Serving the World Since 1944
Research and Development
A major emphasis at Mid-States Rubber Products is materials technology, an effort led by our Chemistry Laboratory. Our chemists and technicians develop and test new compounds using synthetic and natural rubber polymers, matching formulations to exact customer specifications as well as identifying thermoplastics to best fit a customer’s application.
Supporting their work is a modern, General Motors certified, 6,000 square-foot laboratory that houses state-of-the-art equipment including a lab Banbury, mills, extruders, ovens, presses, ozone cabinets, low-temperature chambers, and equipment to test resilience, tensile strength and modulus.
Other R&D activities include the development of prototype parts and the design and construction of equipment for endurance testing. Quality Assurance is an integral part of our R&D effort. Before production begins, our lab technicians perform a battery of quality checks on all factory batches. Test results are charted and archived in a database system to aid in material advancements.
Our entire R&D program is customer driven. We want to ensure that only the highest quality material goes into every product.
Material Technology
Compounding and Mixing
Mid-States Rubber compounds and mixes all of its rubber compounds
in-house for superior control, higher quality, lower cost, and greater consistency. We are able to offer a significant advantage with
our ability to rapidly respond to customer's requirements.
Many rubber molders contract out their compound and mixing to custom mixing
houses which can result in higher cost and slower reaction time to a customer's changing
needs.
Mid-States' compound and mixing process is supported by an on-site certified laboratory which formulates custom rubber compounds for each customer's application. Mid-States Rubber can deliver the advantage of these customized rubber formulations at a competitive price with its substantial buying power of raw materials. All of this translates into a high quality end product at a competitive price.
The Compound and Mixing Process
Compound batches are carefully weighed using electronic scales and a checking system to ensure batch consistency. Every step through this process is controlled through documented procedures maintained by the laboratory and issued each time a batch of compound is produced. Once the raw materials have been compounded, they are mixed in our Banbury Mixer which employs advanced mixing technology for consistent and controlled rubber stock. Product quality is further enhanced by using stock blenders and our 100" mill. Finally, before being released to production, each batch of rubber stock is subjected to diagnostic testing our on-site laboratory. Only after being approved by our laboratory is the rubber stock released into production.
The ozone testing chamber (left) and the salt spray tester (right) help insure that our
products meet the environmental stability our customers require.
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Last modified: June 22, 2004;