Elix Polymers' High-Flow ABS Used in Battery-Powered Vacuum Cleaner

High-end domestic appliance manufacturer Miele & Cie opted to use a high-flow ABS developed specifically by Spain’s Elix Polymers (U.S. office in Weston, Fla.) for the company’s new battery-powered vacuum cleaner models, the Triflex HXL. Elix formulated  the grade  with improved rheological properties that reportedly allow a reduced wall thickness for parts of the vacuum cleaner housing.

Miele chose Elix’s 118HF ABS grade--colored in customized grey, red and white, because it meets the company’s key property requirements: high flowability, dimensional stability, good heat resistance, and high surface gloss. The thinwalling capabilities of the grade translate into cost savings for Miele in terms of material consumption and reduced cycle times, thereby leading to higher productivity.

Said Elix Polymers’ regional sales manager Joachim Kroeger, “We are very pleased to work with such an innovative producer of high-end products such as Miele. Faithful to Miele’s credo – Forever better – ELIX modified the formulation and improved the rheological properties to provide the best possible solution for the new product.”

When designing and developing the innovative and multi-functional Triflex HX1 battery-powered vacuum cleaner, Miele’s objective was to create a product that offered both a long battery life and the power of a conventional vacuum cleaner. When selecting a material that was suitable for parts of the handheld device’s housing, the main focus was on minimizing the wall thickness to reduce the weight of those parts.  According Miele, in addition to mold filling properties, material selection was also based on mechanical properties such as strength and stiffness, as well as part performance and esthetics.

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