Safety and comfort: two essential requirements of any personal protective equipment. The utmost attention to protection and wearability is definitely the Credo of ENHA, a leading German manufacturer of safety systems for head, face, hearing, and respiratory system.
ENHA GmbH is based and is producing in Nonnweiler, northern part of german Saarland, selling its products with the brand name ROCKMAN.
The lack of ergonomics, comfort and functionality is, in fact, the main reason why operators fail to wear equipment protecting health and safety at the workplace. To ensure the best functionality of helmet face shields, ENHA has designed a lifting mechanism entirely made of polymer, which combines maximum lightness, absence of jamming and smooth sliding even under a small force.
The material selected for the production of the lever actuating the opening of the face shield is LATILUB 66-10T Y/15, a sophisticated PA66-based self-lubricating compound. The special formulation of this material allows the reduction of the friction coefficient between two parts in relative motion due to the PTFE contribution to lubrication, thus making face shield lifting simple and easy.
The mechanism reliability over time is instead due to the aramid fiber powder dispersed in the polymer matrix. In fact, this additive allows to limit to a minimum the adhesive and abrasive wear, even the third body one, resulting from dust and impurities inevitably present in the workplace.
LATILUB 66-01M is another LATI self-lubricating compound based on PA66 and molybdenum disulfide included by ENHA in the same project for the manufacture of other parts of the lifting system requiring wear limitation. Of course, selected polymers should also meet other basic requirements, first of all mechanical strength of the entire item and dimensional stability of individual parts.
Self-lubricating materials are chosen to ensure continuous and reliable operation of elements such as sliding systems, shoes, gears, linkages, bushings, etc., because they allow the transmission of motion without external lubricants.
Fats and oils can, in fact, collect dirt and dust from the work environment, in addition to requiring ordinary and extraordinary maintenance, which are factors that involve a problematic and expensive management.
For further information please contact the technical service of LATI S.p.A.