As an extension of its continuous product development efforts, Lord Corporation has assembled a lab-scaled version of an extruded coating/flocking line system. The unit -- which occupies part of Lord Corporation's Solution Center in Erie Pennsylvania -- allows scientists and engineers to thoroughly test the company's entire inventory of Autoseal weather-strip adhesives on coatings. This unit can extrude various elastomets, including EPDM, PVC, and TPOs.

"With the extruder coating/flocking system, we can test our weather-strip products in a dynamic manner, similar to the way we use our chain-on-edge system that simulates rubber-to-metal bonding," says George Klapsinos, senior technical representative for Lord Corporation. "We can see the effects of the adhesive of coating in a 'real world' application, which allows us to run more detailed studies."

Used for more then 20 years in the weather-strip industry, extruder systems have become a market-wide standard for on-line application of flock fibers. However, Lord Corporation is the first adhesives and coatings manufacturer to construct a fully operational unit for in-house testing capabilities. For customers, this means new products -- such as Autoseal adhesives and coatings -- need less trouble shooting and refinement after they're introduced.

"The extruder coating/flocking system allows us to develop solutions to various production line conditions," Klapsinos says.

Currently, Lord Corporation is using the system to test its entire line of Autoseal products, including the high-solids flock adhesives, as well as aqueous primers/coatings for weather-strip.
In the future, however, the company plans to utilize the system for specialized projects designed to solve customers' unique application needs.