CEP Technologies announced it is expanding its technical cleaning and tape-and-reel operations to its San Antonio manufacturing facility to support the EMI/RFI shielding market in the United States and Mexico. The consumer electronics, automotive, medical and defense industries are the primary end users for a market projected to grow to USD 9.2 billion by 2025.
“Devices and circuit boards are becoming smaller and faster with strict electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements,” says CEP President Ken Kaufmann Jr. “And there is a continuing need for better interference control. If manufacturers hope to bring new devices and finished products to market, custom shielding will be a big part of that. Metal shields offer a trusted and durable solution. Given how many electronic and communications devices are packed into nearly every product made these days, shields can’t merely be designed well, they need to be manufactured with care to minimize the risk of EMI and RFI on devices.”
CEP is able to produce custom shielding components that suppress and prevent internally generated signals and external ambient temperatures from interfering with equipment operations. Its two-piece covers and frames protect a variety of PCB board components. Parts are produced from alloys such as copper-nickel-silver (bare and pre-plated with tin), cold-rolled steel, and 300 series stainless in precision coil thicknesses ranging from 0.004 in. to 0.015 in.
Part feature and dimensional tolerances are critical, requiring numerous, meticulous profile cuts. In addition to ensuring that cuts and geometries are exact, part flatness is ultra-critical, as these frames are then soldered to a PCB board and sealed. CEP maintains a profile tolerance of 0.0015 in., a maximum part burr size of 0.0005 in. and flatness tolerances of less than 0.003 in. ranging from cold rolled steel to high-performance copper-based alloys. The precision metal stamper can provide cleaning and packaging services for medical devices, LEDs, consumer electronics, industrial equipment, safety and security equipment, automotive, and aerospace components.
