Five tips for designing converted components

We’ve put together some useful tips for ensuring your adhesive components are optimally designed:

Tip 1 – Avoid square corners or sharp angle corners
Most tooling suppliers either form flat blades or CNC mill them out of solid steel, and neither of these methods are routinely capable of producing a perfect square 90^o angle. To get a sharp 90⁰ bend either requires a lot of hand finishing thereby increasing the price of the tool significantly, or is achieved by butting two blades together which creates a weak area on the tool. By designing in a minimum radius of 0.5mm you can negate these problems.

Tip 2 – Wall thickness vs material thickness
When designing a gasket, or any part involving thin walls, it should be borne in mind that as a rule of thumb the material height should not exceed the wall thickness of the part. This isn’t always the case as all materials are different and no absolute can be given, but this a good basis of design.

Tip 3 – Tolerances
Consider the parts form and function before assigning very tight tolerances to it. Tighter tolerances, whilst often achievable, impact the speed of manufacture as well as determine the type and complexity of the tooling, affecting cost.

Tip 4 – Presentation; consider how you will use the part
We can integrate all manner of assembly aids into your finished part; perforations to help you tear the part from the reel, tooling holes to enable repeatability in placement, and a whole range of different liner options to make them easily identifiable, simple to remove or an aid to accurate placement and application.

Tip 5 – Talk to us
We have a wealth of experience in material types along with over 45 years of know-how in converting, be it adhesive, foam, film, fabric or foil. What may seem impossible may very well be possible and we can often offer some material or features that will solve design challenges. The earlier in your design phase you can involve us, the easier it will be to integrate these features.