A printed circuit board (PCB) connector is used to connect to printed circuit boards with electrical components. This would include computers, servers, digital cameras, televisions and telecommunication devices. A PCB connector receives manufactured electrical components separately and then interconnects those separate components with the overall circuit structure. It is simply designed with various amounts of connectors depending on the connector type. PCB connectors consist of one-piece receptacle or a two-piece plug and jack.
Surface Mount
A surface mount connector has horizontal or vertical headers and receptacles. These are designed as board-to-board or wire-to-board. They can be mounted to a surface for security instead of being smoldered on. They are usually mounted by stakes, screws or glue. Surface mount connectors can only cover a small area because they cannot efficiently hold up to outside forces.
Two Piece
With this connector the printed-circuit board foils go to the edge of the board and mounts into the connector receptacle. This type of connector may have a single or double sided board foil connections. It can be polarized by a metal or plastic insertion key. These keys fit into the notches cut into the circuit board itself. The plug and socket---a two piece---connector is more expensive than other PCB connectors but require less preparation to the circuit board. Since a two piece connector can have multiple contacts, it decreases sensitivity to vibration.
Backplane
A backplane is attached to a motherboard through smoldering or by using compliant pins. Compliant gas-tight pins connect through plated holes on the motherboard. To handle a large of amount of signals in the covered area a split backplane may also be added. This in effect divides the motherboard into two motherboards, producing subsequent daugtherboards. This division often improves performance of the PCB connector. However, in the case that a daughterboard must be replaced, the split motherboards must be dissembled in the process.
