Living Hinge

What is a living hinge?

Living hinges are the plastic profiles or connections between two parts, allowing them to move along the hinges. When living hinges are designed with due caution, they result in durable living hinge designs with millions of working cycles.

Petros living hinges are the thermoplastic hinges having a mixture of Polycarbonate, RPVC, Acrylic or PETG with polyester thermoplastic hinge membranes that are extruded together to form a coextruded composition. As these hinges are plastic hinges, they are lightweight as compared to metals, and they are less noisy and work smoothly. In comparison to “poly hinges,” our hinges are more durable and trustworthy. In comparison to “piano” type hinges, they are continuous and can help with water-tight seals.

Industry Leader in Living Hinges

Petro Extrusion is well known for its technological solutions and exceptional products. Our expertise in plastic extrusions has made us a leader in supplying high quality and durable products. That knowledge and expertise, which we put into all of our products, is especially true for our living hinges, a hinge that is made up of a single piece of highly flexible and resilient material coextruded with a rigid mounting or capturing configuration.

Materials Used for Plastic Living Hinges

For a variety of reasons, plastic living hinges are a wonderful alternative to steel hinges. Plastic, unlike steel and other metals, is non-corrosive, meaning it will not rust or break down. Plastic is a long-lasting material that requires little to no upkeep and will not squeak with time. It’s simple to assemble and less expensive than metal hinges.

Petro Extrusion’s Living Hinge has proven that it is a hinge that lasts and maintains its form and function far better than any other hinge on the market. To meet the demands of the living hinge market and provide excellent quality products for our customers, our hinges are made in a variety of materials, Acrylic, PETG, PVC and Polycarbonate, which makes for easy adhesion or fastening to multiple surfaces.

Petro Extrusion’s living hinges are available from stock in DR ACRYLIC and PETG depending on shape and size, and can be made in a variety of other thermoplastic materials on a custom basis.

Living Hinge Materials Include:

DR Acrylic

– is a strong, stiff, and visually clear transparent plastic. Acrylic sheet is simple to work with and adheres nicely to materials.

PETG

– or PET-G stands for polyethylene terephthalate glycol, which is a thermoplastic polyester with excellent chemical resilience, tenacity, and ductility.

PVC

– (Polyvinyl chloride) is a versatile synthetic polymer produced widely. It is a thermosetting plastic (change with thermoplastic) which means it can be re-heated without degradation.

Polycarbonate

– is simple to work with, mold, and thermoform. They are strong, impact resistant materials, and some grades are optically transparent.

Living Hinge Types Available for Design

The one-of-a-kind design of Petro Extrusion’s plastic living hinges helps the parts to be rotated 360° keeping their strength and durability maintained. This specific element makes them versatile for any application. Petros living hinges are thus employed in items that require a strong hinge.

Often, the two sections and the living hinge itself are fashioned from one continuous, molded piece of plastic. You can also purchase individual living hinges that can be attached to the two sections you’re attempting to connect using mechanical fixings.The single and continuous design of living hinges adds to their strength and endurance. Tested for over one million flexes, our living hinge has set the bar that all others fall short of. Even after being tested and stressed, Petro Extrusion’s living hinges return to their installed state, a key feature for many applications.

Petro Extrusion makes Flat, as well as DR Channel hinges explained below:

Flat Hinges:

Flat living hinges design consist of two solid strips joined by a thin, flexible hinge section. These hinge designs are usually made of Polyethylene terephthalate glycol, also called PETG flat design.

DR Channel Hinges:

DR Channel living hinges design has an orientation in the form of two c-type cross-sections linked with flexible hinge sections.

Petro’s Living Hinge Details & Custom Options:

Our Design Engineers at Petro Extrusion are waiting to take on the challenges offered by our customers. We can produce a hinge with double-sided adhesives, unique hole configurations, or custom lengths to strategically and exactly fit your application.

Size: Petro Extrusion stocks living hinges in flat versions as well as channel versions to fit 1/4” and 3/16” panels. Custom applications can also be made with quick turnaround.

Length: Available from stock in 6 ft. lengths. Custom lengths available.

Colors: Available on custom requests.

Contact us today for your custom application needs!

Living Hinge Applications:

Petro Extrusion’s Living Hinge is by far a proven hinge that lasts, with form and function, better than any other hinge on the market. Unlike the traditional hinge made of metal or plastic that has a limited range of movement, living hinges can be used for a wide array of applications from store displays to inclusion in automotive designs.

Petro Extrusions Living Hinge is the industry leader and standard for COVID-19, and health precaution uses.

• Sneeze guards
• Desk separators
• Dividers
• Face shields

Aware of the increasing demand, Petro has increased efforts substantially to meet this need. Our answer to the present crisis has set the industry standard by offering living hinges that have been engineered specifically for any set of conditions.

Having tremendous memory and durability, they have been effectively used in other applications including:

Carrying Cases:

Carrying cases made of plastic, such as soap containers or pencil boxes, also frequently use living hinges. Our hinges can make opening and closing carrying cases, cosmetic bags and easier and smoother to close.

Store Displays:

Often when adding larger signs at the point of sale plastic living hinges are recommended as they can be lifted up and out of the way, so that you can access the space or the shelf below the sign. These larger shelf price strips are great for liquor stores or wine shops that want to display wine shelf talkers featuring varietal information or at bakeries that want to show bread ingredients or recipes. They are also used at grocery stores, bookstores and gift shops.

Furthermore, our living hinges can be used to hang and display electronics, art, or other wall hangings.

Automotive Industry:

Automobile’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems use living hinges to allow flexible movement of doors, and thus the air passes through the ducts of HVAC systems.

Hinge baskets:

Picnic baskets contain plastic profiles or plastic hinges to connect their cover and the container. These living hinges allow the flexible movement of covers in baskets.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Products:

Plastic hinges have a wide application in PPE products, like the lid of a sanitizer bottle is connected to its lower part with a living hinge. Similarly, in offices, plastic shields or acrylic shields are installed as a divider inside a room to ensure social distancing in these acrylic shields, full-length PETG hinges are used.

As you discover the amazing flexibility and adaptability of living hinges, remember that Petro Extrusion is the one-stop source for all your living hinge needs. We are in business to serve you.

Advantages of Living Hinges:

The main advantages of living hinges are:

Applicability:

Living hinge designs make them flexible due to these features they are ideal for a wide range of commercial and industrial applications.

Durability:

Living hinges could be expected to last for the part’s entire lifespan into which they are employed if correct steps are followed during manufacturing and these plastic profiles are not subjected to damage due to natural conditions.

Cost-effective:

Living hinges are designed to be made as a single part, so they are less expensive to mass-produce as compared to conventional hinges that have a huge demand of various types of tooling, multiple components, and they are assembled manually. Only initial cost of mold will be high, but it will be compensated due to reduction in time and efforts in mass production.

Chemical resistance:

Living hinges are typically made of plastic called plastic hinges, so there is no chance of rust in plastic hinges as compared to traditional metal hinges.

Plastic living hinges are often preferred for use on outdoor utility cabinets, outdoor electrical enclosures, and outdoor telecom equipment cabinets because they do not corrode like stainless steel hinges.

Flexibility:

Living hinges designs make them flexible enough to offer 180 degrees to 360 degrees rotation.

This increased flexibility is ideal for components where the lid must rotate by 180 degrees or more and completely out of the way, such as electrical enclosure door hinges.

Friction:

As the living hinges are made up of a single part, so they have zero friction which makes them significantly better than the traditional hinges.