Wires | Microprofiles | Tapes, Strips and Profiles | Contact Bimetals (Inlays) | Seam Welded Strips | Toplay Strips | Electroplated Strips | Hot Tinned Strips | Silver Bronze Strips | Three Layer Compound Materials | Aluminium Cladded Strips | Solder Coated Strips | Seam Welded Strips with Solder Wires
Wires made of silver or silver alloys (e.g. AgNi, 0,15, AgCu3, AgPd30, Ag/CdO), of powder metallurgical silver-based materials (e.g. Ag/SnO2, Ag/ZnO, Ag/CdO) and of highly precious alloys (e.g. AuAg8, PdCu15) are manufactured by extrusion and subsequent drawing and annealing processes. ^Top
Microprofiles The characteristic feature of microprofiles is their very small dimension of cross-section. The minium basis width is approx. 0.3mm, the minimum height approx. 0.2mm. Sections of the microprofiles are welded onto solid carrier strips or punched grids. Contact parts equipped with microprofiles are designed for very low to medium electrical switching powers and long switching lifetimes. Gold-cobalt, gold-silver, palladium or silver-based materials are applied as contact materials. Microprofiles are available in solid or multilayer version. |  |
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Tapes, Strips and Profiles Tapes, strips and profiles have significantly larger outside dimensions than microprofiles. The manufacturing processes for both products, however, are similar. The semi-finished products and the contact parts manufactured from them are designed for higher switching load. All contact materials are silver based. The condition of the bottom layer of the semi-finished product depend on the processing technique and the carrier material to be combined with. These semi-finished products are offered in solid or multilayer version. |  |
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 Contact Bimetals (Inlays) Contact bimetals are compound materials of contact and carrier material. According to the electrical requirements, the contact layers are based on gold, palladium or silver, the carrier materials consist of copper or copper alloys. The contact material can be connected with the carrier material over the complete surface or in strips. The material thickness of the carrier strips is between 80µm - 4mm, the minimum thickness of the inlay is approx. 3µm, the maximum thickness can be 50% of the thickness of the carrier material. The width of the carrier strips can be up to approx. 160mm.
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 Seam Welded Strips This process is applied when the mechanical properties of the carrier materials such as hardness, tensile strength and elastic bending limit are to remain unchanged by the connection process. The semi-finished products in wire or profile shape, with contact materials based on gold, palladium or silver, are connected with the carrier material by means of resistance welding. In most cases, the carrier materials are copper based spring materials. The thickness of the carrier strips is between 0.1mm - 1.5mm, their maximum width is 90mm. The diameters of the welded wires are 0.3mm - 3mm, the base width of the profiles is 0.3mm - 5mm. ^Top
 Toplay Strips Also with toplay strips, the semi-finished contact materials are connected as profiles or strips on the carrier material in elevated position. In contrast with the seam welded strips, the two components are connected by means of a foil of a brazing material, for example of L-Ag15P or L-Ag60Sn with a thickness between 80µm - 100µm. This foil is also provided as a semi-finished product. ^Top
 Electroplated Strips Electroplating procedures are a supplement to cladding techniques. The strips can be solid or pre-punched. The technical requirements on the product determine whether the punched edges must be coated for reasons of corro-
sion resistance. The selective deposition of extremely thin layers complies with economical processing require-
ments. The high hardness of the electroplated coatings is a technical advantage for most applications. Especially with electrodeposited hard gold layers, however, bending and forming processes should be carried out before the electroplating process. The electroplating process is applied with strips of copper and copper alloys, nickel and nickel alloys, stainless steel as well as beryllium bronze in hardened and factory-tempered condition. The dimensions of the carrier strips depend on the electroplating process; the thickness is between 70µm - 2.0 mm; the maximum width is approx. 120mm. The coatings are gold, silver, palladium-nickel, copper, nickel and tin. ^Top
Hot Tinned Strips The hot tinning of strips for the improvement of solderability is an alternative to galvanic tin coating. Usually applied coating materials are tin and tin-lead alloys.Coatings based on tin-silver and tin-copper are tested as substitutes for tin lead alloys. The layer thickness of hot tin coatings is, due to the characteristic features of the process, (10 +/- 5)µm. The material thickness of the strips is 0.1mm - 1.0mm, the maximum width is approx 130mm. ^Top
Silver Bronze Strips Silver bronze is a copper alloy. It can consist of two alloy components, so-called binary alloys, with 2% and 6% by weight of silver, and of three components as a ternary alloy, with 2% by weight of silver and 1.5% by weight of cadmium. Silver bronze as a carrier material is principally applied when both high electric conductivity and good mechanical properties (spring properties) are required. The minimum thickness of silver bronze strips is 0.1mm, the maximum width is 150mm. ^Top
Three Layer Compound Materials The manufacturing of these strips is carried out by means of a cladding process. The three layer components cover each other totally. The advantage of these compound materials is the combination of different mechanical and physical properties of the individual components. The thickness ratio between the individual components can be selected individually and depends on the technical requirements. The exterior components usually have the same thickness. Layer Systems
• Conduflex N: CuSn6 - Cu -CuSn6
• Cu - FeNi36 (Invar) - Cu
• Cu - Fe or Steel - Cu
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 Aluminum Cladded Strips AlSi1 cladded copper and copper alloy strips are manufactured by means of continuous cold cladding process. The connection between the components is achieved by a suitable pre-treatment of the surface of the carrier materials, a very high amount of cold-work during the rolling process and a subsequent diffusion treatment. The thickness of the AlSi1 layer is, depending on the specifications, 10µm - 30µm, its maximum width is 60mm. Carrier materials are, for example, copper, copper iron (CuFe2P) or copper tin (CuSn6). The minimum thickness of the carrier strips is 0.2mm, the maximum width is 150mm. Depending on the requirements of the punched part to be manufactured from the semi-finished product, the strips are frequently covered with an additional electroplated hard gold layer (AuCo0.3) or an electroplated or hot tin or tin lead coating. ^Top
Solder Coated Strips Strips coated with tin or tin alloys are the basic product for punched parts from which components for safety fuses used in automotive electrics are manufactured. The copper carrier are coated on their whole surface, or selectively with solder inside a groove previously cut into the strip. After the activation of the copper surface, the solder is applied in liquid phase and then cooled down. By using a suitable after-treatment an even distribution of the solder is achieved. The thickness of the solder coated strips is between 0.6mm - 2.0mm, the maximum width is 80mm. ^Top
Seam Welded Strips with Solder Profiles of tin or tin alloys can be connected with copper alloy strips by means of seam welding. Precondition for the good adhesion of the solder profile is an adequate pre-treatment of the surface of the carrier material. The thickness of the carrier strips is between 0.1mm - 1.0mm, the maximum width is 90mm. ^Top | 
