A thermal gasket serves an important and specific purpose in various industries for a wide variety of components where heat becomes an issue. Though often overlooked, these gaskets are a key component to the successful function of many products used daily. At Standard Rubber Products Co. (SRP), we have been assisting customers since 1951 by providing custom die cut solutions to help solve various types of thermal application issues.

What is a Gasket?

Gaskets are specifically designed to serve as a buffer between components. These parts provide several benefits to not only the finished product, but to the end user as well. One of the design features of a gasket is to prevent leakage. The intention is to prevent fluids from leaking out of the component. However, these seals can also prevent outside forces such as dust, dirt, and rain from getting into the application.

Specifically designed seals also work to reduce squeaks, rattles or vibrations that are being generated by providing a cushion or pad to absorb that energy. This buffer reduces wear and tear, which in turn works to extend the lifespan and quality of a product.

Thermal Gasket Fabrication

Thermal gaskets are specific components which are designed to function in areas that generate high temperatures. They are fabricated in a number of ways. They can be both die and dieless cut from thermal interface materials, gap pads, and filler pads.

Advances in technology have enabled expert teams such as ours at SRP to work closely with our customers to design the products they need. With an increase in demand and a streamline of processes, our facilities can enable companies to take their gasket needs from their conceptual origins through mass production.

With custom designs to fit specific intended needs, thermal gaskets provide efficient support for both industrial operations and consumer goods. Industries around the world realize that these items are necessary for the prolonged life of various industrial and consumer products. When it comes to thermal management, you can count on SRP to manufacture the right gasket for you.

A high temperature gasket is designed to provide additional protection for products such as ovens and HVAC units where high temperatures are a factor. These seals are custom designed to provide a perfect fit that provides additional security and protection for products in a variety of industries.

At Standard Rubber Products Co. (SRP) we have been providing design and manufacturing services to customers for many years.

These seals work to provide environmental protection and buffering for the interior workings of products that range from cars and production equipment to cell phones. Their design also helps protect from long term degradation. They can even provide vibration and noise dampening to eliminate annoying buzz, squeak and rattle when these products are in use.

Design, Testing and Development

Our design team at SRP assists our clients from beginning to end. With the initiation of a design concept, our team assists in product design and testing to ensure a perfect product. This includes material selection as well as quality assurance testing. With a quick turnaround time, prototypes can be quickly developed. Once the prototype is proven to be effective, manufacturing methods are determined.

A strong analysis at the outset will determine what production method is the best decision both economically and for quality purposes for mass production. The high temperature gasket can be manufactured using a variety of processes including:

• Rotary die-cutting
• Flash cutting
• Waterjet cutting
• Steel rule die-cutting
• Laser cutting
• Slitting
• Laminating

As modern production and technology methods advance, the need for high temperature gaskets will continue to grow. New uses for gaskets will continue to develop as global industries grow and shift. We are confident our troubleshooting capability will be a great asset that can assist with your end design in mind. Do not hesitate to contact us for any gasketing needs. Having been in the business of gasket fabrication since 1951, we have the knowledge, experience and capabilities to help make your product a better one.

This week marks the 10th Anniversary of the opening of our China facility. In celebration of our 10th Anniversary, Larry Gualano, Sr., the President/CEO of our company, along with Johnny Schmid, our Executive Director of SRP Zhuhai, visited the plant to celebrate a decade of successful business with the entire staff.

A catered luncheon with the entire crew followed by a weekend getaway” to Dong’ou Island with the management team enabled us to show appreciation for the hard work and dedication exhibited by our staff. The relationship, trust and support that we have built with our employees is the key driver to our success.

PORON Microcellular Urethanes are ideal for Gasketing and Sealing applications. This material can be found in a variety of industries including: general industrial, electronics, automotive, HVAC, communications, appliance and many more. PORON offers excellent compression set resistance, which enables durable, long-term performance. Other benefits include low-outgassing and non-fogging, which means the material contains no plasticizers or residual chemicals. The material will not become brittle and crumble, and is non-corrosive to metal. PORON has good chemical resistance, it’s easy to fabricate, die-cuts cleanly, and works with a broad range of adhesives.

Rogers offers an extensive line of PORON materials made for anything from sealing out dust to helping combat high electrical conductivity, water sealing, impact protection for smartphones and tablets, antimicrobial materials for sports equipment, and beyond. These materials are offered in a wide array of thicknesses and densities ranging from very soft to very firm depending on the product number.

