SamtecCompliantPinTermination

Specifications



©Samtec,Inc. IPG@samtec.com

+1‐800‐726‐8329 Date:September10,2013 Page1



Samtecofferscompliantpinleads,also

knownintheconnectorindustryaspressfit

leads,onselectproductseries.(SeeFigure1)

Theconnectoristerminated,orprocessed,

bypressingitontotheprintedcircuitboard

(PCB).Suchaleadisdesignedtocreateagas

tightinterferencefitwith

aproperlysized

plated‐through‐hole(PTH).Thisenableslow

temperature,solder‐lessprocessingforthe

connector.AllSamteccompliantpinleads

are“eyeoftheneedle”geometries.Eyeof

theneedlegeometrieshavebeenutilizedfor

over30years.Specialtoolingisrequiredto

terminatetheconnector,anditis

referenced

onthespecificSamtecproduct’sPrint.



SamteccompliantpinproductsaredesignedtoworkwithaminimumthicknessPCB.Theminimum 

thicknessisdefinedintheProductSpecificationorontheFootprintDrawingforthatspecificSamtec

product.Itisnotnecessaryfor

the“eye”tobecenteredin

the

PCB,onlythatitbeseatedtoa

certaindepth.(SeeFigure2)

PCBthicknessesgreaterthan

theminimum areallowedas

longasthePTHconstruction��

tolerancesareheldinthe

regioninwhichthecompliant

geometryoperates.



Figure2

Figure1

SamtecCompliantPinTermination

Specifications



©Samtec,Inc. IPG@samtec.com

+1‐800‐726‐8329 Date:September10,2013 Page2



CaremustbetakenwiththickerPCBstoensurethat“hourglassing”doesnotoccurintheregionof

operation.(SeeFigure3)Backdrilling,apracticetocontrolcapacitivecoupling,isacceptablewith

compliantpinproducts,anditfurtherillustratesthepointofmaintainingholeconstructiontolerances

onlyin

theregionofoperation(SeeFigure4).



Itispossibleforcompliantpinproductstobeover

insertedinPCBsthatfailtomeettheminimumPCB

thicknesscriteria.Theproductshouldnotbeusedwhen

thecenterofthecompliantregionextendspastthePCB

bottomsurface.(SeeFigure

5)

StrictadherencetoPTHconstructiondatais

recommendedtoensureproperterminationand

functionofthecompliantregion.Figure6isan

exampleofsuchdataforSamtec’sSEARAY™��

SEAMPSeries.MinimumPCBrequirementscan

bearesultofexcessivelyhighcompliantloads

thatgeneratestresslevelsthatcanfracture

a

PCB.Thiscanoccureventhoughthethickness

allowsproperpositioningoftheeyeofthe

needleinthePCB.

Figure3

Figure4

Figure5

Figure6