SweetskinZ aims for new product ranges
Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania -- A small US company called SweetskinZ aims to revolutionise the image of the international tyre and rubber industry.
The picture above is a real tyre, not a mock-up or simulation. It is made by adding a sheet of screen-printed rubber material around the green tyre, prior to curing. The sheet is typically 1mm or less thick and is formulated to the same compound -- or a compatible one -- as the green tyre. The process adds roughly $10 per tyre to the manufacturing process, but this cost is likely to reduce significantly as volumes increase and companies gain experience at using the process.
Up to now, said Vic Rollins, sales director of SweetskinZ, the company has focussed on the tyre industry, but the process can easily be adapted to any rubber component. He said some sports shoe companies were interested in adding custom designs to their shoe soles.
Currently, SweetskinZ uses strips of the pre-printed rubber to change the appearance of bicycle tyres, but the company now aims to take the technology to larger tyres. Rollins told ERJ that the technology can be used to customise high-end car tyres either for OE or retail sales, or even to apply a corporate logo to all the vehicles on a distribution fleet for a well-known consumer brand, for example. He said tyre theft is also an issue, and the system could be used to make tyres so distinctive that theft is less easy.
Rollins said SweetskinZ key technology is the selection of inks which can withstand the temperatures and pressures within the curing press, yet still emerge bright and faithful enough for colour reproduction.
Rollins said the company is working with a number of tyre makers, and is willing either to make the sheet inserts for supply to the customer, or to licence its technology, allowing the customer to make its own insert sheets.
The next issue of ERJ will carry more details on this revolutionary process.
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Website of SweetskinZ
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