An Alternative to Metal-On-Metal Seal Head

ISM tooling delivers customer success. Learn about the journey to improved operating parameters, longer & more consistent lifespan, and reducing unexpected downtime.

Founded in 1946, West Palm Beach, Florida-based Rich’s Ice Cream Company is a nationwide purveyor of delicious and nutritious dairy and juice-based frozen treats. Like many food products, these treats are often individually packaged to retain freshness. Developing a secure, repeatable seal is key to delivering a satisfactory treat ...

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NPT and NPTF Tapered Pipe Threads

NPT and NPTF pipe thread applications range from electrical conduits to high-pressure piping carrying natural gas and chemically aggressive liquids. Both thread types use a thread taper that provides solid and vibration-resistant connections. While NPT threaded plastic fittings are standard and readily available, there are distinctly specific installation and ...

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Ball valves use a simple design based on a ball or sphere that is ported or drilled out to provide a flow path for gases and liquids moving through the valve. These ported valve balls are attached to handles that require only a quarter turn to allow full flow or shut off the flow, but they are unsuitable for throttling flow. The ball valve design creates a relatively low pressure drop across the valve.

Miniature ball valves come in a wide selection of specifications and options. These choices provide the flexibility to ...

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Screen vs Paper Fuel Filters for Small Engines 

Paper fuel filters use filter elements made of polymer resin (phenolic resin) treated cellulose. This filter paper is considered a nonwoven filter media. Polyester felt sheets are another type of nonwoven filter media used for inline fuel filters. 

Screen fuel filters use fine mesh screen filter elements. This screen is made of woven monofilament plastic or metal wires...

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This post is about inline direct-acting miniature check valves. These are not pilot-operated valves. Instead, they use a simple flexing or moving part, the sealing element, to prevent backflow. The force of the media (gas or liquid) flowing in the system pushes against the sealing element to open the valve (downstream flow) or close the valve (upstream flow) with or without the aid of an internal spring.

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Maintaining the right heat seal parameters requires careful setup and management

Optimized tool design and control allows conductive direct contact heat sealing machinery to create consistent, high-quality seals.

Soft, spoonable dairy and similar foods require processing and packaging machinery that reliably seals a peelable, flexible lid to the rim of rigid plastic containers.

Optimizing processing for a particular production rate is not cost-effective without also ...

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Multi-layered heat sealed lidding for rigid food containers

Optimized tool designs and careful control of conduction-based direct contact constant heat sealing are not enough. Lidding materials, especially the heat seal layer, must be appropriate for the container and the food inside.

The right lidding material choices keep ready-to-use food safe and tasty

Rigid packaging lidding requires multiple laminated or coated ...

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Sealing this rigid packaging is more complex than one would think

Choosing the right lidding and rigid container materials is not enough. You also need optimized tool design and control to get consistent, high-quality seals.

Spend any time in a grocery dairy section, and you see a tremendous variety of dairy products and variations offered for sale in plastic ...

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An Unforeseen Global Crisis

2020 began just like any other year. People celebrated as they watched the ball drop in Times Square with delightful and thunderous cheers. They toasted, hugged, and set New Year’s resolutions.  The sweet and faint smells lingered from the poetic sounds of busy restaurants where families and friends gathered. But little did we know ...

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ISM CEO Becomes Titan100 Recipient

Outstanding leadership isn’t easy to come by. It seems that only a small percentage of CEOs can continually grow a business while still earning the respect of their employees along the way. James Davis, ISM’s CEO and president, has managed to occupy that seat for 15 years since purchasing the company in 2006. He’s led by example, which has allowed ISM to thrive as a global distributor.

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