Market
Ruggedized Equipment
Solutions that ruggedize and protect
Stockwell Elastomerics has a broad range of gasket manufacturing capabilities and materials to serve the ruggedized portable device industry, including display panel gaskets, LCD gaskets, and touch screen gaskets. Stockwell Elastomerics frequently assists in design situations where a program might be stalled due to requirements for an advanced level of sealing or environmental protection.
Display Panel Gaskets, LCD Gaskets and Touch Screen Gaskets
These special custom gaskets are used in outdoor conditions, food processing, freezers or similar challenging environments that make gasket selection critical. There are many situations where the portable device is no longer just used in a dry, ambient factor or warehouse environment. Due to size and weight constraints, fastening hardware is often very limited or non-existent. Yet customers demand better functionality in a greater range of conditions. Here are some of the ways Stockwell Elastomerics can help:
Light and Dust Sealing
Stockwell Elastomerics inventories a number of thin and compressible gasketing materials for light and dust sealing. PORON cellular urethane, silicone foam and closed cell silicone spongeare available in thicknesses ranging from .012″ through .125″ thick. These soft gasketing materials also have excellent compression set characteristics – so they rebound after long term deflection – which ensures long term contact with the mating surfaces preventing dust and light intrusion. Although PORON is an open cell foam, the cell structure is very small and uniform, enabling good dust and light sealing with 10 to 25% deflection.
Stockwell Elastomerics laminates several acrylic adhesives onto PORON cellular urethane for display gaskets:
- 3M 467 is .002″ thick and resists the effects of long term creep and shear
- 3M 9795B is black (most adhesives are clear) to prevent light intrusion through the bond line
- Adchem 256M is a clear PET film, .005″ thick reinforced adhesive with good initial tack properties
Occasional Outdoor Use Gasketing Requirements
Stockwell Elastomerics carries BISCO silicone foam gasketing materials in .032″ through .125″ thick in black and gray. Silicone foam offers the advantage of flexibility and better performance in low temperatures and enhanced moisture sealing capability than PORON cellular urethanes. These conditions might be classified as IP61 or IP62 at best. As silicone foam generally has an open cell construction – unless the gasket can be deflected at least 25% we would not recommend this family of materials for long term outdoor or water exposure.
Constant Outdoor Use Gasketing Requirements
Stockwell Elastomerics carries closed cell silicone sponge gasketing materials in .032″ through .125″ thick in black and gray. Closed cell silicone sponge generally provides better moisture sealing than open cell silicone foam materials. Occasional low pressure water spray or splash conditions, such as IP63 or IP64, may be sealed out with minimally deflected closed cell silicone sponge.
Challenging Industrial Environments (RFID Reader Gaskets)
Recently Stockwell Elastomerics has been involved with design projects requiring portable computing devices capable of surviving in a store freezer, marine terminal or un-heated / un-air conditioned warehouse facility. As technology in RFID creates productivity opportunities – computing and data acquisition devices will need to resist the elements. For these extreme conditions, Stockwell Elastomerics provides low durometer, 10 through 40 durometer Shore A silicone rubber. Materials are available in sheet form in gauges ranging from .010″ through .125″ thick for die cut and water jet cut gaskets. This same family of liquid silicone rubber materials can be injection molded into a very precise gasket or seal.
Prototyping and Sampling Assistance
Stockwell Elastomerics has a full service production capability. Stockwell frequently provides cut-to-size samples from dxf files supplied by prospective customers. Stockwell Elastomerics also has water jet cut gaskets to replicate a molded profile seal – just to give an engineer a final reality check before releasing a design.
Contact Stockwell Elastomerics for Ruggedized Equipment Gaskets
Stockwell Elastomerics is pleased to include our sampling and water jet cutting services as a benefit to our customers in the technology sector. Contact Us for further assistance with custom gaskets for ruggedized portable devices and ruggedized equipment.
