WITH the objective of supporting low rolling resistant tyres, KraussMaffei Berstorff has extended its Multiplex extrusion line tyre components by adding the new QuintoPlex line with five extruders. Tyre producers can thus, include additional conductive compounds or other components into the tread.
The new QuintoPlex line is suited for combining up to five tyre components of different compounds – cap, base, wing, cushion and chimney – to one tread in a single working cycle. Depending on process requirements, the line can be equipped with cold-fed extruders featuring screw diameters of 45 to 250 mm.
Its new extrusion line is the result of further development of its QuadroPlex extrusion heads, which has been optimised to place the thermally decoupled fifth extruder in the centre head. The special design of the short flow channels within the extrusion head is an additional benefit of the new concept. The material can thus be transferred from the round diameter in the screw area to the flat rectangular profile shape without being subjected to extreme deflection.
In addition to the reduced space requirements, there is easy machine access for operators. In particular, with compounds for asymmetric low rolling resistance tyres, the discharge position of the conductive compound on the tread can be freely varied using special inserts.
Many tyre producers provide their treads with a conductive bar – the so-called chimney – to improve the electrostatic discharge properties of treads with high silica content. The chimney ensures that electrostatic charges are discharged to the road
The company says it has sold several five-extruder Multiplex lines since its recent launch.