Hot Air Welding for Inflatables

Hot Air Welding for Inflatables

Making inflatable products is a complicated process. To be profitable, companies need efficient construction methods. Airtight and watertight seams are needed for product durability and longevity.

The inflatable industry is a growing market, but the curved nature and large size of these products often make production labor-intensive and difficult.

Important considerations for inflatables：

Inflatable products include white-water rafts, military attack boats, airplane escape chutes and inflatable bounce houses and tents.

With three-dimensional products that need to withstand high impact and high abrasion, it’s important to consider fabric choice and seam strength. The three main fabrics used for inflatables are drop stitch (sometimes called double wall), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and heavy-coated PVC.

To make inflatables with these materials, hot air welding produces seams with optimum strength. It also often means labor savings and more consistent product.

Hot air welding：

Hot air welding is a significant improvement over glue, both in terms of product durability and efficient manufacturing. Glue can reactivate in certain environments, while hot air welding has proven effective and has been tested for more than 20 years. 

Hot air welding also offers significant reduction in production time over glue.

Think of a hot air welder as a sewing machine that uses hot air to meld fabrics rather than thread. Various seams are possible using a hot air welder – overlapped, overlap with cover strips (or two cover strips) and butt seams.