A connector has many different meanings, beginning with a plain and simple electrical connector, right through to the highway connector. We take a closer look at the different portrayals of the former, namely an electrical connector.
An electrical connector can be quite simply described as a permanent electrical joint between two wires and or devices. There are hundreds of different connector types available, a majority of which fall into the category of an electrical connector. The computer field too, makes extensive use of this variety of connector, and the computing name given to this particular product, is a physical interface.
Some of the more commonly sighted and used electrical connectors are, the 8P8C connector, the D-subminiature connector, and the USB connector. The 8P8C connector is a modular entity with eight positions, all incorporating conductors, and is recognized for its use in Ethernet, and on CAT5 cables. The D-subminiature connector is used in fields such as computers and telecommunications, and is commonly sighted on the RS232 serial port on IBM compatible computers and modems. Last but not the least comes the USB connector. This Universal Serial Bus electrical connector is widely used on PCs and many other computer related devices. There are several types of USB physical interface available, the one most widely used being, the (male) series “A” plug on peripherals, when the cable is fixed to the peripheral. A few other electrical connectors, which are worth a mention here, are the Audio and video connector, the Radio frequency connector, and the Power connector.
It is of critical importance for an electrical connector, to exhibit the twin qualities of low contact resistance and high insulation value. Besides the above mentioned characteristics, it must also be reliable, a point which is absolutely vital in the electrical field. A majority of connector manufacturers design their products keeping this in mind. They concentrate on delivering a compact product which is easily identifiable, as also one which is durable in nature.