LOGICOM CHOOSES OVERMOULDED ELASTOMER SKIN FOR WIRELESS GAME CONTROLLER

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LOGICOM CHOOSES OVERMOULDED ELASTOMER SKIN FOR WIRELESS GAME CONTROLLER
30 September 2004 - DSM Engineering Plastics

An overmoulded skin of an elastomer on an ABS moulded base has been adopted by Logicom design engineers to give both a soft touch feel and a good grip for its wireless game controller.

Logicom, a reputed moulder of engineering plastics with production bases in Malaysia, Indonesia and China has chosen Arnitel TPE from DSM Engineering Plastics for wireless game controllers for high end gaming stations.

The wireless game controller has been available in the market for more than a year with very high acceptability in the market. It is targeted at the high end of the market for controllers. Logicom, to keep with the high end requirements of the gaming console was looking at designing the game controller for maximum aesthetics and the optimum ergonomics.

An overmoulded skin of an elastomer on an ABS moulded base was adopted by the design engineers to give both a soft touch feel and a good grip, something that had been expressed by the gaming community as imperative.

In selecting the skin elastomer, they evaluated various TPE’s and selected Arnitel TPE. The excellent texturing ability and surface feel, combined with the outstanding processibility of Arnitel TPE using two component moulding provided Logicom with the ideal solution to what they had conceived for the console.

“The outstanding adhesion of Arnitel TPE to the ABS base that it is over-moulded on is one of the strong factors for Arnitel TPE being chosen. Our shop-floor managers find Arnitel TPE very easy to mould. In processing Arnitel TPE we do not face problems such as mould sticking and flash which were common problems with all other TPE’s that we evaluated,” said Lim Lay Hoon, sales coordinator of Logicom, Singapore.

“DSM has decades of knowledge on Arnitel TPE for two component molding on various polymers,” says Tan Yam-Boon, Business Development Manager - DSM Engineering Plastics South East Asia, Singapore. “Especially on polar polymers such as ABS and polycarbonate, Arnitel TPE has outstanding adhesion. The optimum processing conditions for the best adhesion on to ABS which have been gathered through the intensive studies carried out over the years and quantified in practice, was passed on to Logicom so as to make sure that they got the best solution. We worked together with Logicom to make this solution perfect for the application.”

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About: DSM Engineering Plastics
DSM Engineering Plastics is a business group forming part of DSM's Performance Materials cluster. DSM EP is a global supplier of Stanyl PA46 and Akulon 6 and 66 polyamides, Arnitel TPE-E, Arnite PBT and PET polyesters, Xantar polycarbonate, Yparex extrudable adhesive resins, and Stamylan UH Ultra High Molecular Weight PE. These materials are used in technical components for electrical appliances, electronic equipment and cars, in barrier packaging films as well as in many mechanical and extrusion applications. The business group had annual sales of EUR 566 million in 2003. With Stanyl, it is the global market leader in high heat polyamides.

Stanyl is a family of heat-resistant polyamides from DSM Engineering Plastics. Stanyl’s high crystallinity (70% versus 50% for conventional PA66) results in high heat distortion temperatures of 190C for unreinforced grades, up to 290C for reinforced. Stanyl grades are used in automotive clutch plates, charge air coolers, chain tensioners; electrical components including motor frames and end laminates, circuit breakers, controls and connectors; and home and power tool components, including heat shields and heat-resistant utensils.

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