Injection moulded aircraft seats produces a stronger, more versatile and cosmetically appealing product
24 March 2017
Traditionally aircraft seating is produced by vacuum forming plastic, GRP layup or a combination of the two. The latest variants of seating components needed to have more fittings, a better cosmetic finish, be stronger and more durable - whilst remaining lightweight.
Fit first time, with no need for fine tuning before installation
Planes are very expensive assets and are worked on almost continuously to ensure their owners get the best return on investment. Which means when they are built, refits are factored in and everything needs to run seamlessly. Using vaccum formed or GRP panels for the seating had to factor in a degree of tolerance, as these processes are not as exacting as injection moulding.
Flame retardant, colour matched plastic was a mandatory specification for the seating panels
Working within the aerospace sector means weight and safety are always bed fellows. The need to colour match and produce a high specification cosmetic finish which could sustain heavy usage simply made the brief more interesting to our engineering team. However, with the range of specialist ‘high tech’ polymers now available, it wasn’t too long before the Tex engineering and design team had a formula which ticked all of the specification boxes.
Reliability of supply, consistency of colour and accuracy of fit meant it had to be injection moulding
The engineering and design team at Tex came up with an injection mouding process to deliver a finished component with every quality specified by the aerospace company. What’s more with some of the new polymers having the strength qualities of metal at a fraction of the costs, the battle to keep the weight down didn’t compromise safety. The aerospace company now has a precision moulded seat, which has reduced fitting time and enhanced the aesthetic characteristics and durability.