What Are Grommets and How Are They Used?
Grommets are a form of hardware component that may be found in countless everyday applications, present on jeans, boots, computers, cable housings, and much more. Commonly referred to as eyelets, grommets are simply pieces of material that can be placed within a precut hole. While fairly straightforward in design, grommets play a beneficial role in many applications, making it useful for one to have a basic understanding of what they are and how they might be used in various applications.
While grommets may vary based on the application in question, most come in the form of thin, small, and ring-shaped pieces. With flared sides, grommets can be securely placed in a precut hole so that the piece does not move around or fall out. Despite some featuring straight sides, the flared design is the most prevalent across applications, and when it comes to the material of choice for construction, common options include plastic, rubber, aluminum, steel, or copper.
While similar in appearance to O-rings, grommets do not perform any type of sealing role for connections. Instead, they are often used to provide a passage for a cable or object while ensuring protection from damage. For example, metal assemblies and equipment will regularly have holes cut into surfaces for routing an electrical cable or wire, and the grommet ensures that this passage is provided while guarding sheathing from being worn by jagged edges. This is very common in cable housing structures where soft materials like rubber or plastic are used within the grommets to prevent any potential damage.
In computer systems, grommets may be found alongside hard-disk drives, specifically allowing such storage devices to be mounted in an assembly while ensuring protection from vibrations. As hard-disk drives rely on mechanical, moving parts for their functions, the use of grommets will decrease the chance of premature failure. While this is very important for hard-disk drives, solid-state drives do not need the same level of protection as a result of their lack of moving elements.
As stated before, grommets are also commonly found on clothing like shoes, boots, and pants. For footwear, grommets play a similar role as they do in electrical assemblies, allowing shoelaces to be passed through holes without causing fabrics or materials to become frayed or damaged. On the other hand, grommets for pants and other clothing types may simply serve an aesthetic role instead of providing functionality or protection.
Beyond their protective and aesthetic roles, grommets may also simply be used to reinforce holes that are present on leather, cloth, canvas, or other fabrics. To set grommets, a simple punching tool may be used, though electronic, pneumatic, and gas-powered machines are also common for more intensive applications. If you find yourself in need of grommets or the various tools that can be used alongside them, look no further than NSN Axis and our unrivaled inventory of items.
Here on our website, we present customers access to a diverse database containing over 2 billion new, used, obsolete, and hard-to-find parts that trace back to leading manufacturers that we trust. As you explore our various catalogs and listings, be sure to take note of any items of interest so that you may request quotes for your comparisons with our online RFQ forms. Once we have a chance to receive and review a completed request, a member of our staff will personally reach out to you in 15 minutes or less to present a customized solution for your comparisons. If you have any questions or concerns regarding our services or offerings, give us a call or email at your earliest convenience, and we would be more than happy to assist you however we can as your strategic sourcing partner!
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