Case Studies

  • ETC (Thawing Heaters)

    category :

    • Infrastructure

    On highways that have recently become toll roads, vehicle detectors have been installed to detect passing vehicles and do automatic billing. So, what happens when snow piles up on the detectors? The infrared beam emitted by the detector is obstructed, and the detector does not function properly.

    The thawing heaters used on these detectors use silicone rubber heaters, which have been selected considering a variety of conditions. However, one of our customers told us that they wanted the detector assembled onto a metal plate before we delivered it to them.

    The issue at hand: what should the external specifications for this metal plate be? For example, if the required specs were to have two or more tiny pinholes less than 0.02" in size on a 65 sq. in. plate, it wouldn't work. Since the Quality Control Department and Engineering Department at Kawai Corporation have been working together to precisely and clearly decide on the specs for the external inspection and have kept in close contact with the plate manufacturer, there have been zero complaints regarding the product exterior.

    It was also necessary to completely equip the unit against water submersion and short circuits due to rain and wind, considering the severe outdoor environments in which it would be used. The basic idea was to cover the heater with a plate and then join the gaps; but this wouldn't be enough to prevent from water submersion. We delivered the product by working up some ideas for the rubber sheet material and the method of installation, in order to raise the safety specs in regard to water.

    Although this was the first product with plate and assembly to have such strict control specifications, considering that we have had zero complaints after several years of business with this customer, we can say that this proves how high Kawai Corporation's product control specifications really are.

    Products ：

  • Gas Stations (Cold-Weather Specs)

    category :

    • Infrastructure

    Cold-weather environments are the environments in which Kawai Corporation products are valued the most. For instance, the currency detectors used outdoors in gas stations can malfunction if it is too cold. When this happens, our customers call on us for help.

    In this case, it's necessary to select a heater that can fit in the limited space available inside the currency detector device. For this application, we selected a planar heater and a silicone rubber heater. The heater also needed a control to turn on at 32ºF (0ºC) for use in cold-weather environments. For this purpose, we attached a thermostat that turns on at 32ºF (0ºC). We also proposed drip-proofing the silicone rubber heater since it would be used outdoors, which extended its lifespan.

    Installing this heater solved the frequent problems experienced by gas stations who faced non-payment from customers (undoubtedly stressed out when the currency machine was malfunctioning), not to mention manufacturer repairs.

    Products ：

  • Highway Cameras (Defrosters)

    category :

    • Infrastructure

    In the area of infrastructure, Kawai Corporation's heaters are used inside of cameras that monitor traffic on the roadways. Snow often covers the camera housing in cold-weather climates, which has an adverse effect on the camera image.

    We received a request to deal with this kind of problem. This request came from the police authorities who administer the roadways.

    Since the cameras are used outdoors and need to be waterproof, a silicone-molded heater was selected rather than the usual rubber heater. Silicone-molded heaters are produced using molds, but the dimensional requirements on the completed product were strict. When the product was created using a silicone mold, the silicone would shrink, and the finished product would end up smaller than the intended dimensions. By performing multiple tests and carefully recording data on the silicone shrinkage, we were able to achieve the dimensions required by our customer.

    Strictly satisfying a rigid set of dimensions, even with a specially-manufactured product... that's what our heaters at Kawai Corporation are all about.

    Products ：