Establish the initial component design, operating purpose and interaction with the other product elements. Talk to DP Seals as early in the design phase as possible, informing them of all factors including application.

An extremely versatile material, rubber is the ideal solution for many applications. DP Seals expertise in material development can help with the most difficult challenges:

• Reducing noise
• Reducing vibration
• Reducing friction
• Preventing ingress
• Shielding against electro-magnetic interference (EMI)
• Managing insulation
• Managing conduction
• Strengthening parts
• Reducing assembly time of complex parts

DP Seals ‘Unseen Advantage’

In addition to helping you solve the challenges outlined above, experience demonstrates we add extra value at this stage through:

• Helping you select the right base material
• Innovative part geometry solutions
• Pushing the boundaries in tolerances, quality and micro detail

Useful content

• Design engineers checklist
• Reducing surface friction
• Custom rubber moulding guide
• Rubber chemical compatibility database

Once you have your initial design you’ll need to discuss its performance requirements such as operational temperatures, tolerances and specification of suitable materials with DP Seals team of experts. We know exactly how specific blends of rubber perform in almost any environment and will be able to suggest suitable materials and blends that match your products operational requirements.

Understanding the tolerance and character of different rubber materials is very important in the design phase. A lot of design engineers try to apply similar tolerances they use for metals without thinking of the spread and movement of the component under pressure.

DP Seals ‘Unseen Advantage’

We excel at this stage through the combination of bringing together our expertise and experience, opening up solutions you may not have even considered, enabling us to add value in the following ways:

• Industry leading research & development
• Setting a benchmark for your rubber compound to achieve repeatable, consistent performance.
• Specifying materials, such as FFKM or EPDM, that may get excluded by other manufacturers
• Improvement and refinement of parts you already have in production

Useful content

• Custom vs standard rubber parts
• Natural vs synthetic rubber
• Material expertise
• Silicone versatility
• Low temperature FFKM
• Which metals can be bonded to rubber
• The rubber to metal bonding process
• Rubber chemical compatibility
• Rubber moulding quality considerations
• Rubber hardness considerations
• Rubber tolerance considerations
• 4 top tips on temperature

With the refined design and specified base material in place, we can look at providing prototypes for initial testing. These can be in the form of 3D printing for checking size and fit to prototype tooling enabling us to provide small quantities of finished products for full testing of operating functionality and performance prior to manufacture.

With DP Seals patented tooling system we can repurpose prototype tooling by expanding the capacity into a main production tool, saving time and minimising cost.

The in-between phase prior to manufacturing can sometimes be a back and forth one as the design is modified and inadvertently affected by the other components in the assembly. As you begin to test and refine your product we’ll work with you every step of the way with speed and maximum efficiency to ensure the finished item gets to market as quickly as possible.

DP Seals ‘Unseen Advantage’

The in-between stage of refining:

• Industry leading research & development
• Expertise in rubber to metal bonding, micro moulding and overmoulding,
• Innovative In-house tool design and development
• Use of rubber like material in 3d printing
• The use of natural rubber for subsea and electrical resistance
• Increasing quality and reducing reject rates to the lowest possible levels

Useful content

• 3d prototyping and testing

Now we have reached this phase, the product design is arguably completed. For us though, the design of the tooling is equally important. DP Seals will base the tool design entirely around your production requirements to achieve the optimum quality and most cost-effective solutions linked to the quantity required. Our unique tooling system allows for multiple cavities with complex features and can eliminate flash, limiting the requirement for cleaning processes.

Once into production we maintain quality and consistency throughout, producing close tolerance, flashless mouldings only a very few in our industry can match.

DP Seals ‘Unseen Advantage’

Our first class approach to manufacturing and quality control is second to none:

• AS9100 accreditation the highest aerospace manufacturing certification
• Full SPC analysis using the latest non-contact video measuring equipment
• Fully automated cryogenic de-flashing machines, linked directly to our quality control system to ensure correct settings for your product.
• Continued investment in state of the art machinery for our toolrooms
• Over 30 presses in operation
• Dedicated industry specific units for Aerospace and Subsea
• In-tool rubber to metal mouldings

Useful content

• Rubber moulding process comparisons
• Rubber to metal bonding guide
• Accreditations
• Case studies
• Why choose DP Seals
• Customer testimonials
• FAQs