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World first: Transmission control system with comprehensive overmolding tech

Vitesco Technologies, a spinoff of Continental, has developed a new, globally unique manufacturing process for a transmission control unit that doesn't require a separate housing -- the high-tech electronics are completely overmolded, and the unit is screwed directly into the transmission.

The overmolded control unit, which has now gone into serial production, is about 45% lighter than the conventional control unit with separate housing. It is also tough and requires significantly fewer production and installation steps.

The overmolded control electronics unit boasts a 45% weight savings, greater robustness, and significantly fewer production stages.

 

 

In the conventional design of an electronic control unit for an automobile, the electronics are located within a housing. By contrast, in an overmolded electronic control unit, the electronic components, which are arranged on a printed circuit board in normal fashion, are completely embedded in plastic. The development owes a lot to new, high-precision injection molding processes and also new, highly resistant plastics.

The product's developers say the overmolding manufacturing process offers several advantages at once:

• Because the components are extremely robust (the sensitive, high-tech components are completely enclosed in plastic), they can easily withstand even strong vibrations.
• An overmolded component is not only lighter than a comparable electronic control unit in a conventional housing, but it is also significantly flatter. The transmission control unit developed by Vitesco is currently the flattest transmission control unit on the market with a thickness of only 7 mm. By contrast, the thinnest control unit in a standard comparable automotive application until now was 15 mm thick. The difference is significant, because the electronic control unit is screwed directly into the transmission and installation space is very limited there. Every millimeter counts.
• An overmolding component can be produced using considerably fewer production stages than a housed electronic control unit. The new technology thus reduces complexity and is also considerably more cost effective.

The new overmolded electronic control unit began production in Nuremberg, Germany, in spring 2020. It has already been used in large-scale production by a German car manufacturer in various vehicle types with rear-wheel drive and an automatic transmission.

In an overmolded electronic control unit, the electronic components on a printed circuit board are completely embedded in plastic.

 

 

Beginning in 2021, Vitesco will also be producing the overmolded electronic control unit in a new plant in Debrecen, Hungary, which is currently being completed. Thanks to the high degree of flexibility and extensive technical expertise in the global plant network, Vitesco is in a position to roll out such state-of-the-art production technologies on a large scale.

"For Vitesco Technologies, the overmolding process is a new key technology which we will be using as quickly as possible for further electronic control units, said Wolfgang Breuer, head of the Electronic Controls business unit at Vitesco Technologies. "We are registering a high level of interest from automobile manufacturers. The development of new overmolding electronics is already underway -- above all for use in hybrid and electric vehicles."

With the technological leap that the new manufacturing process enables, Vitesco is helping to lead the way toward greater integration, more efficient processes, and more sustainable technologies. This means that overmolding expertise is a further building block in driving forward the electrification of the drive system and thus sustainable mobility.

Source: Vitesco Technologies

Published October 2020

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