K911

Customer:

Outdoor sporting and exercise applications.

Background:

Manufacturers of sports and recreational products rely on Kent Elastomer Products for tubing for fishing line, exercise machines, archery equipment, spear guns and sling shots. These customers need tubing that will not degrade when exposed to oils, ozone and UV light. To better serve this market, we wanted to develop a tube that could stand up against these harsh factors.

Challenge:

Natural rubber is susceptible to most oils, UV light and strong oxidizers like ozone. All these are encountered in the sporting industry. Some customers had experimented with other base polymers that had better chemical resistance, but the drop in strength and memory was too substantial to overcome. We wanted to develop a laminate that:

• Adhered to our rubber tube and would not be easily removed or delaminate within normal use (500 percent elongation or less).
• Was effective at very low thicknesses to maximize the amount of natural rubber polymer in lower-gauge tubes.
• Could be colorized to a smooth, workable finish.

Solution:

In 2000, we launched our new natural rubber tubing product, K911. It’s totally encapsulated in a durable protective topcoat. It also forms a barrier from the natural rubber if allergies are a concern. It increased the life of our natural rubber tube more than threefold. The protective coating also adheres well and does not delaminate until elongation exceeds 700 percent. As a result, our customers increased product safety, reduced breakage and receive fewer customer complaints.

Do you need similar natural rubber tubing for your products? We can help you too! Contact us today for more information on our K911 tubing.