In the smart card manufacturing industry, the process used by RFID card punching machines has a direct impact on the quality and lifespan of the final product. RFID technology is expanding from access cards to more valuable fields such as gaming cards and bank cards. As this situation occurs, the materials used to make cards become increasingly diverse. The reactions of PET, PVC, and PC to temperature, pressure, and stamping stress are all very different. The main technical challenge faced by business card manufacturers is how to achieve a perfect combination of three materials without compromising the electrical performance of RFID chips. This article will provide a detailed explanation of the technical principles and main processes of RFID card punching machines that can handle various materials. It will provide technical information for companies that print and manufacture smart cards.
What is the impact of thermal stress on the stability of RFID chip packaging?
Thermal stress is usually the cause of RFID chip packaging failure. You need to use composite materials, lamination, and die-cutting to make cards. The chip substrate is made of silicon with a thermal expansion coefficient of about 2.6 × 10⁻⁶/K. ⁻⁶/K. On the other hand, the packaging material is made of PVC with a thermal expansion coefficient of about 80 × 10⁻⁶/K. ⁻⁶/K. This means that the size of the material will change according to temperature, thereby applying stress to the material. If the RFID card punching machine overheats the surrounding area or applies excessive pressure to the machine during the punching process, it is easy to cause micro displacement or even internal delamination at the connection point between the chip and the antenna. This can shorten the read-write distance and may even cause the machine to stop working. Industry data shows that about 15% of RFID waste is caused by thermal stress damage during the die-cutting process.
To solve this problem, the RFID card punching machine uses servo motors to carefully control the speed and force of punching. You can change the speed from 10 times per minute to 50 times per minute and set the optimal downward speed for materials of different thicknesses to reduce the heat generated by friction. The layout visual correction and positioning system of the equipment configuration uses CCD cameras to detect material deformation in real time (as small as 0.01 mm), automatically change positioning coordinates, and ensure correct cutting to avoid chip areas. The stress release time of the gradual feeding system is 0.5 seconds, which increases the accumulated thermal stress. This keeps the failure rate of composite chips below 0.2%, far below the industry average of 0.8%. The mold cooling system also keeps the mold temperature below 40°C so that heat does not reach the chip. Due to these technical details, the device can not only cut ordinary PVC cards but also cut high-frequency RFID tags with high accuracy. This meets the demand for well-functioning smart cards in India.
Why does polycarbonate (PC) require more precise and heavier stamping?
PC materials can effectively handle impacts and high temperatures. The glass transition temperature is 150°C, and the PVC transition temperature is 80°C. People often use it for very secure ID cards and credit cards. But it's difficult to die cut because it's too sturdy. Its impact strength is about 850 J/m (200 J/m for PVC), and its elongation at break exceeds 100% (about 20% for PVC), making it difficult to break; When you cut it, it only changes shape. If the cutting force is not strong enough, it cannot cut the material. On the contrary, it will pull the chip layer and damage the circuit.
Therefore, it is necessary to punch PC materials with higher precision and tonnage. The high-end RFID card punching machine has a servo motor that can handle power of 7.5 KW or higher. It can be stamped with up to 30 tons of force and has closed-loop position and constant force control. The punching depth is precise to within ± 0.05 mm, which means that the edges of the finished product are smooth and free of burrs (burr height less than 0.03 mm). The device uses molds made of powder metallurgy high-speed steel (such as ASP60) and coated with TiAlN coating, as PC wears molds three times faster than PVC. These molds have a hardness of HRC68-70 and can be used more than 500000 times. Due to the flexibility of the PC, the program has added a "secondary pop-up" function. Therefore, after punching and cutting, you should maintain pressure for 0.2 seconds and then slowly release it to prevent material rebound. The automatic collection system classifies and collects garbage and finished products. If you can reduce the scrap rate of high-value PC products from 1% to 0.3%, you can save a lot of money. India requires approximately 200 million personal computer ID cards annually. This means it can store approximately 140000 files worth millions of rupees.
