Busbar solutions for the automotive industry

Penn Engineering is the industry leader when it comes to providing solutions for automotive and busbar fasteners. Its self-clinching, heavy-duty studs and moulded inserts for plastics, available from Zygology, are some of their most popular products.

Providing a strong connection, they can be ultrasonically welded for thermoplastics, and heat-staking makes sure of a secure fit; with press-in fasteners that can be easily installed, you can quickly create your own assemblies, making them ideal for use in applications related to vehicles.

PEM heavy-duty studs are pressed into the panel, where they flow the panel material into special recesses under the head of the stud. This permanently attaches the stud to the panel giving a large metal-to-metal bearing area – and excellent electrical conductivity. Replacing loose nuts, bolts, and washers reduces inventory and saves many hours of assembly time. Features of these heavy-duty studs include:

• Installation into busbars as thin as .031”/0.8 mm
• Clinch design for high-strength, permanent installation
• Ideal for installation into copper, brass, aluminium, steel
• Enlarged head diameter/thickness provides an enhanced contact area

At the other end of the scale inserts for plastics offer a quick and simple method of installing a strong metal thread into various types of commonly used plastic materials. Produced in brass, stainless steel and aluminium, these inserts break down into two types.

Heat staking and ultrasonic inserts are used with rigid plastics and rely on heat to melt the plastic enough to allow the insert to be pushed into a pre-prepared hole. Once in place, the plastic then reflows into the various grooves, knurls and ridges on the fastener body before setting hard again so that pull-out and torque loads can be resisted.

Moulded-in inserts are Installed during the moulding process, the inserts are located in the mould using core pins. When the mould opens, the core pins are withdrawn, leaving the inserts permanently encapsulated in the plastic section with only the threads exposed.

Moulded-in inserts avoid the need for any secondary operations or separate installation equipment.

For plastics with a degree of ductility, press-in inserts are even easier to install as they are simply pushed into place with a simple pressing action. Press-in inserts are quick to install and avoid the need for any specialist installation equipment or techniques.