Synthetic lubricants that reduce noise and convey a quality tactile feel to hand-operated interior components, while ensuring material compatibility.
Compartments such as pull-out bins, door compartments, cupholders and the glove box. In most instances, the sliding surfaces of these interior components are exposed when pulled into their open positions. A lubricant that stays in place and gives plastic a quality sound and feel is recommended.
Sun Visor. A visor’s two rotating parts stay at rest for long periods – a difficult duty for grease, which tends to get squeezed out of the surfaces that are in contact. Additionally, due to the visor’s location, lubricants cannot leak oil or emit odour. A odourless, synthetic hydrocarbon grease is recommended, enabling the visor to remain in place for extended periods, yet move smoothly when activated.
Seat lubrication is common; lubricating seat tracks is an aesthetic and mechanical challenge. When seats are pushed completely forward or back, a portion of the tracks is exposed, so neutral coloured greases are preferred. Because of the track’s proximity to seat fabric and carpeting, the grease cannot stain or leak oil. Finally, the seat track assembly has to allow for play without rattling or vibrating at high speeds.
Climate control systems. Contemporary climate control systems rely upon a series of motorised vents to re-route airflow for operator comfort. A synthetic lubricant for this application should be engineered specifically to work with plastic gears and be virtually odour free. It should also offer stability at low temperatures.
Shifter & Gear Levers. PRNDL assemblies require lubrication mainly to dampen noise and create a perception of quality not often found in plastic parts. The synthetic lubricant should enable the mechanism to slide smoothly between notches, while imparting a quality feel to the thumb-activated release mechanism. It should withstand the cold and offer vibration and noise reduction.
Take a look the automotive interior articles below, including theory, test videos, product selection guides and case studies.
Manufacturers use a damping grease in their device or component for one or more of the following reasons – motion control, haptic feel (quality feel) and noise reduction. When product designers are faced with reducing cost without sacrificing quality, a motion control damping grease can be a valuable tool and…
This is our damping grease trial pack. It’s a great kit for engineering professionals and hobbyists alike, to test or evaluate a damping grease in their design. We originally thought this trial pack would be aimed at engineers in a prototyping stage of a new product development, but it’s just…
In the video featured on this page we are going to try and explain the benefits of damping grease using these nuts and bolts. Some of the benefits experienced by using a damping grease are haptic and so it’s obviously very difficult to convey the advantages or demonstrate improvements on…
Designers and manufacturers have used damping greases for more than 50 years as an economical way to build fine tolerances into their products. The “velvet feel” and virtually silent operation of the focusing mechanisms on microscopes, zoom lenses on 35mm cameras, and other optical instruments, and the fact that the…
Selecting the proper synthetic switch grease for a specific switch application can be a challenge. Very subtle differences in synthetic grease formulations can make a big difference and these formulation decisions are sometimes counter-intuitive. Also when selecting a switch grease, note that the viscosity of the base oil should complement…
The ability of a switch grease used in a switch design to prevent contact surface wear is normally the primary goal. Wear debris can create two problems; it can inhibit current flow when the contact is closed, potentially increasing millivolt drop. When the contact is open, conductive debris has the…
Small applications of synthetic grease are very important throughout a modern vehicle and the interior is no different. In this case study we will focus on an Electronic Parking Brake (EPB) switch lubrication application; sometimes EPB devices are referred to as E-Brake. Throughout the interior of a vehicle, lubricants reduce…
There are a variety lubricant additives that we have the ability to include in our grease formulations. Note that we describe our additives, we use terminology relating to the benefit of the additive rather than than giving details of the chemical way in which the benefit is achieved; we don’t…
The purpose of the Pour Point test is to help define the lowest operating temperature for an oil. During this relatively simple test, the temperature is slowly reduced and it is noted at what point the fluid becomes too viscous to flow. Some times Pour Point is referred to as…
The grease range we offer uses a wide variety of thickener systems. The various characteristics of the thickener (also known as gellant – US terminology) gives the ability of our grease formulators to meet the challenges faced by our customers. Formulating a grease generally involves balancing the pros and cons…
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