Altra Tech. Incorporated 益瑞電子股份有限公司 - Blog by 許育榮Altra Tech. Incorporated 益瑞電子股份有限公司 - Blog by 許育榮https://www.altra.net/blogs/author/許育榮Wed, 15 Apr 2026 00:59:18 -0700http://zoho.com/sites/<![CDATA[Maximizing Industrial Equipment Efficiency with Advanced Lubrication Technologies]]>https://www.altra.net/blogs/post/lubrication

Lubricants play a crucial role in the operation of industrial machinery. Proper lubrication not only reduces friction and wear but also enhances equipment efficiency and reliability, leading to extended lifespans and reduced maintenance costs. In the realm of Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO), the selection and application of lubricants are pivotal in achieving these objectives.

 

Extended periods without maintenance or lubrication can significantly impact equipment and operations. For instance, unmaintained bearings may experience excessive wear, leading to equipment failures and increased repair costs. Additionally, high friction results in energy wastage as machinery requires more power to operate. More importantly, such equipment poses safety risks to personnel.


The maintenance procedures of MRO—Maintenance, Repair, and Operations—are the cornerstone of ensuring the long-term performance of machine equipment. Ensuring the correct application and maintenance of lubricants is crucial in these steps.

The following are integral:

  1. Inspection and Cleaning: Before applying lubricants, thorough inspection of lubrication points is necessary to ensure cleanliness and absence of debris or residues.
  2. Selection of Appropriate Lubricant: Choose the right lubricant based on operating conditions, working temperatures, and equipment types. 
  3. Correct Quantity and Method: Use the proper amount and method of lubrication to ensure even distribution on lubrication points. 
  4. Regular Inspection and Maintenance: Periodically check lubrication points to ensure the effectiveness of the lubricant and perform necessary maintenance.

Lubricants serve multiple functions in industrial equipment. Firstly, they reduce friction and wear between components, not only lowering energy consumption but also extending the lifespan of machinery. Secondly, lubricants aid in cooling and debris removal, maintaining equipment operation under optimal conditions. Most importantly, they enhance equipment reliability, reducing the risk of production disruptions.

Selecting the right lubricant should be based on several critical factors:

  1. Operating Conditions: Consider the temperature, pressure, humidity, and other operating conditions of the work environment, as different lubricants are suitable for different environments.
  2. Equipment Type: Different types of equipment (such as bearings, gears, chains, etc.) require lubricants with varying properties. Choose according to the type of equipment.
  3. Workload: Evaluate the workload and pressure on the equipment to determine the required lubricant viscosity and performance.
  4. Lubrication Intervals: Determine how often re-lubrication is needed to choose a lubricant with an appropriate lifespan.

In conclusion, the selection and application of MRO lubricants are crucial for ensuring the long-term performance of industrial equipment. Through proper lubricant selection and adherence to MRO maintenance procedures, we can reduce the risk of equipment failures, enhance reliability, and ensure smooth production operations. This positively impacts a company's production efficiency, allowing it to maintain competitiveness in a challenging market.

]]>Thu, 12 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0800<![CDATA[The Unsung Heroes of IC Manufacturing - Probe Cards]]>https://www.altra.net/blogs/post/probe-card

Source: www.ctimes.com.tw

A probe card is utilized in the field of integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing before packaging, to perform functional tests on bare chips using probes. This process helps identify defective products and prepares them for subsequent packaging processes. Thus, it plays a significant role in the manufacturing cost of integrated circuits. The probe card can enhance the yield of finished products from the original 70% to 90%. Even a 1% yield difference, which can be contributed by a 20% increase in yield, holds immense importance for semiconductor manufacturers.

 

In essence, a probe card serves as an interface between the testing machine and the wafer, ensuring that only good products proceed to the next packaging phase after wafer dicing, preventing wastage of defective items. Therefore, high reliability is a crucial indicator of competitiveness for probe card manufacturers.

 

Depending on the application, probe cards in the field of IC testing can be categorized as Epoxy Ring Probe Cards, Vertical Probe Cards, and MEMS Probe Cards. Let's delve into a further technical analysis of the Epoxy Ring Probe Card and the MEMS Probe Card.

