 |
  |
|||||
|
||||||
|
||||||
 |
||||||
 |
| The World's Largest O-Ring On March 10, 2000, a large multi-national tire manufacturer contacted EPM, Inc. - The Seal Man™, and asked if EPM could supply a very large o-ring. “Of course”, replied Jerry Whitlock, The Seal Man™, whose motto in the seal business is “The word ‘no’ is not in our vocabulary." Having been in the seal  business for nearly 30 years, Jerry had supplied millions of o-rings and thousands of what would be called large diameter. Little did he realize that the customer really meant a VERY large o-ring - a VERY, VERY large o-ring.This tire manufacturing plant, located in the Midwestern United States, made giant rubber tires for off-road and mining equipment - like earth moving tractors and quarry dump trucks. The tires made in this factory are wider than most passenger vehicles and the height of a three story building. During the manufacturing process, these giant tires are placed in a huge curing vessel 60 feet in diameter. This vessel, called an autoclave, has a swinging door which requires a rubber o-ring mounted in a groove to seal in the steam used for curing the rubber tires.  The tire manufacturer needed four o-rings 695 inches in diameter and a one inch cross section body. “Wow”. Whitlock had never heard of an o-ring that large before and had never supplied anything close to that size. After consulting severa l of his friends in the seal business, Whitlock determined this had to be the largest o-ring ever requested.The Seal Man went into action and provided o-rings made from Ethylene Propylene rubber, 70 durometer Shore A hardness. The o-rings were produced from a continuous extruded piece, one inch round o-ring stock that was 2186 inches long. The EPM special seal making team of Mike Conner and John Tomme prepared the material and made a single, specially configured joint to bond the ends of the material together. Each o-ring weighed over 90 pounds. EPM responded to the challenge, made the o-ring and shipped the four giant o-rings within four weeks. When other seal suppliers could not determine how to provide such an o-ring, the EPM team said “Yes”, and provided “The World’s Largest O-Ring”. Contact EPM with your next seal challenge.....and, ask them what they think is the smallest seal they produce. You can barely see through the center hole. |
|
|
|||||||||
|
CALL FREE IN THE U.S. (800) 659-5050 LOCAL & INTERNATIONAL (770) 389-0501 |
|
FAX FREE IN THE U.S. (888) 353-7325 LOCAL & INTERNATIONAL (770) 389-0652 |
|||||||
|
Office hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (ET). On call 24/7 for Seal EMERGENCY! Privacy Policy | Quality Assurance | MSDS Sheet | Terms & Conditions © 1996-2006. EPM, INC. All rights reserved. |
|||||||||
