MIKA-Vent rubberless aerosol valve

MIKA-Vent is a specially developed valve for two-component aerosol systems, part of our MIKA product line. PU foam is used in most households, still conventional PU foam bottles are poorly designed, resulting in a very short shelf-life of the product. Developing a complex solution that solves all issues regarding PU foam bottles took Mikropakk 2 years. Now we are proud to have patented both solutions.

The Challenge

Valves of two-component aerosol systems easily jam and harden due to frequent sealing problems. Sealing problems can cause the content of the bottle to harden – even after the first use. If the bottle is not stored appropriately, it might even happen before using the product for the first time. Should the rubber valve get stuck and lose its flexibility, the product becomes completely useless.

Becoming entirely useless not only generates a lot of excess waste, but also discourages users from choosing the product repeatedly.

This issue is a great example of the fact that in some cases very small components might play a major role in usability of the product. Good design of small components might be crucial for the success of the product.

Our solution

We replaced rubber sealings in the valve with a special thermoplastic elastomer that assures proper sealing. This special TPE material has been developed in collaboration with the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.

An essential feature of the valve is that it can be used with both a dosing gun or an adaptor, which makes the manufacturing process also more efficient since we do not have to create and store two kinds of valves.

Our TPE solution is also more competitively priced than valves with traditional rubber seals.

MIKA-Vent and MIKA-Tech solutions have extended shelf life of PUR foams to 24 months from 9-12 months. Using these valves, bottles can be reused up to 8 weeks following the first activation.

Areas of application

There are several other industries that can utilise the technology behind MIKA-Vent such as pharmaceutics, cosmetics or the chemical industry.