Small Appliances

Engineering plastics made possible the small appliance revolution in which small appliances became affordable mass-market products. Ticona’s engineering plastics, with their broad range of capabilities and superior technical support, played a key role in this change. Our resins are used in a variety of applications where parts reduction, total unit cost reduction, cosmetic appearance, dimensional consistency and built-in strength are needed.

Among the many commercialized applications for Hostaform® and Celcon® acetal copolymers (POM) are housings, fascias, knobs, bearings and gears. The exterior applications benefit from the surface hardness, high gloss, ready colorability and stain resistance of the acetal copolymer resin, while the interior moving mechanical parts take advantage of its characteristic lubricity, wear resistance and low noise generation. For control switches, knobs, levers and escutcheons, designers may choose Ticona’s high quality laser-markable grades of Celcon and Hostaform copolymer to enable labels and icons to be quickly, flexibly and economically imprinted on the parts.  

In housings or structural parts where more severe duty may be experienced, like, for example, handheld power tools, Celstran® long-fiber reinforced thermoplastics (LFRT) are used for metal replacement and part count reduction. These very strong, stiff and impact-resistance products are available in polypropylene, nylon and other base resin formulations.

If the application is less severe, Celanex® polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) products are an excellent choice, particularly because of their ability to deliver V-0 performance in the Underwriters Laboratories UL94 test, making them eligible to be used as supports for current- carrying parts. These products can also be provided in the full range of colors available through Ticona’s class-leading Color Development Laboratory.

In applications where high temperature and/or chemical resistance are needed, that most metal-like of plastics, Fortron® polyphenylene sulfide, with its continuous use temperature ratings to 240°C (464°F) is just the thing, also bringing inherent UL94 V-0 performance to the part.

For high strength as well as for high resistance against chemicals in combination with high temperature, consider using Vectra® liquid crystal polymers (LCP).