Common Applications include:

• Environmental Seals
• Protective Cases
• Water Sealing
• Spacers
• Motor Mounts
• Vibration Isolation
• Gaskets
• Appliance Foot Pads
• EMI/RFI Shielding
• Sound Damping
• Gap Filling

SRP has been a Preferred Converter for Rogers Corporation since its inception. We combine Rogers’ technology and converter expertise to create precisely what customers want. The benefits of being a Rogers Preferred Converter include: material access, employee training, networking, extended customer benefits, and support through their team of sales representatives. We have extensive material data sheets detailing PORON foams that SRP has to offer, and would be pleased to talk to you about your specific needs.

PORON Urethanes are a highly convertible material, making it easy for us to custom fabricate. This material can be custom cut into virtually any shape imaginable. Pressure Sensitive Adhesive is available on all products. SRP’s processing capabilities for this material includes: Die Cutting, Flash Cutting, Rotary Die Cutting, Waterjet Cutting, Laser Cutting, and Laminating.

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If you have any questions or inquiries concerning Rogers PORON please do not hesitate to call us at 847-593-5630, or email us at info@srpco.com. We will be happy to answer any questions you may have, or assist you in assuring you are choosing the right materials.

We’re Expanding East

When the idea of opening a manufacturing facility on the other side of the world was presented to us, we were a bit unsure of the risks involved. It was a different country, culture, currency, language, and a different way of doing business. Not to mention the 15-hour flight, with a 13-hour time difference. From the time we decided China would be a good fit for SRP, until the day the doors opened was a little over a year. During that year we would come to find solutions to the hardships in which we feared from the beginning. SRP’s owners and managers were determined to make the best of this second location by hiring an Asian business consultant to help us navigate through the complexity of licensing a company in China. We decided against becoming a joint venture, and instead became an LLC. From there we landed on a location in Zhuhai, China.

Why Did We Go?

The company made the move to provide local support to one of our larger customers who was expanding their manufacturing base in Asia, and wanted localized manufacturing for shorter lead times and rapid engineering support.

Choosing Our Location

We scouted various locations from Beijing and Tianjin to Shanghai and Suzhou to the South Pearl River Delta near Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Our decision was to settle in the city of Zhuhai, located in the South Pearl River Delta because of proximity to the customer, and ease of transporting goods either by air, land, or sea.

10 Years Later

Next month marks the 10th Anniversary of the opening of our China facility. Since 2006, we have been able to build a successful manufacturing company through the development of trust through our customers, continuing support using U.S. managers, development of strong relationships with our key suppliers, and a business model that has changed to primarily supporting U.S. companies that have a presence in Asia.

In celebration of our 10th Anniversary, the President/CEO of our company, along with the Executive Director of SRP Zhuhai, will be visiting to celebrate a decade of successful business with the entire staff. The relationship, trust and support that we have built with our employees is the key driver to our success. Our business in Asia continues to grow every year, and we are proud of where we stand today.

What is 3M^™ Bumpon^™?

3M^™ Bumpon^™ is a material that you more than likely come in contact with on a daily basis, but you probably never even knew it existed. 3M^™ Bumpon^™ Resilient Rollstock is a self-adhesive rubber bumper designed to be used as feet, stops and spacers on handheld or desktop computers, calculators, electronic housewares, electronic equipment, desktop items and medical devices.

The rollstock format is excellent for die-cut shapes with various thickness requirements for gasket applications to fill gaps, dampen noise and reduce vibration.

Product Protection

3M^™ Bumpon^™ features include:

• Easy application with 3M^™ pressure sensitive adhesives
• High skid-resistance.
• Won’t scratch or stain surfaces
• Reduces vibration and noise
• Will not crack or harden

3M^™ Bumpon^™ for a Variety of Applications

Application Ideas for 3M^™ Bumpon^™ include:

• Die cut for gasket application
• Anti-rattle spacer to fill gaps, dampen noise and reduce vibration
• Skid-resistant surface on floor
• Cushions or spacers within electronic devices
• Selective masking for sandblast operation
• Spacer or stop to prevent surface damage
• Door kick pads
• Corner protection strips
• Die cut cushioning stop for cabinetry

3M^™ Bumpon^™ is a highly convertible material, making it easy for us to custom fabricate. This material can be custom cut into virtually any shape imaginable. SRP’s processing capabilities for this material includes: Die Cutting, Flash Cutting, Rotary Die Cutting, Waterjet Cutting, Laser Cutting, and Laminating.

