SALEWA'S NEW LIGHTWEIGHT TOURING BINDING USES DUPONT ENGINEERING POLYMERS

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SALEWA'S NEW LIGHTWEIGHT TOURING BINDING USES DUPONT ENGINEERING POLYMERS
15 December 2003 - DuPont Engineering Polymers

Salewa GmbH of Munich chose two DuPont engineering polymers, DuPont™ Delrin® acetal resin and Zytel® nylon, for nine functional parts of the new lightweight touring ski-binding in its Silvretta range, named the ‘pure’.

With these high-performance materials, plus carbon fibre for the frame, Salewa’s designers have made the ‘pure’ one of the world’s lightest frame bindings; it weighs only 1 200 g, or about 500 g less than comparable bindings. This weight-saving makes climbing easier work for touring skiers.

Safety was also a major consideration in the development of the ‘pure’: all the highly stressed plastics parts were designed with a safety factor of 3.

Salewa’s designers chose UV-stabilised Delrin® for three parts: the rear swivel grip, the front sliding plate and the heel release lever. For six other parts they selected 30 per cent glass-reinforced Zytel®: the front sole retainer, the front swivel head, the release slide and its cover, the end-piece for the frame and the locking piece for the climbing aid.

“We picked Delrin® for its durability, stiffness, impact resistance and UV-resistance, even under –20 °C,” says Martin Schwaikl, product manager at Salewa and the person responsible for the development of this model. “These material properties are essential, especially for highly stressed parts such as those in the heel block.”

The DuPont acetal has a very low friction coefficient. This ensures that the sideways and frontal release functions are virtually friction-free and work irrespectively of the structure of the shoe-sole. The glass-reinforced Zytel® nylon offers a balanced combination of impact resistance to strength (5800 MPA at 23 °C and 50 per cent r.h.).

To give greater comfort when walking, a further improvement in the binding’s design was achieved by moving the pivot point to correspond with the ergonomic roll-off point, which lies 30 mm behind the toe of the shoe. The binding fits any shoe. “With the new ‘pure’ binding we succeeded in improving the patented pivot point of our ‘Easy-Go’ products yet further,” Schwaikl adds. “Compared to our previous bindings, this means a further economy of effort for touring skiers.”

At the ISPO exhibition for the winter season 2003/2004, Silvretta’s ‘pure’ won the Outdoor Awards section in the hardware class. The jury’s criteria were innovativeness, functionality, quality and technical solutions, user-friendliness, ease of use and design.

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About: DuPont Engineering Polymers
The DuPont Engineering Polymers business manufactures and sells DuPont Crastin PBT and DuPont Rynite PET thermoplastic polyester resins, DuPont Delrin acetal resins, DuPont Hytrel thermoplastic polyester elastomers, DuPont ETPV engineering thermoplastic vulcanizates, DuPont Minlon mineral reinforced nylon resins, DuPont Thermx PCT polycyclohexylene dimethyl terephthalate, DuPont Tynex filaments, DuPont Vespel parts and shapes, DuPont Zenite LCP liquid crystal polymers and DuPont Zytel nylon resins.

These products serve global markets in the aerospace, appliance, automotive, consumer, electrical, electronic, industrial, sporting goods and many other diversified industries.

Founded in 1802 science company DuPont operates in more than 70 countries. It offers a wide range of products and services for markets including agriculture, nutrition, electronics, communications, safety and protection, home and construction, transportation and apparel.

DuPont Electronic & Communication Technologies is a leading supplier of electronic materials, fluoropolymers, fluorochemicals and imaging technologies.

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