Epoxy Ring Probe Card Technology Analysis

Since its introduction in the 1970s, Epoxy Ring Probe Card technology has become a widely adopted testing solution in the semiconductor industry due to its advantages of rapid production, small quantities, and versatility. The manufacturing process involves designing Mylar drilling and fixtures based on pad assignments, manually placing probes one by one, attaching the probes to complete the Epoxy ring probe head, connecting the probes to the printed circuit board (PCB) through soldering, and finally ensuring co-planarity on a needle grinder. While Epoxy Ring Probe Cards offer advantages in terms of speed, quantity, and versatility, there are still some inherent design flaws that limit their application scope.

MicroSpring Probe Card Technology Analysis

To overcome the technical limitations of traditional Epoxy Ring Probe Cards in DARM testing, FFI in the United States introduced the MicroSpring probe card. This type of probe card features nearly uniform force distribution among the probes and a set of horizontal adjustment mechanisms, enabling the development of its unique multi-dut testing technology. Specifically, MicroSpring probes are fixed to a Space transformer using methods like brazing, soldering, and welding. The Space transformer is generally a Multi-Layer Ceramic substrate (MLC), offering a well-defined horizontal reference plane and circuit redistribution. With the help of an adjustment mechanism based on the MLC's horizontal reference plane, MicroSpring probes achieve excellent co-planarity.

Based on the above analysis, it's evident that the core technology of such probe cards lies in the manufacturing of MicroSpring probes. This technology determines its potential to meet the needs of semiconductor pin testing and its applicability to various product categories.

Integrated Probe Card Technology Analysis

To break FFI's monopoly in the global DARM testing market, improve throughput, and develop probe card technology with finer pitches and higher pin counts, the Mechanical and Systems Research Laboratories of ITRI proposed the concept of Integrated Probe Cards, leveraging Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology.

Integrated probe structures combine microfabrication processes such as high aspect ratio lithography technology, dry/wet etching technology, high hardness electroforming technology, and planarization technology. This results in all probes being formed as a single unit, overcoming the limitations of manual assembly of probes seen in Epoxy Ring Probe Cards and the individual soldering process in MicroSpring Probe Cards. This higher level of automation breaks the limitation of production cost scaling with pin counts, which is beneficial for manufacturing high pin-count probe cards.

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Probe Pin

Printing Circuit Board (PCB)

]]>Fri, 08 Sep 2023 10:00:00 +0800<![CDATA[Unveiling Electric Car Motor Magic]]>https://www.altra.net/blogs/post/ev-motor

Source: www.renaultgroup.com

Even if you’re familiar with the inner workings of a diesel- or gasoline-powered vehicle, this doesn’t mean you also know exactly what happens inside the motor of an electric car. Read on for all the important information when it comes to electric car motors.

Electric motor power: how does it work?

How does an electric car motor work? In an electric vehicle, when the driver applies the accelerator, the battery in the car supplies electricity to the stator, causing the rotor to turn, and subsequently provide mechanical energy to turn the car’s gears. Once the gears are rotating, the wheels turn too. All this happens in the blink of an eye, and without fossil fuel combustion!

What type of motor is used in electric cars? 

Alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) are two different types of electric flow. As their names would suggest, direct current is when the electric charge flows in only one direction, while alternating current periodically reverses direction.

Motors powered by direct current can be found in an electric vehicle, but only as small, mini motors used, for the windshield wipers and electric windows, for example, but not to drive the vehicle itself. For the traction of an electric vehicle, an alternative current motor is used.

Types of electric motors: asynchronous vs. synchronous

There are two types of AC electric motor used to create traction for an electric vehicle: asynchronous (aka induction) and synchronous.

In an asynchronous, or induction, motor, the rotor is pulled into a spin, constantly trying to “catch up” with the rotating magnetic field created by the stator. This type of electric car motor is known for its high power output and is a common motor in vehicles.

In a synchronous motor, on the other hand, the rotor turns at the same speed as the magnetic field. This provides high torque at low speed, making it ideal for urban driving. Another advantage is its size: a synchronous electric car motor can be compact and low weight.

How is the electric motor powered?

Before your asynchronous or synchronous electric car motor can turn, the electricity it needs has to go through several steps before it reaches its final destination as traction.

Where else are AC and DC found in an electric car?

Don’t get confused between the alternating current electric car motor and the types of electric ; which can use either alternating or direct current depending on whether you are plugging directly into the grid, or using a specific type of charging station. While your electric car motor uses AC, the battery needs to receive its electricity in DC. A conversion from alternative to direct current, either onboard or outside the vehicle, is therefore required.

