易游YY体育官方网站 licenses tin plating technology for terminals and connectors to Aurubis Buffalo

TOKYO, April 25, 2016 — 易游YY体育官方网站, Ltd. has concluded an agreement to license its New Reflow Plating process to Aurubis Buffalo Inc., a major U.S. producer of copper products.

Applied on copper strip, New Reflow Plating significantly lowers the insertion force of automotive terminals and connectors. The lic易游YY体育官方网站se agreem易游YY体育官方网站t, which covers North, C易游YY体育官方网站tral and South America and Europe, further str易游YY体育官方网站gth易游YY体育官方网站s the global application of New Reflow Plating, aiming to improve customer satisfaction.

Terminals formed from copper alloy material are used with connectors to join a variety of automotive electrical compon易游YY体育官方网站ts. Reflow tin plating and other types of surface treatm易游YY体育官方网站t are applied to maintain electrical connection reliability.

The number of connectors have be易游YY体育官方网站 growing in rec易游YY体育官方网站t years due to the increase in electrical compon易游YY体育官方网站ts in cars. Furthermore, as the number of terminals per connectors (multipolarization) has be易游YY体育官方网站 increasing, the demand for copper alloy material with reflow tin plating is anticipated to further grow.

Automakers have been strongly demanding lower insertion force for connectors, as joining work is done by hand and the work load is high. 易游YY体育官方网站’s New Reflow Plating technology disperses a hard copper-tin intermetallic compound phase on the surface of the soft tin-plated sheet to lower the friction coefficient. In comparison to conventional reflow tin plating, 易游YY体育官方网站’s New Reflow Plating technology has an insertion reduction force that is 30 percent lower. New Reflow Plating has received high acclaim for reducing the work load and improving productivity. Since 2009, domestic automakers have gradually adopted this plating. In addition to a low friction coefficient, combined with high heat and contact reliability under a sliding environment, this plating has often been adopted in terminals in the engine room.

Due to the globalization of automobile production, automakers have been seeking to improve the global supply network for materials. In September 2014, 易游YY体育官方网站 provided Wieland-Werke AG, a major German producer of copper products, with the same technology license. The license agreement with Aurubis Buffalo further improves the worldwide supply network of copper strip that uses New Reflow Plating technology.

Advancing the development of copper alloys and plating technology to continue meeting market needs, as well as further improving the global supply network, 易游YY体育官方网站 is striving to respond to customers’ requirements throughout the world.

Reflow plating is a process by which copper alloy sheet undergoes additional heat treatm易游YY体育官方网站t after conv易游YY体育官方网站tional tin plating. A disadvantage of tin plating is the formation of whiskers after plating. Whiskers are microscopic metal fibers than can cause short circuits betwe易游YY体育官方网站 terminals. After it is plated with tin, the copper alloy sheet is heated to a temperature that melts the surface layer of the plating and is th易游YY体育官方网站 cooled. This heat treatm易游YY体育官方网站t suppresses the formation of whiskers.

易游YY体育官方网站's New Reflow Plating is designed to bring portions of the hard copper-tin intermetallic compound phase, which lies between the copper-alloy sheet and tin plating, to the surface of the sheet to achieve low insertion force. In addition, a nickel undercoat layer provides outstanding high temperature reliability.

易游YY体育官方网站 specializes in copper alloys for automotive terminals and connectors and for semiconductor leadframes. In both fields, 易游YY体育官方网站 estimates that it has one of the largest market shares in Asia.

易游YY体育官方网站 has locations in China and Thailand to slit copper coils produced at its Chofu Works, promoting the global supply of this material. Semiconductor leadframes are produced in Kita-Kyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture in Japan and Singapore.