The Evolution of Coating Technology for Punching Machine Molds
The mold is like the "teeth" of a card stamping machine. Its working effect directly affects the cutting edge of the card. Early molds were made of hard alloy or high-speed steel. When they stamped PET with reinforced fibers, the cutting edges were passivated thousands of times, resulting in burrs. Since the development of materials science, the coating technology of RFID card stamping machine molds has made significant progress. Modern high-end molds use PVD or CVD to add a coating with a thickness of 2-5 μ μm and hardness equivalent to diamond (HV2000-3500) on the substrate (HV800-1200). These coatings can be TiN, TiCN, AlTiN, or even diamond-like carbon. This makes the mold very hard and self-lubricating.
When you come into contact with PET, the diamond-like coating reduces the friction coefficient from 0.6 to 0.1, preventing heat accumulation and preventing melt adhesion. The AlTiN coating prolongs the duration of PVC chloride corrosion between maintenance cycles by 100000 to 300000 times. The TiCN coating on PC prevents burrs by extending the service life of stamped edges. The uncoated mold cuts PVC 100000 times, causing the blade to wear 0.05 mm and produce burrs. The wear of TiAlN-coated molds does not exceed 0.01 mm after 500000 cycles, and the burr growth does not exceed 0.02 mm. The DLC coating on PET can last for more than 800000 cycles. Due to its lightweight and user-friendly design, operators can replace the mold within 2 to 3 minutes without the need for complex calibration. This solves the problem of having to replace a large number of production lines for small batch and multi-material orders, ensuring the same edge-cutting quality from the first card to the 10000th card.
Complete list of technical specifications and features of the RFID card punching machine
The RFID card punching machine is designed for the printing industry. Here are its most important features and technological advantages:
1.Visual correction positioning system: The system has a 5-megapixel industrial camera that can track the positioning marks of printed materials in real time with an accuracy of ± 0.10 mm. This ensures that the pattern is very close to the cutting edge, so there will be no errors during printing.
2.Step-by-step precise feeding: intermittent feeding driven by servo, with a step size that can vary from 10 millimeters to 300 millimeters and an accuracy of ± 0.10 millimeters. This allows you to see every step, which is very useful for small orders (such as 100 sheets). You don't need to leave space for nail holes and connection points, which means you can use 5% to 8% more material.
3.Quick adjustment and mold change: Changing the mold only takes 2-3 minutes because the mold interface and pneumatic clamping are the same. Calling parameters, switching order, and debugging only take less than 15 minutes. Sampling services have accelerated design validation, reduced trial and error costs, and shortened the average delivery cycle by 30%.
4.Wide material adaptability: It can handle many different materials as long as their thickness is between 0.1 and 1.5 millimeters. These include paper, film, soft magnetic film, PET, PVC, and PC. The company produces small boxes for packaging, as well as anime cards, game cards, playing cards, and bank cards. Like collectibles, cutting and punching have no burrs.
5.Good power and collection system: A 7.5 kW servo motor can cut 60 times per minute and produce over 50000 sheets of paper per day. You can classify finished products in two ways: sequential collection (for quality control) and classified collection (with automatic packaging). Pneumatic conveyor belts can protect cards from scratches.
6.Integrated connection solution: It can connect the machines for hot stamping, coding, and packaging together, making everything from hot stamping to packaging automated. This helps things proceed more smoothly and reduces the amount of work that needs to be done manually.
Conclusion
An RFID card punch that can perfectly process PET, PVC, and PC materials is a complete example of how the materials work, how to control thermodynamics, and how to perform precision machining. Actual test data shows that the model using servo drive and visual positioning has a stable positioning accuracy of ± 0.10 mm and can handle many different materials. The step-by-step feeding structure is conducive to the trend of short orders, fast speed, and elimination of material waste in the printing industry. We recommend models with stamping power of 7.5 KW or higher, mold change time of less than 3 minutes, and automatic sorting and collection functions for manufacturers who wish to sell their products in other countries such as India. This device can be quickly replaced to meet the high-precision production needs of game cards and bank cards. In just 15 minutes, it can also set flexible technological barriers for cross-border payments in foreign markets. The mold life of RFID card punching machines with coated molds exceeds 500000 times, the burr height is less than 0.03 mm, and the scrap rate is less than 0.3%. Processing PVC and PET is faster, with a speed of over 50 times per minute. Every year, over 15% of people in India hope to use digital currency to pay and prove themselves, which is why the demand for RFID cards is growing. The company will be able to utilize new drilling techniques to quickly and accurately capitalize on opportunities.