Nishikawa to make TPV seals for Japanese market

TOKYO, Japan (Oct. 2)—Nishikawa Rubber Co. Ltd., which up until now has had only a development license for Trexel Inc.´s MuCell thermoplastic vulcanizate foaming process, plans to utilize the process for commercial production of vehicle weatherstrips in its home market, said Trexel President David Bernstein. With the MuCell technology Nishikawa is able to meet water absorption, compression set and kink resistance performance requirements, and therefore, able to replace sponge rubber and water-foamed TPV seals, said Toshinari Tennosh, Nishikawa chief of research and. Nishikawa did not say what model year it will target for the new foamed TPV seals or what it will invest to install processing lines.