Products - Custom Capabilities and Services
 
MOLDED DEVICES, INC. is primarily a molder of custom vinyl components, in addition to our wide range of standard and proprietary caps, covers and containers. Our services include:
  • FREE DESIGN CONSULTATION: let us help you bring your ideas to completion!
  • QUICK AND INEXPENSIVE PROTOTYPING: prototypes are quickly produced from prototype tools!
  • FREE SAMPLES: often a modified standard item will meet your needs; let us sent you a sample!
  • CUSTOM FORMULATIONS: we can often match your needs as to color, durometer, finish and properties from our extensive list of stocked materials, or can work with our plastisol blenders to make a custom material that will meet your specific needs!
  • SECONDARY OPERATIONS: whether you need printing, assembly or packaging, we can be your one-stop supplier!

As a specialist in the design and application of vinyl components, we have supplied custom vinyl components to hundreds of companies all over the world.

Here are some of the components supplied and services provided to our customers by MOLDED DEVICES, INC.:

 

THE "THIGHMASTERTM"

  • More than five-and-a-half-million "ThighmastersTM" were sold by Suzanne Sommers through television and print advertising. MOLDED DEVICES, INC. manufactured the red vinyl caps that protected the center of the steel spring of the original "ThighmasterTM."

FLANGE PROTECTORS

  • A Northern California manufacturer of semiconductor manufacturing equipment needed covers for some of the specialty components in their machines. They had two applications, one round and one rectangular. Their need for a round protector was fulfilled by our STANDARD GUARD-CAP (S STYLE); with so many sizes available, one was found to be just the right size! A custom rectangular cap for the other application is in the design stage.

ANTENNA COVER

  • A Massachusetts-based manufacturer of antennas for telecommunications needed a flexible "radome" to cover the coiled wire antenna for a new cordless phone. The cover needed to meet specific color guidelines, be flexible and resilient and meet the flame-resistance standard UL94 V4. Working with the customer and his customer, MOLDED DEVICES, INC. was able to come up with a material that met their needs and supplied covers for prototype products.

STATIC-DISSIPATIVE CAPS, COVERS AND CONTAINERS

  • Electrostatic discharge (ESD) can cause damage to delicate electronic components, including erasure of programs on programmable read-only modules (PROM's), by allowing the uncontrolled buildup and discharge of static electricity. MOLDED DEVICES, INC. stocks standard materials that meet the surface resistivity specifications for static-dissipative materials as defined by the Electronics Industry Association (EIA) standard 541, "Packaging Material Standard for ESD Sensitive Items;" it also meets the standards laid out in MIL-HDBK-263A, "Electrostatic Discharge Control Handbook for Protection of Electrical and Electronic Parts, Assemblies and Equipment." Virtually any parts manufactured by MOLDED DEVICES, INC. including all our cataloged caps, covers and containers, are available in this material. Many major aerospace and electronics manufacturers use MOLDED DEVICES, INC. as their source for ESD-protective caps and covers.

LENS CAPS

  • A Sunnyvale, CA manufacturer of laser range-finding equipment was using poorly fitting polyethylene caps as shipping covers to protect the delicate lenses of their high-technology equipment. MOLDED DEVICES, INC. was able to show them a way to get custom-fitted lens caps made of vinyl that matched their corporate colors and marked with their corporate logo-all from existing tooling! Now more that twenty different caps are supplied, all from existing tooling, all in the same color and all marked with the company's logo; this adds to the value of their laser devices for little additional cost.

JAW CLAMP PADS

  • A Mooresville, NC, based processor of ceramics had a problem: in order to protect the fragile "green" ceramic materials they cut into wafers from being marred by the jaws of the clamps that held them, soft plastic was cut and glued to the face of the jaws. MOLDED DEVICES, INC. was able to design a slip-over jaw clamp pad that reduced the labor required to replace the worn pads. The project is still in the prototype stage.

TOOL HOLDERS

  • A Clarinda, IA-based manufacturer of tools used by professional and backyard mechanics alike wanted a flexible holder to contain their sets of specialty socket wrenches. MOLDED DEVICES, INC. designed and manufactures a series of such holders in various sizes that holds the tools snugly and protects both tools and toolboxes yet permits their easy removal for use.

PROTECTING KIDS

  • Playground equipment, particularly that installed at fast-food restaurants, are not the galvanized "jungle gyms" of past times: they require bright colors to catch the eye of parents and kids alike and soft surfaces to protect youngsters as they play. MOLDED DEVICES, INC. applies colorful vinyl coatings to railings and grab bars for a Southern California manufacturer of such modern playground equipment.