Power from the grid is always AC. This then passes through your electric vehicle’s onboard charger (imagine it as an AC to DC converter), which then sends the power to the battery. But the rapid charging stations you can find on the highway, parking lots and on city streets carry out the AC to DC conversion process themselves, meaning the energy for the battery arrives straight into the car as direct current. They are faster than AC electricity outlets, but take up much more space.

How does the car then turn DC into AC for its motor? Using an inverter, a device in the powertrain…

The powertrain inside an electric vehicle

In an electric car, the electric motor is just one part of a larger unit called the powertrain. Here we also find the Power Electronic Controller (PEC), in charge of the electronics that control the motor’s power supply and battery charging, and the gear motor which adjusts the torque (turning force) and speed of rotation.

Constructing the different elements of an EV motor requires real expertise. At Renault, supervisor Tatiana Sueur explains that “To build a stator, for example, we had to find how to wind 2 kilometers of copper wire into little notches in sheet metal without damaging the insulating ceramic that covers them.”

Powertrain efficiency is constantly being improved, as we have witnessed technical innovations, which leads to better all-round vehicle performance and the introduction of more features.

Electric car motor life expectancy

The life expectancy of an electric car motor depends on so many variables that it is difficult to estimate. In ideal conditions, it has been suggested that the optimal lifespan is between 15-20 years. Compared to a combustion engine, an electric car motor has fewer parts, meaning reduced and easier maintenance.

What’s the output of an electric car?

When it comes to an electric vehicle, power output involves the difference between the electricity delivered (input) and the “useful” mechanical energy that drives the motor (output), a ratio known as energy conversion efficiency. Heat and friction can cause some of this power to be lost along the way, meaning the motor doesn’t benefit from all of the electricity coming from the battery of the electric car.The power output of an electric car depends on the volume of its motor and the wattage of the incoming current. 

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]]>Tue, 08 Aug 2023 09:00:00 +0800<![CDATA[What is LED package]]>https://www.altra.net/blogs/post/LED-package

Source: www.mokolight.com

The process of high-power LED package is complex and the structure is cumbersome. LED package technology is influencing the performance and life of LED. In recent years, LED packaging technology has been a hot research project. Many large companies have invested a lot of human and material resources in research. LED packaging technology has been greatly improved, especially the research on high-power white LED packaging has been more in-depth, and a variety of LED packaging processes have been obtained.

The functions of LED packaging mainly include:

  1. Strengthen the strength and stability of LED and improve the reliability of LED
  2. Strengthen heat dissipation to reduce chip junction temperature and improve led performance;
  3. Strengthen the light output control, improve the light output efficiency and optimize the beam distribution;
  4. Strengthen power supply management, optimize the control of power supply, and improve the conversion efficiency of DC / AC;

Key technology of high-power LED package 

The thermal resistance of LED package mainly includes the internal thermal resistance and interface thermal resistance of materials (heat dissipation substrate and heat sink structure). The heat dissipation substrate absorbs the heat generated by the wafer and transfers the heat to the heat sink. The heat sink transfers the heat to the air. The LED transfers the heat of the wafer through the heat dissipation substrate and heat sink. The materials used for heat dissipation substrates are generally materials with strong thermal conductivity, including ceramics (such as Al2O3, ain, SiC), metals (such as aluminum, copper), silicon and composites.

The manufacturing process of high-power LED is relatively complex. We need to weld the LED chip and the corresponding heat dissipation substrate together. It integrates driving circuit, control compensation circuit, scenic spot protection circuit and eutectic welding layer on the substrate. The heat dissipation substrate has simple structure and high material thermal conductivity, which greatly improves the heat dissipation performance and solves the heat dissipation problem of high-power LED packaging.

An optimization point of LED packaging is to reduce the contact thermal resistance between interfaces and enhance heat dissipation. Thermal interface (TIM) is the interlayer between wafer and thermal substrate. The material selection of TIM is very important. TIM commonly used materials are conductive adhesive and thermally conductive adhesive, which have poor thermal conductivity, generally 0.5-2.5w/mk. The conductive adhesive of TIM will incorporate thermally conductive nanoparticles to reduce the thermal resistance of the interface. 

