parker seals
- May 31, 2018
Article re-posted with permission from Parker Hannifin Sealing & Shielding Team.
Original content can be found on Parker’s Blog.
TetraSeal: An Alternate Sealing Solution When an O-Ring Isn't Working
Our applications engineering team takes more than a few calls each month where the O-ring is leaking, either immediately or after just a short time in service. Once we drill down to the details, we learn the failure mode is an improperly sized groove and O-ring. It isn’t all that uncommon for a groove to be cut in a flange and a novice designer learns the hard way that standard O-rings cannot fit in just any groove geometry. For hardware that has already been machined, frustration ensues as the caller learns the O-ring solution requires tooling. Tooling can have a lead time of at least a month to cut and can cost thousands of dollars. Parker offers a TetraSeal® solution, which often does not require tooling and can be made of many of the same materials used for O-rings.
Benefits of TetraSeals
The TetraSeal is a circular precision-cut seal with a square cross-section. Unlike O-rings which require a unique mold for each material family and size, TetraSeals are extruded, cured and machine cut to the target thickness. Our manufacturing facilities in both Spartanburg, South Carolina and Goshen, Indiana are tooled in a variety of interchangeable extrusion dies, making this type of seal an easily sourced seal solution without the lead time and cost of a custom molded O-ring.
- January 30, 2018
Article re-posted with permission from Parker Hannifin Sealing & Shielding Team.
Original content can be found on Parker’s Blog.One of the decisions equipment designers need to make when installing O-ring seals in their applications is how much the O-ring will be squeezed by its mating hardware to create an effective seal.
What is O-ring squeeze
Squeeze is a ratio of the amount of deformation applied to the seal expressed as a percentage of the free-state cross-sectional thickness. Deforming the seal cross-section “energizes” the elastomer matrix much like compressing a spring; the inherent elasticity of the rubber material causes it to push back against the mating components. This contact force blocks the passage of liquids, gases and dry powders, preventing them from flowing between the rubber seal and the mating hardware.
The greater the squeeze, the more force is applied against the hardware and the tighter the seal. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that designers should always specify the most squeeze (assuming they knew what that level was or why it was “the most”). There are a number of factors to consider, which include:
- January 23, 2018
O-Rings continue to be the most widely utilized sealing product. While the ‘Donut’ shaped profile has by and large been kept intact since their inception, continued elastomeric development has pushed o-ring temperature and chemical compatibility to limits unimaginable several decades ago.
Typically, O-Rings fail due to adverse effects of a number of factors, from improper installation and lubrication to incorrect size and design. The collection of videos below will help you minimize installation errors that may lead to failure (be sure to bookmark this page for future reference).
How To Install an O-Ring - Standard Male Gland
[embed]https://youtu.be/QcJBVQvTvhw[/embed]
- January 09, 2018
Article re-posted with permission from Parker Hannifin Sealing & Shielding Team.
Original content can be found on Parker’s Blog.
Precision O-rings are manufactured by vulcanization in a closed mold using compression or injection molding. This makes it possible to produce O-rings in relatively small manufacturing tolerances and with good surface quality according to ISO 3601-1 and ISO 3601-3. Due to defined vulcanization parameters, precision O-rings
- October 19, 2017
Article re-posted with permission from Parker Hannifin Sealing & Shielding Team.
Original content can be found on Parker’s Blog.
New Sealing Material HiFluor® FB for Hygienically Sensitive Applications
Be it in the production of food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics or medical devices coming into contact with the human body, excellent purity and media resistance combined with a wide range of robust properties is always required of the materials used for the components in the manufacturing processes. Specifically for these challenging applications, Parker has developed a new sealing compound with very good mechanical properties and excellent permanent elasticity: HiFluor® FB V8991.
Fluoroelastomeric materials have proven their viability in chemical and food processing, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and life science applications involving non-polar solvents, aliphatic compounds, greases, oils and aromatic substances whenever the resistance of standard materials such as hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) and ethylene propylene rubber (EPDM) is no longer sufficient.
Innovative “Pure” Sealing Solution HiFluor® FB V8991
As a compound and seal manufacturer, Parker Prädifa, in the light of the growing demands made on sealing elements in the aforementioned markets, has developed a HiFluor® FB compound with very good mechanical properties and excellent permanent elasticity.
- November 29, 2016
Hollow O-rings have long been used in enclosure applications and many other static applications.
Parker TechSeal Hollow O-rings can extrude, splice, and vulcanize extremely large o-rings that would be too costly to mold. Their dimensions can easily be customized with no tooling cost, truly making them the economical alternative to molded products.
Watch the video above to learn more about how TechSeal hollow O-rings can be utilized in your assemblies or enclosures.