TPE Adheres to Acetal in Earpieces of Safety Glasses

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Sporty new Pheos safety glasses from Germany’s Uvex feature earpieces made with a soft-touch Thermolast K styrenic TPE compound from Kraiburg TPE GmbH (U.S. office in Duluth, Ga.). The HSBC (hydrogenated styrenic block copolymer) TPE was chosen for comfort, UV and scratch resistance, and lack of hazardous or allergenic ingredients. Equally important, the TPE achieves excellent adhesion to the acetal hard component in a two-component injection molding process.

Uvex product group manager Harald Frank notes that although the company has used Kraiburg TPEs for 10 years in seals and end elements of their safety spectacles, this was the first time Uvex added a soft component to the earpiece. Pheos spectacles get their stylish design from the two-colored earpiece using Thermolast K. The innovative adhesion technology on the earpiece ends is said to ensure that the spectacles are comfortable even when worn for long periods. Such good adhesion to the hard component POM can be achieved only under optimal processing conditions, according to the Kraiburg.