Tiny Connectors for LEDs Play Big Role Inside 100th Anniversary Times Square Ball on New Year's Eve
Thousands of unique electronic connectors, so small that 10 will fit on the head of a penny (see Photo A-1), assured the spectacular performance of New York City's brilliant new, energy-efficient, 100th Anniversary Times Square ball. The new ball illuminated Times Square on New Year's Eve with state-of-the-art, energy-efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology. Six feet in diameter, it weighs 1,200 pounds and contains 9,576 Philips Luxeon LEDs plus 672 exotic Waterford double-cut crystal triangles (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeLPWgF8y1g&feature=related).
The designers of the board developed for the ball created by Philips Lighting Company and Waterford Crystal, based in New York City, worked in collaboration with Zierick Manufacturing Corporation in nearby Mt. Kisco, NY, to update the traditional lighting system used in past ball designs. This one - the first environmentally friendly, more responsive ball that is twice as bright as the old one - went into service on Dec. 31, 2007. The LED technology in the new ball enabled it to use the power equivalency of just 10 toasters while also delivering twice the brightness of previous years' balls.
The sparkling, multi-color LEDs in the new ball are connected to the printed circuit boards with Zierick's Torsion IDC 1245 surface mount connectors (see Photo B) and can produce 16 million colors as they flawlessly spin, flash, and rise and fall hundreds of feet. As they do, the circuit boards, lights, and crystals survive shock, vibration, and a broad temperature range from the subfreezing night air to extremely hot internal temperatures.
Called Insulation Displacement Connectors (see www.zierick.com/nye), these miniature connectors were chosen for this task because they are specifically designed for demanding applications, such as those the ball encounters.
Featuring a low profile and a small footprint on the circuit board, these Zierick IDCs quickly terminate many sizes of wires on printed circuit boards more reliably than could ever be accomplished with any other conventional method. As a result, the thousands of Philips LEDs sparkled through the Times Square Ball sphere as it performed without a glitch.
According to Janos Legrady, Zierick Vice President in charge of Research and Development, "Zierick's Torsion IDCs are very unique. They are the only connectors in the industry with low initial contact resistance, and the resistance gets even lower with time in demanding applications. The contact resistance of all the other types of connectors increases with time in demanding applications. The decreasing contact resistance feature is especially useful in LED and solar cell applications where there are a large number of connectors and a low operating voltage."
"Times Square has always been an arena where the latest and greatest cutting-edge technology is unveiled and showcased. It's also a neighborhood that's rich in tradition - from Broadway to Tin Pan Alley to Restaurant Row," said Tim Tompkins, President of the Times Square Alliance, "and the New Year's Eve Ball, like Times Square, is an exciting blend of technology and tradition. This year, the Ball has been re-envisioned and re-invented, just as Times Square is constantly re-inventing itself. It's that same spirit of renewal and new beginnings that brings people here from across the globe, in person or in spirit while watching from home, on New Year's Eve every year."
About Zierick Manufacturing Corporation
Zierick Manufacturing Corp. is the leading source of solutions to complex interconnection requirements and problems. From standard products to custom-made goods, Zierick has invented and produced technologies which have become the industry standard and which will continue to shape the industry in the future. Zierick also provides its customers with assembly equipment, interconnection hardware, and taped terminals. For all of its 89 years in business, Zierick has maintained custom stamping capabilities, setting the standard in both design leadership and quality tooling and stamping.
For more information on all Zierick products, contact Sharon Harvey, Marketing Manager, Zierick Manufacturing Corp., 131 Radio Circle, Mount Kisco, N. Y., 10549, telephone 800-882-8020 ext. 254, email sharvey@zierick.com.
