In miniaturised technology, small particles of contamination can cause a ca
Minimising harmful particles in the clean room
Technical cleanliness is the latest quality feature in screw fastening assembly
In miniaturised technology, the elimination of tiny particles while fastening screws during the assembly process is a new quality feature. If when a circuit board is being assembled, a microscopic piece of steel - invisible to the naked eye - escapes, a disaster is sure to happen. A short-circuit will occur if the tiny chip accidentally connects two of the conducting tracks. As assembly parts become ever smaller even microscopic particles, measuring a mere 500, 200, or just 100?, can cause a malfunction. Which is why what has become known in joining technology as “technical cleanliness” is of increasing importance in the design and building of screw fastening assembly systems. The technical requirements are becoming stricter. Jürgen Hierold, Sales Manager at DEPRAG sees this trend as “an opportunity for specialists”. He adds: “DEPRAG has taken up this opportunity.”
As early as the 1980s DEPRAG SCHULZ GMBH u. CO, the screwdriving system specialist based in Amberg, was already tackling this problem. And with success! The machine tool builders were supplying renowned US manufacturers with screwdriving systems for diskette drive assembly units. “Assembly conditions corresponded more or less to sterile room requirements” recalled Hierold. “That was a challenge for us as machine tool makers.” The fact that all the components could be harmonised with one another because they all came from a single source, proved to be an advantage. The one-stop-shop company convinced its customers with its high-quality, well balanced departments, all of which had a single aim - to prevent any abrasion as the fasteners were fed into the screwdriving system, and during the actual fastening process.
When cleanliness during assembly is required, the entire screwdriving process must come under the microscope. Jürgen Hierold said: “Every step from planning, to production and assembly must be carefully examined.” The first thing is to obtain an accurate definition of the cleanliness requirements for the product in question. Only in cooperation with the design engineers, the production, logistics and quality management department is it possible to achieve the highest possible level of technical cleanliness and thus reliability. Trained staff are just as important as a clean production environment.
Please find further information under www.deprag.com.
