Panasonic Corporation 2013©
Panasonic Corporation Automation Controls Buisiness Division
industrial.panasonic.com/ac/e/
Notes on Using FPC Connectors
–7–
ACCTB13E 201306-T
• To close the lever, turn down the lever by pressing the entire
lever or both sides of the lever with fingers tips. And close the
lever completely. Be careful not to apply partial load to the lever
that may cause its deformation or destruction or lever going back
to initial position.
Close the lever completely to prevent contact failure.
• If pressure to the lever is applied unevenly, it may deform or
break the FPC. Make sure that the lever is closed completely.
Not doing so will cause a faulty connection.
• Avoid applying an excessive load to the top of the lever during
or after closing the lever. Otherwise, the terminals may be
deformed.
• When opening the lever to remove the FPC, rotate the lever to
the initial position. Do not push the lever into the FPC inlet side
and ensure that the lever will not go over the initial position;
otherwise, it may be deformed or broken.
• To open the lever, if pressure to the lever is applied unevenly,
such as to an edge only, it may deform or break.
• Do not open the lever forcefully with something sharp tool,
otherwise, the lever may be deformed.
• Remove the FPC at parallel with the lever fully opened. If the
lever is closed, or if the FPC is forcedly pulled, the product or
FPC may break.
• If a lever is accidentally detached during the handling of a
connector, do not use the connector any longer.
■ After an FPC is inserted, carefully handle it so as not to
apply excessive stress to the base of the FPC. When using
FPC with a bent condition, please pay attention to
precautions below; otherwise, in some conditions it may
cause conduction failure, connector breakage, unlocking
lever or FPC disconnection.
• Design so that a load is not applied to connector directly by
FPC bending.
• Avoid sharp FPC bending at the root of FPC insertion part.
• Design so that a load is not applied to the part of FPC bending.
• Fix the FPC if there might be a load on FPC when using the
FPC with cutout, do not apply a bending load to the cutout part
of FPC. Otherwise, it may cause FPC disconnection and
deformation since the cutout part of FPC is subjected to bending
stress.
■ Other cautions
• When coating the PC board after soldering the connector (to
prevent the deterioration of insulation), perform the coating in
such a way so that the coating does not get on the connector.
• The connectors are not meant to be used for switching.
• There is no problem on the product quality though the swelling
and the black spot, etc. might be generated in the molding parts.
Please refer to the latest product specifications when
designing your product.
FPC cutout part
