Retreading tyre cost-efficiently

 A Goodyear innovation designed to extend the life of truck tyre retread cushion without sacrificing quality and performance has been named “Tyre Manufacturing Innovation of the Year” by Tyre Technology International in February. The Retread Multi-Piece Cushion technology was awarded by an independent, international jury of tyre professionals, engineers, and academic scholars.

The recognition was welcomed by Goodyear as the company has been in the forefront of tyre retreading technology. “Goodyear is focused on delivering market-driven innovation to our customers and consumers around the world,” said Jean- Claude Kihn, chief technical officer for The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. “We are honoured to once again be recognised by Tyre Technology International for the innovative Multi-Piece Cushion technology, which will be highly valued by our customers.”

The only product of its kind in the tyre industry, Goodyear’s Multi-Piece Cushion contains three distinct layers, according to Jay Hofner, General Manager, Retread, for Goodyear’s North American Tyre business. “One of these layers is a barrier extending the product’s shelf life,” said Mr. Hofner. “This is a big advantage for Goodyear Authorised Retreaders.”

Cutting-edge technology

Cushion is a main constituent in retreading a commercial truck tyre. However, cushion is a homogeneous product that has a short shelf life and is temperature sensitive. Moreover, the basic physics of the material limit the types of chemicals that can be used for the material. To overcome these hurdles, Goodyear developed a multilayered, concentric extrusion process to allow this cushion to be redefined in how it is introduced into dealers’ retread manufacturing processes.

The Multi-Piece Cushion’s other layers consist of carefully-selected ingredients that, when mixed together, complete the curing package. In the process, the cushion is extruded into a single rope with three concentric circular layers, each with its own function in the overall chemistry of the product. The rope is then fed into a small cold-feed extruder that applies the cushion to the buffed casing. The extruder provides sufficient mixing of the layers to reconstitute the cushion into the homogeneous material required to bond the precured tread to the casing. The concentric rings keep the proportion of the layers in the proper ratio, regardless of any stretching or distortion. Disruptions to the feeding of the cold feed extruder do not result in an imbalance of compound proportions.

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