Robafoam Technology – Robafoam Foam Sealing System
Robafoam are specialists in the field of 1K foam sealing. Using our expertise, we design and manufacture entire foam sealing systems, tailoring these for a range of applications including automotive sealing, lighting sealing and more.
The 1K foam sealing technology converts a single part polyurethane (PU) material into a closed cell liquid foam. This is achieved by mechanically entertaining air (or chosen gas) into the material. The chosen level of air entrainment enables a wide range of hardness to be selected.
Designed to work with many materials, to create closed-cell foam. Our technology produces a liquid foam seal that is applied directly to customer components. This unique system requires no in-process purging and has been measured at over 98% availability.
We would like to introduce you the Robafoam Technology.
Pump unit single-component sealing material:
The pump unit is a drum where the raw material is stored (20lts pail – 200lts drum). The material can be stored at room temperature and does not require heating prior to the air entrainment. Due to the material requiring 80 degrees to cure, the shelf life is months as the material does not react without the required heat.
The raw material is pumped from the 200kg drum into the Foam unit where the entertainment of air occurs.
Foam creation equipment:
The process takes the raw material from the pump unit and converts it to foam by accurately introducing a measured quantity of compressed air. The amount of air used in this process defines the foam hardness. The more air added, the softer the foam will be. This can be adjusted to create a wide range of shore hardness, depending on the requirements of the customer- We refer to this as foam ratio.
Dispensing valve:
Our 6 axis robot system can apply a gasket to any substrate including plastics, metals, and glass. The level of natural adhesion the foam has to the substrate depends on the dyne value. If there is no natural adhesion, we can use plasma pr-treatment to increase it. Using 6 axis robot, we have the capability of applying a bead to simple flat parts and complex 3D profiles as well as double face applications.
Oven system:
Whether requiring our material for bonding or foam sealing, the PU cures rapidly at temperature 80ᵒC or above. The material itself will cure within seconds at the required temperature, however, what defines the curing time is the heat sink properties of the part. The last section of material to cure is the one that is in direct contact with the part and therefore this face much reach 80ᵒC. The average curing time can be between 3-8 minutes. During the initial enquiry and sample phase of working with a customer, the requirements of the part curing can be adjusted to find the optimal curing time needed for each part.
The flexibility of Robafoam’s oven systems means that they can be customised to work for any requirement or production environment. Ambient to 220ᵒC, our industrial ovens and thermal systems are suitable for material curing, drying, tempering, preheating, and cooling.