PCB Mounted Vibrator Motors : Spring Mount Connections

Overview

The spring & pad vibrator motor design is a pre-cursor to SMD motor reflow technology, and was used extensively in mobile phones of the late 90’s and early 00’s. However it still has uses particularly if it’s desired to mount the motor in the application enclosure.

The design principal is simple. Typically spring and pad PCB vibrating motors come with square rubber boots that hold the motor tightly within a cut-out of the application enclosure, which is typically made from injection moulded ABS plastic. 

Ribs are used to secure the motor on all but one side which faces the PCB. The PCB is then screwed / secured to press up flush against the motor rubber case and ribs of the enclosure. For an electrical connection, pads on the PCB 'mate' with spring loaded pins on the vibration motor. The PCB also offers a physical plate to anchor the vibration motor in place.

One main advantage of this method, is that spring & pad vibration motors are easy to replace during servicing. This can be an issue for long service life products which make frequent use of vibration alerting or haptic feedback. Another benefit comes from the fact that the PCB can be treated separately without risk of any liquids used in the processing damaging the motor, which can be an issue for SMT motors.

Spring & pad vibration motors are not restricted to the regular cylindrical types. We also produce spring-tab coin motors as well. These have a self-adhesive pad on the rear side which helps secure them in place in the enclosure prior to attaching the PCB. The regular cylinder types have a rubber cover instead which makes their form square and therefore a snug fit into appropriately sized enclosure recesses.

If you have any questions, you can email our engineering team direct, or read on to learn more about PCB mounted vibration motor best practices...