Intertronics

An underlying principle in high technology industries seems to be that progress, real progress, is about doing more with less, keeping things simple, working smarter. The ingenious people at Intertronics certainly seem to understand the concept, which is brilliantly demonstrated in the Thinky ARE and ARV series mixers.

Thinky ARV-310 and ARV-5000 planetary mixers really are the answer so far as Intertronics are concerned. Explained M.D. Peter Swanson: “This equipment is a proven solution to some of the most difficult mixing problems ever found in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. They will non-invasively mix 310g or 5000g or material from low viscosity to semi-solid or dry particle with in-situ vacuum degassing.”

You would have thought that air-free mixing would be a simple process – wouldn’t you? But at the laboratory or small production level it was often not the case – until those clever people at Intertronics saw the need and brought us the Thinky Mixer. The original Thinky ARE250 featured a planetary motion mixing process that by the simple expedient of not enfolding air, often completely removed the need to extract air later. The 250 has now been joined by the ARV310 and the larger capacity ARV5000, both of which have the facility to mix within a vacuum so that even micro-bubbles may be eliminated.

In the arena of high technology and high performance materials the uniform dispersal of nano-sized particles in substrates such as resin is extremely difficult work. Traditional methods have significant problems – consequently Intertronics are pleased to announce a solution in the form of the Thinky ARV-310 mixer.

Wire tacking for pcb track replacement or circuit modification is a long standing feature of both original equipment manufacture and refurbishment. However, the production people at Allgood Technology Ltd were not happy about the smell of acetone based accelerator fluid they need with their cyanoacrylate adhesive and urgently sought an alternative, finally settling on Flextac Tape Dots from Intertronics.

Baroness Carrie von Reichardt and her partner (www.myspace.com/treatmentrooms) were asked by the Mutoid Waste Co to be involved in a show called Mutate Britain where a number of well-known artists where each given pieces of a WW2 war plane and asked to let their creative juices flow. Explained the Baroness: “We were actually given two panels and had the only ceramic ones on show. One was called - 'Love the USA' and the other was called 'Drop knickers, not bombs'. One side was straightforward mosaic; the other side had tiles that had been covered in ceramic transfers and re-fired applied. These panels were drilled and hanged on display as part of this five storey show. Not a tile fell off. Rock solid thanks to your wonderful glue.”

Intertronics is pleased to introduce a new tack-free, soft gasket material from sales partner, DYMAX, for sealing fuel cells, appliance housings, and critical electronic assemblies and devices. Light Weld® GA-140 is a UV/Visible light-curable form-in-place (FIP) and cure-in-place (CIP) gasket developed for applications requiring low compression set, tack-free surface, and durable, reliable sealing. It is a soft gasket material with high adhesion to plastics which provides a barrier to prevent absorption or penetration of air, dust, moisture, liquids and gaseous substances.

How much adhesive has been applied and where? When is the adhesive fully cured? These two questions have plagued many instances of adhesive usage, often forcing “belt-and-braces” measures, generally costing valuable time. Now, Intertronics, together with sales partner, DYMAX, have what may be the first credible solution to both questions – See-Cure technology. See-Cure technology is an indicator of cure which builds a visible quality assessment factor into the assembly process. The colour change is directly linked to the photo-initiator in the adhesive.

The increasing power and colour ranges of LEDs over recent years has led to their extended use in many outdoor lighting, signalling and indicating applications – from swimming pools to motor vehicles. This has highlighted the twin problems of heat dissipation and clarity within a protected housing. Now Intertronics are able to offer a Silicone Solution! – their range of silicone elastomers from sales partner ACC Silicones include optically clear encapsulants, a range of gels and rubbers with differing cure cycles and physical properties. Together with harder silicone elastomers they can offer a product for most LED potting applications which require non-yellowing optical clarity. In particular they can offer refractive index from 1.40 to 1.49, with an exciting new product now available at 1.53.

First level defence of electronic assemblies is often a post-assembly dielectric spray used to protect against moisture, bio-hazards and low level mechanical problems. Now Intertronics’ sales partner DYMAX Corp have trialled their Dual-Cure 9481 Conformal Coating, showing significant improvements over previously available products.

Yes indeed the technical team at Intertronics found that they do nail horses shoes – but in the process of custom fitting each shoe a farrier will generate a lot of impact energy on his anvil – not only does this cause the ear damaging “ringing” sound but also generates a potentially damaging reflective shock wave up the hammer into the farrier’s body and moves the anvil while working. This problem has been recognised for some time and may be addressed by use of a percussive pad placed under the anvil. So when Ian Payne at Hand Made Shoes was looking to manufacture really effective pads he found he needed a high-grade impact resistant adhesive to hold them together. The Intertronics answer was Araldite® 2040 flexible polyurethane adhesive.

Intertronics sales partner DYMAX have created “See-Cure” technology as a visual indicator for their UV cure adhesives by colour changing from original blue to clear during the curing process. This innovative approach greatly aids industrial assembly processes, whether the application is medical, electronic, aerospace or automotive. In each case it is essential to know that sufficient adhesive has been dispensed and that a full cure is effected – “See-Cure” colour change technology enables this to be determined at a glance.

The DYMAX BlueWave® LED visible light, high-intensity spot-curing system from Intertronics offers many advantages over traditional UV spot curing systems including no bulbs to change, cool cures, no warm-up, and constant intensity for thousands of hours. Now this popular system is CE marked for UK customers and can add processing benefits to users of light curing adhesives - for example bonding of polycarbonate, PVC, PET, metal, glass and many other substrates, as well as spot curing of coatings.

The precision liquid dispensing specialists at Intertronics have introduced a new lubricant application system from I & J Fisnar for machine parts that require constant lubricating of their surface areas, such as gears and rollers – these can now be serviced by the use of a precision IJF SV1217 Spray Valve and programmable controller IJF SVC100 which precisely directs a fine mist of lubricant to the moving part using time and pressure sequencing and can keep pace with fast revolving machinery up to 400 cycles per minute while accommodating lubricant viscosities up to 1000 cps.

Adhesive technology specialists “adhere” at Intertronics have compiled a very easy to use visual guide for dispensing consumables such as barrels, needles, tips and other accessories.

World renowned clocks have been made in Derby since the mid seventeen hundreds when clockmaker John Whithurst entertained his friends Benjamin Franklin and Erasmus Darwin ( grandfather of Charles Darwin ) at his house in Queen Street. So, when the Finesse Collection of hotels (www.thefinessecollection.com) were planning the reception area of their new boutique hotel in the town it was natural that they seek out the present day flag carriers of the Whithurst brand. Smith of Derby (www.smithofderby.com) worked closely with James Blick, the Hotelier, to derive a contemporary design in keeping with the modern refurbishment of their traditional building.

Intertronics are pleased to announce a significant new range of professional grade cyanoacrylate “instant” adhesives under their “adhere” brand - superior quality, high purity single part adhesives which have numerous applications in all aspects of high technology, high performance assembly.