Flexible Solutions

PORON® EVExtend

Our valued material supplier, Rogers Corporation, has released PORON® EVExtend polyurethane foam material. This is an ideal battery pad material for EV/HEV li-ion pouch cell batteries. The EXExtend 4701-43HBF offers an increased flammability rating of HBF, or HF1 (product dependant). 

Technological advances in properties of soft, flexible foam and elastomeric materials have continued to advance. These thick, soft, flexible foams and elastomers are ideal materials for sealing, gasketing and cushioning across many industries and applications. They compress, form to irregular surfaces, bend, and flex within an application without damage or de-lamination, but from the perspective of the die cutter, may also introduce challenges when trying to achieve the tight dimensional tolerances common in metal and plastic-molded parts.

Benefits for Plastic Injection Molders: Vendor consolidation, value add Solutions

Why is it so imperative that plastic injection molding companies provide value added services and secondary manufacturing services to their customers after molding their parts? The answer is easy! Many end-customers of plastic injection molders are looking for vendor consolidation and supply chain simplification. They want to cut out and skip steps in their supply chain, sequentially helping to reduce costs and save time!

In this newly released application story, a global designer and manufacturer of critical intercommunication devices experienced a gasket failure allowing moisture to leak and compromise the internal components of their console. It's remarkable the amount of damage a single drop of water can do. Moisture often contains impurities and minerals that remain even after the water evaporates. Between the moisture and these remaining elements, the contamination can cause short circuits, corrosion, and mechanical problems. A malfunctioning device leads to recalls, replacements, and eventually a poor reputation. The company in this story did NOT want to deal with any of this. 

The intercom console product was intended to be used in medical office settings. Cleanliness and sanitary standards were very important for the high-touch surface of this device. The console was sprayed with liquid cleaners often. The console housing required a reliable sealing gasket to keep moisture out.  

Just about everything that has been engineered is likely to experience vibration. Unfortunately, it has been proven that vibration can be responsible for causing extreme damage to some applications. The source of vibration can come from impact, internal motors or external sources. Vibration happens all around us whether we know it or not. Sometimes it’s evident when you hear buzzing, squeaking, or rattling noises such as when you run your noisy washing machine or dish washer. Other times you may notice the sensation of vibration when you are driving a car over a bumpy road or when you see the cables on a bridge shaking back and forth on a windy day. Most of us experience the harsh impact of an object when we drop our cell phones on the solid ground.

When choosing a foam for a product design, one feature that should be considered is the compression set resistance of the foam.  C-Set is one of the most important characteristics to consider, and this blog post answers three basic questions to explain why. 

Die-cut Components for Medical Devices

We believe that true stories can tell you more than any marketing materials that we create. That is why we are sharing two new case studies in this blog post. Both case studies explore die-cut solutions that Marian provided to medical device companies. Quality and reliability are critical in this industry. Additionally, assembly efficiency and cost savings are important to the success of the business. In these case studies, you will see that Marian is well equipped and prepared to meet the stringent requirements demanded by the medical device industry. Enjoy!  

Marian has a brand new demonstration piece to share with the world! Strategically named "Test My Memory," the demo illustrates the impact of compression cycling over time with 4 different foams. Neoprene, Polyethelyne, PORON Urethane, and BISCO Silicone are tested by being compressed for 48 hours.

Foam Material Compression

In the demonstration, you will see that certain foams depreciate as they take on impact over time, whereas other foams resist the compression set by returning to their original thickness. The material characteristic of being able to take a compression set, also called compression force defection, is extremely important in long-term sealing applications. The ability of the material to "push back" to fill in any potential gaps that would allow water or dust to pass through is critical. This makes such materials an excellent option for sealing gaskets. We wrote an entire blog post about compression force defection, you can read it here: Compression Force Deflection in Foam Gaskets: A Critical Property

Compression Force Deflection

Applications that experience periodic compression cycling over time may require a gasket that is capable of compression rebound. In the event that your application uses a material that does not resist compression force, the material may depreciate over time. When your gasket has dwindled or has deteriorated from all of the periodic compression cycling, your gasket will become ineffective and will need to be replaced. In a perfect world, your gasket should rebound to fill any potential gaps. Using a material with great compression resistance will guarantee a long-term sealing performance that will work just as effectively each time you reseal your application.