Germany’s Freudenberg Sealing Technologies (FST) says it has secured significant new business to supply bumpers to a large American power tool manufacturer for use in its electric nail guns. The contract represents a major expansion of Freudenberg Sealing Technologies’ business in the North American power tool sector, and especially in supplying imperial-size (non-metric) components to support US-based power tool production.
The company’s Troy, Ohio manufacturing plant has begun production of 1.3 million bumpers. The bumpers, approximately 1.5 inches in size, are being injection-moulded using Disogrin 9250, a FST-specific polyurethane material. Disogrin 9250 demonstrates heat, fluid, and wear resistance. It manages pressure well and is said to last longer than any other polyurethane material on the market.
Bumpers extend the life of power tools by preventing the piston inside the tool motor from striking the bottom of the cylinder and sustaining damage. They reduce power tool noise, impact, and shock, and improve ease of use and safety for the operator. Troy celebrated the new business with a bumper launch event that included the opportunity for employees to use one of the customer’s electric nail guns to better acquaint themselves with the tool and its operation.
While the power tool sector is not new to Freudenberg Sealing Technologies, it is new to the Troy plant. Opportunities to work with North American power tool manufacturers have been scarce.
But the plant’s ability to injection mold bumpers and other components in imperial sizes, coupled with its experience in handling premium polyurethanes such as Disogrin 9250, worked in its favor.
Disogrin 9250 is part of a family of TODI urethane and polyurethane materials developed by Freudenberg Sealing Technologies to address difficult hydraulic sealing applications. With a service temperature range of -59 to 149C°, and a tensile strength of 6,500 psi/MPa, the material has extremely high mechanical properties and outstanding resistance to abrasion, tear, and elongation. It is suitable for use with petroleum-based, bio-degradable, synthetic, and natural, Ester-based fluids.
The Troy plant has dedicated a production cell to the manufacture of the bumpers. In keeping with Freudenberg Sealing Technologies’ push to adopt Industry 4.0 shop floor digitalisation, employees re-evaluated the cell’s production processes and incorporated as much automation into these operations as possible.
The cell runs autonomously without employees, and bumpers, once moulded, automatically fall into bins for shipping. This automation is not only producing consistent, high-quality parts, but it is also helping address a plant challenge which many manufacturing companies are struggling to overcome: a labour shortage.