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60+ Years of Experience

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Month: April 2016

Get to Know Your Nameplate Substrate: Aluminum!

Previously, we have discussed the different available substrates for your nameplates; there are certainly many to choose from. Aside from vinyl, mylar, and lexan, aluminum is one of the most versatile, wear-all materials that can be used to make your nameplate, and has many desirable properties when it comes to protecting equipment and information on the plate.

Nameplates in general provide decorative, informative solutions that enhance your product, while offering quick turnaround time without sacrificing quality. Nameplate production includes labels and overlays that do not require embossing or extensive engineering. Compared to graphic overlays, nameplates offer faster production and lower pricing with high quality and consistency always in mind. At Hallmark Nameplate, we use state of the art laser cut, die cut, and plot cut fabrication methods. We are equipped to produce nameplates in large or small runs for nearly every substrate and with any adhesive material. Our facility gives us the ability to offer both screen and digital printing on materials from three to .030 inches.

At Hallmark Nameplate, aluminum is:

  • Rugged for indoor and outdoor applications
  • Available in thicknesses from .003” to .032”
  • Anodized Material
  • Available in Matte or Mill finishes
  • Available in MIL qualified Metal Photo

Aluminum is an anodizing material, which is an electrolytic passivation process used to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of metal parts. Anodizing increases resistance to corrosion and wear, and provides better adhesion for paint primers and glues than does bare metal. Anodic films can also be used for a number of cosmetic effects, either with thick porous coatings that can absorb dyes or with thin transparent coatings that add interference effects to reflected light. Anodizing changes the microscopic texture of the surface and changes the crystal structure of the metal near the surface. Thick coatings are normally porous, so a sealing process is often need to achieve corrosion resistance. Anodized aluminum surfaces, for example, are harder than aluminum but have low to moderate wear resistance that can be improved with increasing thickness or by applying suitable sealing substances.

Mill and matte finish are available with aluminum nameplates. Mill finish is considered the appearance of the aluminum as it comes from the rolling mill, or the extrusion mill. It is “as is” with no external mechanical or chemical finishing.Extruded metal is considered “mill finish”. All aluminum has an oxide of some varying thickness. Matte finish, on the other hand, is a textured finish that can be added to the nameplate to give it an additional visual appeal.

Metal photo, which is also known as photosensitive anodized aluminum, photo anodized aluminum, and photo metal, utilizes the porous nature of unsealed anodized aluminum to create a subsurface image, either through exposure and development of an anodic layer impregnated with silver compounds, much like traditional black and white photography, or through use of a photomask, in which the image is created through a variety of means, including chemical etching, color addition or color subtraction.

Common uses for aluminum nameplates include product identification tags, chemical environments, heavy UV exposure, contact with abrasives, and even military-grade operations. Actually, Hallmark Nameplate’s anodized aluminum and Metal Photo aluminum nameplates meet military specifications Mil-P-15024 and Mil-P-19834.

Aluminum is just one of many substrates available for your new nameplate to be printed on. At Hallmark Nameplate, we take into consideration every variable to suit your specific needs, and being so effective, aluminum might just be the one for you. Some variables we take into consideration include:

  • The type of surface it will be mounted to
  • Indoor or outdoor application
  • Type of finish: matte finish or mill finish
  • Serialization and barcodes
  • Display windows (LED, LCD)
  • Drawings and art files available
  • Domed elements
  • UL or CSA requirements

We have more than 55 years of experience to work with, so when it is time to start your next project, we at Hallmark Nameplate will be able to walk you through the entire development process, eliminating any concerns you may have. From your first questions to the finished product in your hands, we are here to ensure that you have the right nameplate substrate for your specific needs and applications. More than just certificates, we have built a culture of quality that makes sure we do the job right for your business the first time.

