Appliance manufacturers face growing consumer demands for sustainability, digitalisation, and consolidation among competitors. And whilst there are many commonalities between different markets, certain differences remain with households in the US, for example, typically choosing larger appliances, while consumers in Europe prefer more compact, energy efficient and built-in kitchen products.
To meet these challenges, manufacturers must design and produce products that cope reliably with years of high use, whilst improving their own productivity and meeting the various technical challenges faced during production.
Adhesives that add value to the appliance market
Beardow Adams’ highly advanced range includes industrial strength adhesives that can bond metal, plastic, ceramic, fibreglass, and even includes thixotropic glues for application on vertical planes, that aid gap filling and hole plugging.
Formulated to provide the necessary adhesion strength, high temperature resistance, and cold temperature flexibility found in appliance applications, our hot melts are commonly used to seal and gap fill, bond components, and foam-in-place gaskets.
Sealing: Gap and hole filling
Very common in refrigeration equipment, where PU foam is injected into the carcass to give both insulation and strength to the unit. Beardow Adams’ adhesives prevent foam escaping through any gaps in the inner casing or outer shell, a role that was previously performed with putty or tape.
Helping to streamline this process and reduce costs, our hot melts are suitable for robotic application systems, foaming processes and offer a much cleaner and better quality of finish.
Bonding
Acting both as a temporary positioning fastening aid and helping to assemble sub-components and finished products, our adhesives are a commonly used in appliance bonding.
Temporary bonding
During the manufacture of refrigeration equipment our hot melts are used to position fasten components within the space between inner and outer shell. In this instance, while the hot melt bond may be temporary, it still needs to withstand the heat created by the expanding PU foam and any pressure exerted onto the component, which once set, holds the construction in place.
Assembly
Applications can vary from the manufacture of sub-components to bonding the component parts together to create the finished product.
Such applications include bonding; hose coupling assemblies, control panel covers, tub caps on washing machines, an EPDM gasket to the bottom of a stainless-steel tank in a dishwasher, and many others.
Foamed-in-place gaskets
Gaskets are widely used in the manufacture of white goods and portable domestic items such as vacuum cleaners.
In this application, Beardow Adams’ hot melts are foamed-in-place (FIP), replacing expensive and labour-intensive die-cut and foam-tape gaskets. The FIP gaskets allow manufacturers to reduce material costs and inventories, adopt automated application systems, and improve reliability with adhesives filling any gaps created by damaged or scratched surfaces.
To ensure foamed gaskets do not undergo permanent deformation when held under pressure, we recommend a higher viscosity hot-melt adhesive for this application.
Beardow Adams’ adhesives play an integral part in the manufacturing of appliances around the world. To find out how we can help your business improve its manufacturing processes and enhance product performance, or to request a sample, please send an email to: marketing@beardowadams.com