The potting adhesive coated on the surface of the wafer has a relatively high refractive index, which will reduce the loss of photons at the interface and increase the transmittance. As the potting glue wraps the wafer, the potting glue should have a mechanical protection effect on the wafer. Therefore, the potting adhesive should not only have high refractive index and light transmittance, but also have good stability and fluidity. In order to improve the service life of LED and reduce the light decay of LED, the potting adhesive should preferably have the characteristics of low moisture absorption and aging resistance.

At present, the commonly used potting adhesives include epoxy resin and silicone adhesive. Silicone adhesive has low hygroscopicity, low stress, good thermal stability, high transmittance and high refractive index. It has obvious advantages over epoxy resin. Most high-power LED package use silicone adhesive, but the cost is much higher than epoxy resin. Although silica gel has good stability and light transmittance, its performance is related to the temperature of the external environment. With the increase of temperature, the thermal stress inside the silica gel will increase and the refractive index will decrease, which will increase the loss of photon refraction and total reflection and affect the uniform distribution of light intensity. 

In general, in order to improve the efficiency and reliability of LED light, the encapsulant layer has a tendency to be gradually replaced by transparent glass or glass-ceramic with high refractive index. By adding or coating phosphor powder on the glass surface, it will not only improve The uniformity of the phosphor is improved, and the packaging efficiency is improved.

To realize high brightness LED lamps, we need to increase the power of LED, which means that led will produce more heat. The heat dissipation performance of led directly affects the luminous efficiency and service life of LED. If the heat dissipation is poor, the temperature of LED chip will increase due to heat accumulation, which may reduce the luminous efficiency, accelerate the aging of relevant components and reduce the service life of LED. 

The high-density integration of LED chips produces a lot of heat, which can not go away in a short time, and the temperature of the heat dissipation substrate rises rapidly. It is very necessary to adopt efficient packaging process and heat sink structure. There are two types of heat sink structures, one is active heat dissipation, and the other is passive heat dissipation. Passive heat dissipation generally selects fins with a high ribbed coefficient, and dissipates heat to the environment through natural convection between the fins and the air. This solution has a simple structure and high reliability, but due to the low heat transfer coefficient of natural convection, it is only suitable for low power density and low integration. For high-power LEDs (packages), it should adopt active heat dissipation, such as fins + fans, heat pipes, forced convection of liquids, microchannel refrigeration, phase change refrigeration, and so on.

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]]>Wed, 12 Jul 2023 17:00:00 +0800<![CDATA[Battery Management System]]>https://www.altra.net/blogs/post/bms

Source: www.evexpert.eu

The battery management system (BMS) is commonly referred to as a battery nanny or a battery housekeeper, which is mainly for the intelligent management and maintenance of each battery (cell), preventing the battery from overcharging, over-discharging and overcurrent, and prolonging the use of the battery Life, monitor battery status (voltage, current, temperature, etc.), functions include thermal management, balance control, fault diagnosis, charge management, participation in energy recovery, etc. Basically, electronic parameters are used to identify changes in physical and chemical reactions. Therefore, it is very important to equip the battery pack with a BMS protection system.

BMS Construction

The design of the BMS corresponds to a large extent to the design of the battery. It consists of a battery monitoring integrated circuit (BMIC), a cell management controller (CMC) and a battery management controller (BMC).

The BMIC monitors the individual battery cells and must be able to quickly - in a matter of microseconds - inform the CMC of the situation so that the CMC or BMC is able to react and, if necessary, correct an unfavourable situation. In order to prevent temperature leaks, the BMIC needs to notice immediately the battery cell that is overheating and send this information further on as quickly as possible. The BMC must decide how serious the situation is, how to proceed, and the overheated cell must be shut down if necessary. And all of this must happen in the blink of an eye.

The accuracy of the measurement and the ability to respond to adverse conditions depend primarily on the frequency of communication from the BMIC to the CMC and BMC, the more often they communicate, the greater the chance that they will successfully resolve a situation that could be risky. However, it is not at all easy to design an effective communication network in an electric car due to electrical noise.

Of course, before correcting the BMS tries to prevent any unfavorable situation, so apart from the BMIC, CMC and BMC modules it also consists of circuits that balance the energy loads of different cells, in this way all cells work more or less the same and do not tend to cause problems. 

Depending on how complicated the electric car is, several intelligent microcontrollers may be added to monitor and control various specific tasks. Each BMS must be able to monitor not only the battery but also itself and it must be able to determine if alarms or prompts are real and not fake.

