Yearly Archives: 2015

Dual Durometer Rubber for Reliable Attachment and Stronger Sealing

Dual Durometer RubberElasto Proxy Designs and Custom-Fabricates Dual Durometer Extrusions for Rubber Parts

Dual durometer extrusions are industrial rubber parts with different areas of hardness. Typically, the harder rubber compound is used for attachment while the softer rubber is used for sealing.  Sometimes, different rubbers are used because of design considerations such product color schemes or the use of pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs).

By fabricating dual durometer rubber into a single part, a product such as window seal can have areas with different physical properties to meet application requirements. With window channels, the harder window rubber attaches to the window frame and the softer window rubber faces the glass window. Durometer is not limited to window seals, however, and is used with both sponge and solid profiles. (more…)

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Acrylic Foam Tapes for Infrastructure and Mobile Equipment

Acrylic Foam TapesAcrylic foam tapes provide durable bonding, superior sealing, and effective insulation. Learn about the advantages of these PSA tapes, how technical buyers and product designers select them, and how different types of acrylic foams tapes are used with infrastructure and mobile equipment.

Acrylic foam tapes provide dependable, cost-effective bonding, sealing, and insulation for infrastructure and mobile equipment. These double-sided industrial tapes have an acrylic foam core and use a high-strength pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) with a release liner. The foam core distributes stress evenly, and the PSA provides permanent attachment without metal fasteners, messy liquid adhesives, or time-consuming setup or curing processes. Are acrylic foam tapes right for your application? Let’s take a look. (more…)

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Why Custom Fabrication Is Better Than Cyber Monday

Video Splash - Cyber MondayFor consumers, Cyber Monday is one of the biggest on-line shopping days of the year. For industrial buyers, the real deals are about value – and that means custom fabrication. Learn how Elasto Proxy adds value to your projects with custom sealing and insulation.

Ten years ago, a Senior Vice President for the National Retail Federation coined a phrase that describes what’s become an international marketing sensation. Cyber Monday, the marketing term for the first Monday after U.S. Thanksgiving, is now one of the biggest on-line shopping days of the year. The day that Ellen Davis named is aimed mainly at consumers, but industrial buyers like a bargain, too. Price is important, of course, but so are features. Yet neither matter if a product doesn’t meet your needs.

Custom fabrication isn’t the same as ordering an off-the-shelf product. It’s not like buying off-the-rack clothes on Black Friday, or ordering a blender on-line on Cyber Monday. Yes, Elasto Proxy has a down-loadable catalog of extruded rubber products. You can buy lengths of standard extrusions from us, and we invite you to learn more about all of our product groups – including molded parts. Where Elasto Proxy really adds value, however, is by solving your specific sealing and insulation challenges. (more…)

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How Custom Fabrication Helps Manufacturers Enjoy the Holidays

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Click to Watch the Video

Industrial supply chains need to stay strong between Thanksgiving and the New Year. Learn how to make the most of your relationship with Elasto Proxy, an experienced custom fabricator of industrial rubber products.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Here at Elasto Proxy’s world headquarters in Boisbriand, Quebec, the leftovers are long gone from our Canadian Thanksgiving, which we celebrated on October 12 this year. Now it’s time for our Simpsonville, South Carolina office to enjoy a well-deserved holiday. Manufacturers have much to be thankful for this year, but consumer behavior will soon capture most of the headlines. What, if anything, can industrial buyers and design engineers learn? (more…)

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Trim Seal Compound Selection and Technical Design

Click to Watch the Bulb Trim Seals Video
Click to Watch the Bulb Trim Seals Video

Trim seals from Elasto Proxy are used for sealing and insulation, typically on doors and hatches. Learn about compound selection and technical design for these industrial rubber products. Contact us with questions.

Bulb trim seals are sealing and insulation products with bulb and retainer sections. The bulb portion is often rounded or teardrop-shaped, but may resemble a half-moon or have a flat bottom. The retainer portion of the seal has a U-shape with an open end and two “legs”. The bulb provides sealing and insulation under compressive force, and the retainer or trim section presses onto the flange or substrate.

