What is sponge rubber and what are its uses?

Rubbers are of different types and are used in various applications. One such rubber type is sponge rubber. It has a structure that is a mixture of both open and closed cell structure. Sponge rubber is resilient and possesses high compression elasticity. You can find it in natural as well as synthetic forms like EPDM, Buna, silicon and chloroprene. A lot of products are made using sponge rubber molding.

Here are some of the characteristics of sponge rubber,

1.It has amazing sealing properties.

2.It possesses high compressibility.

3.It offers great insulation.

4.It provides flexible processing options. 

5.It offers a high abrasion resistance.

Sponge rubber is used in the many applications in the medical and pharmaceutical field. Here is a list of them,

•Prosthetic devices

•Medical sponges

•Electrocardiogram pads

•Sterilization bags

•Filters for medical purposes

•Tablet making machines 

Apart from the above, sponge rubber is used in bulb seals for hatches, doors and enclosures.

Companies that indulge in sponge rubber molding also manufacture fabric reinforced hoses and products made using rubber to metal bonding with the help of elements of a rubber-metal bond.

Sponge rubber has different characteristics that make it an ideal material for different medical and pharmaceutical applications. It is also used to make seals for doors and hatches. 

Common Techniques for Manufacturing Custom Molded Rubber Products

Rubber products are widely used for various applications all over the world. The use of custom molded rubber products is common in the railways, oil and gas industry, automobile industry and many more. They can be Gaskets and Seals, Vibration Mounts, Conveyor Belts and oild seals.  You can find rubber products even in hospitals, canning factories and breweries. In fact, they are a part of our daily life. When they are so important, you should know how they are manufactured.

Here are the common techniques for manufacturing custom molded rubber products are:

1.Compression molding – In this process, uncured rubber is placed in a mold and compressed with pressure and heat to get the final finished rubber component. It gets ejected from the mold and can be used.

2.Injection molding – Here preheated rubber is injected into a mold with the use of pressure to make sure that the rubber gets into every cavity inside the mold. After curing, the product gets separated from the mold and ready to be used.

3.Extrusion – This method is used to make rubber pipes, hoses and tubular products. Here the extruded rubber product is pushed through a die. 

A few other important rubber products that are manufactured using one of the above methods are AS 568 O RingsTiming Belt and oil seals

Rubber products are used in several different applications. They are manufactured using compression molding, injection molding and extrusion. 

Rubber sheets and their application

There is no denying the fact that some rubber products are used more than others. One among them is the rubber sheet. There is a huge variety of rubber sheets having different designs and specifications. The range is so wide because of the huge number of applications they are used for. 

There are different types of rubber sheets that include the following:

1.Natural rubber sheets

2.EPDM rubber sheets

3.Neoprene rubber sheets

4.Nitrile rubber sheets

5.Silicone rubber bands

6.Fabric reinforced rubber sheets

Rubber sheets are mainly used for flooring and roofing as they are resistant to oil, petrol, UV lights and much more. Rubber sheets stay flexible even in the cold climate. Being elastic, they work well as shock absorbers and are used in vibration mounts to minimize vibration in machinery.

Rubber sheets are used widely in industrial buildings and agricultural machinery. They are used in medicine, engineering, automotive, defense, aeronautics, marine and railway sectors.  You can also find rubber sheets in gyms, dance studios, garages, washer and dryer pans, drainage systems, orthopedic footwear and much more. Rubber sheets also work well when used in washrooms to reduce the risk of slipping.

The truth is that with the passage of time the demand of rubber sheets and other products like conveyor belts are only going to increase. 

There are different types of rubber sheets that are used in various industrial sectors along with being a part of everyday life. 

What does AS 568 mean?

 It is important for molded rubber products to have certain standards. O-rings are no exceptions and there is something called an Aerospace Size Standard for O-Rings AS 568. It is a US standard for O-rings that came into being by the Society of Automative Engineers (SAE). As per this system, a dash “-“ is used to refer to O-ring sizes that are standardized. 

