Accordion seals
Weather, dust, and waterproofing is essential for all types of transportation. Passengers, stock, and goods need to be protected from outside elements. This is why all modern cars have several layers and types of seals, pads, gaskets, bushings, and mounts. But, when it comes to trucks and their trailers, one type of seal is always preferred and that is accordion seals. These can provide the weather and waterproofing that you require, but they also provide a higher level of durability and longevity, of course, only if high-quality rubber is used. Trucks and their trailers are and should be made to last as long as possible. They need to be reliable to transport goods across thousands of miles and through all kinds of climates.
So, what makes accordion seals so good? Why are they the perfect solution for transport? The name itself explains a lot, but we’ll try to go into more detail. Accordion seals have a shape similar to the accordion or like an old fireplace bellows. The rubber takes this kind of shape to increase its flexibility. So, even when the weight of an entire trailer pulls back or pulls to the sides, the accordion-like shape allows the seal to flex and extend a lot more, allowing for more movement. Without this unique shape, any other type of seal would quickly start to deteriorate over time or even immediately tear, allowing water, snow, or other outside elements to damage the goods inside of the trailer.
A spring loom is sometimes added to an accordion seal to limits its movement, but also provide the rubber with additional structural integrity. This is what makes these seals even more useful for transportation and nowadays they are even used in construction. Either way, they are the perfect solution for many unique use cases.
Product specifications
- Product form
- Flexible protective boot with a moving section
- Application focus
- Vehicle moving joints. Size the part against the selected assembly.
- Dimensions to confirm
- End interfaces, free length, compressed length and extended length. Match these to vehicle moving joints.
- Exposure to evaluate
- Outdoor weather and dust or debris. Validate the selected material under the combined conditions.
- Movement discussed
- Axial compression and extension and angular flexing. Check fold clearance at both travel limits and define the cycle requirement.
- Motion envelope
- Define axial travel, articulation and clearance around the folds throughout the stroke.
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