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FREE…30 minutes of consultation time:  Celebrating the beginning of our 25^th year in business, APEX Electrical Interconnection Consultants LLC is offering a free 30-minute consultation session to the organizations who respond to this offer by May 31st, 2023.  APEX has worked with over 200 world-leading technology companies.  Why not take advantage of this limited time offer?  Here’s the link to our website’s “Contact Us” page to get things started:  http://connectorconsultants.com/contact-us:  Thanks for helping us celebrate this business milestone.

It may be obvious that any component added to a circuit path makes a contribution to the overall resistance of that path. This is certainly true of a set of mating connectors having a separable interface. However, the elements making up that contribution may not be so obvious. Each of the mating connectors includes three different regions that contribute to resistance. The portion of each connector that physically touches the other is the region of Interface Resistance.

See PDF file here

Nov 23, 2020

Fretting Corrosion of Tin Contacts — A Growing Problem in the Automotive Industry

Tin and tin-based finishes are less expensive contact finish solution compared to precious metals, but it comes with its own set of problems. This paper is a concise review of the current problems with use of the tin finish contacts in automotive electronics. It briefly describes the background of the issues, and points to potential solutions.

See the PDF file here

APEX EIC, LLC Statement Regarding the COVID-19 Pandemic Situation

To comply with State COVID-19 guidelines APEX experts are currently working from home. You may contact us as normal, either by phone, by email, or through this website’s Contact Us page.

Until these restrictions are lifted we cannot have face-to-face meetings. In the interim we can arrange a remote meeting (via such apps as ZOOM, or another program).

We also work remotely with test laboratories and can arrange for remote test monitoring if such is necessary.

Our consulting capacity is not affected in any significant way by this situation, so APEX remains ready to provide the assistance to you require.

APEX IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS AND READY TO HELP YOU!

APEX consultants have once again been named as inventors on a patent granted for work done for a client.The patent for CONNECTORS FOR ELECTRICALLY ACTIVE GRID was issued to Worthington Armstrong Venture.

As is common, all patents resulting from APEX work are assigned to the APEX client commissioning the work.

APEX consultants are listed as inventors on no less than 12 patents assigned to various clients.

If you have need for new and unique creativity in developing new products, please contact APEX to take advantage of their consultants which have more than 300 patents issued listing them as the inventors.

APEX also provides patent assessments and serves as expert witness during infringement suits and reexaminations.

Aug 10, 2016

New educational presentation by APEX posted

Apex Electrical Interconnection Consultants, LLC (APEX) continues to publish short educational presentations using the available social media channels, specifically the YouTube. The presentation by George Bedorf (APEX Principal Consultant) on problem solving (here is the link to it “Problem Solving 8D”) was posted on 8/5/13 and accumulated several thousand views. A new presentation by Edward Bock (APEX Senior Consultant), “Typical Connector Failure Modes and Mechanisms“, was recently posted on YouTube. It was narrated by Ron Locati, APEX Principal Consultant.

Jun 10, 2016

Navigating the Connector Design Review Process

There are usually several Design Reviews conducted throughout the New Product Development cycle for electrical connectors. These reviews occur when the product is ready to pass from one of the several development phases to another. The primary purpose of a design review is to evaluate the ability of the outcome of design and development activities to meet requirements. The Design Review also provides a forum for all those involved in some aspect of the new product, to voice his or her opinions, concerns and approvals. This paper describes some of the topics required for the development and release of a typical new connector, such as one having stamped and formed contacts assembled into a polymeric housing. .

http://www.connectorsupplier.com//navigating-the-connector-design-review-process/

Jun 10, 2016

Patent Litigation Concerns and Considerations

If you are feeling secure because an exclusive design or end product contains various unique and patented components, you may want to think again Patent infringement litigation is on the rise. Companies are increasingly willing to enforce their patents, as noted by the following news clips:

“The number of new patent complaints increased by nearly 15 percent in 2015 over the year before, and intellectual property attorneys say they are being pushed to take on more work as law firms stretch their resources to adapt to the influx of litigation”.

“The record number of patent suits filed in (one Federal District) has created such an intense workload that it is putting a squeeze on the judicial system, as the number of patent suits filed there in 2015 shot up 77 percent over 2014”.

http://www.connectorsupplier.com/patent-litigation-concerns-and-considerations/

Mar 25, 2016

CCSI: Connector Crime Scene Investigation

Failure analysis investigation requires at least two ingredients: experts and technical means. This article briefly touches on the current expert situation in the US, particularly the effects of globalization. It also describes some of the technical methods used in failure investigation, starting with simple inspection, often aided by an optical microscope, and progressing to more advanced techniques, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray radiography. In case of SEM it describes three main modes of this technology – secondary electron imaging (the most common), back-scatter electron imaging, and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. For radiography, it starts with regular high-magnification radiography that allows internal investigation of increasingly smaller parts, and proceeds to a full computer-aided tomography on a small and down to microscopic scale (micro-CT).

http://www.connectorsupplier.com/ccsi-connector-crime-scene-investigation/

Dec 30, 2015

Managing Connector Design Changes

There are many possible motivations for considering and implementing changes to the design of a connector. Typically these would include:

•Enhance performance when requested by a specific customer or the general marketplace. (Competitive performance)

•Solve an unexpected problem with the connector design that was found after release of the connector to the marketplace.

•Reduce the connector manufacturing cost (Price competition)

•Materials used to make the connector are being discontinued by the supplier and must be replaced by an alternate material.

http://www.connectorsupplier.com/managing-connector-design-changes/