Inflatable Seals

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What is an inflatable seal?

Inflatable seals are hollow (most commonly elastomeric) profiles which are sealed (either endless rings or straight lengths with blocked ends) in order to be air tight. An inflation media inlet (eg hose or valve) must be present in order to allow pressurisation of the seal (most commonly with air but sometimes other media such as water) to enable it to inflate and apply a sealing force and “travel” of the moving side (or sides) of the seal onto the seal face .

The purposes and benefits of inflatable seals

The main and most beneficial functions of inflatable seals are that they apply their own seal pressure, can cope with varying and large seal gaps, and make the process of sealing and unsealing much quicker in most cases, especially when dealing with surfaces that move in relation to one another. Conventional elastomer gaskets must be compressed with sufficient seating stress in order to achieve a seal meaning bolts (or other methods of applying pressure) are needed

Inflatable Seals

Inflatable seals are manufactured in the UK and are designed to provide efficient hermetic sealing solutions providing protection against incursions by powders, granules, gases, liquids and dust.

These pneumatic airtight seals are extremely useful for sealing fabricated pieces of equipment where:

  • The sealing gap might vary
  • Assembly and dis-assembly needs to be quick and simple
  • Hygienic procedures exist (FDA applications and regulations)

Generally working from within a specific groove size the inflatable seals can operate axially, and for both inward and outward radial movements. The most popular requirements are for FDA approved Silicone Elastomer in either Blue, White or Red iron oxide colours. Other Elastomers and Pigmentations are available for a wide variety of sealing applications.

We carry a large number of “inflatable seals profiles” on stock, this enables Rubber Seals & Gaskets to provide a very quick turnaround of inflatable seals when required. Our pneumatic seal joining method incorporates a high pressure Shot Moulding technique (Vulcanizing), this utilizes an identical compound injected at the joint to produce a high strength bond, resulting in a clean smooth line finish. No adhesives form part of the bond. This process provides a High Integrity seal capable of performing under greater and higher pressures than most if not all other similar type of seals in the market.

A ‘Shot Moulding’ technique is also used to bond most types of the available inflation connectors to the seals as required by the customer/application. This process bonds the connector to the seal by localized injection of identical compound vulcanizing the connector to the seal. The strength of Vulcanized Connector far exceeds any mechanical fixing or adhesive bonded connector, associated with this type of seal.

Other materials are also available which include Fluoropolymers such as Viton® and Fluorosilicone, Anti-Bacterial Silver loaded Silicones and EPDM.®

All inflatable seals provided by Rubber Seals & Gaskets are independently pressure tested and supplied with a supporting ‘Test Certificate’. These tests on free standing, unsupported seals vary from 1 bar to 4 bar pressure, dependent on the profile type and/or customer specification. With the aid of purpose designed test rigs, which enclose the seal, our production techniques are tested and supported with proven case history.

Rapid Cycle Testing: Rubber Seals & Gaskets have invested in equipment to perform rapid cycle seal tests. On request, it can be brought to a customers premises to validate a seal design that is to be incorporated in your original equipment. In most cases seals can be run through 60,000 cycles in just a few days providing invaluable reassurance of a custom inflatable seals suitability for an application.