General Industrial
Marine applications encounter humid and wet environments, so a material’s resistance to water and other fluids is especially important. When an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of marine industry products approached CGR Products requesting a gasketing and cushioning system, CGR knew PORON® Polyurethane Foams from Rogers Corporation were best suited for the job.
The primary challenge CGR faced in creating this particular gasket system was the diverse set of functions it would need to serve. Manufactured for an industrial-duty touch screen display, the marine application’s environment was very harsh — the gasket would be expected to weather vibrations, physical shocks, and temperature fluctuations. The product also required a high degree of conformability.
Touch screens are not normally subjected to such rigors, so a premium was placed on protection. In order to meet such a variety of critical requirements, CGR Products looked to Rogers and their family of PORON® Polyurethane Foams to create a foam housing for this industrial-duty touch screen.
PORON® Polyurethane Foams, particularly the PORON® 40 and 50 Series, are known by industrial designers for their exceptional durability and long-term performance. Highly resilient, these foams offer good levels of vibration isolation and impact absorption — crucial for this cushioning system. PORON® foams are also easily die cut and accept adhesive application.
Because of these factors, and due to a number of other additional benefits, CGR Products chose PORON® 40 and 50 Series foams for the job to ensure protection against the gasket’s harsh environment.
To maintain both conformability and a high degree of shock absorption, the end product required two levels of compression deflection resistance and durometer be combined into one part. The completed system required four different gasket components to be manufactured and assembled — CGR Products designed the new assembly process from the ground up.
Because of the part’s complexity, CGR applied multiple fabrication capabilities to the part, which included:
A Cevenini slitter to cut the roll of material into narrower sheets
CGR Products selected Rogers’ PORON® Polyurethane Foam for this unique project because of its highly rated shock, vibration, temperature, and moisture-resistance properties.
Known for its ease of use in fabrication, PORON® allowed CGR to develop the gasket cushion system, design an assembly process, and manufacture prototypes — all within three weeks. After minor dimensional adjustments, the client approved the system. Today, CGR manufactures thousands of pieces annually for the OEM client.
To learn more about this and other projects, visit www.cgrproducts.com.