Inflatable seals play an important—albeit often unrecognized—role in the medical industry through sterilizers. Veterinary, dental and pharmaceutical offices use sterilizers every day to keep their patients safe. Autoclave door seals keep out dust and biological materials that would contaminate your chamber’s load.

These inflatable door seals are positioned within a groove on the inside part of the door along the door’s mouth. It acts as a seal between the closed door and the wall around the sterilizer’s chamber where the medical instruments are sterilized. The rubber is resistant to the high temperatures the sterilizer needs to produce to work effectively while still keeping its custom inflatable shapes.

The rubber seal materials used to manufacture these seals can vary (EPDM, Silicone, Nitrile). Each one has its own advantages in performance and durability.  At Seal Master, we work with each customer to determine what material will perform the best based on their given environmental and appliance circumstances including material temperature range.

For most tabletop sterilizers, the steam and heat resistant seal is a circular ring that produces a pneumatic seal around the door while sterilizing the chamber’s contents.  This strong seal minimizes cycle failures for a more efficient sterilization process.

Once the pressure switch senses that that there isn’t pressure inside the chamber, it deflates the door seal and it returns to its original size and shape. After each cycle it’s a good idea to keep the area tidy. In addition, be sure to follow the sterilizers cleaning and maintenance instructions to ensure your autoclave performs at its best.

For 40 years Seal Master has manufactured inflatable door seals and inflatable seal replacements for the top sterilizer companies in the world, and we’re ready to do the same for you. Our longevity in the industry speaks to our design history with sterilizers as well as the performance and durability of our product. Unlike our competitors, our design process is 100% custom so our customers get exactly what they need no matter how unique the application.

The door is the most important part of an autoclave or any other sterilizer, so it’s important to work with a rubber products manufacturer that can get the job done right and on time.

Please fill out our RFQ page with your custom rubber seals’ requirements so that our expert rubber seals engineers can assist you.