MANUFACTURING PROCESS
OF PEN DRIVES
MADE BY●
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Akash Yadav - IT
Apurva Mishra - IT
Pooja Mahant - EN
Kunal Dhakate - EN
Hardik Agarwal - CE
Shrusthi Rathi - CE
INTRODUCTION
● A pen drive, which is often known as a memory
stick or USB stick, is a portable electronic device
that is used to store different types of data such
as photos, videos, music files, and other
graphics documents.
● It can be easily carried to any place due to its
compact size. The data from the pen drives can
be easily assessed by attaching it to the USB
ports provided on the computer’s
motherboards or mobile phones. The weight of
the standard pen drive is around 30 grams.
MAIN COMPONENTS OF PEN DRIVE
1. USB Connector- It is the interface between the
computer (where the pen drive is attached) and the
NAND flash memory chip.
2. USB Mass Storage Controller/Controller Chip- This
chip helps to read or record the information/data on the
NAND flash memory.
3. NAND Flash Memory Chip- Its purpose is to
store/erase the data.
4. Crystal Oscillator- is a small piece of quartz fitted in
the pen drive, which vibrates at a specific frequency. It
acts as a small clock inside the Pendrive, which manages
the functioning/timing of each component inside the pen
drive by providing accurate timings.
Production Process●
Mould drawings design-
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Injection of plastic shells
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Printing on shells
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USB layout design
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Soldering of PCB
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Function and aging test of PCBA
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Assembly of USB Drive
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IPQC of USB Drive (in process quality control)
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Cleaning and Packing
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OQC of USB Drive (Outgoing Quality Control)
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Mould drawings design- The 3D USB case drawing is designed using
SOLIDWORKS software according to client’s needs. Moulds are
outsourced by a subcontractor.
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Injection of plastic shells- Raw plastic pellets are
melted and then injected to the mould. Then it is
rapidly cooled.
● Laser engraving logo on the case- it is
monitored by computer program.
● USB layout designThe USB Armory schematic and PCB layout has been entirely developed by
Inverse Path using the Open Source KiCad EDA Software Suite.
The manufacturing output of such process is the CAD data, contained in a
set of files defined by various industry standard formats.
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Artwork data (Gerber): defines the inner and outer layers, the
soldermask, legend (silkscreen) and solder paste
Edge cuts (Gerber): defines the physical dimensions of the board
Drill map (Gerber): defines required drill points
Netlist (IPC-D-356): defines all electrical connections, used for PCB
electrical testing
Stackup: defines the arrangement of the PCB layers, their individual
thickness and material
The CAM department of the PCB manufacturer takes all of these inputs,
adjusts them for the specific manufacturing process by defining the
production panel, used for the PCB production, and the customer panel,
used on the assembly line.
● PCB Components- After the production process
drawing, all the procedures are set accordingly in
computer. First part is automatic solder printing and
the second part is adding paste and welding IC parts
as laid out in the computer.
● Testing and Quality Control- Functions of hard
drive, capacity of PCBA and aging tests are
checked using computers. All qualified units are
then sent to warehouse as stock.
● Assembly- Upper shell, PCBA and lower shell
components are then assembled quickly by an
assembly machine following pre-programmed
procedures.
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IPQC- the quality and working is again checked before cleaning
and final packaging.
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Cleaning and Packing- Excess parts are removed and polished then
packed.
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OQC- the finished product is picked random from a batch and checked
by quality controllers according to Acceptable quality level.
● The computer takes notes of which models are
currently being produced and packaged. As well as
X-ray inspection of the inner parts.
Size and style of packaging
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Most USB Pen Drive weigh less than 30 g. While some manufacturers
are competing for the smallest size, with the biggest memory, offering
drives only a few millimeters larger than the USB plug itself, some
manufacturers differentiate their products by using elaborate housings,
which are often bulky and make the drive difficult to connect to the USB
port. Because the USB port connectors on a computer housing are often
closely spaced, plugging a flash drive into a USB port may block an
adjacent port. Such devices may carry the USB logo only if sold with a
separate extension cable. Such cables are USB-compatible but do not
conform to the USB standard.
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USB flash drives have been integrated into other commonly carried
items, such as watches, pens, laser pointers, and even the Swiss Army
Knife; others have been fitted with novelty cases such as toy cars or Lego
bricks. USB flash drives with images of dragons, cats or aliens are very
popular in Asia. The small size, robustness and cheapness of USB flash
drives make them an increasingly popular peripheral for case molding.