Adhesive offers fastest fixture times

A cyanoacrylate industrial adhesive offers faster fixture times than any other super glue on the market, and can bond the most difficult materials such as leather, paper and wood.

XF100, a new cyanoacrylate (CA) industrial adhesive from UK adhesives manufacturer Chemence, offers faster fixture times than any other super glue on the market, and is even capable of bonding the most difficult materials such as leather, paper and wood.

A new cyanoacrylate adhesive for industrial applications has been launched, which not only offers some of the fastest fixture times on the market, but also handles difficult materials such as leather, paper, card and chromated steel.

Launched in July 2006, 'RiteLok XF100' from Chemence, is an ultra fast curing, medium-low viscosity, modified ethyl cyanoacrylate (CA) adhesive.

It is suitable for bonding a wide variety of materials, including acidic surfaces and some porous ones, where rapid bonding and fixture times are required.

The adhesive really comes into its own when used by manufacturers or assemblers of high volume goods such as leather or plastic parts, where bonding is a key part of the process.

By using XF100 with its faster fixture times, these companies can increase their line speeds, therefore improving productivity and reducing costs.

RiteLok XF100 has been specially formulated by Chemence's chemists for the instant bonding of paper, leather, wood, plastics, rubbers, metals and other common substrates.

It will be used in a variety of applications, including the assembly of plastic and rubber parts; shoe manufacture and repair; luggage manufacturing; sports equipment manufacture; electrical and electronic devices; medical devices; and maintenance and repair.

Although XF100 has a degree of gap filling ability, it is generally recommended for use on close-fitting parts and fairly smooth, even surfaces.

Compared to typical Cyanoacrylates, XF100 performs particularly well when the materials to be bonded have a certain degree of acidity in them.

As David Mann, product manager RiteLok XF100 at Chemence commented: "Feedback from customers and from our global network of distributors suggested they needed a CA adhesive with a faster fixture time.

So, about a year ago, we started looking at samples of the leading CA adhesive products from Europe, Asia and the US, so that we could benchmark our own products against these, then develop an adhesive that was at least as good as, if not better than the rest." He continued: "After about 12 months of development time, in which our chemists continuously tested and refined different formulations, we came up with XF100.

The difference with this adhesive over competing products is that it has faster fixture times.

The fixture time is the time when it is safe for a person, if the process is manual, to let go of the material assembly, or the time when it is safe to de-clamp the parts if it's an automated process." Mann added: "Take a leather shoe manufacturer for example.

If we can improve from 50 items bonded per minute to 75 items per minute, that will represent a huge saving for the customer.

Line speed can be increased, productivity goes up and overall costs come down." Fixture time using XF100 on chromated steel is less than 3s, compared to 10-20s for competing products.

For polycarbonate, fixture time is 4-10s, compared to 10-40s for competing products.

XF100 also competes favorably with leading competitor products when bonding degreased steel, ABS, phenolics, EPDM, nitrile rubber, balsa wood, oak, cow leather and goat leather.

RiteLok cyanoacrylates retain over 90% of their strength when heated to 80 deg C for 90 days and then tested at 21 deg C.

They also exhibit excellent chemical resistance to most oils and solvents including motor oil, leaded petrol, ethanol, propanol and freon.

XF100 comes in 20g, 50g and 500g bottles, but is also available in bulk for use with dispensing systems.

Viscosity is 110cP; tensile strength is 15 to 25Mpa; maximum gap fill is 0.15mm; and operating temperature is from -50 deg C up to +80 deg C.

Mann summed up the benefits of XF100: "We set out to develop an adhesive that we could say is the fastest, strongest and most versatile.

We believe we have achieved this." Other products available in the RiteLok range include: anaerobic adhesives; UV curing adhesives; structural adhesives; primers; and activators.

* About Chemence - Chemence supplies its industrial products into a wide range of industry sectors including medical, agricultural, automotive, military and aerospace.

The firm also manufactures liquid photopolymer for use in flexographic printing, anaerobic sealants and cement grouts for gas mains and service systems, and vacuum impregnation resins for cast sealing.

The company's industrial adhesives range includes cyanoacrylates, structural adhesives, anaerobic adhesives, and primers and activators.

The company also offers an ultra-violet light curing adhesive for glass/metal bonding, potting, encapsulating electronics as well as bonding medical devices.

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