Do you need a custom inflatable seal instead of a compression gasket? Elasto Proxy supplies both types of industrial rubber products. As our Custom Inflatable Seals Q&A explains, there is no minimum order quantity for inflatable seals.
Keep reading to learn more and contact us for quote.
Custom Inflatable Seal Applications
There are four main custom inflatable seal applications.
- Powder processing
- Agriculture
- Food and beverage manufacturing
- Research and development (R&D)
Elasto Proxy serves all these industries – and more.
Powder Processing
Powder processors uses custom inflatable seals to provide airtight, dust-tight, and contamination-free sealing with very fine or potentially hazardous materials, especially metal and ceramic powders.
Isolation Gloveboxes and Containment Systems
Isolation gloveboxes and containment systems need to provide airtight sealing between glovebox panels, doors, or ports. A custom inflatable seal that maintains an inert atmosphere with argon or nitrogen gas helps prevent oxidation or contamination.
Rotary Valves and Feeders
Industrial powders are fed from hoppers into processing equipment. A custom inflatable seal can help maintain pressure differentials while supporting easy cleaning and access. During the powder transfer process, an inflatable seal can prevent leakage or backflow.
Mixers and Blenders
Powder mixing and blending needs to produce a homogenous mixture of powders and additives. Custom inflatable seals ensure dust-tight conditions and prevent the loss of material during high-speed mixing.
Kilns and Furnaces
The doors and ports for kilns and furnaces need seals that can also withstand high-temperatures. A custom inflatable seal can protect against heat loss while maintaining the atmospheric purity that’s required sintering and other processes.
Bulk Bag Handling and Transfer Systems
To ensure environmental health and safety, proper sealing is essential during powder handling, weighting, or transfers. Inflatable gaskets can form tight, conformable seals around soft or irregular surfaces such as drums or bulk bag spouts.
Agriculture
In agricultural equipment, custom inflatable seals are with seed planters and combines for dust-tight sealing, contamination control, and efficient material handling. Often, agricultural environments are characterized by fine particulate matter such as seed dust, chaff, and fertilizer.
Seed Hoppers and Bin Access Doors
A custom inflatable gasket can provide an airtight seal around a hopper lid or access panel. This keeps out moisture, which can ruin seeds, and prevents the escape of seed dust, which can pose a health risk.
Planter Row Units
The rubber seals that are used in vacuum or pneumatic seed delivery systems need to maintain air pressure for accurate placement and minimal leakage. A custom inflatable seal can meet these requirements while conforming to movable joints.
Articulated or Folding Sections of Equipment
Some agricultural equipment contains folding booms or movable frames. A custom inflatable seal can bridge the gaps between non-stationary components while keeping out dust, debris, and moisture.
Chemical Fertilizer Compartments
In seed planting equipment, it’s important to isolate the compartment where dry or liquid fertilizer is stored. A custom inflatable seal can help prevent cross-contamination with other dispensable materials while supporting easy access for cleaning.
HVAC Ducts and Doors
The HVAC doors and ducts on farm equipment needs to ensure that heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems remain pressurized. A custom inflatable seal can meet this requirement while keeping out dust during spraying or seeding.
Food and Beverage Manufacturing
In the food and beverage manufacturing industry, custom inflatable seals are used to maintain hygiene, control allergens, and ensure product integrity. Beverage manufacturers can also use a custom inflatable seal for applications such as sealing a metal wine cask.
Bag Clamping and Filling Stations
During bag filling operations, inflatable seals are used at bag necks or fill nozzles. With flour, for example, these seals can conform to different bag sizes to prevent material loss and the escape of dust that may contaminate production environments.
Bulk Bag Fill and Discharge Systems
A bulk bag fill and discharge (FIBC) system needs to ensure the dust-free, hygienic transfer of dry ingredients without manual intervention. Because it provides airtight sealing, a custom inflatable gasket is a good choice for gripping and sealing around bag spouts during filling or emptying.
Hopper and Chute Access Doors
Inflatable gaskets are also used around inspection doors and the maintenance panels on hoppers and conveyors. They ensure a sanitary, leak-proof closure that is also easy to disengage for cleaning and maintenance.
Rotary Valves, Sifters, and Blenders
Rotating or vibrating components in food and beverage manufacturing need to maintain airtight connections. A custom inflatable seal can help prevent leakage, contamination, and pressure loss in systems that handle fine powders.
Packaging Machines and Form-Fill-Seal Units
Food and beverage manufacturers want to quickly engage and disengage seals during automated or high-speed operations. A custom inflatable seal can provide controlled and reliable sealing in areas where pouches or bags are formed or filled.
Research and Development (R&D) Applications for a Custom Inflatable Seal
Finally, custom inflatable seals are used in a wide variety of R&D applications that require precision sealing, environmental control, and modular test setups. Examples include:
- Aerospace and Defense Prototyping: Environmental test chambers use inflatable seals for vacuum, altitude or thermal testing. Wind tunnels also used pneumatic seals.
- Automotive R&D: Engine and component test stands use inflatable seals for secure but temporary connections between test articles and air, fluid, or exhaust systems.
- Pharmaceutical and Biotech: Inflatable seals help maintain cleanliness around isolators, clean room pass-throughs, and containment chambers.
- Semiconductors and Electronics: R&D processes for silicon wafers, batteries, and sensitive electronic components use inflatable sealing for clean, dry, and inert environments.
- Robotics and Automation Testing: A custom inflatable seal can be used to test variable grippers or to build adaptive sealing surfaces in robotic tooling, especially for soft robotics.
- Medical Device Testing: Custom text fixtures require sealing around tubing, valves, or components during simulated-use testing, pressure tests, and fluid delivery tests.
- Nuclear or Hazardous Material Testing: Inflatable seals can help contain radioactive or toxic materials during experiments in gloveboxes, hot cells, or shielding enclosures.
Ask Elasto Proxy for a Custom Inflatable Seal in Any Quantity
Do you need a custom inflatable seal for a powder processing, agriculture, food and beverage manufacturing, or R&D application? Elasto Proxy can provide you with one or many, and there are no minimum order quantities. Contact us to request a quote or for more information.
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