Clean Room Manufacturing

St Davids Assemblies has two clean rooms on site, one Class 10,000 (ISO class 7) certified, the other class 100,000, (ISO Class 9). We are FDA 21 CFR 820 certified for manufacturing of medical devices.

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September 17, 2024

Harnessflex

Dunford and Pearson is the UK’s leading distributor of ABB’s harnessflex conduit (since 1996).

Harnessflex is the leading brand of flexible conduit for a wide variety of industries, including automotive industry (for buses, trucks, agricultural vehicles and heavy machinery. (will use more from documents you have already provided)
Harnessflex is our conduit of choice for our bespoke wiring harnesses and cable assemblies, however we also sell Harnessflex as a distributor.

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September 6, 2024

Electromechanical Assemblies

We offer full integration of our electrical controls with additional mechanical/Pneumatic assemblies (including base level machine build) to reduce build time at your premises.

For customers looking for a supplier to provide a higher level of build to reduce the supply chain further and benefit even more from the advantages of outsourcing, we can combine elements of Electrical/Pneumatic/Mechanical assembly to provide a one stop solution.

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September 6, 2024

Cable Assemblies

We have a wealth of experience manufacturing cable assemblies; from medium volume end to end cables, to bespoke multi-function cables, combining mains, signal and Ethernet connections within the same cable.

We can offer cable assemblies for moving applications (including full drag chain assembly) and cable printed identification for clear and permanent labelling of your product.

Cables are cut, stripped and crimped using automated machinery and tested using Cirris electronic test equipment or bespoke test rigs for specialist applications, to ensure the highest standard of quality and reliability are achieved.

We are a registered manufacturer of UL cable assemblies and can offer full certification and listing services to ensure compliance for the delivery to the USA and Canadian markets.

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September 6, 2024

Wiring Harnesses

Our specialist wiring looms/harnesses range from simple switch control circuits to complex, multi circuit vehicle harnesses complete with sensor and proximity detection.

Harnesses are fully tested using a combination of Cirris test equipment and bespoke test rigs for auto testing.

Our engineering team is regularly involved at the development stage of manufacture with customers. This ensures that the most efficient method of manufacture is provided, coupled with the lowest necessary installation time for customer’s production. Identification can be printed directly onto the cables to provide a clear and permanent labelling.

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September 6, 2024

Control Panels

We manufacture products ranging from the simplest Junction Box assemblies to floor mounted PLC controlled panels complete with plug and play inter-connectivity for ease of installation.

All of our control panels are fully tested to customer’s requirements to guarantee fault free quality on delivery.

Our experienced production engineering team can work with you to offer the best design for manufacture processes for your product, achieving the most cost effective solutions possible.

We are a registered manufacturer of UL508A control panels and can offer full certification and listing services, ensuring compliance for the USA and Canadian markets.

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September 6, 2024

Thick Film Elements

Thick Film Heating Elements typically consist of a metal plate, coated with a glass-ceramic (enamel). The glass-ceramic is an electrical insulation and carries the printed (conductive) heater tracks. This slim construction provides a robust, low mass, high power density, electric heater. Thick film heating is becoming more and more common as it provides numerous benefits, including energy saving.

Features and Benefits

Instant Heating

Low thermal mass combined with high power density.

Accurate Temperatures and low overshoot

Rapid response to power adjustments gives close temperature control and low overshoots.

Slim Design and small footprint

Ferro Thick Film Heaters will fit power where other heaters cannot.

Design Freedom

The heater does not have to be circular. It can be custom, rectangular, horse shoe, oval. Virtually any 2 dimensional shape.

High Energy Efficiency

Low thermal mass = little energy wasted heating the element instead of the target material. Fast rate of rise = no need for standby mode,

Robust and high strength

Robust materials, stainless steel and enamel. EFAST keeps up with the highest power density elements, giving it long term reliability whilst being run to extremes.

Thick Film Element Variations

Contact Heating Elements: CHE

Contact Heating Elements are bolted directly to an object to be heated with a graphite sheet, thermal interface. Their construction allows multiple CHEs to be tiled together, evenly heating a large surface area.

Direct Heating: Kettle Controls

Ideally the element substrate is in direct contact with the media to be heated. Here the element has been assembled with Otter’s A12 Kettle Control. The linished stainless steel side of the thick film element forms the base of the kettle, in direct contact with the water. This allows for very high power densities. 3kW on a 110mm diameter disc.

Inline Heating: Liquids / Gases

Thick Film heating can be used to heat liquids and gases as they flow through. Options are: a tubular printed element; the Ferro Flow Through Heater or aluminium fins brazed to a thick film heater (a fin pack), to assist in transferring the heat into the moving air/gas.

Thick Film Element Construction

Element Overview

The base of a Thick Film element typically consists of a stainless steel substrate. This substrate is then enamelled with a layer of glass-ceramic for electrical insulation. The conductive heater tracks are screen printed on top. Finally a coat of protective enamel is applied, with exposed contact areas for electrical connection.

Element Substrate

The element substrate acts as the carrier for the enamel and screen printed layers. Typically the substrate is stainless steel, however other materials such as ceramic can be used. The substrate can be any two dimensional form. Three dimensional forms which can be screen printed consistently, such as tubes, are possible.