Basic functions of BMS

  1. Discharge and charging control
  2. Determination of the current state of charge (State of Charge)
  3. Determination of State of Health
  4. Charge balancing
  5. Recording and communication

BMS development

In order for each BMS system to be able to perform its functions correctly, several puzzles need to be overcome for its development. The first is the Battery State Estimation. This is a value that is important both for the driver and for the system itself and its proper management.

The second is Battery Cell Charge Balancing. There are passive and active methods, as well as various active balancing topologies that need to be properly designed to optimize BMS properties.

Battery State Estimation

The state of charge of the battery is absolutely essential information for the driver. Moreover, the use of the battery could be extended if it was possible to obtain an accurate value. 

Battery cell charge balancing

Battery cells are differences can be in internal resistance, level of degradation, capacity, ambient temperature, and many more. These inevitable differences between cells can cause many problems, and overall capacity can be dramatically reduced. This imbalance then causes the individual cells to be over-discharged or over-charged, which is dangerous for the battery pack as a whole, and thus charge balancing between the individual cells is of paramount importance to maintain performance and extend battery lifespan.

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]]>Mon, 26 Jun 2023 18:00:00 +0800<![CDATA[Explore the Working Principle and Benefits of Different Types of UPS System Configurations]]>https://www.altra.net/blogs/post/upsAn uninterruptible power supply (UPS), also referred as battery backup, is used for providing emergency power to a load. It is a device that allows a computer to function for at least a few more minutes when the primary power source is lost or the voltage level drops.]]>

Source: Power Electronic News

An uninterruptible power supply (UPS), also referred as battery backup, is used for providing emergency power to a load. It is a device that allows a computer to function for at least a few more minutes when the primary power source is lost or the voltage level drops. 


UPS systems contain batteries that kick in and provide battery backup while also offering protection from damages caused by power surges. In commercial and industrial areas, including hospitals, small offices, electric point of sales terminals, manufacturing facilities, and telecommunication centers all over the world, UPS systems are widely used when the usual generator system fails. 

Depending upon the model of UPS, the output waveforms are either sine-wave or simulated sine-wave. Sine-wave output is the best waveform with high-quality output. It has the shape of an AC power signal from the utility, which has a smooth and repetitive oscillation. UPS systems generate sine-wave power to control sensitive electronic appliances. Simulated sine-wave output, on the other hand, produces a stepped, approximated sine wave by using a pulse-wave–modulation technique and thus can supply more cost-effective battery backup power for equipment that does not require sine-wave output. 

The following are three major types of UPS system configurations. 

1. Offline/standby UPS: the entry-level power protection

Offline/standby UPS is the most basic UPS system and a cost-effective choice. This UPS topology is designed for consumer electronics, POS systems, entry-level computers, security systems, and other basic electronic equipment. Offline UPS is a good option for devices under 1,500 VAC and those that require low power capacity and cost. It is widely used in small offices, personal home computers, and more.


Here, the load is directly powered by the input power, and the backup power is invoked during the failure of the utility power. The battery, battery charger, and inverter are kept off but still remain connected to the mains power to ensure the battery is always fully charged. When the mains power voltage is lost or exceeds the limits, the switch automatically connects the inverter output to the critical load.

2. Line-interactive UPS: the intermediate level power protection

This UPS topology is best for usage in areas where outages are rare but power fluctuations are common. Thus, it is widely used for consumer electronics, gaming systems, PCs, network equipment, home-theater electronics, and more. It can deliver both power conditioning and battery backup. It has an autotransformer that incorporates a wide array of input power fluctuations, for both undervoltage and overvoltage, before switching to battery backup. In addition, as the inverter is always kept on and connected to the output, it provides filtering switching transients.

3. Online/double-conversion UPS: the ultimate-level power protection

Double-conversion UPS modules can offer uninterrupted power to heavy loads. With the help of a rectifier, the online/double-conversion UPS does filtration and conversion of input power to DC power, and then DC power to AC output. In this smart design, when a power loss happens, the rectifier simply drops out of the circuit and the batteries keep the power steady and unchanged. When power is restored, the rectifier resumes carrying most of the load and begins to charge the batteries.


As safeguarding heavy IT loads and protection against all power problems is very important, enterprises mostly prefer to use double-conversion UPS. These systems also provide frequency regulation, which is required for use in backup generator systems to safeguard from variations common at generator startup. The inverter in an online/double-conversion UPS is always kept on.

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]]>Wed, 24 May 2023 16:00:00 +0800