or Low Loss Connector using Louver_tron louvered contact bands and add value to your overall design here…..

Contact Band for DIY High Power connectors

Louver_tron louvered contacts add value to your design by allowing to integrate a High Power - Low Loss Connector right into your product.

Having to resort to off the shelf componets for an otherwise awsome design can be frustrating. The only reason to do so would probably be to avoid tooling costs. So let's see how weftron Louver_tron contact band may help to make your design awsome again.

No connector is the best solution

In an ideal situation and for system performance it is best to avoid electrical connectors wherever possible. Since that is not always possible the next best option would be to bolt two conductors together. However, as easy and safe as this sounds even a bolted electrical connection is not as trivial as it may appear. With several parameters to be observed in different environments and especially at high currents.

What if you need a connector....

The function of electrical connectors is dependent on a multitude of parameters. The simplest form would be to have a hole in one conductor and to push a conducting pin of a matching diameter into this hole. Simple yes but it would not work for very long. Many papers and books have been written about electrical high power connectors. It is not the intention of this writing to go into such scientific details. However, most all separable high power electrical connectors have one thing in common.

Basically a certain level of spring force between the mating components is required. These connecting components can be of circular shape as in a - pin and socket- connector.  Or in a flat shape such as in -fork and blade- type connectors. For example like in busbar type connectors. Louver_tron contact strip is suited for both. The required spring force in connectors depends on their application. There is no good or bad in spring force. High spring forces in electrical connections have advantages and issues just as low spring forces will have. With weftron louvered contacts the spring force may be optimally adopted to the application by choosing optimized dimensional parameters for the mating connector pair.

So lets go back to the example of drilling a hole in a conducting metal component and wanting to connect a mating pin. The number of points where pin and socket connect will not be definable or repeatable. There will be no spring force in such a “connector” which is required to compensate for thermal, mechanical, environmental influences. lt will not work reliably or not at all after a certain time.

=> weftron Contact Band for DIY High Power Connector / Low Loss Connector.

weftron Louvered contacts will provide this missing spring element for such a self designed high power connector. And it will provide a maximum of precisely definable contact points between the two conductors. When observing certain design parameters for socket and pin an excellent high current connector with very low contact resistance may be produced from highly conducting metals such as copper, aluminum or brass. The same holds true for producing flat high power connectors such as busbar connectors.

The same high current - low resistance multiple contact spring element may be applied in such a flat connector systems. In fact, connectors using weftron louvered contacts are far superior to most other high power connector systems available in the market. Louvered contact cages are used in highly critical environments. They are used in medical devices, in aerospace, military, in automotive and in - power transmission & distribution - applications. The property of very low contact resistance as mentioned in the previous post on "What is a Louver_tron contact band?" allows for very high electrical power connections. 5000A and more for example in -power transmission and distribution- applications, as well as very low losses in test and measuring equipment or in medical devices.

 

contact band for busbar and for circular connectors

press in louvered contact socket for power take off in busbars

Louver_tron contact band adds value in product design

High Current Connectors are a complex subject and among several interdependent parameters, the number of contact points and reliable contact forces are key elements to electrical connectors.

weftron Louvered contacts enable product designers to add value by making High Current Connectors part of their design.

Electrical connectors are a complex subject. Among several interdependent parameters, the number of contact points and reliable contact forces are key elements to electrical connectors.
With weftron Louver_tron contact band a product designer will be given the missing link. Everything else is standard dimensional specifying of conducting cooper or brass components. All the critical parameters that make a connector function are covered by weftron.com contact band. Of course, weftron will also assist in specifying those mechanical design parameters.

Basic procedure for design integration:

Two machined mating conducting surfaces are machined according to weftron recommendation. Subsequently weftron Louver_tron contact band is inserted inbetween those surfaces. Thereafter the design inherent features of weftron contact band will take over the rest that is needed for a High Performance - High Current Connector. A very dense arrangement of individually sprung contact elements will provide multiple contact points. More current paths per footprint than most other contact systems available on the market. How a multitude of low resistance contact points arranged in parallel benefit the total resistance of a contact system is quickly understood when remembering Ohm’s law. So in fact the key feature of weftron contact band is extremely low connection resistance. A feature that is very key to High Current Connectors.  But also to other applications depending on low electrical losses such as in medical or testing equipment.
As there is a toss of benefits between higher and lower contact forces, the contact force of Louver_tron contact band is easily adjusted. This is done by altering the dimensional contact chamber layout in order to suit the application’s requirement. The rest is up to creativity in product design. So instead of adopting appearance and performance to “off the shelf connectors” Louver_tron contact band enables the economical integration of High Performance Connectors right into the product.

rotating high current contact performing @ 20kA

rotating high current contact performing @ 20kA

High Power Rotary Contact Applications from 100A to 10.000A and Higher
with weftron's Louvered Contact Band

The task at hand for this High Power Rotary Contact was to transfer a current load of >5000A into a bi-directionally rotating copper shaft. Extended field usage have prooven the succesfull accomplishment.Electrical connectors are a complex subject. Adding the requirement of a high power rotary contact feature contributes even more to the complexity of such a desig. Among several interdependent parameters, the number of contact points and reliable contact forces are key elements to electrical connectors.

With weftron Louver_tron contact band a product designer will be given the missing link. Everything else is standard dimensional specifying of conducting cooper or brass components. All the critical parameters that make a connector function are covered by weftron.com contact band. Of course, weftron will also assist in specifying those mechanical design parameters. Two machined mating conducting surfaces are machined according to weftron recommendation. Subsequently weftron Louver_tron contact band is inserted inbetween those surfaces. Thereafter the design inherent features of weftron contact band will take over the rest that is needed for a High Performance - High Current Connector. Or, as in the particular application, a High Power Rotary Contact solution.

Multiple current paths for high performance

A very dense arrangement of individually sprung contact elements will provide multiple contact points. More current paths per footprint than most other contact systems available on the market. How a multitude of low resistance contact points arranged in parallel benefit the total resistance of a contact system is quickly understood when remembering Ohm’s law. So in fact, the key feature of weftron contact band is extremely low connection resistance.

A feature that is very key to High Current Connectors. But also to other applications depending on low electrical losses such as in medical or testing equipment. The special feature of High Power Rotary Contacts for example, are beneficial in the design of machines working on the basis of electrical induction or in robotic applications.As there is a toss of benefits between higher and lower contact forces, the contact force of Louver_tron contact band is easily adjusted. This is done by altering the dimensional contact chamber layout in order to suit the application’s requirement. As for Example in High Power Rotary Contact applications. The rest is up to creativity in product design. So instead of adopting appearance and performance of a product design to “off the shelf connectors” Louver_tron contact band enables the economical integration of High Performance Connectors right into the product.

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