FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 2003

Contact:
Judy Makowski
Marketing Communications Manager
Estane® TPU
(216) 447-7392

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Society of the Plastics Industry’s (SPI) Structural Plastics Division awarded Accurate Molded Plastics, Inc. (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho) top design honors in the medical and scientific category for the development of a new portable defibrillator.

Accurate Molded Plastics (Accurate) worked closely with customer, Medtronic Physio-Control (Redmond, Wash.) and material supplier, Noveon, Inc. (Cleveland, Ohio) to design, build and manufacture Medtronic Physio-Control’s newest portable LifePak® defibrillator.

“This particular product is designed for stadiums, businesses, office buildings and schools, where medical personnel might not be immediately available,” explains Richard Cardin, Medtronic Physio-Control’s senior mechanical engineer. “The LIFEPAK CR Plus sits on the wall just like a fire extinguisher, so that anyone can grab it quickly for use in an emergency situation. As a result, it was important to design the product to ensure ease-of-use, reliability and durability.”

Accurate provided part design consultation and mold-filling analysis, and designed and built the mold for the defibrillator housing. The housing’s substrate material is constructed from a PC/ABS blend, overmolded with Noveon’s EstaGrip® thermoplastic (TPE) soft-touch overmolding technology. EstaGrip® TPE was also used in a series of runner networks, as a waterproof gasket, in the creation of cosmetic parts, and in several other capacities through a single overmolding process.

In toll, the housing incorporated more than 14 overmolded features, five insert-molded features and a pinpoint use of gas-assisted molding to reduce sink from the single, center boss. As a result, the project benefited from high amounts of "molded-in added value.” For example, many high-cost secondary operations were eliminated by designing cosmetic, functional, protective and gasket-sealing requirements into a single shot using the EstaGrip® TPE material. Permanent molded-in decorations also eliminated the need for pad printing.

“Our mission at Accurate is to deliver value-added capabilities to our customers,” explains Tom Taylor, Accurate’s vice president and general manager. “Working with such a versatile material like Noveon’s EstaGrip® TPE allowed our engineers to be very creative. Recognition by the SPI was very rewarding to us.”

Developed for unique soft touch applications, EstaGrip® TPEs deliver unparalleled adhesion to a variety of difficult substrates, including PC/ABS, and offer outstanding durability unmatched by traditional TPEs. According to Noveon senior market manager, Elliott Pritikin, the company offers a full portfolio of high performance Estane® TPU technology for overmolding. However, when an application demands the ultimate performance – including high-rebound protection – then EstaGrip® TPEs are selected, he notes.

“’When you can’t afford to fail’ is a theme for our EstaGrip® TPE technology, and we stand by that,” says Pritikin. “Our application engineers are also proud of the processability this technology offers, allowing so many functions with a single shot.”

For more information about Estane® TPU or to review a complete array of Noveon’s innovative TPU technologies contact Noveon at 9911 Brecksville Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44141. Telephone: (888) 234-2436. On the Web, visit us at www.estane.com.

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Estane® is a trademark of Noveon, Inc., headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. Noveon is a leading producer and marketer of technologically advanced specialty chemicals for a broad range of consumer and industrial applications. Previously BFGoodrich Performance Materials, Noveon was formed as an independent company on February 28, 2001.