Kadant : The History of the Expansion Joint at Kadant Unaflex

• Expansion Joints
• Fluid Handling

The History of the Expansion Joint at Kadant Unaflex

ByJason Pruitt October 27, 2020

Kadant Unaflex, much like many of the other Kadant brands, has deep family roots. Unaflex was founded by father and son Horace D. White and Howard D. White in 1972 manufacturing rubber spool. Ted White joined with his father and brother a few years later bringing a customer-oriented engineering background to the company.

As manufacturing developed in the late 1800s, cities began laying pipe to provide water for fire protection, drinking, and waste removal. Coal-fired plants provided the pumping power for these early water systems. The founders of what was to become ADSCO (American District Steam Company) developed a system to use the steam from these coal plants to heat nearby buildings. Fluid transfer at ambient temperatures causes little stress to a rigid pipe system. However, when you introduce steam to the pipes the metal expands, and forces exerted on the pipes cause damage. At that time, ADSCO developed a solution for this in what is known as a slip style expansion joint to allow for axial movements in the pipe. Later developments in expansions joints would come including non-metallic solutions.

A patent was submitted by Clifford A. Fraley while working with Revere Rubber Company of Chelsea, Mass. This patent was for a rubber expansion joint using metal rings for body reinforcement. The development of the rubber expansion joint brings us to the United States Rubber Company, who would later be known as Uniroyal. Uniroyal of Passaic, N.J. is a key figure in the growth of Unaflex. In 1977, Uniroyal sold its Passaic facility to Tuck Industries discontinuing its rubber expansion joint production in the area. With newly unemployed skilled labor available, Unaflex hired many of these workers and started to produce spool type rubber expansion joints. The new workforce were experienced craftsmen and allowed Unaflex to quickly produce expansion joints equal to the quality Uniroyal had produced. The spool type expansion joint or what is known today as the Style 150 and Style 200 are industry workhorses and known worldwide. A long-time trait of Unaflex was prompt delivery and excellent customer service.

Professional affiliations with companies such as Anaconda Metal Hose and Flex Flow Engineering led to the development of the metal bellows expansion joint and fabric expansion joint divisions. Each of these divisions offer products for applications outside the boundaries of rubber expansion joints.

Later introduced were the PTFE and PTFE-lined expansion joints to help chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturers with chemical erosion problems. Unaflex diversified its product portfolio and entered the PTFE expansion joint market. Some of the most successful products in Uanflex's PTFE division are the PTFE lined rubber and metal joints. These combined technologies offer the pressure and temperature features of the rubber or metal expansion joints with the added chemical resistance and non-stick properties of PTFE.

Throughout all these changes, Kadant Unaflex remains committed to what built the company; prompt deliveries and excellent customer service. Kadant Unaflex now offers a complete line of expansion joint solutions. Its custom hand-wrapped manufacturing method provides the flexibility to build expansion joints that many others cannot.