Substrate Insulating Enamel

This insulating enamel layer separates the substrate from the screen printed heating tracks. This dielectric layer primary purpose is electrical insulation. In addition, it also provides a consistent surface on which to apply the screen printed heating tracks. Sections may be left exposed, or sandblasted away, for attaching items to the substrate.

Thick Film Heating Tracks

The resistive tracks are the most important layer of the element. By varying the chemical composition and the geometry of the tracks, the element power and heat distribution can be finely controlled. Printed silver contact areas are added for electrical connection. For information on more advanced track design, see the link below.

Element Cover Enamel

The element cover enamel is a protective coat.

Thick Film Technology

While this section provided an overview on the construction of a Thick Film Element, there are far more features. For example EFAST provides instant overheat detection and multi-track designs can give zonal heating or multiple power levels on a single element. For more details on the technology of Thick Film see our dedicated page below.

Thick Film Element Replacement

Element Replacement

Simply switching from a conventional element to a thick film solution improves efficiency by reducing thermal mass. This will improve the environmental impact of your product, and appeal to the eco conscious market. The more frequently the appliance needs to heat from a cool state the greater the advantage.

Feature addition

You may wish to switch to a Thick Film Heating Element to leverage one of its unique design features. These features can be used as a point of differentiation in the marketing and feature set of your product. An example of this could be the use of EFAST overheat protection, combined with the elements responsiveness, to more effectively prevent food burning.

Smaller Footprint

Thick Film elements often allow appliances to be significantly smaller. The elements themselves are smaller than most comparable alternatives and can form a part of the appliance structure. An example of this can be found in thick film kettles, with the element itself becoming the base of the vessel. This opens up the possibility for new & more exotic product design.

Full Conversion

Some appliances benefit greatly from a significant redesign to take advantage of thick film. An example of this is switching from a thermal block to a flow through heater in a coffee machine. This change allows for both hot water and steam to be offered from a single heating system, reducing appliance complexity. Also the ability to rapidly change dispensing temperature allows the option to vary temperature per cup for perfect brewing of different teas. The additional indirect benefits can be great with the right design.

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Group Member:

September 3, 2024

Printing

We have an inhouse printing facility as a finishing and value added service. We can offer screen printing, cylindrical printing, pad printing, rotary pad printing and airbrushing. In addition we can integrate laser marking for product traceability into your automation. Typically we consider this service supplementary to our other offerings.

We offer cylindrical screen printing, and cylindrical pad printing services. These processes are ideal for printing cylindrical surfaces such as dials or rounded vessels. We regularly use this process for printing the legends on cooker knobs.

Ideal for printing on mostly planar surfaces with a high degree of repeatability and geometric tolerance. Pad printing also allows for the use of printing media unsuitable for other printing processes.

We can provide LASER marking for traceability and identification on automated projects. This can be useful for reliable legibility for long service life items.

We can provide airbrushing services where traditional printing methods are not viable due to geometry constraints.

We are equipped with a selection of furnaces / drying chambers suitable for various small parts, ensuring rapid turnaround and consistent surface finish.

Group Member:

August 28, 2024

Assemblies

We take pride in our inhouse automation and hand assembly capabilities. We have been hand assembling products since 1951 and have very good insight into techniques that keep assembly times to a minimum.
Since 1994, we have invested millions of pounds in bespoke automation which has been tailored to the customer requirements. Our expertise in these areas ensures we can provide an optimised assembly solution.

We offer manual assembly via our team of highly experienced technicians. We have been hand assembling products since 1951 and have very good insight into techniques that keep assembly times to a minimum. Our in house toolroom can also support manual assembly projects with production of jigs and fixtures.

Since 1994, we have invested millions of pounds in bespoke automation which has been tailored to the customer requirements. We are experienced in assembly methods ranging from robotic arms to in-press assembly. Our experienced technical team can advise suitable automation for your applications. We can set up assembly lines ranging from fully manual to fully automated and anywhere in between.

We have two clean rooms on site, one Class 10,000 (ISO class 7) certified, the other class 100,000, (ISO Class 9). We are FDA 21 CFR 820 certified for manufacturing of medical devices.

Toolroom Facilities

We have a fully functioning tool room on site. The vast majority of tooling is manufactured either inhouse or utilising our UK supplier base. All tool maintenance is carried out by our trained toolmakers on site. We can globally source tools and materials utilising our sister companies in China and India, we have two partners we currently work with in the far east. Our tool room can also produce jigs and fixtures to support assembly.

Group Member:

August 28, 2024

Metal Pressing and Contacting

We operate several high-speed presses ranging from 25 tonnes to 40 tonnes capability. High speed progression tooling up to 650 strokes per minute using brass, beryllium copper, stainless steels, bimetals and copper iron. Silver contacting to brass, beryllium copper, stainless steels and bimetals.

We can apply contacts to different metal substrates including brass, beryllium copper, stainless steels and bimetals. Processes we employ include wire contacting, friction contacting and contact riveting.

We specialise in high speed continuous automation for metal strips. Processes include in-press assembly, overmoulding and contacting.

Toolroom Facilities

Group Member:

August 28, 2024