Rubber Products and Moulding Basics

Moulded rubber turns up across this catalogue in forms that look unrelated: wheel chocks, cone bases, speed humps, flexible tubs and wheel tyres. They share the same reason for existing.

Rubber does two things plastic does not — it deforms and recovers, and it grips. Almost every product in this group exists because of one of those two properties.

Grip Is Why a Chock Works

A wheel chock holds a vehicle through mass and friction. Rubber's high coefficient of friction against wet concrete is what stops it sliding, and its mass is what stops the wheel climbing it.

A moulded plastic chock of the same shape weighs less and grips less, which is why it slides on a wet ramp. This is why chock specifications publish weight in kilograms — it is the performance figure.

Flex Is Why a Tub Survives

A rigid plastic bucket fails by cracking, usually in cold weather or when dropped full. A flexible rubber tub deforms and recovers instead.

That flex has a second benefit: frozen water or set material can be knocked out by flexing the tub, rather than chipped out of a rigid one. In a livestock yard in winter that is the whole argument.

Recovery Is Why Speed Humps Are Modular

A rubber speed hump absorbs repeated impact and returns to shape. Cast concrete cracks and cannot be moved; rubber sections can be unbolted, relaid and replaced individually.

Weight per metre is the published figure because mass is what resists movement under traffic. Heavier sections stay put under heavy vehicles; lighter sections suit car parks.

What to Ask When Compound Is Not Published

The source catalogue behind this site publishes sizes and weights for its rubber products but not compounds or hardness figures. That is common for this product class and it is not a reason to guess.

If your application needs it, ask for four things against the model number: the compound, the hardness in Shore A, the temperature range, and whether recycled content is used. A supplier who can answer those can also supply the documentation your market may require.

Where Rubber Is the Wrong Answer

Rubber is heavy for its volume, which makes it expensive to ship relative to its value, and it degrades under prolonged UV and ozone exposure unless the compound is chosen for it.

For dense products this weight is an advantage in container planning — rubber goods balance a load of bulky carts. For the product itself, it is a cost to be aware of.