Fischer Connectors continues to push the boundaries of technological innovation in rugged miniaturisation, high-speed data transmission, sealing, and wearability.

Committed to making its customers’ lives easier, the company is launching a breakthrough ‘plug and use’ connectivity technology on 11th June 2018 called the Fischer FreedomTM Series, as well as its first product, the Fischer LP360TM.

The Fischer FreedomTM Series revolutionises wearable connectivity, as it meets design engineers’ urgent needs for designing and connecting portable and body-worn applications quickly and easily, thanks to three breakthrough technology innovations.

The Fischer FreedomTM Series is ideal for a wide variety of portable and body-worn applications within markets such as defence, security, medical, industrial and civil engineering.

Key features of the Fischer FreedomTM Series:

  • Mating – no key code allows for 3600 mating freedom
  • Locking – ball-locking mechanism with sealing and variable pre-defined force (patent pending)
  • Materials – specially designed pins on the plug are IP68 sealed with a membrane (patent pending)

Thanks to these innovations, the Fischer FreedomTM Series facilitates integration, maximises usability and optimises cable management for a wide variety of applications within markets such as defence, security, medical, industrial and civil engineering.

“Our core mission at Fischer Connectors is to make our customers’ lives easier with a collaborative approach and tailored connectivity solutions.

“The creation of the Fischer FreedomTM Series is evidence that our mission actually strengthens our customers’ abilities to design for their markets. Reimagining connectivity like we’ve shown in the new Fischer Freedom™ Series allows those customers to turn their ambitious ideas into solutions that fit their world and help them break into new markets as well.”

Threefold usability

The new Fischer FreedomTM Series and the Fischer LP360TM set a new standard in usability, which is threefold. The new product line makes end users’ lives easier by reducing cognitive, weight and reliability burdens thanks to:

  • Easy mating – Mating the Fischer LP360TM becomes as intuitive as buttoning up a vest, without compromising on the high-performance reliability required in harsh environments
  • Easy cleaning – The new connector is fully cleanable (both plug and receptacle), and is easy-to-use and maintain with a faster set up and improved durability. The Fischer FreedomTM Series also makes the life of design engineers easier, as it meets their need to easily and seamlessly integrate connectors – with or without cables – into multifunctional portable or body-worn devices.
  • Easy integration. Thanks to its compact and low-profile design, the Fischer LP360TM is easy to integrate into clothing with devices and subsystems. Via the panel-mounted plug interface, cables can even be removed completely, and the connector can be directly integrated into the housing of such devices as a camera, a sensor, a light and a GPS.

Optimised cable management

The Fischer FreedomTM Series optimises cable management with an extremely reliable connectivity ecosystem.

As the Fischer LP360TM has no key code, it offers 3600 mating freedom, meaning it can be plugged and routed in any direction, ensuring that the cable can always go straight to the device. No more twists and turns means shorter cables in the equipment body-worn by dismounted soldiers, healthcare professionals or patients, civil engineers, surveyors and operators, and law enforcement officers and security guards.

In certain applications, the need for cable can be eliminated completely.

Shared data and power bus opens up new opportunities in smart clothing and IoT

The usability and integrability of the Fischer FreedomTM Series connectivity solutions contribute to making wearable devices smaller, faster and smarter and, ultimately, to making high-performance and smart clothing a reality.

The Fischer FreedomTM Series enables design engineers to build an intelligent vest, which works as a hub with multiple portable and body-worn devices connected to a shared data and power bus. Clutter is reduced and usability increased, making equipment lighter and faster to set up. These benefits also open up further opportunities in the Internet of Things (IoT).

Director of product management at Fischer Connectors Wim Vanheertum explains: ”The Fischer FreedomTM Series offers a unique connectivity solution that has been thought of and designed entirely from the outset for the benefit of our customers.

“It fulfils, in a unique way, the need for usability and easy integration that our customers, the design engineers, constantly express, as well as our customers’ customers, those who use the applications they have designed.

“Our breakthrough lightweight, compact, extremely reliable and intuitive solution is easy to integrate into applications operating in diverse and challenging environments, including portable and wearable electronic ecosystems delivering power and data with optimised cabling. The cable can always go in a straight line to the device, without any twists, turns and tangles.

“In certain applications, the need for cable can be eliminated completely when the plug is integrated directly into the housing of devices such as a camera, a sensor, a light, or a GPS. It offers, in that sense, the wireless (cable-free) without the hassle of the wireless and thus paves the way for further expansion into breakthrough connectivity solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT).

“The creation of a brand-new product line with breakthrough connectivity technology at its heart, as embodied by the Fischer Freedom™ Series, isn’t something that happens every day. It’s an exceptional honour for me to have managed this product development and to plan the future expansion of this new product line.”

Main features and benefits

The low-profile, rugged and versatile Fischer LP360TM is the first product in the Fischer FreedomTM Series. Its main features include:

  • Signal and power through seven contacts, up to 24AWG compatible with up to 3x 5A power and 4x 1A signal with USB 2.0 and Ethernet data protocols to receptacle. It can be panel-mounted with O-ring sealing or integrated as a wearable solution. It also has easy cabling (up to 24AWG), with or without potting, bend relief or overmolding
  • High-performance reliability – The unit has a robust stainless steel and brass design for longevity (min. 10,000 mating cycles) and is resistant to shock, vibration, torque and extreme temperatures. It is tested in line with military (MIL) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards
  • The cables are easily mated, with 360° mating freedom and optimised cable management. Blind-mate and non-magnetic ball locking with variable force (patent pending) are available, as well as emergency release unlocking
  • The unit is easy to clean, with membrane-sealed contacts (patent pending), surface contacts (no female cavity or protruding male contacts), and IP68 sealed to -20m/24h.
  • It is easily integrated and has a low profile, right-angled plug. The plug has an easy cable assembly or direct integration into the device’s housing