We are delighted to announce an addition to our range of drysuit seals, featuring a major improvement in the adhesion to the material used in drysuit manufacture. These seals are being marketed under the trademark Seamtite, and their manufacture is the subject of UK Patent Application No 0008338.6.
The unique feature of the new seals is the enhanced adhesion to both the hot melt and solution adhesives used in the construction of drysuits. This greatly facilitates and strengthens the bonding of the seals to neoprene and polyurethane coated fabrics. The bond between a Seamtite seal and the hot melt adhesive is virtually inseparable.
Kindly note that this is a single interface system involving a radical new approach in manufacture; we have not simply predipped with adhesive over a localised area.
We have also successfully bonded Seamtite rubber to PU coated fabric by H.F.Welding.
Drysuit manufacturers wishing to continue using a solvent based adhesive system will also find significant advantage in Seamtite seals. Neoprene based adhesives give consistently good adhesive strength, but for the maximum adhesion a polyurethane adhesive is recommended. Blends of two solutions have also been found effective.
We anticipate that Seamtite seals will be widely used both by leisure drysuit manufacturers and in the construction of survival suits, where seam leakage could, of course, have serious consequences. Care has been taken to ensure that the new seals continue to meet the exacting physical properties requirement of the survival drysuit industry that we have been supplying for over four decades.