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SWISS AUTOMATIC TOILET IS STYLISH AND COMPACT THANKS TO DUPONT ENGINEERING POLYMERS
Swiss manufacturer Closomat AG of Embrach, near Zurich, launched Avantgarde the world's first compact automatic toilet, in 2001. The wall-integrated unit owes its neat, stylish and functional design to the extensive use of three DuPont Engineering Polymers: Crastin PBT thermoplastic polyester resin; Delrin acetal resin and Zytel nylon resin. Designed for hygienic rinsing, a sliding nozzle and guide on Avantgarde are made of a neutral-coloured grade of Crastin PBT thermoplastic polyester resin. For optimal safety, Closomat selected a flame-retardant grade of this chemically resistant resin. This is important since Avantgarde's rinsing nozzle is situated near a hot air exit and the toilet's electronic control box. Crastin PBT was also selected because of its long-term resistance to submersion in water; for this reason, the material is commonly used for sanitary applications. Guenther Ruegg, development director of Closomat, said: "After-toilet douching as practised by Avantgarde's automatic rinsing device is widely recognised by doctors as having wide-ranging positive cleansing and therapeutic effects. As an important hygienic feature, the douche nozzle is automatically cleaned when it retracts after use. This reduces the amount of time for the whole operation and is also more convenient for the user." The warm air-drying system on Avantgarde is another new feature that was redesigned using Crastin PBT. The warm air dryer retracts under a cover when not in use and only comes out when activated. Ruegg said: "We knew that with Crastin PBT there would be no rusting despite constant immersion of these critical parts in water. In addition, there is a major cost advantage for us. All the new parts of DuPont Engineering Polymers are quicker to injection mould, cheaper to produce and lighter than the ceramic materials we used previously." Avantgarde's rocker arm is made of Delrin 500P acetal resin. Among the device's switches, handles and controls, a push rod is made of Delrin 570, a pivot arm out of Delrin 500P, a holder out of Zytel glass reinforced nylon resin; a push arm out of Delrin and a reset rocker arm out of Delrin 500P. All these parts are moulded in an attractive blue colour. The new shower-toilet is VDE/CE certified. Closomat's new automatic shower-toilet model is significantly more compact than previous models due to the design flexibility brought by the use of DuPont Engineering Polymers. Until now, automatic shower-toilets have traditionally been bulky in size in order to accommodate electronic functions like water spraying and warm air jets. Most of the parts that go to make up Avantgarde were moulded by Prewag AG of Hinteregg, also near Zurich. Managing director Guido Guggenberger said: "The parts of DuPont Engineering Polymers are quick to injection mould, economical to produce, and easy to assemble. Use of high performance DuPont Engineering Polymers means that Avantgarde is substantially lighter, more compact and easier to handle and transport than previous Closomat models."
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