Fasteners and Sealing
Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology (Umsicht) are working on new formulas of renewably sourced adhesives to develop a pressure-sensitive adhesive for industrial applications.
substrates, yet they must be removed without leaving a residue. To do this, the adhesive force must match the application. Pressure-sensitive adhesives are based on backbone
polymers, which give the adhesives their inner strength (or cohesion). The researchers are using polylactic acid as a
starting material for new backbone polymers. What makes the material attractive is its low production cost, because lactic acid is already produced on an industrial scale - so costs are in the region of prices for conventional backbone polymers. However, the researchers will have to develop a completely new formula. “The properties of polylactic acid are completely
different from those of the polymers used to date, such as polyacrylates and styrene-based block copolymers,” said Stephan Kabasci, who heads the Umsicht renewable resources business unit. Fraunhofer Umsicht is also working with Achilles
Fig. 4. Rotite’s Stuart Burns says: “Without 3D printing we would not exist, and the idea would still be on the shelf. There’s really no way to ‘draw’ the concept - it’s impossible.”
Products that use pressure-sensitive adhesives include adhesive bandages, self-adhesive labels and adhesive tapes. They have demanding requirements: they must remain permanently adhesive at room temperature; gentle pressure should be enough to stick them to most
Papierveredelung Bielefeld, Jowat, and Deckert Management Consultants to develop adhesive systems that meet the quality requirements of laminated packaging, while being compostable. The researchers are focusing mainly on water-based
dispersion adhesives, in which the adhesive components are dispersed very finely in water. These are applied to one side of the product and joined while wet. ●
Pneumatic hydraulic riveting tool G
ESIPA’s pneumatic hydraulic riveting tool, Taurus series,
can save up to 68 per cent of the compressed air by its dual use. This is because, the compressed air required for setting of the blind rivet can be re-used a second time for ejection of the spent rivet mandrel thereby switching-off the air suction mechanism completely through an easy to activate slide switch. These Taurus Tools were introduced
by GESIPA with a process control mechanism Explaining the process control mechanism, Stuart Booth, Technical Lead, comments: “Contained within these special Taurus tools, is a sensing and processing capability that analyses each rivet set via a real time analysis of traction and stroke during the riveting operation. An immediate feedback is provided to the operator via Green and Red LED’s located on the tool to
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confirm good or bad rivet setting. Rivets that fail to set according to defined parameters are detected and reported.” Multiple job profiles
stored in a computer can be quickly down-loaded into the tool’s memory, programming it for varying applications. The tool’s internal memory stores data on up to 260,000 rivet sets. The output data can be transmitted in real-time to collection devices, audible/visual signal systems and electronic controllers or downloaded at intervals to provide analysis of the riveting process. The system also identifies failure
patterns and memorises those for failure analysis and troubleshooting. Considering all the work that is
done by these special Taurus tools, it is notable that all the system
components involved are part of the tool itself and each analysis takes less than a microsecond. Moreover, all measurement parameters and riveting sequences can be adjusted with special software. Detailed analysis of the measurement either for data storage or for error detection, as well as sensor re-calibration can be performed at user’s level. ●
For more information, visit
www.gesipa.co.uk
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