In the field of high technology industry ,such like smartphones, high-speed communication equipment, even data centers and new energy vehicles.
Countless minute electronic connectors function like ‘nerve endings’ and ‘joints’, shouldering the vital task of transmitting electrical currents and signals.
At the heart of these precision connectors lie various minute terminals, whose creation relies on a back hero: the carbide punch.
Let us delve into this micrometre-scale realm to uncover the back hero .How the carbide punches have become the crown jewel in the field of electronic connector production.Then how MLS manufacture the carbide punches .
The production of electronic connectors is rapidly advancing towards the principles of “Micro-size, Closely Spaced, and High Speed Process”.
· Micro-size: Terminal pin pitch (centre-to-centre distance between adjacent terminals) has progressively decreased from conventional 1.0mm and 0.5mm to 0.3mm, 0.2mm, and even smaller.
· High Speed Process: Punching speeds reaching thousands of cycles per minute demand exceptionally high production efficiency.
Why Chose Carbide As The Material for Terminals Pressing Punches?
Under such stringent demands, conventional steel punches can’t catch the expectations. Carbide has emerged as the superior solution, owing to its unparalleled properties.
1.Hardness and wear resistance: Carbide ‘s hardness exceeding HRA 90, it’s close to diamond.This ensures minimal wear during high-speed punching of thin and hard materials ,maintaining a sharp cutting edge. Consequently, even after millions of punching cycles, the terminals produced exhibit negligible burrs.
2. Compressive strength: Even with a minimal cross-sectional area, carbide punches can withstand immense impact forces without bending or deformation, ensuring dimensional stability of the terminals.
3. Rigidity: Insufficient rigidity causes the punch to vibrate minutely under load, compromising cross-section quality. The high rigidity of carbide ensures absolute stability during the punching process, yielding mirror-like terminal cross-sections.
High Precision Machining Process for Carbide Punches.
Customer custom high precision metal punches with their designed drawings to custom punches with MLS .The entire MLS machining process involves a series of scientific, reliable, and cost-effective following five steps.
First: Engineers Thoroughly Digest The Drawings and Technical Specifications.
1.Determine whether the punch is a blanking punch, bending punch, forming punch, or composite punch, as this dictates critical machining areas such as cutting edges, fillet radii, and forming surfaces.
2. Mark dimensions with stringent tolerances (e.g., ±0.002mm), which will subsequently determine whether require optical grinding.
3. Analyse whether the geometry contains deep, narrow grooves, minute radii, or thin walls. This complexity directly determines whether wire EDM can achieve corner clearance and whether the PG grinding machine requires specialized grinding wheels.
Second: Surface Grinding
The core function of a surface grinding lies in its efficient and precise machining of flat surfaces. It can rapidly grind two mutually perpendicular reference planes, serving as positioning benchmarks for subsequent Wire-cut EDM and Profile Grinding operations.
The clamping section of a punch typically features a simple rectangular or circular profile, requiring dimensional accuracy alongside perpendicularity or parallelism to the reference surface (tolerances can be controlled in 2 μ).
Third: Wire-Cut EDM
Wire-cut EDM is employed to precisely outline the punch’s external contour and cross-section, accurately removing the majority of the stock.
Fourth:Optical Grinding
Punch Precision:Optical grinding are typically equipped with a large projection screen that magnifies work pieces by 20 to 50 times, or even up to 100 times. Operating technicians refer to design drawings magnified on the screen,
meticulously shaping the cutting edge through ‘comparative machining’ with diamond grinding wheels until the desired design profile is achieved.
This process maintains critical punch dimensions within tolerances of ±0.002mm or even tighter. For connector terminal stamp punches featuring pin pitches as narrow as 0.2mm, this precision is paramount to ensuring terminal functionality.
Mirror-like surfaces :Capable of machining surfaces with Ra ≤ 0.02 μ, which is crucial for punches:
· Prevents material burr formation: Smooth surfaces prevent metal debris from adhering, avoiding terminal surface scratches and metal mould damage caused by sticking.
· Reduces stress concentration: Mirror-finished surfaces lack microscopic imperfections, significantly enhancing punch fatigue strength and less the risk of chipping.
Fifth : Coating for Super-hard
To enhance performance, precision carbide punches are typically subjected to PVD coating processes, such as TiN, TiCN, TiAlN, or diamond-like carbon coatings.
·After coating finish ,it enhances surface hardness and wear resistance, extending service life by 3-5 times.
· The carbide punches with the coating improves heat resistance to withstand high temperatures generated during high-speed stamping.
The Significance of Carbide Punches in High-Precision Terminal Manufacturing
High-precision terminal punches are not mere standard components, but rather high-tech products integrating top-tier materials, ultra-precision machining, cutting-edge heat treatment, and surface engineering. Their performance directly determines:
Custom high-quality carbide punches is fundamental to safeguarding core competitiveness and ensuring product quality in high precision connector industrial.
If you have any inquiry about die and punches machining,please feel free to contact with Mailushi which supply the maching service for MOIEX connectors.