The history of Han® Connectors
; "Steckverbinder 700")
The basic idea of making parts of mechanical and electrical device connectable was predominantly generated in the military environment. Main targets were the fast and safe exchange of defective or damaged parts and to facilitate the assembly of complete equipment.
So, in the forties US and German companies developed independently some connectors which partly are still today in use in all kind of modern machinery and equipment, scarcely modified; i.e. D-sub miniature connectors (D-shape) developed for application in communication equipment, metal covered connectors developed for application in military aircraft dashboards and missile electric control device.
After World War II Mr. Wilhelm Harting established his own company in Minden/Germany and was jointly with some companions persistently searching for new products which should be designed and manufactured in his plant. Background was to participate in the upward trend of the German industry after World War II and to offer his staff forward looking employment.
In the fifties Mr. Wilhelm Harting remembered these connectors from the military environment and started to discuss his ideas with some inhouse engineers, with experts of the German machine tool industry and furthermore with production engineers of the car manufacturers Daimler Benz and Volkswagen.
After careful technical consideration there was mutual agreement to start several pilot-projects in the tool machine industry and in car manufacturing facilities. Prior to that stage some modifications of the connectors’ technical performance had been effected with the intention to offer a product range suitable to actual applications, to make the connector robust and easy to handle, to increase the connector pin count, to modify the existing contact design into the pin/socket principle, to extend the connection technology to screwing and crimping, to enable the connectors to withstand a voltage loading of 220/380 V a.c. according to German VDE regulations.
The pilot projects have been passed successfully, quality and reliability of the connectivity solutions were found appropriate to the users’ expectations.
So, the HARTING Han® connector design started its success story all over the world. The product range has been permanently improved and extended, voltage loading and pin count have been enlarged according to application, connector design has been further developed to enable operation in harsh environmental conditions, a modern mass production qualified HARTING to fulfil market requirements.
Actually the HARTING Han® connector concept will be applied globally in all kind of industry branches and in a big variety of technical performance, particularly because of:
- Its outstanding design and robustness in handling
- Its broad range of characteristics
- Its extremely high quality
- Its world wide availability
