Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Working With Rubber Extrusion Companies

By Georgia Diaz


Objects have been made using extrusion mechanisms ever since its discovery during the eighteenth century. For hard materials such as metals, there is the need to preheat them to a molten state for easier workability. Today, this process is widely used by rubber extrusion companies to create consumer products of varying shapes and sizes.

In the manufacturing industry, the term stock may be used to describe the unprocessed solid. The cheapest processing is realized only if the stock is easily malleable so that it can be shaped with minimum energy consumption. The finished goods will have similar properties with the stock if the producer does not subject them to further treatment procedures.

Hydraulic presses are a must have in large rubber extrusion companies to provide compressive force. The working fluid is usually oil imparted with additional properties such as lubrication, low freezing point and a high boiling point to give satisfactory performance. If the pressure involved may generate too much heat, it is preferable to use glass powder as a lubricant in the ram cylinder. It is very frustrating for a plant to miss money making opportunities because of equipment breakdown.

Hydraulic rams are usually fitted with pressure relief valves to avoid excessive pressure build up that could rip up the pipes. This feature is implemented by machining a spring loaded plunger that obstructs an orifice linking the working chamber to the main reservoir. In case the spring cannot resist compressive forces when the fluid pressure is increasing, the plunger will expose the orifice to safely direct oil back to the reservoir.

Extrusion is close to molding but it only uses presses to force the stock through a die of required cross section. Some manufacturers then place the object in a vessel known as an autoclave for heat treatment. Commonly used items such as gaskets and oil seals used by mechanics when servicing motor vehicles were probably made by this process.

Today, there are both natural and synthetic products in markets all over the world. Plant rubber consists of naturally occurring polymers that give the latex from the bark a sticky texture. Latex is harvested by creating an incision on the bark and hanging a vessel strategically on the stem to collect the discharged drops. The accumulated liquid is then taken to a factory for processing before it is sold to rubber extrusion companies.

These trees are said to have originated in South America before spreading to areas as diverse as Britain, Singapore, Indonesia and Africa. Strictly speaking, this cash crop is quite slow to establish but if well tended, it can remain productive for a quarter of a century. Orchards should be established in areas with adequate rainfall and alluvial soils with moderate water retention capacity.

Unless knowledgeable people tend the crop, it will deteriorate very quickly. According to recent surveys, natural latex accounts for up to two fifths of the material used by rubber extrusion companies. Synthetics are used where the end product is exposed to harsh conditions while natural material is preferred for milder products such as condoms and surgery gloves.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment