Tread plates -- those textured metal finishes that enable you to keep your footing on slick metal surfaces -- are typically employed on carbon steels or aluminum. Now, however, Rimex Metals offers a treadplate finish for virtually any metal, including stainless steel. Known as TreadTex, it enables OEMs to apply the finishes in applications where they might not have previously considered them. In food processing machinery, for example, TreadTex opens up new possibilities for designers. "Carbon steel and aluminum are too dirty for many food processing applications," notes Tim Childs of Rimex. "But stainless steel is more resistant to corrosion. It's also cleaner and is approved by food sanitation authorities. So designers of food processing machinery now have the option of incorporating a treadplate, where they might not have before."

Other applications include oil rigs, refrigeration systems, walk-in coolers, rail cars, buses and trucks.

Up to now, Childs says, treadplate patterns have been limited, not only in material type, but in thicknesses, as well. In contrast, the TreadTex pattern can be manufactured in sizes ranging from 12 to 26 gauge in stainless steel, and in thicknesses ranging from 0.025 to 0.125 inch in aluminum. "We'll roll it in any gauge on any metal," he says.

Company officials say there is no minimum order requirement.

Additional Details...Linda Metz, Rimex Metals, Inc., 2850 Woodbridge Ave., Tel: (732) 549-3800; FAX: (732) 549-6435; website: http://rimexmetals.com