Fournier Rubber & Supply provides quality design, engineering, and manufacturing services for small and large production runs of O-rings, gaskets, and hoses. Our product development and prototyping capabilities allow us to create rubber products exactly to your specifications. This page will further detail our capabilities in custom design, engineering, prototyping, and product development services for clients across diverse industries.
Custom Gasket Design and Manufacturing for Prototyping and Product Development
Designing a custom gasket is a multifaceted process that requires consideration of many factors, including:
- Function: First determine the exact function of the gasket, whether it will function to reduce vibration, fill space between two components, or create an EMI seal.
- Material: With thousands of materials to choose from—from neoprene to EPDM to polyurethane—it can be difficult to select the best one. Fournier can help you narrow down the options based on the function, properties, and tolerances that work best for your application.
- Substrate: Also consider the materials of the components your gasket will seal. For example, certain substrates seal more effectively with gaskets that have pressure-sensitive adhesives.
- Operating environment: Determine whether the gasket will be used in a static or dynamic environment, and note any other environmental stressors that the component may face.
- Operating temperature: Operating temperature also influences the best type of gasket for your application. Consider the entire temperature range, from one extreme to the other, and choose gasket materials that work well on both ends. In general, the wider the temperature range, the more expensive the material will be.
- Regulatory requirements: Be aware of any regulatory requirements of your application. For example, custom military and defense gaskets are subject to U.S. military specifications. Gaskets for rail applications must meet certain ASTM smoke, flame, and toxicity control standards.
Fournier Rubber & Supply can help along any stage of the custom gasket design process. We will recommend the best gasket materials and design based on every aspect of your application.
Custom O-Ring Design and Manufacturing for Prototyping and Product Development
In mechanical systems, gaskets join various mechanisms to ensure full machine functionality and no leakages. One type of gasket is an O-ring, a donut-shaped ring found in both dynamic and static applications. Also called packing joints, O-rings are easy to manufacture, reliable, and cost-effective, so they are among the most widely-used types of gaskets in machinery around the world.
Fournier’s design and engineering team has the experience and capability to design custom O-rings for a variety of applications, which include:
- Oil & gas: O-rings in this industry must withstand the extreme temperatures, corrosive chemicals, and high pressures encountered in oil exploration and processing applications.
- Transportation: Automotive and aerospace transportation applications subject all components to chemicals, heat, vibration, and extreme pressures. Thus, custom O-rings must be durable and reliable enough to tolerate these harsh conditions.
- Food & beverage: This industry requires FDA-approved O-rings in beverage dispensing, food processing, and water filtration applications.
- Medical: Medical equipment and devices—such as pumps, filtration systems, and syringes—require medical-grade O-rings that satisfy stringent industry quality standards.
- Electronics: O-rings provide essential sealing functions in semiconductor and sensitive electronic applications that must remain free of dust and other contaminants.
If you need custom O-ring design services, Fournier Rubber & Supply designs and delivers custom solutions for these and many other applications. We will choose the best material and surface finish for your O-ring based on the specific temperature, pressures, and other environmental factors of your project.
Custom Industrial Hose Assemblies for Prototyping and Product Development
Selecting the right hoses and hose assemblies maximizes service life. Fournier can help you design and manufacture custom industrial hoses for your particular application. We use the STAMPED (size, temperature, application, material, pressure, ends, delivery) method to ensure a thorough understanding of your project’s needs:
- Size: We determine the necessary inside diameter (ID) and outside diameter (OD) of your hose products.
- Temperature: In addition to the ambient temperature, we consider the temperature of the material passing through the hose to design your ideal custom hose assembly.
- Application: This step factors in all other environmental and end-use conditions the hose will encounter, such as indoor or outdoor use, abrasion, electrical conductivity, and frequency of use.
- Material: Manufacturers must also consider the composition of the material conveyed—what is its chemical composition? Is it a liquid, gas, or powder? Is it a food product? Answers to these questions will help narrow down the right material and size for the hose.
- Pressure: Determine the hose’s required working pressure, maximum surge pressure, and whether it will perform as a vacuum.
- End requirements: We also help customers determine the type of fittings, couplings, and ends their hoses should have, including thread type and orientation.
- Delivery: Once all the above factors are outlined, we follow your requirements for delivery, which may include pressure testing, traceability tagging, or special packaging.
Product Design, Development, and Prototyping at Fournier Rubber & Supply
Fournier Rubber & Supply Company has innovated industrial rubber products for almost 100 years. Our design and engineering team is ready to assist in prototyping and developing custom industrial hoses, gaskets, and O-rings for your application. We can help choose the most suitable materials and designs based on your chemical resistance, flexibility, pressure, and cost specifications. Contact us today or request a quote to start your project.