Selecting the Best Manufacturing Partner for your Custom Rubber Needs
Coi Rubber Products Inc. is the right name you can trust when looking for the perfect custom molded rubber products provider. We are a well-known player in the rubber and plastics industries. They provide their clients the utmost satisfaction through the quality of the products they deliver. As they establish their company through the years, they have been evolving and adding on their domain of processes, including various types of molding (roto-molding, injection, etc.), extrusion, and rubber-to-metal binding.
The rubber molding process is a method derived from different methods of fabricating plastic parts that can be dated way back 1960s. This process involves converting raw rubber materials into functional parts with desired shape and size. Different rubber reagents and compounds are typically mixed to arrive at the desired property for a product (e.g., softness rating, temperature resistance, toughness, flexibility, etc.).
We will walk you through different considerations you need to take into account in choosing the right partner for fabricating your rubber molded products. There are many companies offering rubber molding services, but who is the right one for you?
1. Choose a Company that is flexible enough to adapt to any rubber molding method.
There are many types of rubber fabrication methods used in the industry to consider the different properties of rubbers required for any application. These methods of creating rubber products vary depending on a part’s size, shape, softness rating, and other mechanical properties. This blog will walk you through the most popular rubber molding methods and the most efficient materials used by rubber manufacturing companies.
Injection Molding
This involves injecting a specified amount of heated rubber material into a pressurized mold through a chamber. This process is often opted for large volume runs of small to medium-sized parts, for intricate metal inserts, thin-walled diaphragms, and other similar components.
Compression Molding
This rubber molding process starts with a piece of preformed rubber to a specified weight and shape. This rubber will then be placed into the mold that will soon be subjected to pressure as it closes. The preformed rubber will take the form of the mold as it is compressed. The rubber material will be held in the mold at a specified elevated temperature to aid in the rubber curing process. This rubber molding method is perfect for processing bulky parts with exotic and expensive compounds.
Transfer Molding
This method uses a closed mold system. It involves placing an uncured rubber compound in a mold called “pot,” then forced through a chamber (by a compressing ram) and unto the cavity to take its shape. Like the compression method, the formed rubber will be held under high pressure and temperature for it to cure. Transfer molding has a shorter cycle and cure-time than compression molding making it perfect for bonding rubber into small, delicate parts or producing small parts from large multi-cavity molds.
2. Choose a Company with a wide availability for different materials.
It is vital to choose a supplier that has a complete catalog of materials to suit your product needs. Although there are many selections of rubbers available today, below are the most popular ones used in the industry:
Nitrile or Buna-N- This type of rubber is resistant to water, hydraulic fluid, oil, and solvents, making it perfect for strong abrasion and tear resistance applications.
Silicone- This is usually used for creating rubber components that will be exposed to extremes of temperatures (high or low).
Butyl- This type of rubber has a high resistance to gas permeability (ability to let gas through). This is commonly used for seals found in high-pressure gas and vacuum systems. However, butyl rubbers are not suitable for use in environments prone to abrasion and petroleum products.
Neoprene- This type of rubber has an impressive fire and abrasion resistance. This is commonly used for hose covers, automotive seals and gaskets, and automotive shock absorbers.
Urethane- This Rubber is a bit more expensive than other types because of its high reliability when it comes to abrasion resistance, toughness, high strength, and its ability to withstand high pressure and constant shock loads.