The main benefit of having standardized system is that the engineers can make use of the standard O-ring sizes to build prototypes and test their designs. They would know the size of standard O-rings and they would not have to measure it every time. This brings a sense of uniformity. The Aerospace Standard mentions the cross-sections, inside diameters tolerances and size identification codes for O-rings that are put to use in sealing applications. Talking about the uses of custom molded rubber products like O-rings, they are used in the manufacturing world extensively.  The biggest use of o-rings is that as an oil seal.

 You must note that you can get standard O-ring sizes in different materials. The most common materials used to make o-rings are Nitrile, Neoprene, Butyl, Silicone, Fluorosilicone, Fluorocarbon, and EPDM. 

AS 568 is Aerospace Size Standard for O-Rings to help engineers build prototypes and test designs. O-rings are used widely in the manufacturing world.

HOW IS A SEAL DIFFERENT FROM A GASKET?

Industries require a lot of products to meet their requirements. There is a huge list of tiny products without which things would come to standstill. A few of them are molded products.

When you talk about molded rubber products, gaskets and seals would come to the mind. They may seem to be similar but the truth is that they are little different from each other. The main difference between gaskets and seals is that while you use a gasket to seal components that have a flat surface while seals are meant for surfaces that rotate like engine parts, shafts and pumps. Gaskets are for components that are static whereas seals are for parts that rotate.

Also, seals are round and flat whereas gaskets come in different shapes.

Gaskets are used in transportation, electricity generation, oil and gas and paper and pulp industry. 

Though gaskets and seals may look like ordinary products, they are very important. Just imagine how your vehicles would run when there are no seals for the engine to function. The whole automobile industry would come to a standstill without seals. This indicates that no matter how insignificant a product looks; at times you can’t do without it.

There are other molded rubber products as well and they are timing belt and O Rings. 

A gasket is meant to seal static components whereas a seal is ideal for surfaces that rotate such as engine parts. 

Different Types of Conveyor Belts

 Rubber products have an important role to play in everyday life. Some of the important ones are oil seals, vibration mounts, conveyor belts, AS 568 standard O rings and rubber sheets. 

Talking about conveyor belts, you must have come across a conveyor belt while waiting at the luggage area at airports. 

There are mainly 3 types of conveyor belts namely, 

•Basic belt

•Snake sandwich belt

•Long belt

A basic conveyor belt comprises of 2+ pulleys and it can be used manually or with a motor. The items placed on the belt move forward with the forward movement of the belt. They are also used in packaging and parcel delivery utilities as they make movement of goods from one place to another quite easy and effortless.

A snake sandwich conveyor has 2 separate parallel belts and is used to move goods up an inclined surface. This type of a conveyor as created in 1979 and is used widely till date.

A long belt conveyor has 3 drive units and is mostly used for sending goods over a long distance. The main use of this kind of belt is in the mining industry and construction industry.

 All the types of conveyor belts have their own usage and make it easy for people to move goods from one place to another. 

Conveyor belts are used to move goods from one point to another. There are mainly 3 types of conveyor belts – the basic belt, snake sandwich belt, long belt.

Process of Rubber to Metal Bonding and its Applications

There is a huge demand for different types of products in the manufacturing industry for different purposes. The same applies to molded products. Also, there is the need for a number of products that are made using rubber to metal bonding.

To begin with, there are 3 important elements of a rubber metal bond and they are the rubber, bonding agents and the substrate.

Moving on to the process of rubber to metal bonding, it has the following steps involved
•Elastomer preparation
•Surface preparation
•Primer

•Adhesive application
•Molding
•Testing

Products made using rubber to metal bonding are widely used in different industries. The main use includes shock absorption, reduction in vibration, friction dissipation, sealing, noise reduction and the like.
The industries where these products are used are the following:

•Aerospace
•Automotive
•Construction
•Electrical
•Industrial machinery
•Medical
•Plumbing
There are many different molded products that are put to industrial use and one of them are fabric reinforced hoses.

