DETROIT - Teknor Apex Co. is expanding three compounding facilities to increase overall thermoplastic elastomer capacity 20 percent by fall. The company is replacing an old production line at its plant in City of Industry, Calif., while installing new dedicated lines in Brownsville, Tenn., and at its headquarters facility in Pawtucket, R.I.
The firm said at the SAE show that the expansion will add capacity for existing products and let it enter vulcanizates, which combine vulcanized rubbers with thermoplastic resins.
Separately, Teknor Apex displayed an isolating gasket for a heating/ventilater/air conditioner motor made by ITT Automotive Electrical Systems of North America in Rochester, N.Y.
ITT uses insert injection molding techniques to mold the isolator gasket onto a mounting flange that holds the HVAC motor in place. The isolator gasket was designed as a sound-dampening device.