Talon Technology adds that likely specialist applications will be found in consumer electronics, marine and medical equipment.
According to Talon Technology, the hinge has the strength, flexibility and durability of a material usually used in bulletproof jackets and the rigidity and corrosion resistance of carbon fibre. The resultant hinge system is said to be extremely light, ultra thin and very quiet.
At 1.6mm thick the hinge is thinner than almost any metal hinge can be, and it is much tougher and more reliable than a plastic ‘live’ hinge.
Geoff Germon, chief executive officer of Talon says: “The idea of a fabric hinge is actually quite old, what we have done is apply the latest in advanced materials and some clever fabrication techniques to create an OEM hinge option that will give designers a bridge to something new.”
Available in almost any size and length we anticipate the hinge being used in applications such as personal electronic devices and some medical applications where size and weight are often important design considerations.
The smallest hinge can take a static load in excess of 100 kg, and the company says that it has cycled the hinge through 500,000 cycles with no noticeable change in the performace of the Kevlar flex unit.
Volume production will commence in late 2014 at Yarnway Corporation’s facility in Xiamen, China.
