Complete suite of rigid polyurethane parts for a laboratory instrument case suitable for protection in rugged environments
The versatility of shape, inherent from the excellent fluidity of rigid polyurethane as cold cast, was used to advantage by the designers at On-Line Instrumentation, requiring a functional but stylish enclosure capable of withstanding the everyday usage of a working dairy laboratory.
Designed to cope with up to 350 samples of milk per hour, analysing six critical parameters to international standards, an 'easy clean' finish to very high standards is an essential feature.
Norse Precision Castings was able to meet the functional standards and required tolerances of fitment with four parts without compromising elegance.
Modern adhesives work well on rigid polyurethane, enabling Norse to avoid complex and hence expensive tooling, by joining two of these parts to form one.
Conventional tooling methods would have required a two part 'breaking mould' for such retrenchant features.
Enclosures in rigid polyurethane cope well with such rugged environments, with wall thickness from 1mm to 30mm and the facility to place strengthening ribs in areas of potential stress such as ones frequently in contact with harder materials.
Further, with low cost tooling made quickly, the benefits of polyurethane come without the loss of the commercial advantage of plastic.
The later Brewster 150 which performs a similar service for the cheese-maker's analytical laboratory was able to use the same housing with just a change of logo, providing additional economies of quantity.
CellMap, Bio-Rad's laser scanning confocal imaging system, Alphamatic's spectacle lens cutter, Drake's Refresh range of voice communication modules and the Acolyte by Synbiosis, an instrument used for the bacteriological colony count of laboratory samples, all use rigid polyurethane from Norse Precision on enclosures where style and functionality go hand in hand.
