Inflatable Seals
Custom Engineered. Precision Built.
Inflatable Seals
Western Rubbers’ Inflatable Seals are rubber seals which inflate (rather than compress) to form a tight barrier between the mounting and striking surface and offer contamination proof sealing in a wide range of applications. When compared to regular elastomeric seals, inflatable seals work effectively on irregular or misaligned surfaces, which enhance their sealing integrity.
Inflatable seals are simpler to use as they demand less force while guaranteeing 100% sealing.
Why Choose Western Rubbers’ Inflatable Seals?
30+ Years of Experience
In-House Tool Room
Providing Design Guidance
Over 100 seal profiles available in stock
Inflatable Seals Classification
Non-Reinforced Inflatable Seals
Non-reinforced inflatable seals are made only from elastomers & are mostly extruded constructions; however, they can be molded to meet specific dimensional parameters.They are the preferred option for regular sealing applications as they are relatively affordable and do not compromise on quality and performance.
Fabric Reinforced Inflatable Seals
Molded fabric reinforced inflatable seals are recommended in applications involving extreme pressure/temperature conditions or in rugged environments. The molding process eliminates joints and the fabric reinforcement adds to the seal’s overall strength and resilience. Depending upon the application, one of the following fabrics is chosen
- Nylontm
- Dacrontm
- Nomextm
- Kevlartm
Axial
Axially expanding Inflatable Seals have the centerline diameter as the fixed dimension. The Inflatable Seal expands in the perpendicular direction with respect to the diameter. These seals are sometimes also referred to as face seals.
Radial-Outward
Seals expanding radially outward have the Air Inlet Valves(AIV) typically installed into a channel with the inside diameter (ID) as the fixed dimension.
Radial-Inward
Inflatable seals with small outside diameters may end up wrinkling with this kind of expansion. Seals expanding radially inward have Air Inlet Valves(AIV) typically installed into a channel with the outside diameter (OD).
Circular
Inflatable Seals with circular geometry are the most commonly used seals owing to their wide application. Circular Inflatable Seals are the mostly preferred in manhole covers, hopper seals or in industrial machinery like fluidized bed dryers, autoclaves; where in the machines are made in circular dimensions.
Rectangle
Rectangular Inflatable Seals are very commonly found in door applications like doors for clean rooms, nuclear facility, satellite testing facility, etc. Please note, Western Rubbers’ does not fabricate rectangular seals with tight radiused corners. This is to ensure the seal expansion is not compromised at any point.
U shaped
U shaped Inflatable Seals are a common configuration in inflatable gate seals. Ends of u-shaped seals are vulcanized and hence cannot inflate. The uninflated portion of the seal depends upon the seal profile and application. Appropriate retention mechanisms for this configuration is available at Western Rubbers.
Strip
Inflatable seals with straight configurations are most commonly found in clamps and actuators. Straight seals have vulcanized ends that do not expand. The amount of uninflated area in straight seals depends on profile and application. We provide retention mechanisms that work well for straight seals.
Applications
Pharmaceutical
Inflatable seals are widely used in the pharmaceutical sector for fluidized bed dryers and air tight rooms in cleanrooms. The use of inflatable seals in Fluidized Bed Dryers is extremely critical. This is to ensure that no contaminant enters the system or no Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient(API)leaks from the system, both of which can pose a serious health threat to the end consumers or machine operators.
Inflatable seals in Fluidized Bed Dryers ensure that no contaminant enters the system or no Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) leaks from the system
Inflatable seals play a crucial role in offering 100% leak proof sealing for the doors of cleanrooms, commonly known as Air Tight Doors.
Mega factories
Western Rubbers’ has the expertise to design custom engineered inflatable seals, which can be easily installed in the hands of a robot. Robotic arms have their own clamps, which are fitted inside of the inflatable seal. While lifting any object, the seal inflates, allowing for clamping of the object. Once a firm grip is achieved, the object can be transferred to the desired location.
Aerospace
Western Rubbers manufactures inflatable seals for the aerospace industry for satellite transportation systems, vibration testing rooms, aircraft doors and aircraft hangars. Our inflatable seals are subjected to extensive quality tests to ensure survivability during launch, deployment, and operation. Our seals also help resist climatic hazards such as temperature, humidity, contamination, rain, dust, differential pressure, etc.
