No relaxation or creep due to thermal cycling or material memory
Unaffected by vibration
Welds through most oxides and surface soils
Process Control:
All process variables are dynamically controlled
Weld time, power and energy controls compensate for variations in part cleanliness, tool wear and incoming power (voltage and air) variations
Assembly preheight measurement
Ensures correct components are present or that wire is properly stripped
Post weld height measurement
Final quality check
Terminal Design:
One terminal design accommodates many wire sizes
Savings in terminal stamping tools/setup
Savings in terminal inventory costs
Savings in crimp die sets and maintenance
Permits simplification of terminal design and material selection
Use of thinner terminal materials
Eliminates crimping related performance requirements of terminal materials i.e. hardness and formability
Use function related alloys like pure copper or beryllium copper
Selective terminal plating can be employed
Lower plating costs
Enhance scrap value of carrier material
Opens the door to more creative applications:
Gang welding
Total elimination of terminals
Flexible ribbon cable termination
Large, multiple wire ground termination
Extended tool life Low cost, replaceable tooling for ultrasonic welders is fabricated from high quality tool steels and can provide up to a million welds without any need for maintenance. This important advantage assures excellent quality and reliability over long term production runs.
Quality Control: There are fully automatic ultrasonic systems available that feature total automation of machine setup. Computer controls and feedback devices automatically set weld parameters and monitor all machine functions to assure precise weld execution and quality control. Microprocessor controls monitor weld cycles through a power feedback signal. The power in watts that is applied to the weld is integrated over the weld time in order to determine the total energy applied. The weld cycle is thus automatically adjusted to produce perfect quality welds regardless of part variations or part cleanliness. Control limits can be pre-set on both weld time and power. If any weld falls outside the preset limits, a signal alerts the operator to isolate the suspect assembly.
Final weld height control may be monitored by a linear displacement transducer available on most ultrasonic welders. This feature calls attention to missing parts, wire strands or improper loading of wires. High resolution color monitors, touch screen controls and simple programs make the system very user friendly, even for nontechnical production personnel.
Pre-set weld parameters can be stored in memory and recalled instantly to facilitate setup and eliminate operator error. Weld process graphs and statistical process control data is provided and may be transferred to printers, computers and modems. This not only ensures the quality production of parts, it also provides for better machine maintenance and therefore minimizes production downtime.
For the production demands that "Just-In-Time" principles have brought to manufacturers, sequential welding capability has been made available on ultrasonic welders. When splicing wire, sequential welding allows the operator to select a number of different size splices in advance and to make the welds in that sequence without the need for a manual change of tooling or program between each selected run. This enables the production of splices on demand at the harness assemblers board, eliminating expensive storage of splices that are not yet needed and minimizing excess materials handling.
Lowest cost per connection: A comparison of alternative processes which takes into consideration materials, labor, tool costs and power clearly demonstrates the cost effectiveness of ultrasonic welding. One study showed that ultrasonic welding was 38% of the cost of a Clip and Solder operation and 67% of the cost of a Resistance Welding operation. (See Table 1 on next page)
