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Infineon Technologies Bipolar Hands Over 100000th Welding Diode to Bosch Rexroth

February 13, 2019 by Infineon Technologies

Infineon Technologies Bipolar has supplied Bosch Rexroth with 10,000 welding diodes annually.

Low losses and dynamic process control: The advantages of welding diodes from Infineon Technologies Bipolar GmbH & Co. KG in Warstein have turned made them core components of the Bosch Rexroth welding transformer series. Welding transformers are mainly used in welding robots for the automotive industry that connect body parts. The effective collaboration since 2004 is celebrated by both companies with the symbolic presentation of the 100,000th welding diode.

Bosch Rexroth develops and manufactures control electronics for resistance welding. The market leader equips more than 15,000 systems worldwide every year and continues to build on its collaboration with Infineon Technologies Bipolar. The success of this long-term cooperation has been based from the very beginning on an intensive and productive exchange in order to find an optimum technical solution: "I still remember very well how our partnership began with the joint development of a welding transformer series in 2004," says Thomas Klinger of Bosch Rexroth. "First the expectations placed on resistance spot welding were defined the beginning of the two-year development period, resulting in the requirements for a suitable welding diode. The aim was to achieve the lightest possible clamping system with diode and featuring cooling on both sides for installation in the transformer."

In order to achieve this goal, Infineon Technologies Bipolar developed a welding diode that also meets the requirements for high-load cycling capability and over 10 million welding spots per diode set. The transformers were specified accordingly. An intensive test phase lasting more than a year ensured that all the specification criteria were painstakingly fulfilled. Since the beginning of series production, Infineon Technologies Bipolar has supplied Bosch Rexroth with 10,000 welding diodes annually. Assuming 5,000 welding spots per body, one diode set can theoretically produce around 2,000 bodies.

 

Solution Development with Passion and Precision

As a symbol of this successful collaboration, Walter Sturm, Senior Account Manager at Infineon, presented the 100,000th welding diode to Thomas Klinger of Bosch Rexroth. "We are very proud of our long-standing partnership with Bosch," says Martin Hierholzer, CEO of Infineon Technologies Bipolar. "We understand how modern technology is becoming more and more powerful through semiconductors; thus we enable solutions that make our customers successful in their respective field of application. Every component in Warstein is developed with passion and manufactured with precision – including our welding diodes, of course."

 

Proven Procedure with High Requirements: Resistance Spot Welding

Resistance spot welding has proven to be a fast, safe and robust process in body shell construction and many other areas. The required currents in the kilo-amp range are generated by what is called a welding transformer. If the welding transformer is operated at a medium frequency (1,000 Hertz) and the current is then rectified, the resulting advantages are a lighter transformer, low losses and dynamic process control. This technology requires diodes that can rectify welding currents of up to 20,000 amps. Welding transformers with integrated water-cooled diodes have to survive more than one vehicle generation without maintenance, which entails around-the-clock operation for more than 5 years.
 

 

About Infineon

Infineon Technologies AG is a world leader in semiconductor solutions that make life easier, safer and greener. Microelectronics from Infineon is the key to a better future. In the 2019 fiscal year (ending 30 September), the Company reported sales of €8.0 billion with about 41,400 employees worldwide. Infineon is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and in the USA on the over-the-counter market OTCQX International Premier.