All electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) relies on connectors—small plastic sections that join various electrical components—to ensure products function properly. External connectors include those used for power, and devices such as USB or HDMI ports which allow devices to “communicate,” as in the case of a printer and computer. Internal connectors such as those used in computer disk drives or servers, link
printed wiring boards, wires, cables and other EEE components. Hundreds of different types of connectors are used in applications in virtually every industry sector. They are essential to the proper functioning of all electrical devices and appliances from mobile phones, laptops and household appliances such as washing machines to high-end products, including medical instruments, sensors and communications systems.
Increasingly high-powered and smaller electrical and electronic products, coupled with the increase in the quantity of EEE in homes and the workplace, make fire safety a key issue.
Electrical connectors, therefore, must meet strict U.S. and/or international flammability standards. Typically, these requirements are met by adding flame retardants to the material formulations. However, depending on the material being used,
not all flame retardants act in the same way. The flame retardant solutions used in electrical connectors not only must provide fire resistant characteristics to the plastics materials, but also must allow the end products to retain their complex performance specifications.
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