Elasto Bus1

Doug Sharpe
President of Elasto Proxy

Sealing and insulation for mass transit applications must account for factors such as service conditions, vehicle weight, and passenger health and safety. Subways, trains, and buses operate in a variety of outdoor environments, including hot and cold temperatures. Wind, rain, snow, and sunlight can also cause rubber parts to fail if buyers choose the wrong compounds. Lightweight materials help to reduce vehicle weight and increase fuel economy, but compound selection must account for multiple factors.

In addition to environmental conditions and vehicle weight, product designers and technical buyers need to analyze requirements for passenger health and safety. Because some combustion reactions can produce dangerous toxins, the mass transit industry needs fireproof rubber parts such as seals, mats, gaskets, hose, flooring, and insulation. Moreover, these parts may need to comply with fire, smoke, and toxicity (TST) standards such as Bombardier SMP 800-C and FMVSS-3-2.

Spliced Window Gaskets

Elasto Proxy designs and custom-fabricates many different rubber parts for mass transit applications. In the image that accompanies this blog entry, callout 1 shows a spliced window gasket for a bus. With film splicing, our custom fabrication specialists can create rubber gaskets with strong bonds – and without adhesives or secondary trimming. This unique, one-step process offers fast cycle times, and closes and seal gaskets without inserts.

In addition to windows, film splices are also used in vehicle doors and automotive-quality gaskets because they create strong corners that won’t crack. They’re well suited for taped profiles, and our custom fabrication specialists can produce both spliced and angled corners. By listening to our mass transit partners and analyzing all of their needs, Elasto Proxy can also provide high-quality edge trim for your application.

Window Channels

In addition to spliced window gaskets, Elasto Proxy can supply specialty window channels such as the rubber parts shown in callout 2. Depending on your requirements, window channels can hold window glass in place, or help secure window frames to vehicle bodies. These rubber profiles also seal out wind and weather, reduce or eliminate noise and vibration, and help protect vehicle interior while ensuring occupant comfort and safety.

Mass transit partners appreciate that Elasto Proxy offers out-of-the box sealing solutions so that personnel do not have to cut window channels to size. These rubber seals are easy to install with hand tools and lubrication that’s applied either during manufacturing or installation.  Typically, EPDM rubber is used and the durometer, a measure of hardness, ranges from 50 to 80 duro. Choices for shape include locking channel, self-locking channel, glazing seal, and zipper strip.

Custom Molded Gaskets

Elasto Proxy also supplies mass transit partners with custom molded gaskets as shown in callout 3 of the blog image. From compound selection to design to prototyping to production, our solutions providers specialize in customized rubber components like the one that is shown. By custom molding rubber gaskets, Elasto Proxy can work with a range of natural and synthetic rubbers to meet your needs.

How Can We Help You?

Do you have questions about rubber products for mass transit? Are you seeking a supply chain partner whose experience with sealing and insulation complements your own expertise with subways, trains, or buses? For 25 years, Elasto Proxy has been solving sealing challenges.

Please contact us for more information, or join the conversation on our social media channels. Look for a post with a link to this blog entry on LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, and Twitter. Elasto Proxy has a YouTube channel, too. Finally, please subscribe to our free e-newsletters. They’re a great source of information delivered right to your email inbox, and they provide links to blog entries like this one.