What does rubber mean?
We all know it and we come across it several times a day. But what is it exactly? The name comes from the English verb to rub. Rubber is in great demand as it can be used in many different situations. The entire world market for rubber is approximately 24 million tonnes. It is used, for example, in car tyres, shoe soles, boots, lifeboats, bicycle saddles and spark plug cables. But that is not all. You see it everywhere, perhaps without even realizing it.
Natural or synthetic
Natural rubber is made from latex. Latex is extracted from the Brazilian rubber tree. One third of the sap from the tree consists of rubber. The latex is filtered and diluted with water. The resulting product can be treated with acid. This causes the rubber particles to solidify. The resulting material is rolled out so that it can dry. Since the material is so abundant, demand exceeds supply. Since the rubber trees cannot produce the entire demand, alternatives were sought. These alternatives were found. Polymers are made from petroleum. These have the same properties as natural rubber. The non-natural alternatives are called synthetic.
Rubber at TRALERT®
In various products within the range of LED lights from TRALERT® you can find rubber. This is because the material has several advantages. One of the products where rubber is common are the LED Side marker lights. Side marker lights are intended to indicate the width of the vehicle. These lights are compulsory on some trailers. You can often find rubber in the housing of the position lamps. This is because the material is highly resistant to damage. This contributes enormously to the service life of the lamp. The material can also be found in the TRALERT® mounting rubbers.