A Pillow for the Masses

AC Worx Orthopedic, LLC of Crookston, Minnesota was recently developing a concept for an orthopedic pillow based on a design by a surgeon intended to alleviate pain for spinal cord injury patients. The unique design had been rendered using CAD software and a 3-D model was then created in EPS rigid foam. AC Worx reached out to Smooth-On for material ideas to take them to the next step in the prototyping process. Before they could make a mold of the EPS foam model, it needed to be sealed. Epsilon® brushable epoxy coating was used to seal and protect the fragile EPS model. Epsilon® is easy to measure, mix and apply. Two layers provide a durable coating that, when fully cured, is easy to paint. Epsilon® is also color neutral and easy to pigment with SO-Strong® color tints. Once the EPS was hard coated with Epsilon®, rubber molds were made with Mold Max® 25 silicone rubber. Prototype pillows were then made using FlexFoam-iT!® 6 and FlexFoam-iT!® VIII Pillow Soft flexible foams.