Urethane Parts & Products Case Studies

Urethanes Gears and Sprockets

The lower tooling costs of urethane compared to the specialized machining and finishing costs of metal gears and sprockets makes urethane the wise choice in drive-gear design. American Urethane, the leader in custom-molded urethane parts, offers savings of up to 50% in production costs when substituting urethane for metal. In addition to cost savings in the design and manufacturing of gears and sprockets, custom-molded urethane parts from American Urethane offer excellent wear resulting in reduced downtime for repairs and reduced maintenance costs. Custom-molded urethane also offers unique noise abatement properties not achievable with metal parts resulting in quieter operating machines. American Urethane offers innovative solutions to the toughest design problems and has a quick turnaround time.

Urethane Chain Attachments

Castable urethane offers a cost-effective alternative to metal and thermoplastics in designing conveyor systems used in manufacturing. American Urethane, the leader in custom-molded urethane parts, recently solved several problems encountered by a major bristle brush manufacturer during the production of paint brushes and facial cosmetic brushes. Stainless steel trays used in the process were bending during the vibration cycle causing them to lose their original form. This caused unacceptable inconsistencies and a high rejection rate in the final product. American Urethane designed and custom molded a tray using urethane which not only withstood the vibration and retained its original form, but also extended its service life. A significantly quieter production operation was also achieved due to urethane’s unique noise abatement qualities.

Industrial Vacuum Cleaner Equipped With Castable Urethane Wheels To Withstand Harsh Environment

A leading industrial vacuum cleaner manufacturer was having trouble with its plastic wheels which were quickly deteriorating in a harsh environment of chemicals, gas and oil on floors where the vacuum cleaner was being utilized.

American Urethane, Inc., one of the largest USA manufacturers of custom-molded urethane parts, solved this problem. They designed and custom-molded a urethane wheel that would not wear down nor disintegrate in caustic environments. This provided the manufacturer with a longer product service life which in the appliance market is a critical selling feature.

Major advantages of castable urethane are finding many new applications in the manufacturing marketplace-material handling, power transmission, automotive, appliance, business equipment, medical-in addition to the traditional mass sporting goods industry (in-line skate wheels, bowling ball covers, exercise equipment, etc…) Two major benefits of using castable urethane parts are the longer service life they provide compared to plastics and rubber and the lower noise abatement they achieve when compared to metals. It is also an FDA approved material that can be used in clean-room environments.

Castable Urethane Part Provides The Best Service Life For World’s Largest Producer Of Baby-Wipes

Castable urethane is a cost effective alternative to thermoplastics and metals in designing material handling production systems. Urethane parts offer longer service life, lower noise abatement, FDA approval for clean room environment production, and the ability for high performance under harsh environment conditions.

American Urethane, Inc., a leader in the custom-molded urethane parts industry, recently provided the best solution for a problem which the world’s largest ‘baby-wipes’ manufacturer was having within its material handling production system.

Previously, the ‘baby-wipes’ manufacturer-whose production line runs nonstop, 24 hours per day, 7 days a week-used a plastic tray in the production system which held a specific quantity of dry napkins which were automatically weighed and based on weight the ‘magic’ solution was then sprayed onto the stack of napkins. During this process, however, vibration caused the plastic trays to crack and the loss of pieces of plastic caused inaccurate weight readings resulting in inaccurate amounts of ‘magic solution’ to be applied. Quality control was at stake and so was the continual production of ‘baby-wipes’.

American Urethane designed a lightweight, castable urethane tray of superior quality which eliminated this consistent production interruption. The urethane tray also provided lower noise abatement during vibration cycle, higher durability, longer service life, and a surface which bacteria cannot adhere to during clean-room environment production.

Castable Urethane Provides Industry Solutions…

Castable urethane is now the preferred material of choice for critical components used in manufacturing production systems. Castable urethane parts provide longer service life, can lower noise abatement, are FDA approved for clean room production environments, and withstand harsh environments where other conventional materials-thermoplastic, rubber, and metal-cannot.

Case in point:

The stainless steel tray which a major bristle-brush manufacturer used in the production of paint brushes and facial cosmetic brushes would bend during the vibration cycle and would not return to its original form. This warping caused significant inconsistencies during production which resulted in a high rejection rate of the final product. In addition, OSHA standards required increased noise abatement during production which stainless steel trays could not meet.

Solution:

American Urethane, Inc., a major manufacturer of custom-molded urethane parts, designed a castable urethane tray for the brush manufacturer using a unique formulation of polyurethane elastomers. This formulation gave the tray the durability and resilience necessary to withstand the vibration cycle and, therefore, retain its original shape. The custom-molded urethane tray not only lowered the product rejection rate but also gave the added benefits of the noise abatement necessary to meet OSHA standards and reduced maintenance and replacement costs due to the longer service life of the new urethane tray.

The engineering & design department at American Urethane, Inc. can assist your company with innovative solutions to your toughest problems.