Hallmark Nameplate’s Many Certifications

There are many reasons to work with Hallmark Nameplate, whether it be the quality they put into everything they produce, their expertise and decades of experience, or attention to detail and budget from beginning to end. However, their certifications in the realm of nameplates, graphic overlays, membrane switches, and electronic assemblies surely provide customers with the confidence they need to rely on Hallmark Nameplate. Here, we detail each certification.

ISO 9001:2015
Hallmark Nameplate is an ISO 9001:2015 certified company, but what does this mean for you as the customer? ISO 9001 is a quality management standard used at Hallmark Nameplate on all identification nameplates, membrane switches, graphic overlays, control panels, value-added assemblies, and box builds. ISO 9001 is one of the most widely-used quality management tools in the world today.

Hallmark Nameplate has developed and implemented this quality management system to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide products that meets customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements. We aim to enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system, including processes for continual improvement of the system.

That being said, there are huge benefits to working with a company that is ISO 9001:2015 certified. Here are just a few:

  1. Efficiency: Since Hallmark Nameplate has gone through the ISO 9001:2015 certification process, we have analyzed our processes and how to have top quality and efficiency.
  2. Savings: Studies show that ISO-certified companies experience increased productivity and savings that are passed down to the customer.
  3. Internationally recognized: The International Organization for Standardization, or ISO, is recognized worldwide as the authority on quality management. You can rest assured that our quality commitment is genuine.
  4. Manufacturer Relationship: The consistency and documentation ensure that you will have a positive and long-term relationship with Hallmark Nameplate, Inc. long into the future.
  5. Documentation: The ISO standard requires documentation of all processes and any changes. This ensures consistency and consensus, especially for printed products, which are always in a state of evolution/
  6. Consistency: All processes from research and development to production to shopping are all defined, outlined and documented thoroughly. This assures you that at Hallmark Nameplate, we consistently serve your needs effectively.
  7. Satisfaction: Your satisfaction is key, because of the way an ISO 9001:2015 certified company operates efficiently, consistently, and with a dedication to quality service.
  8. Constant Improvement: Improvements are carefully planned and implemented based on facts, using a system of documentation and analysis, to ensure the best decisions are made by Hallmark Nameplate to help improve your products.

Underwriters Laboratory (UL)
Underwriters Laboratories is an independent, not-for-profit product safety testing and certification organization. UL has tested products for public safety for over a century. Each year, more than 17 billion UL Marks are applied to products worldwide.

Canadian Standards Association (CSA)
CSA International pre-approves labels used on certified equipment which bear safety information and warning messages for end-users. Pre-tested labeling systems are recognized by CSA for different conditions (such as indoors, outdoors, etc.). Hallmark Nameplate’s CSA certified processes are identical to the UL Recognized processes. If a CSA certified process is requested, Hallmark will add its CSA designated identification mark to the label near the CSA logo.

International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)
International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) is a set of United States government regulations that control the export and import of defense-related articles and services on the United States Munitions List (USML). These regulations implement the provisions of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and are described in title 22 (Foreign Relations), Chapter I (Department of State), Subchapter M of the Code of Federal Regulations. The Department of State Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) interprets and enforces ITAR. Its goal is to safeguard U.S. national security and further U.S. foreign policy objectives. The related Export Administration Regulations (Code of Federal Regulations Title 15, chapter VII, subchapter C) are enforced and interpreted by the Bureau of Industry and Security in the Commerce Department. The Department of Defense is also involved in the review and approval process. Physical enforcement of import and export laws at border crossings is performed by Customs and Border Protection, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security.

For practical purposes, ITAR regulations dictate that information and material pertaining to defense and military related technologies (for items listed on the U.S. Munitions List) may only be shared with U.S. persons unless authorization from the Department of State is received, or a special exemption is used. U.S. persons (including organizations) can face heavy fines if they have, without authorization or the use of an exemption, provided foreign persons with access to ITAR-protect defense articles, services, or technical data.

