A quick and simple adhesive solution was required for one of Ford Components Manufacturing Ltd’s laminated metal shim pack products. Known as edgepeel®, the pack provides a number of shims, to specific customer requirements, that can be quickly and easily selected at the point of assembly, therefore speeding up production.
These thin steel shims are normally held together by their oil coating, but in a specialist application, a more robust solution was sought – and supplied by us in the form of Dymax Multi-Cure® 6-621, a UV curing flood lamp and a Fisnar adhesive dispenser.
The system, which is designed to provide excellent bonding onto metal with easy dispensing and fast UV/visible light cure, was tested on the oil coated laminate steel shims and proved entirely successful by achieving tiny bond line on the edge of the shims – and by the presence of an oil coating – the two factors combining to enable just the right level of adhesion for the task at hand – providing stable adhesion during storage/transit and clean separation when needed.
Explained Kevin Aldrich at Ford:
We were delighted – INTERTRONICS came up with a quick simple system which fitted very easily into our production process with optimal results and at reasonable cost – full marks all round!
Interestingly, the system worked by doing the opposite of best practice, which would normally seek to maximize the bond line and emphasize cleanliness in order to maximize adhesion. In this case the use of a single part, quick cure, high performance adhesive at the margin of normal conditions overcame the presence of oil on a minimal bond area to provide exactly what was needed.