Our uniquely designed inflatable seals are fixed inside the suspension cradle of the STS thus helping mitigate shock, vibration and handling loads while offering a 100% contamination proof environment
Carefully designed inflatable seals that play a major role in sealing the vibration testing facility from high frequency sound waves and leakages to create a leak proof setup.
Bulk Material Handling
Western Rubbers’ inflatable seals are ideal for butterfly valves used in fluid handling systems dealing in highly abrasive material, slurries, etc. The sealing mechanism is a disc which, when the valve is closed, engages with the inflatable seal which inflates radially inward and completely blocks off the passageway, ensuring a leak proof environment. When the valve is opened, the disc turns 90° to allow the material to pass through.
Nuclear
Western Rubbers manufactures custom engineered inflatable seals, playing a very crucial role in offering 100% leak proof sealing for nuclear containment facilities, dealing with highly hazardous and chemically reactive material. In industries like nuclear, chemical processing, pharmaceutical, and other such industries where the environment needs to be completely isolated inflatable door seals are used.
Transportation
Passenger and freight rail applications have significant sealing needs. Tanker rail cars use gaskets to seal manways. Passenger rail cars have a variety of applications like side wall liners, window seals, door seals etc. Western Rubbers’ inflatable seals are used to seal sliding doors in passenger rail cars to keep unwanted elements out, while enhancing rider comfort and safety.
Oven & Furnaces
Western Rubbers manufactures carefully designed inflatable seals for use in ovens and furnaces. These seals play a vital role in maximizing the furnace efficiency while minimizing emissions. Since furnaces operate at tremendously high temperatures, any form of heat loss is equivalent to energy loss, in turn leading to added expenses.
Paper Industry
In the milling process, doctor blades typically serve multiple purposes such as removing water, cleaning contaminants off the roll, inking of sheet, etc. Western Rubbers’ inflatable seals guarantee even contact pressure throughout the length of the doctor blade, which can go up to 50 feet, which in turn offers improved paper quality, production quality and overall cost effectiveness.
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FAQs
What is the ideal pressure required for operating inflatable seals?
Generally for nominal pressure applications we suggest customers to avoid fabric reinforced seals so as to avoid high costs. But if your differential pressure requirements are higher than 7-8 Bar then we suggest customers go for fabric reinforced seals for longer life and effective functionality.
What is the maximum temperature inflatable seals can withstand?
Generally for nominal pressure applications we suggest customers to avoid fabric reinforced seals so as to avoid high costs. But if your differential pressure requirements are higher than 7-8 Bar then we suggest customers go for fabric
reinforced seals for longer life and effective functionality.
What types of rubbers can be used for manufacturing inflatable seals?
Generally for nominal pressure applications we suggest customers to avoid fabric reinforced seals so as to avoid high costs. But if your differential pressure requirements are higher than 7-8 Bar then we suggest customers go for fabric
reinforced seals for longer life and effective functionality.
Do I need a fabric reinforced seal?
Generally for nominal pressure applications we suggest customers to avoid fabric reinforced seals so as to avoid high costs. But if your differential pressure requirements are higher than 7-8 Bar then we suggest customers go for fabric
reinforced seals for longer life and effective functionality.
Does my inflatable seal require continuous air supply?
Generally for nominal pressure applications we suggest customers to avoid fabric reinforced seals so as to avoid high costs. But if your differential pressure requirements are higher than 7-8 Bar then we suggest customers go for fabric
reinforced seals for longer life and effective functionality.
What should be the ideal inflation gap?
Generally for nominal pressure applications we suggest customers to avoid fabric reinforced seals so as to avoid high costs. But if your differential pressure requirements are higher than 7-8 Bar then we suggest customers go for fabric
reinforced seals for longer life and effective functionality.
Do we provide design, development and deployment services?
Generally for nominal pressure applications we suggest customers to avoid fabric reinforced seals so as to avoid high costs. But if your differential pressure requirements are higher than 7-8 Bar then we suggest customers go for fabric
reinforced seals for longer life and effective functionality.