Flexible Foam

Foam Polyurethane Foam continuous line cutting machine for mattress, sofa, uphostry

What is foam polyurethane (PU foam)?
(Flexible polyurethane foam or semi-rigid)

(1) polyurethane
Commonly abbreviated PU is a polymer composed of a chain of organic units joined by urethane links. polyurethane polymers are formed by the reaction of a monomer containing at least two isocyanate functional groups with another monomer containing at least two alcohol groups in the presence of a catalyst. Polyurethane formulations cover an extremely wide range of stiffness, hardness and density. These documents include: low density flexible foam used in upholstery and bedding, the low density rigid foam used for thermal insulation, soft solid elastomers used for gel pads and roller printing, and tough rigid plastic used as an electronic instrument glasses and their structural parts. Polyurethanes are widely used in high resiliency foam seat, flexible, rigid foam insulation panels, seals and gaskets microcellular foam, durable wheels and tires rubber, electrical potting compounds, adhesives, high performance sealants, Spandex fibers, seals, gaskets underlying carpet and hard plastic parts. Polyurethane products are often called "urethanes". They should not be confused with urethane specific substance, also known as ethyl carbamate. Polyurethanes are not produced from ethyl carbamate, nor do they contain it.

Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather. The word "upholstery" comes from the Middle English words and Holden, meaning to remember. The term is applied to domestic furniture and also to applications in automobiles and boats. A person who works with upholstery is called an upholsterer, an apprentice upholsterer is sometimes called an outsider or trimmer.

Polyurethane products have many uses. More than three quarters of global consumption of polyurethane products is in the form of foams, with flexible and rigid types being roughly equal to the size of the market. In both cases, the foam is usually behind other materials: flexible foams are behind upholstery fabrics in commercial and domestic furniture, rigid foams are inside the metal and plastic walls of most refrigerators and freezers, or behind the paper, metals and materials surface in other cases of thermal insulation panels in the construction sector. Its use in clothing more: for example, in the lining of the cups of brassieres. Polyurethane is also used for moldings which include door frames, columns, balusters, window headers, pediments, medallions and rosettes.

The precursors of the expansion of polyurethane foam are available in many forms, for use in insulation, sound insulation, flotation, industrial coatings, packaging materials, and even cast padding in place. Since they adhere to most surfaces and automatically fill in the gaps, they have become very popular in these applications.

Chemistry
Polyurethanes are in the class of compounds called polymer reaction, which include epoxies, unsaturated polyesters and phenolics. A urethane bond is produced by reacting an isocyanate group,-N = C = O with a hydroxyl (alcohol) group,-OH. Polyurethanes are produced by the reaction of polyaddition of a polyisocyanate with a polyalcohol (polyol) in the presence of a catalyst and other additives. In this case, a polyisocyanate is a molecule with two or more isocyanate functional groups, R-(N = C = O) n a‰¥ 2 and a polyol is a molecule with two or more hydroxyl functions, R'-(OH) n a‰¥ 2 . The reaction product is a polymer containing the urethane link, RNHCOOR-'-. Isocyanates react with a molecule that contains an active hydrogen. Importantly, isocyanates react with water to form a bond of urea and carbon dioxide gas, they also react with polyetheramines to form polyurea. Commercially, polyurethanes ar.