Extol receives patent for revolutionary nanoSTAKE® plastic staking technology
Published by
Jason Dornbos
on
Extol is pleased to announce that we have received a patent for our revolutionary nanoSTAKE plastic staking technology. This is Extol’s second patent for a staking technology that will change the manufacturing industry. NanoSTAKE was developed to tackle the challenge of staking small plastic bosses in tight, hard-to-fit locations while being safe to use on electronics and other sensitive applications. The closed-loop process is fast and easy to use thanks to the proprietary Smart Respond™ heating system that rapidly heats and cools the punch at the tip of the module.
If you’re not familiar with plastic staking, generally, the process heats and forms a plastic boss into a stake to mechanically capture another component. The methods of heating and forming vary based on which staking technology is being used. Here’s how the nanoSTAKE process works: The low-current (1.5 A), high-performance heater heats a punch to a programmed melt temperature in seconds. The punch pushes down on the boss and forms it into a stake. Once the punch reaches the correct height, it rapidly cools to a programmed release temperature allowing it to retract without sticking to the plastic. The whole process can happen in less than 5 seconds and can stake bosses as small as 0.5 mm.
Due to its small size, safety, indifference to material color, and easy operation, nanoSTAKE is a great solution for a wide variety of applications. Additional features include exporting data, validation mode, teach mode, and extensive quality monitoring. Here are just a few types of applications that benefit the most from the nanoSTAKE process:
- Electronics
- Lighting
- Automotive trim
- Medical devices
- And many more
If you are a manufacturer, you can use nanoSTAKE for your next project. Extol’s highly-skilled team builds custom automation equipment and turnkey machines that incorporate nanoSTAKE along with many other technologies. If you prefer to use a different machine builder, we also offer nanoSTAKE integration packages that allow integrators to add the technology to the machines that they build.
Contact us today to get this revolutionary staking technology on your next application.
Click here to read more about nanoSTAKE.