What is the process of making connectors?
2022-12-20
There are many types of connectors and a wide range of industries that use them. But the production process is basically the same.
Generally divided into four steps: stamping, plating, injection molding, assembly.
1 Stamping
The manufacturing process of electronic connectors generally start from stamping pins. Electronic connectors (pins, terminals) are stamped from a thin metal strip by a large high-speed stamping machine. One end of the large roll of metal strip is fed into the front of the press, and the other end is rolled into the take-up wheel through the hydraulic table of the press, and the metal strip is pulled out of the take-up wheel and rolled out of the finished product.
2 Electroplating
After the terminals and pins are punched, they should be sent to the plating section. At this stage, the electrical contact surface of the connector is plated with various metal coatings. During the process of feeding the stamped pins into the plating equipment, the pins can be twisted, broken or deformed. Such quality defects can be easily detected by the inspection techniques described herein.
However, many quality defects in the plating process are still "off-limits" to inspection systems for most machine vision system providers. Electronic connector manufacturers need inspection systems that can detect inconsistent defects, such as small scratches and pinholes in the plated surface of connector pins. Although these defects are easily identified on other products, such as the bottom of aluminum cans or other relatively flat surfaces; the irregular and angled surface design of most electrical connectors makes it difficult for visual inspection systems to obtain images sufficient to identify these subtle defects.
Because some types of pins require multiple layers of metal plating, manufacturers also need inspection systems that can distinguish between the various metal coatings to verify that they are in place and in the correct proportion. This is a very difficult task for vision systems using black and white cameras, since the gray levels of images with different metal coatings are virtually similar. While cameras with color vision systems can successfully distinguish between these different metal coatings, the problem of difficult illumination remains due to the irregular angles of the coating surfaces and the reflection effect.
3 Injection Molding
The plastic cassette holders for electronic connectors are made in the injection molding stage. The usual process is to inject molten plastic into a metal tire film, which is then quickly cooled and molded. So-called "Short Shots" occur when the molten plastic does not completely fill the film, which is a typical defect that needs to be detected during the injection molding stage. Other defects include full or partial blockage of the sockets (these sockets must be kept clean and clear in order to fit properly with the pins during the Z final assembly). Machine vision systems for post-injection quality inspection are relatively simple to use, as missing cassettes and blocked connection sockets can be easily identified using backlights.
4 Assembly
The final stage of electronic connector manufacturing is the assembly of the finished product. Plated pins are connected to injection molded box seats in two ways: single inserts or combination inserts. Single-pair insertion means inserting one pin at a time; combination-pair insertion means that multiple pins are connected to the box seat at the same time. Regardless of the mating method used, the manufacturer requires that all pins be checked for missing and correct positioning during the assembly phase; another routine inspection task relates to measuring the distance between the mating surfaces of the connector.
