When Saroplast, a specialist in product design and molding based in Treviso, Italy, was asked to design higher- performing components for a fruit-harvesting tool, it chose Victrex PEEK polymer in order to obtain wear and temperature resistance superior to that of metal parts that had previously been failing.

02/01/2012

Name: Plastics Engineering Publisher: Society of Plastics Engineers, Inc. Audience: Academic; Trade Format: Magazine/Journal Subject: Business; Chemicals, plastics and rubber industries; Chemistry Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers, Inc. ISSN: 0091-9578

Date: Feb, 2012 Source Volume: 68 Source Issue: 2

280386433

When Saroplast, a specialist in product design and molding based in Treviso, Italy, was asked to design higher-performing components for a fruit-harvesting tool, it chose Victrex PEEK polymer in order to obtain wear and temperature resistance superior to that of metal parts that had previously been failing. The metal parts were unable to withstand the high levels of wear resulting from prolonged continuous use and exposure to high operating temperatures. "The use of Victrex PEEK polymer in the molded parts helped meet the temperature requirements while reducing weight, lowering power consumption and reducing acoustic noise," Saroplast reports.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Saroplast designers focused on the toothed gear wheel that drives the tool via a connecting rod. "We worked with the technical planning department at Saroplast to come up with a metal replacement solution," says Reinhard Veljovic, Victrex market development manager. "A modification was made to a metal ring, and a roller bearing that controls the movement of the rod was added." The new design also weighs ten times less than the original model, says Saroplast. www.victrex.com.

Copyright 2012 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Previous Article: Toray Plastics (America), Inc.

Next Article: Vapor Technologies, Inc.