The live hingeThe live hinge on our clips is the thin area joining each of the male clips. It's very flexible and allows both sides to bend along the line of the hinge. The thickness of the hinge determines the stiffness of the hinge action and the hinge angle of 27° provides the flexibility to bend the P or L plate out from the number plate up to 45°. This is the maximum allowed under the regulations for displaying P and L plates.
Clipit On clips are manufactured using polypropylene in an injection molding operation that creates all three sections at the same time to create a single part. That thin section of the plastic allows the movement while maintaining excellent strength. These hinges have been known to flex more than a million cycles without failure. (read more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_hinge).
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Polypropylene (PP) strengthNumber 5 plastic is used to manufacture the clip because it's recyclable, very flexible and has great strength. Polypropylene is considered to be one of the best resins for live hinges due to its excellent fatigue resistance and tacticity.
The diagram above indicates short segments of polypropylene, showing examples of syndiotactic tacticity. (read more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypropylene) It's best to gently flex the hinge about 60 to 70 degrees a few times before installation. This will ensure a better flex life because the orientation of the polymer chain (diagram above) is what gives the hinge its strength. |