EXERCISE BICYCLE COMPONENTS

  • A major California manufacturer of exercise equipment to spas and health clubs wanted to coat the entire handlebar assembly of a new, computerized exercise bike. They wanted a material that had a good feel and look but was durable. MOLDED DEVICES, INC. suggested coating the entire assembly in our Matte Black vinyl to a thickness of about 0.125". This material has the look of foam rubber and is much more durable (but not as soft), lending itself to the hard use these bikes would see in the field. The customer was so pleased with the application that they are purchasing grips in various sizes of the same material.

HIGH-TEMPERATURE PAINT MASKS

  • A Rockford, IL-based manufacturer of small electric motors needed a reusable paint mask to cover electrical connections on the winding of the motor while being painted and through cure; while the paint was not a problem, it was cured at a temperature of 375 degrees F. for up to seventy-five minutes. Taking a sample of the winding, MOLDED DEVICES, INC. designed and made tooling for a mask made of our High-temperature- resistant Black vinyl, which resists significant re-melt at temperatures of up to 450 degrees F.

GEAR PROTECTION

  • A major helicopter manufacturer uses MOLDED DEVICES, INC. caps for in-plant protection of delicate transmission gears. Machined to a tolerance of 0.0005", these gears need to be protected while moving from work station to work station. MOLDED DEVICES, INC. supplies FRICTION GUARD-CAPS (F STYLE) with inside diameters slightly greater than the outside diameter of the gears. These caps are set into transport bins and the gears are in turn set into the caps, much as eggs are nested in egg cartons. These caps are used over and over again with negligible deterioration; in fact, new parts are usually ordered only when a new gear is designed!

MIL-STANDARD COATING

  • A military standard, MIL-P-20689, defines the application of vinyl to metal in order (to quote from the standard) "to provide protection from corrosion and abrasion and to impart a comfortable feel." MOLDED DEVICES, INC. applies Type I, Class II (general-purpose dip-coating compound, fungus-resistant) coating for many military contractors and subcontractors and can duplicate the process for industrial uses; applications include handles, brackets, seat leg tips, weapons racks, gas and fire-extinguisher bottle chocks and other applications, primarily in military vehicles such as tanks, personnel carriers and mobile weapons.

AUTOMOTIVE TIE-DOWN CLIPS

  • A San Diego, CA-based company has designed and patented a spring-steel clip that slides over the trunk lid or to the fenders of an automobile that features a D-ring at the other end to which tie-down lines or straps may be attached. MOLDED DEVICES, INC. applies a clear, thin vinyl coating to the clips that protects the paint on the automobile from scratches.

PROTECTIVE TIPS FOR SURGICAL DEVICES

  • A Southern California manufacturer of arthroscopic surgical devices had a problem: the foam rubber sleeves that protected the sharp edges of their devices also hid the location of those edges from surgical technicians who accidentally cut themselves in removing the sleeves! MOLDED DEVICES, INC. replaced the opaque sleeves with transparent versions of our FRICTION GUARD-CAPS (F STYLE): the transparent caps both protected the edges of the instruments and allowed the surgical technicians to see where the edges were so that they wouldn't cut themselves. While not technically required, the caps were made of an FDA-approved material.

PROTECTIVE BUMPERS

  • A Northern California manufacturer of laser surgical devices wanted a part to do double duty: the handle by which the device was to be moved around should provide some shock absorption if the devices bumped against the wall or another obstruction. MOLDED DEVICES, INC. applied a matte-finish vinyl coating to a cast aluminum substrate. The cast parts were less expensive than machined parts; the coating was color-matched to a PANTONE® color; the matte finish gives a slip-resistant grip for the technicians; the solid vinyl coating is not a host to bacteria as open-celled materials such as foam rubber or plastics would be; and the low-shore vinyl gives a durable yet resilient cushion. MOLDED DEVICES, INC. now coats several different parts for this customer, including one part that is coated merely for esthetic reasons!

CONNECTOR BOOT

  • A Southern California aerospace contractor needed a reusable boot to cover a state-of-the-art connector in the cockpit of combat aircraft. It had to be flexible, attractive, well-fitted and easily removed. Taking a sample of the connector, MOLDED DEVICES, INC. made a rectangular cap with a "pull tab" along the top so that an aviator could easily remove the cap with a gloved hand. The cap was marked with the customer's name and logo and the part number of the cap. The boot and its connector will be in the next generation of "heads-up displays" used in America's combat aircraft into the next century.

MOVIE-MAKING EQUIPMENT

  • MOLDED DEVICES, INC. supplies vinyl coating for use on equipment used by Hollywood filmmakers. One customer uses vinyl-coated knobs on carbon-arc spotlights: the vinyl coating provides a smooth, comfortable grip that stays cool even as the combustion in the light heats the knobs. Another customer manufactures camera dollies that attaches to automobiles doors and fenders so that actors may drive automobiles while being filmed: the vinyl coating on the gutter and fender hooks keeps the expensive automotive finishes from being scratches when the equipment is installed.