It is all the more important that the manufacturers of the molded products put in efforts to make the products so that they serve their purpose well and meet the requirements.

Rubber to metal bonding is a procedure involving several steps. The products made using the process are widely used in different industries such as medical, aerospace, automobile and construction to name a few.

What are Oil Seals?

There are many rubber products that are found in all around us and we don’t know about them. The oil seal is one of them. They are rotary shaft seals and their main purpose is to seal the gap between fixed and moving components. 

Oil seals prevent the lubricant from escaping therefore there isn’t any contamination via the opening. In other words, oil seals function as a physical barrier to keep the lubricating oil in its place and prevent its leakage. Also, external bodies like dirt can’t enter the system when there is an oil seal. 

Oils seals are of several types and materials based on what they have to be used for. The choice of material depends on the application for which the oil seal is to be used. The applications include domestic equipments, automobile, industrial pumps, power plant equipment, turbines used in aircrafts and compressors. 

O-rings are widely used as seals. AS 568 is a standard for O-rings from the Society of Automotive Engineers. It is SAE that specifies the standard sizes of o-rings.

Other important rubber products used widely in various industries include vibration mounts, conveyor belt, and rubber sheet. When they are of top quality they can serve the purpose well.

Oil seals are used as a physical barrier to seal and prevent the leakage of lubricant oil and keep it in its place. They are used in several industries. 

silicone-heater-hose

Where are the Uses of Products Made with Rubber to Metal Bonding?

The manufacturing world needs a wide range of products to solve various purposes. The parts made using rubber to metal bonding are used in many industrial applications. They are primarily used for vibration reduction, shock absorption, comfort gripping, sealing, noise isolation and much more. 

The elements of a rubber metal bond include metal inserts, magnets, special chaplet pins, and of course rubber.

The industries where products made using rubber to metal bonding are put to use include the automobile, aerospace, construction, medical, electrical, plumbing and many more industries.

The commonly used rubber to metal bonded parts include gaskets, seals, bearings, pedals and many more. In the automobile and aerospace industry, the parts are used for installing foot pedals, engine mounts, steering wheels and much more.

In the field of construction and manufacturing, rubber to metal bonded parts are helpful in developing product components like rollers lined with rubber, conveyor belts, bearing and gaskets. In the medical field, they are used in making the handles of surgical instruments.

The rubber to metal bonded parts also find their use in electrical plugs, cables, pipes and tanks. 

It can be easily said that, molded products and fabric reinforced hoses are used extensively in most industries.  

Products made using rubber to metal bonding have many applications. They are used in automobile, aerospace, medical and most other industries to install components.

Difference between Gaskets and Seals

 Rubber products are used widely for different industrial purposes. Gaskets and seals are few of them that can be found in numerous applications. However, there is a difference between the two. Gaskets are used as a seal between two components with flat surfaces whereas seals are put to use for shafts, pumps and parts of engines that rotate. Seals are mostly round and flat whereas gaskets are of different shapes in order to fit into components well. Seals are used to prevent leaks and are used in bearings that help cancel noise along with preventing leaking.

Gaskets are chiefly made of rubber or elastomeric materials but there are also materials like cork, cork & rubber and graphite among others that are used for its manufacture. Gaskets are used most often in oil and gas industry and pulp and paper industry. They are also used in electricity generation and transportation. 

You will find the use of gaskets and seals in many things around you. It is just that it is not too obvious. 

At Lusida Rubber products, there is the manufacture of molded products made from rubber which includes gaskets and seals like oil seals for industrial purposes. The quality of the products is excellent and the prices are competitive. 

There is a difference between gaskets and seals. Gaskets are used as a seal between two components with flat surfaces whereas seals are put to use for parts that rotate like shafts, pumps and parts of engines.