What are the technical features of stamping process for 3C connector products?
The stamping process of 3C connector products is one of its core manufacturing processes. Combined with the industry requirements of miniaturization, high precision and high reliability of 3C products, this process has core technical characteristics such as high precision, high consistency and high efficiency, which can be analyzed from the following aspects:
Ultra-precision tolerance control of size and shape and position
3C connectors are usually used in miniaturized products such as mobile phones, computers, smart wearable devices, etc. The dimensional accuracy of their stamping parts is extremely high, and the general tolerance should be controlled within the range of 0.005 mm ~ 0.01 mm, and the pin spacing of some micro connectors is even less than 0.3 mm.. This requires the machining accuracy of stamping die to reach micron level. At the same time, it is necessary to adopt high-precision servo stamping equipment and cooperate with on-line inspection system to monitor the dimensional deviation in real time, so as to ensure that the shape and position tolerances of key dimensions of stamping parts, such as hole position, pin length and bending angle, meet the design standards, and avoid connector plugging and unplugging failure or poor contact caused by dimensional error.
Efficient integrated production of multi-station continuous stamping
The structure of stamping parts for 3C connectors often includes punching, bending, trimming, forming, rounding and other processes. In order to meet the needs of mass production and high beat, multi-station progressive dies are widely used in the industry for continuous stamping. A set of progressive die can integrate 10~30 processing stations. After the raw materials (mostly copper alloy and stainless steel strip) are automatically conveyed by the feeding mechanism, all processes can be completed in one stamping stroke, and the production beat can reach 300~600 times per minute. This process not only greatly improves the production efficiency, but also avoids the positioning error caused by multi-process transshipment, ensures the consistency of products, and reduces manual intervention and production costs.
Adaptive processing technology of special materials
The conductive and structural components of 3C connector are mostly made of copper alloy materials such as brass, phosphor bronze and beryllium copper, and some shielding components will be made of stainless steel or nickel-plated steel strip. These materials have different mechanical properties, such as beryllium copper with good elasticity but high hardness, and stainless steel with high strength but poor plasticity. Therefore, the stamping process needs to adjust the parameters, such as low temperature stamping for beryllium copper to avoid elastic failure, and gradual bending process for stainless steel to prevent cracking; At the same time, in order to ensure the electrical conductivity, it is necessary to control the surface damage of the material in the stamping process to avoid burrs and scratches. Usually, the surface of the die is polished or plated with hard chromium, and a special lubricating medium is used to reduce the friction between the die and the material.
Complex molding process adapts to diverse structural requirements
The functional diversity of 3C connector determines the complexity of its stamping structure, such as cantilever contact spring of board-to-board connector, locking structure of FPC connector, shielding shell of Type-C connector, etc., all of which require special stamping process. Taking the contact elastic sheet as an example, it is necessary to ensure the stability of contact pressure when it is plugged and unplugged through accurate bending and rebound control; For the crimping and buckling structure of the shielding shell, synchronous molding dies are needed to ensure the assembly accuracy of all components. Some complex structures will also be combined with the stamping-injection molding integrated composite process. The metal parts will be stamped first, and then the insulating substrate will be directly injected into the mold to realize the seamless combination of metal and plastic.
Strict surface quality and reliability control
The surface quality of 3C connector directly affects its electrical conductivity and corrosion resistance, so the burr height (usually ≤0.003mm) should be strictly controlled in stamping process, otherwise it will scratch the PCB board or contact end when the connector is plugged and unplugged. In addition, for stamping pre-plated materials such as tin plating and gold plating, it is necessary to avoid the coating from falling off, and usually optimize the angle of the die cutting edge and adopt chip-free or micro-chip stamping technology; At the same time, the stamped products need to be cleaned and stress-relieved to eliminate the internal stress generated in the stamping process, prevent deformation or fracture in subsequent use, and ensure the reliability of the connector under complex working conditions such as high and low temperature and vibration.
Intelligent process monitoring and quality traceability
In order to meet the quality control requirements of 3C industry, modern 3C connector stamping production line generally integrates intelligent monitoring system, including die pressure sensor, visual inspection equipment, size laser measuring instrument and so on. These devices can collect data such as pressure curve, product size and surface defects in the stamping process in real time. In case of any abnormality (such as size deviation caused by die wear and material feeding deviation), the system will automatically give an alarm and stop the machine to avoid batch defects. At the same time, all production data can be traced back to the whole process, meeting the quality system certification requirements of 3C industry.
