Metal Stamped Stainless Steel Terminals for the Automotive Industry in Illinois

Using our advanced metal stamping technology, Ultra Stamping & Assembly, Inc. manufactures 300,000 of the following terminal annually for the Insert Molding and automotive industry. This specific terminal is constructed from 0.0100 of an inch thick 302 stainless steel with a selective plating finish. Customer plating specifications require nickel plating over all with select gold to be applied to specific features of the terminal.

As a cost savings, the tooling was designed to use a limited amount of gold by nesting a left and right version of the same part close together and producing two parts with every press stroke. The feature of the part that is gold plated is formed over 180 degrees onto itself without compromising the layer of gold plating. To achieve this requirement we implemented a multiple stage process.

We stamp and form the area requiring gold plating from the base 302 stainless steel strip. The stamped steel is then taken up onto a reel and sent out for the plating process. The plated strip is then returned to Ultra for the final form and stamping stage where the finished terminals are produced.

A few key features of this part are the gold plated contact formed over 180 degrees onto itself and then formed over 90 degrees. This form measures 0.0600 tall, 0.0250 wide, and is 0.0250 thick at the contact point. The center of the part is formed two times to create a "z" form while holding the critical location from the center of the hole to the contact point. The side of the part with the diameter hole has a wire form and contact dome. The forms are duplicated within the tooling to produce both the left and right terminal.

We made custom parts chutes to separate the left terminal from the right terminal to ensure proper identification during packaging. They are provided just-in-time to our client's facility in Illinois.