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If you have any questions or inquiries concerning 3M^™ Bumpon^™, please do not hesitate to call us at 847-593-5630, or email us at info@srpco.com. We will be happy to answer any questions you may have, or assist you in assuring you are choosing the right materials.

Our second show of the year is in the bag as we concluded the 2016 Design-2-Part show late last week at the lovely Schaumburg Convention Center right in our backyard. In a world where it seems that trade shows appear to be a fading event for the converting industry, this year the D2P show proved otherwise. Maybe it was the fact that companies were laying low in 2015 as the economy continued to slowly dwindle for the industry, even into the early months of this year. However, it looks as though things are starting to pick back up, at least for SRP.

This was by far the most successful show we have attended for our company in years. Of course, the final results cannot be gauged until a few months down the road, so we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. Talking to many of the other companies exhibiting, it seemed the show was a success for them as well. Whether or not the show was a success for all exhibitors, the interest level of the people attending the show makes it look like things are headed in a positive direction.

We spoke with a lot of entrepreneurial start ups looking for prototyping services. The amount of people that are in the design phase of their new projects is very exciting, and isalso another indicator that manufacturing in the converting industry should be back on the up and up soon, so we hope. We would like to thank the D2P team for a successful show on their end, and we look forward to D2P 2017. We also want to thank Gramovox for supplying their floating record player and Gramaphone Bluetooth speaker for our display. It brought a lot of buzz to booth #349!

It is incredible to think how quickly we are approaching the midway point of the year. What is even more incredible is that we are still dealing with mild winter weather in Elk Grove. Our plans as far as trade shows and events go for the rest of the year include the Rwilo Events that aim to elevate art, design, and manufacturing innovation communities. People and businesses collaborate to share ideas, find opportunities, and build solutions. SRP is proud to be a co-sponsor for the event series.

What Are They?

Polyimide films are anything but ordinary. These films are engineered for long-term performance at extreme temperatures between -450° F to over 500° F over extended periods of time. So, obviously, thermal stability is a major benefit, which is why this film is so widely used in aerospace, electronics, and electrical industries when a high temperature material is required. Polyimide films possess a unique combination of properties that make it ideal for a variety of applications in a variety of different industries.

Features and benefits:

• The ability of these films to maintain their tremendous physical, electrical, and mechanical properties over a wide temperature range immensely reduces the need for rework, helping to enable high productivity out of this product.
• Dimensionally stable at high temperatures, which helps reduce rework, helping to enable high productivity.
• Flame retardant, chemical and radiation resistant which helps protect surfaces to help reduce replacement costs.

Popular Polyimide Products

Kapton Polyimide Films

DuPont™ Kapton polyimide films have set the industry standard for over 45 years in high performance, reliability and durability, with a unique combination of electrical, thermal, chemical and mechanical properties that withstand extreme temperature, vibration and other demanding environments.

3M^™ Polyimide Film Tape

3M^™ Polyimide Film Tape 5413 with DuPont™ Kapton® polyimide film and silicone adhesive is used for PCB solder masking and other high temperature applications. This product is amber colored and 2.7 mil (69 microns) thick.

Common Applications using Polyimide Films

Polyimide films can be used in a variety of electrical and electronic insulation applications including:

• Wire and cable tapes
• Substrates for flexible printed circuits
• Motor slot liners
• Transformer and capacitor insulation
• Magnetic and pressure-sensitive tapes
• Dielectric Gaskets
• Thermal Barriers
• Heat Sink Pads
• Automotive Sensors
• Circuit Board Insulation

Polyimide films are a highly convertible material, making it easy for us to custom fabricate. This material can be cut, slit, and laminated into virtually any shape imaginable. SRP’s Processing Capabilities for Polyimide Films include: Die Cutting, Flash Cutting, Rotary Die Cutting, Waterjet Cutting, Laser Cutting, and Laminating.

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If you have any questions or inquiries concerning closed cell sponge, please do not hesitate to call us at 847-593-5630, or email us at info@srpco.com. We will be happy to answer any questions you may have, or assist you in assuring you are choosing the right materials.