Bonaprene Products mould a huge range of polyurethane mouldings in many different grades of polyurethane and a wide number of colours. Bonaprene's in house machining and tool making facility combined with Bonaprene's comprehensive polyurethane to metal bonding facility allows any type and size of part to be undertaken.

This sections covers the following aspects of Bonaprene’s polyurethane mouldings:  

Bonded Polyurethane Mouldings

Small & Large Polyurethane Mouldings

Polyurethane Mouldings with Inserts

Polyurethane Wear Resistant Linings

In House Tool Making for Polyurethane Mouldings

 

Bonded Polyurethane mouldings

Bonaprene Products have been manufacturing polyurethane to metal bonded mouldings for over twenty years. In this time Bonaprene have mastered the technology and necessary high standards to produce bonds of strengths that even exceed the strength of the Bonathane polyurethane. The photo of the red engine mount being stretched to over 200% of its original length indicates the power of the bond Bonaprene can achieve.

Small & Large Polyurethane Mouldings

Bonaprene Products offer polyurethane mouldings in size from several grams to over 500 kilos. Bonaprene make parts, either through moulding or water jet cutting, that are below 10mm in length to very tight tolerances for industries such as automated riveting in the car industry to the manufacture of sintered parts for air bag inflation systems.

As well as heavy polyurethane roll coverings for the steel and paper industry Bonaprene also undertake very large polyurethane mouldings in every imaginable shape and for hundreds of different applications. The size constraints are 2 meters x 2 meters x 6 meters and the gross weight constraints, including any mating part such as steel plates or fabrications is 5000KG.

Multiple Hardness Polyurethane Mouldings

Bonaprene Products have pioneered the manufacture of multiple hardness mouldings in Bonathane. The finished product is homogenous in all aspects except for the hardness and if required the colour.

This technology has many applications. It allows a harder top wear surface above a softer shock-absorbing layer. This is widely used in the quarrying industry for impact pads in hoppers receiving heavy loads of rock and aggregate. In aluminium milling operations swarf skits are made in two hardness, the inner softer layer to give resilience against the impact of the swarf and an outer harder layer to provide a rigid support to the composite.

Bonaprene Products also use this same technology to manufacture dual hardness suspension bushes. The picture shows a Landrover Freelander control arm bush combining a hard 60º D Shore orange polyurethane outer shell bonded to a soft inner 65º Shore A blue polyurethane which is in turn bonded to a steel inner tube. The hard outer shell allows an interference fit with the housing of the suspension control arm. The softer inner allows for twist and stretch as the bush responds to the movement of the vehicle through the suspension. As all the materials in this composite bush are bonded together all the movement happens within the polyurethane and not as a type of bearing movement between the bush and the housing or the bush and the inner tube. This has significant advantages in terms of noise, vibration and harshness NVH. As well as NVH there isn’t the problem of housing wear that can occur especially if grit gets between the mating faces.      

Load and Impact Pads and Bars

Bonaprene Products manufacture a wide range of Polyurethane impact pads. Polyurethane has great advantage over competitive impact pad materials. Compared to steels and rigid plastics, such as Nylon and polyethylene, polyurethane’s elastomer properties allow deflection from impact. This means the force of load impact is dissipated by polyurethane’s deflection and re-bound and so the wear is much lower. Polyurethane, again through its elastomer properties, also gives much lower noise pollution in the working environment. While other elastomers, such as natural and neoprene rubber, also deflect, polyurethane’s much higher load bearing strength and lower compression set gives up to five to ten times the working life.

Bonaprene make impact pads and bars for quarrying, grading and mining applications. Bonaprene’s range of Bonathane polyurethane grades gives the quarry and mine operator parts with high performance and long life. All major quarry equipment manufacturers specify and fit the Bonathane polyurethane product.

Bonaprene’s Bonathane polyurethane is specified and used by The Environment Agency on harbour booms protecting harbour entrances. Bonathane Polyurethane bonded to steel fixing plates carry the rollers at rest under the large load of the booms.

Wear Linings

Bonaprene Products Bonathane polyurethane has proved again and again the ideal material for moulded wear linings. Bonathane’s pure chemical structure and polyurethane’s elastic properties allow deflection from aggressive product passing over the linings. This deflection gives Bonathane polyurethane to significantly out last stainless steel, mild steel, aluminium, cast iron and rigid plastics such as nylon.

As cast polyurethane cross links in the mould to create the finished Bonathane product moulding tools of even very complex shapes are hugely cheaper than both injection moulding and compression moulding tooling. This allows the contemplation of wear solutions that would other wise be price prohibitive.

The outcome of all these benefits are polyurethane products that protect expensive parts from wear; reduce maintenance time and reduce noise in operation that the product makes as it passes through.

Food Quality Polyurethane Mouldings

Bonaprene Products offer food quality polyurethane grades on special order. The polyurethane raw material systems are made from components that are listed in the Food and Drug Administration regulations, Code of Federal Register, Title 21 Part 177.1680 (4-1-99 Edition). Polyurethane systems identified in this section "may safely be used as the food contact surface of articles intended for use in contact with bulk quantities of dry food of the type identified in Part 176.170, Type VIII (Dry solids with the surface containing no free fat or oil)". N.B. To comply with these regulations prescribed conditions must be met.

Bonaprene Products Bonathane grades may be used to produce ’Rubber Articles Intended for Repeated Use’ as described in Part 177.2600 of this Code of Federal Register. These articles are suitable for dry food applications as described above.

Polyurethane Mouldings With Inserts

Bonaprene Products open casting process allows parts in Bonathane to be moulded with a wide range of inserts permanently fixed into the part. This allows the addition of such useful features as extraction handles in various materials.

In House Tool Making for Polyurethane Mouldings

Bonaprene Products has a comprehensive in-house tool making shop. Bonaprene employs time served machinists, fitters and fabricators with many years of experience to build tools and moulds to make the polyurethane mouldings. Bonaprene also works in partnership with other specialist service providers. It means Bonaprene has the facility to make moulds in steel, aluminium and, using patterns, a range of polymer moulding compounds. Bonaprene also runs apprenticeships for time served machinists and maintains a programme of continuous capital investment to ensure Bonaprene can offer customers the very best service in tool making and polyurethane part manufacture.

Industries Serviced Bus manufacturers Car manufacturers Earth moving equipment manufacturers Steel Mills Paper Mills Concrete component manufacturers Can making manufacturers Quarries & quarry machinery manufacturers Road sweeper & floor cleaner machinery manufacturers Aerospace Pump manufacturers