DuPont: Decorated PBT heightens the consumer appeal of electric components

A new, safety-oriented system for the quick and simple installation of light switches and plug sockets, from Sibecx of France (Cergy-Pontoise, www.sibecx.com), features decorative front plates made of DuPont™ Crastin® PBT. The polyester resin was chosen for its functional properties as well as its compatibility with DuPont’s dye-sublimation technology in terms of colour and pattern precision reproduction.

The aesthetic appeal of the ‘Evolutys’ range of interchangeable plug sockets and switches is heightened by the range of colours and patterns in which their front plates are available – which can be chosen to reflect the home-owner’s interests or interior décor. The plates are moulded from DuPont™ Crastin® PBT polyester resin and decorated using dye-sublimation, in a process developed by DuPont in partnership with Pacific Colour, of Lons-le-Saunier, France. When used on semi-crystalline plastics, such as Crastin®, the sublimated dyes penetrate into the material to a depth of between 0.2 and 0.3 mm, making the decoration highly resistant to wear, scratches and abrasion. Moreover, the patented dye-carrier employed in the DuPont process adheres smoothly onto the front plates, without wrinkling, to produce high-precision patterns.

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“This economic, efficient way to apply sophisticated multi-colour images, photographs or patterns onto our ‘Evolutys’ products has helped add value to our product,” comments Hosni Ben Cheikh, development manager at Sibecx. “Sublimation printing can produce an almost unlimited range of effects on the Crastin® plates.”

An unreinforced, super tough and flame-retardant grade of Crastin® was used for the production of the front plates, which are required to withstand multiple assembly and disassembly procedures. The material was selected for its rigidity and toughness, heat (temperatures during the sublimation process can reach 160 °C) and wear resistance.

The ‘Evolutys’ range of interchangeable plug sockets and switches is designed for swift and simple installation. Benefits of the system include reduced assembly and maintenance time and enhanced user- and child-safety performance.

DuPont de Nemours (Deutschland) GmbH, Bad Homburg v.d.H.

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