OMRON Technology Review Vol.3 | OMRON Electronic Components Web

-- First of all, tell us the background to the development of the world’s thinnest FPC Connector
Henmi:
The Ultra-Low Profile FPC Connector is used on circuit boards in mobile devices such as mobile phones and MP3 players. With the reduction in size of these devices, the mounting board has correspondingly become smaller and more compact. Currently the majority of FPC Connectors are 0.9 mm thick. Chip components on the circuit board, however, are becoming smaller than that, so it’s not reasonable if the connector alone takes up 0.9 mm.
Recognizing this, we decided on a concept to reduce the thickness to 0.5 mm straight away rather than reducing it gradually. There were unresolved questions as to whether 0.5 mm was an appropriate thickness, and whether the customers’ needs were met at 0.5 mm, so we could not justify starting development at that stage.
-- So what started the development?
The world’s thinnest FPC Connector
and the lead of a mechanical pencil (0.5 mm).
Henmi:
The deciding factor came from concurrent engineering with our customers.

First, we proposed the idea of the product to our mobile phone maker customers using a mock 0.5 mm product, prompting them to create a new connector configuration. At that stage, we had not considered the ease of inserting the FPC and received critical feedback that the product could not be used.
The need for a 0.5 mm connector, however, became apparent because of the initial suggestion and we received a specific request that triggered the commercialization of the product. This is the point at which we were sure that the 0.5 mm we predicted to be the future trend matched the needs of the customer.

Concurrent engineering is a continual process where every prototype will be criticized, facing higher and higher hurdles to overcome, yet trying to realize the big goal of making an uncertain trend into a clear need is great motivation.
-- What are the technical points that achieved the world's thinnest product?
Henmi:
The press work that bends the contact into a hairpin shape, the reduction in thickness of the case housing, and thin layer insulation. We were able to address these three points because there were members within the department with specialist knowledge of these areas. They contributed greatly to this achievement.
From the initial stages of the design phase to the press work, molding, and production, numerous discussions took place with the managers of each section to determine what exactly each person was to do, and at what part of the project they were to face a challenge. All of this was incorporated into a detailed design.