Plastic and automotive structures have been unimaginable without adhesives for years; indeed, continuous improvements in adhesive characteristics constantly expand their fields of application.
Whether in the engine compartment, interior panelling, plastic parts on the dashboard or bumper, upholstery, seat covers, etc, adhesives have gained acceptance as an outstanding fastening method.
However, the adhesive's characteristics are not singularly important. Poor or inexact maintenance of the adhesive's temperature as it is moved from supply containers to the application nozzle can influence the application and its bonding strength immensely.
This is why clogged hoses or application nozzles and deposits at the bottom of tanks are a daily plague where adhesives are handled improperly – regardless of whether a hot-melt or a two-component adhesive is being used.
As a specialist for electric trace heaters, Hillesheim offers a complete solution for manufacturers of dosing equipment that provides ‘all-round satisfaction’.
Both for hot-melts as well as for two-component adhesive applicator systems, there are electric heaters on offer for all components involved in the process. This is particularly true for melt-tank heaters and the movement of adhesive through special, flexible heating hoses to the point of application; even heat for the nozzle can be implemented with products from Hillesheim.
Of particular importance is the temperature adjustment of electric heating elements to one another and the connection of control and regulating components. Here, the most modern digital technology is a given.
Depending on customer requirements, temperature regulation can also be accomplished with a high-tech-integral (HTI) regulating device in which the heater elements themselves serve directly as detectors or sensors; the company also has multi-channel regulators in its product line.
It is primarily the flexibility of the heating elements, particularly the heating hoses, that makes it possible to apply adhesives economically with robots. This allows the important factor ‘automation’ to fulfil its role completely.
But adhesives are not just used in automobile construction; they are also inseparably connected with bookbinding, furniture assembly and the packaging industry. For over 30 years Hillesheim has provided these industries, many of their renowned dosing system manufacturers, and their users with a wide array of heating solutions.