Dow Hyperlast Helps Identify Vacant Parking Bays at Heathrow Terminal 5

Birch Vale, UK- June 1, 2009

When Highlight Parking Ltd. conceived its signage system for displaying vacant parking bays to car drivers at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, they approached an engineering design company to create a suitable protective housing for the outdoor electronic sensor. The design company, being unfamiliar with the properties of polyurethane, discussed the project with Custom Moulded Polyurethanes Ltd.

Together they designed and produced a mould and prototype for the outdoor, floor-based sensor manufactured using HYPERLAST™ polyurethane elastomer.

The first production order for 300 sensor units was installed on the top deck of the Terminal5 car park and bonded to the polyurethane roof substrate.

Highlight Parking’s system updates car park information displays the moment a sensor detects that a vehicle has vacated a bay in order to direct drivers to the nearest space. While sensors are ceiling mounted on multi-storey decks, external bays require a ground-mounted wireless sensor that is durable and waterproof.

David Harrison, Managing Director of Highlight Parking Systems, commented: “The system saves the driver roaming round and round the car park looking for a space and so can reduce carbon emissions.”

Custom Moulded Polyurethanes of Lydney, Gloucestershire – a specialist in manufacturing a range of products from polyurethane – designed and produced the sensor’s protective case, which comprises three parts manufactured from Dow Hyperlast materials

• A soft and malleable polyurethane outer assembly, that allows compression from passing vehicles and returns to its original shape
• A two-part rigid and tough polyurethane inside section with no compression properties that can help to protect the sensor, radio transmitter and lithium batteries (which normally have a 5-year life). These are assembled around a stainless steel base plate.

Developed and supplied by Dow Hyperlast, HYPERLAST™ is a tough and durable elastomer that has excellent wear and tear properties. The HYPERLAST range of products can be applied by cast or spray and are suitable for manufacturing,
engineering, electrical, filter, mould-making, marine and other applications.

Phil Thorne of Custom Moulded Polyurethanes commented, “We could use other suppliers, but we find the technical and sales office support from Dow Hyperlast to be excellent. It’s important to have good suppliers if we are to have good customers.”

Highlight Parking’s system at Terminal 5 demonstrates HYPERLAST’s flexibility and suitability as a material for the manufacture of innovative products for high class applications.

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For Editorial Information:
Elise Heffelfinger
The Dow Chemical Company
+41 44 728 3269

Tony Watson
Watsonlook
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tonywatson@watsonlook.co.uk