Patents for August
Patents as compile for the August issue Rubber composition comprising a specific crumb rubberU.S. patent: 11,041,065Issued: June 22, 2021Inventors: Damien
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Endurica tames road loads with new software release
Endurica LLC announces a new feature in its Endurica CL fatigue solver: automatic block cycle generation. The feature enables users to extract a simplified durability testing schedule (known as a block cycle test) from multi-channel road loads recorded at the testing track. The simplified testing schedule preserves the most essential features of the original road load history, while maintaining the original failure mode and discarding non-critical load history. The capability enables rubber part suppliers to design fatigue tests that execute quickly and that develop realistic damage. It enables car makers to ensure durability under actual driving conditions.
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Yokohama Rubber significantly reduces weight of automotive air-conditioning hose by using a rubber–resin polymer
The new ultralight hose is made from a rubber–resin polymer alloy developed by applying Yokohama Rubber’s proprietary technologies. This new alloy combines the flexibility and heat resistance of rubber with the high gas barrier properties of resin, and its use enabled Yokohama Rubber to reduce the hoses’ weight by 50 percent. In addition, hoses made using this alloy do not need to be put through a vulcanization process that uses a large amount of heat. The new hoses will therefore contribute to the effort to achieve carbon neutrality. One of Yokohama Rubber’s strengths is its design and evaluation capabilities that enable it to integrate hoses and pipes in ways that respond to various customer requirements and piping layouts. The company plans to develop and promote all-resin piping to achieve a significant reduction in the weight of hose and pipe combinations. While continuing to develop a commercial version of this new lightweight hose, Yokohama Rubber also aims to enter the market for other types of automotive pipes.
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Orion Engineered Carbons partners with RISE Research Institutes of Sweden to produce renewable carbon black
Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. has partnered with RISE Research Institutes of Sweden in a project to develop and produce renewable carbon black. This collaboration represents an important step towards more climate-neutral carbon black production by replacing traditional carbon black feedstock with pyrolysis oil from biomass oil. Orion plans to convert the biomass oil into carbon black using its small-scale furnace reactor in Kalscheuren, Germany and will explore ways to upscale the process to match market demands. Additionally, using a pilot-scale reactor at its site in Piteå, Sweden, RISE will evaluate the use of electrofuels, such as plasma or hydrogen from electrolysis, as sustainable heat sources for the carbon black process.
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Guill Tool designs new rotary extrusion dies with increased speed
Guill Tool announces a new design for its high-production rotary models, both inline and crosshead style. A 2X increase in speed, with models running to 1000 RPM depending on the application, are now available in the Guill line of patented rotating tip & die designs. By rotating the tooling in relation to the material flow, a rotary head increases the wall strength of an extrusion, thereby allowing a thinner wall with less material and the corresponding cost savings for the user. Typical applications for rotary heads include medical and multi-lumen tubing plus various high-end extrusions with interlocking layer or multiple striping requirements.
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Medical rubber tubing process and die optimization: Die redesign and fine tuning
Part 1 of this contribution, published in the May 2021 edition of Rubber World, investigated a real manufacturer’s process that was set to produce medical tubing. It was found (through trials at the extruder, then through simulations) that the equipment available to the manufacturer was too large for the relatively low output that was required for this project, and consequently the polymer was degrading on the screw surface. It was ultimately determined through simulation that a smaller extruder, with a screw optimized for the low rate, would work better.
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SmartFlow analysis optimizes silicone and rubber tooling design
Mold design processes today benefit from sophisticated
design software that creates 3D models easily exported to
manufacturing, CAM programming and metal cutting
Improving profitability through innovative technologies and processes
Performance material usage is increasing in the manufacture of tires. These materials are composed of various additives with different properties that require a high level of expertise to maintain their properties throughout the production process and to deliver the desired, consistently high level of required quality. This is just one aspect that increases complexity in the manufacturing process. Market demands for more cost-effective products are also constantly increasing. Operating costs eserve special attention because process optimization is paramount on every manufacturer՚s agenda. Specialty chemicals group Evonik Industries and plant automation supplier Zeppelin Systems are working closely together to show how the use of innovative products and processes can both improve the performance properties of tires, while making their manufacture even more economical.
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Silicone and epoxy hybrid resins exhibit wide range of mechanical properties
The largest range of silicone and epoxy hybrid resins for the 3D printing of wearable devices, biomedical equipment and soft robotics has been developed by researchers from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). In a study published in Applied Materials Today, the range of tunable functionally graded materials, which displayed over five orders of magnitude of elastic modulus, demonstrated excellent interfacial toughness, higher precision in complex structures and better fabrication control for the integration of mechatronic components.
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Selection and use of water based dispersions in latex
When you step back and take a broader view of that industry, it can be viewed as a three-legged stool with three key elements: process/machinery, latex and chemical dispersions. These elements work in concert to provide a baseline for eventual success. This article will discuss the third element: dispersions.
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