Each section of the seal (bulb and trim) are made of different materials. In turn, each material has a different durometer or hardness to support compression. For technical buyers and product designers, it’s important to choose the right materials and account for design factors such as bulb size, gap or edge thickness, and minimum bend radius. The following sections explain. (more…)

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Rubber Meets Steel – Elasto Proxy Visits Pittsburgh

Video - Rubber Meets Steel
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Does your Pittsburgh-area company need to solve sealing and insulation challenges? Elasto Proxy is ready to help. Meet us in Pittsburgh from November 9 to 11, 2015. Request a meeting today.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is still nicknamed the Steel City, but there are no longer any steel mills within the city’s limits. During the 1970s and 1980s, the mills began to close and hundreds of thousands of jobs disappeared. Today, the Edgar Thompson Steel Works in nearby North Braddock is all that’s left of this once-mighty industry. Pittsburgh has re-invented itself, however, and now has a diversified economy that’s based largely on healthcare, education, and high-tech industries.

There’s a role for rubber and plastic in each of these sectors – and with steel, too. When Elasto Proxy visits Pittsburgh this week, we look forward to helping partners solve their sealing and insulation challenges. As an experienced custom fabricator, Elasto Proxy specializes in custom rubber and plastic parts for demanding applications. So whether you need rubber exhaust gaskets for stainless steel mufflers, plastic arms for industrial robots, or sanitary seals for medical devices, Elasto Proxy is ready to help. (more…)

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Why Robots Need Rubber and Plastic Parts

Robots Video | Rubber and Plastic Parts
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Rubber and plastic parts for robots are strong, lightweight, durable, and cost-effective. That’s not all.

When you were a kid, did you play with Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots? Part toy and part game, this childhood classic features two boxers – both robots – that are mechanically manipulated by the players. The Red Rocker and the Blue Bomber have been hitting each other since the 1960s, but today’s version of this simulated boxing match features less metal and more plastic. Plastics are generally lighter and cheaper than metals, but is plastic really tough enough for robots – even toy ones? Is rubber right for robots, too?

The answers may surprise you. (more…)

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How Custom Fabrication Strengthens Manufacturing Supply Chains

Video - Custom Fabrication at Elasto Proxy
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Custom fabrication isn’t just about converting materials. It’s about strengthening your supply chain. Learn how custom fabrication improves quality, controls costs, and meets demanding requirements.

Custom fabrication is a type of manufacturing that turns stock items or materials into finished parts or products. Typically, these  items or materials are made of rubber, plastic, metal, concrete, or wood, and are supplied in standard forms such as sheets, rolls, tubes, rods, billets, bars, extrusions, and slabs. Custom fabricators use many different types of production equipment to cut materials to size, and some companies also offer value-added services such as joining and assembly.

A custom fabricator’s capabilities determine whether parts and products can be supplied in low, medium, or high-volume quantities. Global companies like Elasto Proxy have a network of warehouses, and can release custom fabricated products according to customer sales forecasts. We can also ship finished products on demand. Custom fabrication thus adds flexibility to the manufacturing supply chain, but does it add value to your operations? Industrial buyers and product designers need to consider a variety of factors, especially during vendor selection. (more…)

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Acoustic Foams for Noise Control in Vehicles and Equipment

Video - Acoustic Foam for Noise Control
Video – Acoustic Foam for Noise Control

Acoustical foams absorb and dampen sounds. Some of these foam rubber materials also provide flame resistance. Product designers need more than just an acoustic foam, however. They need a custom fabricator who can convert stock materials into a custom insulation solution.

Acoustic foams are used for sound absorption and sound dampening in applications such as military vehicles, commercial trucking, and equipment enclosures. They’re usually made of silicone, urethane, or foam-based melamine. Some acoustical foams offer additional properties, such as thermal resistance or fire resistance. For specialized applications, acoustical foams can be added as layers within “insulation sandwiches” that also contain fillers, adhesives, and barrier materials. (more…)

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How to Choose Rubber Weather Stripping

Video - How to Choose Rubber Weather Stripping
Video – Rubber Weather Stripping from Elasto Proxy

Rubber weather stripping provides either static or dynamic sealing. Sealing pressure is essential, and some elastomers are more resilient than others. Technical buyers and product designers need to compare open cell and closed cell rubber, specify the durometer or hardness, and choose the right compound.

Rubber weather stripping prevents the flow of air and water between two surfaces, such as a door and door frame. Standard weather stripping may be suitable for residential use, but applications in the automotive, building and construction, and electronics industries often require a custom sealing solution. Custom-fabricated weather stripping ensures part quality while speeding installation and reducing material waste.

But what do buyers and designers need to know about weather stripping selection? Let’s take a look. (more…)

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