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Strip Tinning Ltd
Strip Tinning
UK
China & Asia
Arden Business Park
Arden Road
Birmingham
B45 0JA
United Kingdom
Tel.: +44 (0)121 457 7675
Fax.: +44 (0)121 453 6532
[email protected]
Aurora Plaza Room 1129,
No.99. Fucheng Road,
Pudong district,
Shanghai.
200120, China
Tel: +86 (0) 21-6058 9229
Fax: +86 (0) 21 6058 9333
[email protected]
www.striptinning.com
Mission Statement
“Strip Tinning Limited will become the supplier of choice for the heated
windshield and photovoltaic markets, achieved via robust business
planning, focused and accountable senior management tasks and
responsibilities, as well as innovative niche machinery investment – the
success of which will be measured by added value.”
Antenna Connector
Backlite Heating
Connectors
Automotive Glazing Products
Overview
Tungsten Wire
FFC Connectors
Automotive Busbar
Adhesive Busbar
Company Profile
Established in 1957 in London, England, Strip Tinning remains an
independent UK-based company at the leading edge of electrical
connector manufacture for materials for the automotive front-heated
windshield market, where we are the supplier of choice.
The addition of new state-of-the-art production equipment in recent
years, including a flat-wire rolling mill, several flux-free high speed
tinning lines and sophisticated coil re-winders, ensures that our
electrical connector materials are produced to close manufacturing
tolerances with a high quality finish. In addition, Strip Tinning is the
only manufacturer in our field certified to international quality
standards:
• ISO 14001,
• ISO 9001,
• OHSAS 18001,
• ISO TS16949.
Strip Tinning Ltd is a BSI TS16949:2009, ISO14001, OHSAS18001 accredited company and compliant with VDA 6.3
Strategically situated with manufacturing in Birmingham, England, and
with sales offices in Birmingham, England and Shanghai, China, Strip
Tinning is well-placed to serve markets in Europe and beyond. Over 95%
of our products are for the overseas markets, so we have in-depth
knowledge of arranging shipments to all main areas worldwide.
We have developed partnerships with our key customers, working
together to continuously improve our products and to keep at the
forefront of these ever-changing markets. We hope that we can be of
service to you!
Automotive Busbar
(GB patent application number GB1400410.5, worldwide rights reserved)
The busbar is always based around an ultra-thin, very soft copper with a
solder coating. The thin property of the foil allows it to be applied
within the two layers of glass (actually directly onto the PVB) without
creating any significant dimensional increase that can leave air gaps in
the screen. The soft property allows the busbar to be easily shaped
when it is applied around the commonly curved glass perimeter.
Strip Tinning manufactures many busbar variants including Solder
Busbar and Adhesive Busbar, and has pioneered the development of
Pb-Free and Pb-low busbars in partnership with the key global glass
producers.
The solder coating provides two benefits – firstly, a robust soldering
process occurs within the tungsten wire application. Secondly, the
solder provides excellent corrosion resistance for the underlying copper.
This is similar to the solder busbar but has an adhesive side with a liner
for ease of application.
Many customers select a normal adhesive busbar as the base busbar
(or busbar 1) in the busbar sandwich. Here, the adhesive side is applied
to the PVB to locate the busbar in place. Some customers will then use
solder busbar as the top busbar (or busbar 2) in the busbar sandwich.
Others may select a conductive adhesive busbar as the top busbar.
Here the conductive adhesive side is placed directly onto the wire.
Solder Busbar
Alloy Type*
60Sn40Pb
Tin-Lead
Pure Tin
Lead-Free
97Sn3Ag
Lead-Free
Adhesive Busbar
* Others available on request
Busbar 2
Coating variants:
Standard – this has a fine alloy coating covering all sides of the copper.
Reflow – this has a thicker coating, manufactured using state-of-the-art
pressured-nitrogen-wiping technology
Low-Melt – this uses Low Melt point alloys.
Tungsten wires
PVB
Conductive
Adhesive
Busbar 1
Normal
Adhesive
FFC Connectors
(GB patent application number GB1400411.3, worldwide rights reserved)
The connector components are:
A base of tinned copper with dimensions capable of carrying the
required operating current without exceeding recommended maximum
temperatures (as specified by customer).
A black polyimide insulating film to prevent corrosion
An adhesive patch with two purposes – to act as a water barrier and
prevent moisture ingress into the laminate between the connector and
glass surface; and to secure the connector to glass surface.
The process steps used by Strip Tinning to make these connectors are:
•
•
•
•
•
Lamination of insulating film onto tinned copper, and application of
the adhesive patch
Welding or soldering of a terminal or cable to an end of the tinned
copper
Overmoulding of the welded or solder joint
Attaching a terminal, seal and housing to the cable as requested by
the customer.
Application of a solder deposit to the connector to allow ease of
soldering to busbar.
Tungsten Wire
Preformed Corners
This is an essential material for manufacture of Electrically Wired
Heated Windscreens. It is used as the near-invisible heating element
within the glass viewing area, and is the obvious choice due to excellent
tensile strength (even at very high temperatures) and good corrosion
resistance.
Type of Tungsten Wire: Black (W) Type – (Black with graphite coating)
Diameter: According to customer request – Range of sizes available.
Ohms tolerance: +/- 3% throughout the whole coil of black tungsten
wire.
Density: 19.35g/cm3
ohms
210-225
189-205
173-186
160-170
145-155
135-143
124-130
115-122
110
100-105
93-96
Ø (mm)*
0.020
0.021
0.022
0.023
0.024
0.025
0.026
0.027
0.028
0.029
0.030
Preformed Corners, also called Die-cuts, are used within laminated
glass on the corners of the screen. Usually the busbar can be folded in
order to meet the contour of the screen, but as they are becoming
more curved this folding can create a lot of stress on the glass leading
to cracking and increased failures. The preform can be shaped to meet
the contours of the screen, and therefore there is no requirement for
doubling the busbar thickness (by folding). This will result in increased
output and less scrap.
Preforms generally range from 50 up to 100 microns thickness
dependant on customer requirements and are available in various
coatings.
* Other size available on request
Backlite Connectors
Backlites are becoming an ever increasing product within the
automotive glazing market, STL produces several variations of backlite
connectors;
•
T-pieces are used on backlites and side windows as heating
connectors. T-pieces can be produced in any design or shape as
requested by the customer and can be produced from Plain Copper,
Tinned Copper or Silver plated. Some designs can also include heatshrink tubing and other materials for added insulation, as well as
solder preforms applied to the footings of the solder bridge.
•
Antennae Connectors used for Radio, TV and GPRS signals, which
allow for signals to be transmitted from the backlite to the
electronics of the vehicle. We partner with leading ferrite coil and
capacitor manufacturers in order to produce connectors which are
able to target the frequency required by the customer in order to
reduce interference.
Quality and Controls
Our state of the art rolling mills, slitters, treatment and coating lines
guarantee our exceptional standards. We are supported by TS16949
management system certification, and the very highest levels of
environmental management & occupational health and safety through
our ISO14001 and OHSAS18001 accreditations.
In-line laser width Measurement
HMI Controls
In-line laser thickness measurement
Research & Innovation
We at Strip Tinning strive to be the best in our field for Research &
Development. We have strong partnerships with leading experts from
local universities.
To further our innovation, we have invested in new machinery which
produces the next generation of market leading products. We also
have KTP and FP7 research projects underway, which keep us at the
cutting edge of product development.