Waterproofing membrane in marine audio device

  • Development of waterproofing membrane seal to prevent salt water ingress and allow air and sound to pass

    Our customer, a specialist in marine electronics, required a waterproofing membrane component for an audio speaker to be mounted in the bulkhead of a leisure craft. To prevent the ingress of salt water and allow air and sound to pass, a specialist PTFE membrane material was specified. The challenge was to maximise the contact area of the filter to the plastic moulding, and several sample designs were quickly forwarded, utilising our rapid prototyping CAD plotter. The component was designed with a foam washer on the rear to enable the customer to seal against the speaker internally, to improve acoustics. We also designed in location features to aid assembly.

    We solved three problems in one component for our customer, demonstrating the efficiencies that can be achieved utilising adhesive components in product assembly.

    Read about this project in more detail below.

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  • Project requirements
    1. Seal against salt water ingress
    2. Leave enough ‘open’ area for air and sound to pass through
    3. Component must be easy to use in assembly process
    Our solution
    Our solution
    1. The challenge was to maximise the contact area of the filter to the plastic moulding, and several sample designs were quickly forwarded, utilising our rapid prototyping CAD plotter
    2. Testing was carried out on microporous PTFE membranes to find the optimum airflow/water intrusion level, and once this was established, we designed the adhesive matrix
    3. We produced the component with a foam washer on the rear of the part to enable the customer to seal against the speaker internally, to improve acoustics
    4. We designed in location features to aid assembly
    Key benefits
    1. Three problems solved by one specialist adhesive part
    2. We met and exceeded all of our customer’s key requirements
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