TTE 2018 - Tire technologies on show

Selection of information from exhibitors offers a flavour of the technologies that will be on display at the Tire Technology Expo at the Deutsche Messe in Hanover, Germany on 20-22 Feb.

Aquajet Ltd

Aquajet Ltd will present a range of fine rubber powders produced from end-of-life truck tires – via the company’s pioneering waterjet milling technology process. Instead of conventional shredding and mechanical grinding of tires, the process uses an ultra-high-pressure water jet to extract and simultaneously mill the rubber parts. This leaves tire reinforcement materials intact and yields 50- to 400-micron rubber powders free of surface degradation.

Beumer Group

At TTE, Beumer will present an automated tire-handling system, designed to offer higher throughput with less equipment. By automating the handling of green tires, the ‘tire tray system’ is said to “virtually eliminate” the risk of tires being damaged or deformed during the build and finishing processes. The design combines transportation, sortation and storage of green tires in a single system. Each tire is loaded into an individual-controlled tray as it leaves the tire building machine for storage or transportation direct to the curing press while remaining in the same tray. This avoids any need to grip, lift or reposition the tire.

Continental

The company will highlight its recently expanded range of bladders for manufacturing ultra-high performance tires. These can be ordered to fit all common press types with foot diameters to meet any clamp design criteria. These include curing lines with state-of-the-art technology in bladder contour, compound and surface treatment to provide products that fit the low-profile shape of UHP tires. Experts will explain Conti ‘s use of FEM techniques to create a curing bladder profile that is optimised to match the relatively square shoulder contour of a UHP tire. This minimises the problem of air trapped between the tire and the curing bladder during the initial shaping of the tire in the curing press.

HF TireTech

At TTE, HF TireTech will showcase its development of a tire building machine to meet market demands for larger sizes, smaller batches and enhanced quality. Labelled PLT2-SD-Flex, the TBM features a flexible drum concept, which is said to facilitate diversified production of highly complex tires. With just a tool-change, the machine can build all tire constructions currently on the market, in a flat or high-crown building process, according to HF. "Tire constructions, especially in the layer area, can be built ranging from a C-envelope to ply-down tires," the company said . These capabilities, it added, offer advantages in the sidewall area—which HF said is a critical part in determining tire-performance.  Read more

KraussMaffei Berstorff

KraussMaffei Berstorff will highlight its development of a system for processing scrap material generated during rubber extrusion processes at TTE. The CompoundRework system (CRS) 1000 is designed for ease-of-operation and is suitable for use with a wide range of different materials, said a company release. In most extrusion processes, residual materials remain in the extruder or in the extrusion head during compound or tool changes. This can be difficult to recycle fully back into the production process. “The CRS 1000 processes large-volume rubber residues removed from the flow channels as well as start-up scrap converting the material into sheets or strips with a thickness of 8 mm,” said Joachim Brodmann, key account manager at KraussMaffei Berstorff. This, he added, means that 100% of the residual material can be returned to the production process.

LMI

LMI will debut two smart sensor models in Hanover. The Gocator 2430 and 2440 are designed for high-speed, high-sensitivity 3D inspection. They use a new-generation two-megapixel imager that delivers high-resolution profiles at 5kHz – making them suitable for high-speed scanning of areas such as tread/sidewall and rubber extrusions. The enhanced sensitivity of the sensors is said to generate cleaner profiles and better results on dark targets. The sensors can be networked to scan more of the target, so the user can accomplish more with fewer sensors while capturing fine surface and edge details.

Marangoni Meccanica

Marangoni Tyre Machinery will display a fully automated strip-winding systems that eliminate all handling by humans – from feeding to the extruder to winding onto the carcass. The company’s new ‘strip-shuttle’ feeds and transports laminated rubber-strip along the entire line. Marangoni has also developed features to improve productivity and flexibility when handling medium to small tire production batches. These include an extrusion outlet check and control system; calendering auto-feeding; and automatic rubber-strip pick up and transport to the application point on the tire carcass.

Metravib

The Metravib stand will spotlight the company’s latest concept for applying dynamic test methods to a rubber compound specimen under various shapes, dimensions and testing modes. The DMA+ series is designed to enable highly accurate measurement of a material’s viscoelastic properties and their dependence on strain, frequency, temperature. Metravib will also introduce Xpander, a new automated specimen handling system designed for the DMA+ series for compression, tension and shear tests.

Mondon SAS

French machinery manufacturer Mondon offers inline solutions for tire and rubber preparation, including let-off, maxi and mini slitters and fully automatic spooling lines for mini slitters or cap strip lines. At TTE, Mondon will introduce its FSL tapes and bands inline slitter to rewind narrow strips in line with the roller head. This inline slitter rewinder features its own liner unwinder, inserted via automatic changes. The design is claimed to represents a “perfect compromise” for rewinding rubber into narrow strips and/or a jumbo roll.

Rubreco Inc.

Rubreco returns to Hanover to highlight a new application for its its rubber devulcanization/regeneration technology. The company will also provide details of a new business relationship with Swiss company Avonisys, which specialises in engineering and mould micro-machining. The partnership aims to commercialise a new cleaning technology for removing rubber from clogged mould venting systems without requiring any disassembly or part replacement processes.

MonTech

MonTech GmbH will exhibit its online testing cell during TTE. Global advancements in smart factories and increasing demand for efficiency throughout the tire manufacturing process propelled the design of the online testing cell, Montech said. The firm said that the product link all the necessary MonTech testing instruments for batch release into a single, compact and modular enclosed frame that can be integrated directly into the mixing line. In doing so, the online testing cell automatically receives slab samples for testing, and its internal robotics prepare the sample, label, bin and position each specimen on the integrated moving die rheometers, rubber process analyzers, and bulk density testers.

Münch Chemie

Release agent and processing aid maker Münch Chemie will present a new water-based semi-permanent inside-tire paint that allows for multiple curings, accelerating processing performance by 20%. The IP-1621 water-based semi-permanent system is said to reduce costs for tire manufacturers by allowing numerous, consecutive curings.

Spoolex

Spoolex Group is a global supplier of slitter rewinders and spoolers for passenger car, light truck or high-speed tires manufacturing plants worldwide. The company has developed and patented a fully automated solution for in-line centre driven turret winder for narrow webs (slitting 700 mm into 30/40 mm strips). The fully automated winding section, to be inserted into a gum tape extrusion line, is said to offer versatility combined with easy handling and optimised productivity. This system comprises a plastics liner cantilever dual unwinder with liner guiding/positioning system and automatic splicing device for continuous liner feeding.

Uth GmbH

Rubber processing machinery manufacturer Uth will highlight its recent investment in the construction of an assembly hall at its base in Fulda in the centre of Germany. The project was in response to increasing customer demand, including for the company’s newly developed two-roll plasticiser for preparing rubber compounds. The expanded facility has been designed to enable flexible machine manufacturing, with enhanced ergonomics, sustainability and energy efficiency.

Wikov

Wikov will present additions to its planetary gearbox range, which are designed to save space, weight and costs in mixing, during rubber and tire production. Having launched planetary gearbox with flexible-pin technology for heavy-duty compounding in 2014, Wilkov has developed new models for use across mixing applications. These include the modular Orbi-fleX planetary gearbox series, which extends the usage of planetary gear units to further applications in the rubber industry.