International Game Technology (IGT), a manufacturer of spinning-reel slots and video gaming products, recently worked with engineers from ITW Pancon (Bolingbrook, IL), to design a custom-engineered button panel connector that is mounted on the IGT switchboards. The new connector simplified the company’s manufacturing and assembly processes and ultimately reduced testing and repair costs.

“We used to do a multiple step process in manufacturing, which was simplified by the ITW product that combined several steps into one finished product that can be installed all at once,” says Cyndi Wagner, a design engineer with IGT.

Wire harnesses for slot machines had traditionally used individual “quick-connect” style crimp terminals. When the wire harnesses were assembled to the pushbutton/lamp terminals on the machines, the assemblers were required to plug five individual terminals onto tabs. This allowed for the possibility of incorrect wiring of the components, which eventually increased the company’s cost for troubleshooting to correct errors discovered after products left the supplier’s factory. When servicing the machines in the field, technicians work in tight areas, making it difficult to replace pushbuttons, since they must unplug and replace many individual wires.

IGT had already been a customer of ITW, but the company’s new Game King and S2000 lines of spinning-reel slots and video gaming products presented an opportunity to address quality issues with the harnesses they were using.

Part of the problem was miswiring at final assembly. The harnesses were received with five single terminals for each pushbutton assembly, making it very easy for the assembler to make the wrong connection. 

“By changing to terminals that were preassembled into a custom housing designed specifically for the button assembly, the IGT harness manufacturer was able to test each harness before shipment to IGT,” explains Ken Irish, an ITW Pancon product engineer who helped develop the innovative design. “Since each connector can only be mated one way, rework due to miswiring was eliminated.”

IGT had a space restriction behind the button assembly, so Irish and other ITW Pancon engineers designed the terminal with a right angle or what they call a “flag” type design. This design allows the wires to exit at a right angle from the button.

The new connector design uses terminals that are assembled into a connector housing at the harness assembly point and are tested before shipping. . . to read the rest of the story, click here.

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