TTE Preview: Ancillaries, testing & services

ERJ previews some of the leading-edge ancillaries, testing and service offerings lined up for the Tire Technology Expo 2019 trade fair and conference, taking place 5-7 March at the Deutsche Messe, Hanover, Germany:

Automation specialist Siemens will present its “digital enterprise” portfolio during TTE 2019. The range of solutions revolves around ‘digital twins’ of the tire, the production machines and plants – from the design stage to real-world operation.

Siemens’ simulation tools will enable manufacturers to develop and test machines virtually, reducing the need the need for prototypes and speed up time-to-maker. The company also offers simulation tools for the analysis of tire behaviours, including force, aerodynamics or acoustic.

Visitors looking to upgrade their plant’s slitting equipment will be interested in Calemard’s new fully automated solution to produce cap strips from a web of 1,600mm-width calendered textile. The machinery division of Spoolex will present this new technology at TTE, alongside its existing equipment.

Mondon will launch a new SLP-series slab slitter, which is designed for extruder feeding strips. The machine slices slabs collected on pallets into strips to be packed into containers or boxes. The strips are packed separately so that they can be connected at the extruder entry for a continuous feed.

Afache will present a splice checker designed to ensure structural stability and uniformity of tires by detecting open splices, overlaps, dog ears and other imperfections on all tire components, including belt, tread, carcasses and preassemblies. The company claims an accuracy of ±0.6mm.

Schubert & Salzer will highlight its sliding gate valves, claimed to allow a seven-fold improvement on the service life of globe control valves, The devices are also said to offer high control accuracy, allowing for shorter press cycle times in tire curing presses.

At TTE, Continental will present its new line of C-Bladders, designed for enhanced transition from crown to neck – allowing smoother moulding of the bladder into the green tire. An enhanced gauge in high-stress areas is said to prolong the service life of the bladder by up to 20%.

Cold Jet will present a new dry ice cleaning solution. The automated, intelligent system solution is said to clean moulds thoroughly, including blades, bridges, vents, sidewalls and lettering, removing any residual flash.

Saurer will present a number of improvements to its Allma CableCorder product range of tire cord cabling machines. One of the headline improvements is Saurer’s adaptation of the spindle pot to conserve energy.

On the Global Center for Automotive Performance Simulation stand the focus will be on its installation of a new static fixture at its National Tire Research Center in Virginia. It expands the capabilities for lateral and longitudinal stiffness measurements, which are critical for accurate tire models.

PRL and Coesfeld will introduce new instruments designed to enable laboratory tests of rubber to more accurately reflect real-world conditions and use. These will include a set-up to characterise the local heat build-up process, using multi-axial measuring techniques instead of programmable load cycles.

MicroPoise will introduce its in-line modular tire measurement system, MTMS FX which combines tire uniformity, dynamic balance measurement and geometry inspection into a single process. This is designed to provide customers with a large number of tire test results and functions, including for force variation, dynamic imbalance and tire geometry checks.

/ more to follow...