Ultrasonic metal welding equipment from Sonobond Ultrasonics (West Chester, PA) is helping Electro-Canada (Toronto) improve its metal welding capability and reduce cost.

Electro-Canada provides wire harnesses for the automotive industry, as well as off-road vehicles.

The company needed to weld wire harnesses. However, neither mechanical nor soldering were providing reliable, consistent bonds. "They were messy, time-consuming and not giving us the weld integrity we needed," says Tibor Maknyik, manufacturing and tooling manager for Electro-Canada.

Ultrasonic equipment from Sonobond solved the problem.

The company now uses the WS-2014D ultrasonic metal welder with taper lock tips. The unit can perform up to 300,000 welds. "Now, we're experiencing much better weld integrity, and our running cost is much more inexpensive," says Maknyik. Maknyik attributes the improved productivity to ultrasonic technology, which provides precision metal welding in a fraction of a second. He also attributes production improvement to the unit's tooling apparatus, which is easy to remove and replace. It also lasts for several months.

The impact on Electro-Canada's productivity is significant. "The tooling wear with Sonobond's equipment is much less than with other welders," says Maknyik. "As a result, the tips do not have to be replaced as frequently, so there is less downtime."

Another advantage of the taper lock tips is that they are easily removed and replaced, and they don't have to be recalibrated after changing. The installation is similar to inserting a Morse tapered drill bit in a drill press. This convenient replacement method results in a tip that is always correctly aligned.

To control weld quality, Electro-Canada uses a standard 1,500-watt power supply with an optional energy monitor. Users can preselect an energy level to achieve the correct weld, as well as the maximum time allowed to reach that level. The monitor and controller provide quality control, measure actual energy used in joules, and indicate any defective welds.

Sonobond also provided a sonic cutout switch that stops the machine immediately after the weld cycle is complete.

For more information on ultrasonic welding, call 610-696-4710 or visit www.sonobondultrasonic.com.