RAPID ASSEMBLY OF RUGGED CONNECTORS
By Doug Mercer, PEI-Genesis
The 48-hour connector assembly service provided by PEI-Genesis is attracting an increasing number of customers from the defence sector.
Anyone involved in specifying or purchasing military circular connectors will probably have faced, at some point, the unwelcome choice of either waiting 10-12 weeks for a manufacturer to deliver the exact part required or accepting the nearest alternative from the necessarily restricted range of products sitting on a distributor’s shelf and receiving it the next day. Neither outcome is satisfactory, and frustrated customers may be pleased to learn that there is in fact a third option.
Franchised assembling distributor PEI-Genesis – working in partnership with leading connector manufacturers such as ITT Interconnect Solutions, Amphenol, Cinch and Glenair – now provides a market-leading 48-hour connector assembly service from its European headquarters in Southampton, which means that buyers and engineers can now obtain exactly the right connector for their requirement in the shortest possible timescales.
What’s more, this exceptional service comes without the burden of minimum order quantities, as PEI-Genesis will happily assemble just one connector if that is all the customer needs. In fact, most of the 5.7 million connectors and 37,000 part numbers the company assembles each year are for order quantities of less than ten.
Founded in Philadelphia in 1946, PEI-Genesis has grown consistently over the last 60 years and is now ranked 19th in the ‘Top 75 Electronics Distributors’ in the USA. The company first established a presence in Europe in 1998, opening a state-of-the-art connector assembly facility at Basingstoke in 2004. In response to continued growth, this facility has just been relocated to a 65,000 ft2 building adjacent to Southampton Airport.
PEI-Genesis achieves its high service levels by carrying large stocks of piece-parts and using in-house developed machines to automate the connector assembly process. Between them, the company’s two assembly facilities at Southampton and South Bend, Indiana, hold a $38 million inventory of piece-parts, which can be assembled into a wide range of finished and tested connector products.
Military connectors
The latest addition to PEI’s range of military products is the VEAM PT (Pattern 105) range of military audio connectors manufactured by ITT Interconnect Solutions.
Originally designed and manufactured by TEC Electrical Components before it was acquired by ITT Industries, the VEAM PT connectors are widely used in fighting vehicles and ground-based military communications equipment such as the MoD’s Clansman and Bowman radio systems.
These multiple-contact connectors offer equipment designers a high-quality, miniature bayonet-coupling connection that is particularly suitable for applications where high reliability is a prime requirement.
Providing a lightweight yet rugged construction, the VEAM PT connectors feature aluminium shells with a choice of cadmium olive drab or green zinc cobalt plating for excellent corrosion resistance.
The connectors are available in a variety of styles with numerous contact arrangements from 2 to 61 contacts. To prevent cross plugging of adjacent connectors, they can be specified with up to five different keyway polarisations or insert orientations.
As well as fully conforming to the rigorous requirements of BS9522 F0017, the PT connectors are also compatible and fully intermateable with connectors meeting the requirements of MIL-C-26482.