Flag Terminal

A type of terminal in which the tongue projects out from the side of terminal barrel, rather than from the end of the barrel.

Flame Resistance

The ability of material to not propagate flame when the source of heat is removed.

Flange

A projection that extends from or around the periphery of a connector and has holes to permit mounting the connector to a panel or to another mating connector half.

Flanged Spade Tongue Terminal

A slotted tongue terminal with the ends of the tongue formed up or down to the tongue plane. The flange inhibits the terminal from slipping out of its captive hardware. Also called a flanged spade terminal.

Flanges

Round reels for winding chain formed terminals or pins for storage or shipping.

Flash

  1. Read/Write memory used for removable memory, especially memory cards.
  2. A thin film of excess material formed at the sides to a forging, casting, or molded part, in which some of the material is forced between the faces of the forging dies or the mold halves. Flash is usually removed.

Flash Plating

The application of extremely thin deposits of a plating material (about 1/2µ") for environmental protection or as a base for a subsequent layer of plating material.

Flat Base

A terminal block design that is useful in applications in which direct top-to-bottom feed-through is required, without the necessity of circuit isolation on the bottom side.

Flat Cable

See Flat Flex Cable.

Flat Cable Connector

A connector designed for use with flat flex cable.

Flat Conductor

A conductor with a width-to-thickness ratio of arbitrarily 5 to 1 or greater.

Flat Conductor Cable

See Flat Flex Cable.

Flat Flex Cable

Any cable with two smooth or corrugated, but essentially flat, surfaces.

Flex Damage

Damage that usually occurs where a cord enters a housing and is caused by the sharp bending of the cord. A flex relief can be used to restrict the concentration of flexing and force the cord to bend in a wider arc.

Flex Life

The ability of a cable to bend many times before breaking.

Flex-C-Term

A 100° spacing connector system for terminating membrane switch leads, flat connector flat cable (planar cable), or flexible circuitry. Fits into Premium line's SL system. A Premium line trademark.

Flex-to-Board

Wire-to-board flat flexible cable.

Flexible Circuits

  1. Printed and etched, laminated, conductive-ink circuits or circuits made from flat flex cable with components directly attached.
  2. In membrane switch technology, half of a membrane switch. A low-profile circuit made of screen-printed silver on polyester. Flexible circuitry uses a shorting assembly to make contact between two points on the circuit. It replaces polyester/copper circuitry, a PCB, or Kapton flex circuitry. Flexible switches work well for low-current, low-voltage products.

Flexible Flat Cable (FFC)

See Flat Flex Cable.

Flexible Printed Circuitry (FPC)

  1. Printed, etched, laminated, conductive-ink circuits.
  2. Circuits made from flat flexible cable and directly attached components.

Flexibility

The ability of a cable to bend in a short radius.

Flextran

Premium line trade name for high flex life cable.

Flexural Strength

The flexural bending modulus or strength of a material in bending .

Flip-flop

A circuit or device having two stable output states determined by input conditions. Stays in one state until input causes it to change to the other state. Used for generating rectangular wave forms, for frequency division and for counting.

Floating

Referring to a circuit that has no connection to ground or to a potential source.

Floating Bushing

A design feature that aids in alignment of plug and receptacle shells during engagement. Generally, an eyelet-type bushing that is fitted into the plug mounting holes so there is freedom of motion (floating) in all directions between the plug and receptacle.

Fluorinated Ethylenepropylene (FEP)

An insulation co-polymer material similar to polytetrafluorethylene but with a melting point about 50C lower (275°C mp FEP) and slightly different physical properties. It is more easily processed than PTFE. Heat resistance and chemical inertness are outstanding. Foamed FEP with a dielectric constant of about 1.6 is also used as an insulation.

Flush Conductor

A conductor whose outer surface is in the same plane as the surface of the insulating material adjacent to the conductor.

Flush Mount

A mounting configuration available in connectors.

Flux

  1. The lines of force that make up an electrostatic field.
  2. A substance used to promote or facilitate fusion, such as a material that removes oxides from surfaces to be joined by soldering or welding.

Flux Creep

The wicking or climbing of flux into the contact area.

Flux Stopper

A chemical solution applied to PC tails to prevent the solvent flux from creeping or wicking into the contact area.

FM

See Frequency Modulation.

FMEA

Failure Modes and Effects Analysis. Before completing a design or implementing a process, the AQP team identifies all potential problems and finds ways to prevent them.

FMLB

See First Mate Last Break.