By Jody Muelaner Contributed By DigiKey's North American Editors
A wide array of connectors are used in industrial applications to take the electrical power, sensor signals, and control data on cables through their junctions out of and into automation components. What constitutes a heavy-duty connector (sometimes abbreviated HDC in connector product names) depends on the application … so is somewhat relative. That said, there’s a distinct difference between ruggedized industrial connectors and those light-duty RJ and IEC connectors found in clean indoor automation applications involving basic Ethernet and light power. Heavy-duty connectors can feature greater overall robustness as well as enhanced ingress protection, reduced flammability, wide operating temperature, interlocks, earth shielding, or simply more reliable connection with positive locking. Heavy-duty cable glands versus connectors Cable glands (sometimes called cord grips) are mostly mechanical components that encircle cables as the latter pass through the boundaries of industrial control panels as well as other enclosures,
connectors, and controller bodies made of sheet metal and hard plastic. Cable glands serve three purposes. They:
■ Secure the cable
■ Prevent cable chafing and other wear ■ Provide a seal around the cable section to protect against moisture ingress and siphoning into the enclosure
The way cable glands anchor cables prevents damage to
electrical contacts should the cable be tugged or otherwise disturbed. Cable glands also prevent the sheaths of cables from rubbing against the sharp rims of holes through the enclosure as the gland bodies fill and flare out around these edges. Without cable glands, cables subject to even the slightest movement could be quickly sliced by the sharp edges of enclosure holes until their outer insulation is completely sawn through … and the cable cores short out. In contrast with these cable glands (that encircle cables), are connectors that terminate cables — and generally allow for more convenient disconnection and reconnection
we get technical
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