As a leading global enterprise in life sciences and materials science, Royal Dutch DSM Group recently announced that its high-performance polyamide material Stanyl ® And Stanyl ® ForTii ™ Recognized by major global manufacturers for the production of next-generation USB Type-C connectors. DSM's materials can meet customers' demands for higher safety and reliability. At the same time, DSM showcased various solutions for mobile devices at the 2015 International Rubber and Plastic Exhibition held in Guangzhou from May 20-23.
USB is the industry standard bus for data and power transmission in digital devices. USB charging devices have become a major consumer feature in recent years. So far, USB is the most popular and successful external device, with an annual port production of approximately 5 billion. The introduction of USB Type-C connectors aims to reduce electronic waste. European law mandates the use of standardized charging ports, so a charger and its wires can be used by multiple devices. Starting from 2017, Europe will mandate the use of USB Type-C connectors. And some electronic product OEM manufacturers, including Apple and Google, have also launched devices with Type-C ports.
The Type-C connector solves a major drawback of traditional USB. Nowadays, there are various types of plugs and sockets, and if you want to charge two different phones, you often need two different sets of chargers and wires. In addition, the shape of the plug-in connectors also varies. The new USB Type-C standard features a double-sided plug in design for USB connectors, which can function perfectly whether inserted face up or face down. In addition, its wall thickness is only 25% of the previous generation connector, making it even thinner.
Due to the compact size of the USB Type-C connector, the performance of its housing material is particularly critical. Stanyl ® (Polyamide 46) and Stanyl ® ForTii ™ The CTI (Relative Leakage Traceability Index) of polyamide 4T is much higher than 400V, which is an important indicator for measuring its electrical insulation ability. In CTI testing, other alternative materials experienced short circuits, which means that if they come into contact with particles, moisture, sweat, or other contaminants during use, it can cause serious performance and safety issues to the entire device due to electrical traces. DSM high-performance polyamide perfectly balances toughness and rigidity. In addition, its built-in flame retardant additive system does not contain halogens and has a flame retardant rating of UL94V-0.
In addition to ensuring high yield, the excellent processing performance of Stanyl and Stanyl ForTii also provides flexibility for the component structure and fixture design of connectors. Connectors with a wall thickness as thin as 0.12mm can be produced using Stanyl and Stanyl ForTii, while their mechanical properties are not inferior. The combination of high fluidity and high fusion line strength ensures that it meets the high requirements for interface pull-out strength (the force required to pull the metal contact out of the housing), enabling the component to successfully pass durability tests with over 10000 insertions and removals.
Nowadays, colorful electronic devices are becoming increasingly popular. Vibrant colors can make designs more pleasing to the eye and also help OEMs achieve product differentiation. Therefore, the material of the connector should also be easy to accurately color according to the specific requirements of the customer. DSM's polyamide materials offer a wide range of color options, allowing customers to obtain colors that fully meet their requirements through the company's color matching services.
In this application, DSM high-performance polyamide has other important advantages, such as the ability to withstand extreme high temperatures in lead-free reflow soldering processes used to assemble components on printed circuit boards, and compatibility with ultrasonic soldering (used in some designs to connect separated connector components). In addition, the material also has good wear resistance, which is an essential characteristic to meet the high requirements of manufacturers for the number of insertion and extraction cycles.