As you can see, Hallmark Nameplate takes its credibility very seriously, and its certifications with these groups is yet another indicator of their focus on value and customer satisfaction. They want their customers to feel comfortable handing their projects over to them, and the results certainly speak for themselves!

What You Need to Know About Printed Circuit Boards

Printed circuit boards are just one of many products we at Hallmark Nameplate produce, with the highest quality and efficiency in mind. We’re here to educate you on the functionality and purpose of a circuit board so you fully understand our processes as well as your needs.

A printed circuit board mechanically supports and electrically connects electronic components using conductive tracts, pads and other features etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. PCBs can be single sided, double sided, or multi-layered. Multi-layered PCBs allow for much higher component density. Conductors on different layers are connected with plated-through holes called “vias”. Advanced PCBs may contain components, such as capacitors, resistors, or active devices, embedded in the substrate.

Printed circuit boards are used in all but the simplest electronic products. Alternatives to PCBs include wire wrap and point to point construction. PCBs require the additional design effort to lay out the circuit, but manufacturing and assembly can be automated. Manufacturing circuits with PCBs is cheaper and faster than with other wiring methods as components are mounted and wired with one single part. Furthermore, operator wiring errors are eliminated.

When the board has only copper connections and no embedded components, it is more correctly called a wiring board or etched wiring board. Although more accurate, the term printed wiring board has fallen into disuse. A PCB populated with electronic components is called a printed circuit assembly, printed circuit board assembly or PCB assembly. The IPC preferred term for assembled boards is circuit card assembly, and for assembled backplanes, it is backplane assemblies. The term PCB is used informally both for bare and assembled boards.

The world market for bare PCBs reached nearly $60 billion in 2012.

Much of the electronics industry’s PCB design, assembly, and quality control follows standards published by the IPC organization.

Through-Hole Technology
The first PCBs used through-hole technology, mounting electronic components by leads inserted through holes on one side of the board and soldered onto copper traces on the other side. Boards may be single-sided, with an unplated component side, or more compact double-sided boards, with components soldered on both sides. Horizontal installation of through-hole parts with two axial leads (such as resistors, capacitors, and diodes) is done by bending the leads 90 degrees in the same direction, inserting the part in the board (often bending leads located on the back of the board in opposite directions to improve the part’s mechanical strength), soldering the leads, and trimming off the ends. Leads may be soldered either manually or by a wave soldering machine.

Through-hole PCB technology almost completely replaced earlier electronics assembly techniques such as point-to-point construction. From the second generation of computers in the 1950s until surface-mount technology became popular in the late 1980s, every component on a typical PCB was a through-hole component.

Surface-Mount Technology
Surface-mount technology emerged in the 1960s, gained momentum in the early 1980s and became widely used by the mid-1990s. Components were mechanically redesigned to have small metal tabs or end caps that could be soldered directly onto the PCB surface, instead of wire leads to pass through holes. Components became much smaller and component placement on both sides of the board became more common than with through-hole mounting, allowing much smaller PCB assemblies with much higher circuit densities.

Circuit Properties of the PCB
Each trace consists of a flat, narrow part of the copper foil that remains after etching. The resistance, determined by width and thickness, of the traces must be sufficiently low for the current the conductor will carry. Power and ground traces may need to be wider than signal traces. In a multi-layer board, one entire layer may be mostly solid copper to act as a ground plane for shielding and power return. For microwave circuits, transmission lines can be laid out in the form of stripline and microstrip with carefully controlled dimensions to assure a consistent impedance. In radio-frequency and fast switching circuits the inductance and capacitance of the printed circuit board conductors become significant circuit elements, usually undesired; but they can be used as a deliberate part of the circuit design, obviating the need for additional discrete components.

Printed circuit boards from Hallmark Nameplate have been rated among the highest quality in North America. We are fully vertically integrated and can take your prototype from design to circuit board to full visual and electronic testing. Hallmark Nameplate’s electronic manufacturing services provide everything you need in the development of your product’s electrical components.