At Allstates Rubber and Tool Corp. our specialty is making custom rubber components in any size or shape. An ideal way to understand what we can do is to look at some of our past projects. These custom projects highlight the molding, extrusion, and fabrication processes we use to meet the engineering and design challenges presented to us.
Transportation Industry
The transportation industry relies on Allstates for many of their components because rubber is an ideal material to handle the tough conditions of agricultural equipment, trucks, trailers, and heavy equipment. Notable projects for the transportation industry include:
Gear shift boot:Requiring a tight fit and robust construction to prevent contaminants from infiltrating the gearbox in agricultural equipment, we manufactured this complex part with dimensional accuracy and uniform wall thickness. Our injection molding expertise enabled us to produce a part that was durable enough to withstand three-dimensional motion and the in-cab conditions.
Truck vent grommet: This custom insert-molded box truck vent grommet presented a challenge to our toolmakers to design and build a multi-plate mold to produce the required shape of the vent so that air could flow out of the truck without compromising aerodynamics. Through innovative molding, we produced this vent grommet with precision accuracy and consistent repeatability.
Crowd Control & The Music Industry
Our varied industrial connections have taken us from food processing to crowd suppression. Those projects included:
Sifter Balls: We used a combination of compression and injection molding processes to mold varying sizes balls used in the food processing and mining industries to keep screens that move product clean from debris that could clog them. These balls come in sizes from 7/8” up to 2” in diameter for a variety of uses on screen conveyors.
Non-lethal rubber shotgun bullets:In order to meet a critical set of manufacturing requirements, we tooled an inventive molding solution for accurate and consistent concentricity and tolerances. The resulting bullets were perfectly centered and provided smooth rotation, aerodynamic stability, and a tight seal with the casing.
These are just a few of the projects we have completed, with many continuing on a regular basis.
In addition to the highest quality products, Allstates has the quickest lead time of any custom rubber fabricator. In just two weeks we can produce anything a potential client may need by utilizing our outstanding custom molding, extruding, and fabricating capabilities. Our lean methods and an outstanding workforce enable us to work within time-critical production deadlines.
It is well known that Notre Dame football has a devoted following and is looked upon to contend for the national championship year in and year out. But how did they get to achieve such lofty status? I like to think it all started on November 1, 1913. That was the day Notre Dame changed football forever. No, it was not the first forward pass (that happened seven years earlier), but an innovation on this basic strategy that would leave an indelible mark on the game. On this day, coach Jesse Harper used his normal power running game, but also deployed a deftly styled passing attack from quarterback Charles “Gus” Dorias to future coaching legend Knute Rockne. The difference? Previously all forward passes had the receiver stop and stand in place to catch the pass. Harper had Rockne catch passes in stride. The Cadets of Army could not adapt to this new tactic and fell to Notre Dame 35 – 13. Soon after all receivers adopted this tactic.
Be it on the football field or in the design room, innovation is the key to success and staying ahead of the competition. This focus on innovation has help guide me through everything from playing linebacker on my dorm team at Notre Dame to running aninternational rubber molding company.
To illustrate this need for constant innovation, we recently worked with a large medical device company to solve a challenge on one of their x-ray machines. They had designed some molded bladders for use in the system, but they were having some trouble. The fit of the rubber bladders was perfect, and they functioned correctly, holding the designated fluids. However, the original nitrile material they used for the prototype molding included carbon black. Carbon black is conductive and was causing sparking in the machine and shorting out x-ray heads. They had tried several other materials on the prototype with another rubber molding team, but were unable to find the solution. To overcome this, our team at Allstates Rubber put our years of knowledge together to develop a proprietary material to remove the carbon black and maintain the properties required to hold the fluid correctly. Innovation carried the day and allowed for a successful custom molded product. The end result was a very happy medical device manufacturer and a new piece of equipment going out into the world to help with diagnosing patients correctly.
Want to learn more about selecting the proper material for your next rubber molding project? Go download ourRubber Molding Material Selection Guideto get started. As always, Bill and I will be here to help you through each and every project.
One of the most frequently asked questions we receive from a customer is “what’s the best material for this project?” As rubber molding and fabrication experts, we have the experience and knowledge to help you match the right rubber material to meet the final component’s requirements.
When selecting the proper material, there are many factors to consider, such as type of elastomer for the application and durometer (hardness). To help you understand the qualities of the most commonly requested products, we have created a Rubber Molding Material Selection Guide. This guide is designed to give you background information on many of the most commonly used products and their strengths and weaknesses.
The comprehensive guide provides properties of each material such as:
Operating temperature range
Hardness
Abrasion, chemical, sunlight/weather, electrical, tear, and water resistance
Tensile strength
Metal adhesion
A material overview succinctly describes the material and its uses. The materials advantages and disadvantages are listed.
Setting this guide apart from general material information that can be found in other resources is the addition of “Mike’s Tips.” Mike refers to our own President of Allstates Rubber, Mike Burke, who shares his own experiences and recommendations about each material. The benefit of these tips is in the real-world expertise of someone who has been in the business and understands how rubber materials react. With this information, choosing a material is made a little simpler.
Going beyond basic information is what sets this guide above other references. The valuable information included will help the reader select the correctcustom rubber material to meet the requirements or certifications for their application.
Allstate’s Rubber Molding and Material Selection Guide is a free download from our website. If you have a material question or a project you would like to discuss with Mike or any other knowledgeable Allstate professional, please feel free to contact us.
Allstates Rubber & Tool has been growing and evolving our product lines for over 45 years. In this effort, we are proud to announce the launch of our new website. The redesigned site has a new look and offers more interactive features and expanded information.
We still specialize in off-the-shelf and just-in-time molded and extruded products, but we also have a large variety of custom run items. This new website better highlights our innovative capabilities, modernizes our look, and upgrades our site to be fully responsive and more user friendly. You will find the same great products we have always provided but with a modern look and additional sources of information.
What types of sections will you find on our new website? We have expanded information on Allstates manufacturing capabilities and past projects as well as adding a section for downloadable resources. New section include:
Capabilities: Expanding on our capabilities gives you an in-depth look at our skills and abilities in all aspect of custom rubber production. Understanding the details we put into each area of our manufacturing process will help you realize the dedication and quality that we bring to each project.
Projects: We offer you a closer look at innovative projects we have been involved with and the solutions we have created. These projects highlight our capabilities such as custom injection molding and custom insert molding and explain the process we go through when overcoming a customer’s particular manufacturing challenge. Project highlights allow you to experience how we tackle a project from beginning to end.
Products: The online catalog is still available and continues to offer a full listing of all of our custom rubber molded and extruded parts with descriptions, schematics, and specifications that are easily accessible and informative.
We hope that you will enjoy the new website with its new look, new features, and easily accessible information. Although the look of our website has changed, our top-quality products and services remain as detailed and competitive as they always have been.
Be it on the football field or in the design room, innovation is the key to success and staying ahead of the competition. This focus on innovation has help guide me through everything from playing linebacker on my dorm team at Notre Dame to running an 
When selecting the proper material, there are many factors to consider, such as type of elastomer for the application and durometer (hardness). To help you understand the qualities of the most commonly requested products, we have created a 
