Keeping Them Rolling

[Music] [Music] tires heavy duty Offroad tires the product of nearly a century of technical development today's mining industry for example couldn't exist without them but in some environments air as an inflation medium has serious [Music] disadvantages it was punctured problems on Industrial Vehicles operating in hazardous environments like this one that first attracted the attention of urethane chemists it seemed reasonable that such tires could be protected from punctures if they could be inflated with liquid Under Pressure a liquid that would turn into a soft resilient rubber which would tension the cords and distribute the load as air does even if the tire were punctured or cut by sharp debris the rubber could never leak out of the tire but the rubber must not be as stiff as a tire tread for example or it would transfer shock loads from Road bumps directly into the wheel what was needed was a very soft resilient elastomer that could flex and stretch inside the tire to redistribute load like air it took more than a decade of polymer research to achieve the optimum in elastomeric tire flat proofing a product of This research has been named Wing fill when cured Wing fill materials become a very soft 25 gometer rubber having high resilience and elasticity when reacted Wing fill is not a foam but rather an plastomer that retains its remarkable flexibility even at 40° below zero the chemical process for Wing fill materials is designed to be utilized in uncomplicated relatively lowcost equipment two reactive liquid components are mixed together in equal quantities a tire filling machine provides more thorough mixing of [Music] course the reactive mixture gels in a short time and cures at 72° in 48 hours Optimum mechanical properties are achieved after a few days the tire filling process is designed to control the uniformity and reliability of the finished product Wing fill reactive polymer and Catalyst components are pumped at equal volume rates from a pair of drums through a static mixer before filling the tire a quality control sample is drawn to verify that the equipment is properly blending and proportioning the two liquids the tire is filled through the tire valve which is usually oriented in a 10:00 or 2: position on the rim to facilitate a smooth flow of the reactive liquid stream into the Tire because the tire is filled Under Pressure the operation is carried out in a safety cage the pumps are started and the filling process begins as pressure begins to build up in the tire a needle is inserted at the top to bleed off the air when liquid Wing fill material begins to emerge the hole is sealed and the screw later removed as a final step in the process the tire is accurately pressurized for its rated load at 72° the liquid elastomer cures up to a soft springy rubber that may be placed into service after 2 days the process becomes easier to visualize if we make the hoses transparent Wing Fill A and B pre-polymer components are pumped directly from their drums as received to a static mixer emerging from the mix head the reactive Wing fill mixture is pumped Under Pressure into the tire since it is maintained at the proper pressure for its rated load throughout the filling process the tire is actually inflated by the liquid the stretched cords Pantagraph assuming the same cord angle they would exhibit if the tire were pressurized with air the pressurized tire is disconnected from the filling equipment for its 48-hour cure after a tire is filled and before any gelation takes place in the hoses a simple solvent flush clears the system of any mixed reactor active polymer one of the keys to Wing fill materials reliable performance is rigorous quality control physical and chemical properties are checked on incoming feed stocks chemical application properties as well as cured properties of the Blended components are also verified and must conform to exact standards prior to shipment viscosity specific gravity reactivity and water content are among the laboratory tests conducted Tire testing confirms the performance of heavy duty tires filled with wing fill ride rolling resistance and internal heat buildup at rated load are some of the engineering properties evaluated Wing fill flat proofing materials perform well at both ends of the temperature Spectrum running at rated load for 2 hours at 55 mph or at 35 mph continuously the interior of over the road tires will not overheat at the other end of the thermometer scale after 22 hours in a cold room at 20° below zero it is impossible to start the truck's engine and it has to be towed out of the Deep Freeze but when pushed over these 2x4 bumps the Subzero tires have obviously retained their flexibility the cured polymer doesn't freeze even at 50 [Music] below so you're actually going to put a bullet right through that tire but I'm going to shoot the D out a Good Year and have the shell come out through the tread sounds good to me and finally these flat proofed tires are subjected to a test series completely beyond the expected Call of Duty for any pneumatic tire [Music] [Music] after a bullet has passed through this tire it is actually difficult to find the resulting wound that little blemish in the center of the picture and this one just above the D the flexible structure of the tire and the flexible filling medium actually snap shut around the bullet's path after it passes through the tire after a total of five 30 caliber bullets have been shot through its right front tire the test vehicle has no difficulty negotiating in traffic [Music] and so when tires are called on to operate dependably in a hazardous environment scrapyards for example often paved with sharp metal [Music] debris our landfill where tires can be expected to run over literally anything Wing fill has earned a place for [Music] itself and not just in the landfill itself collecting the trash and delivering it to the compactor often presents some of the same hazards to tires flat proofing with wing fill materials can keep street sweepers operating on schedule even though gutters are a natural collector for broken glass and sharp debris mowing machines and Materials Handling vehicles in heavy industry now profit from Flat proofings insurance against downtime punctures in situations where a schedule cannot be interrupted short run emergency vehicles for obvious example a delay due to a flat tire is intolerable interair driverless people movers at international airports are another example this one at Dallas Fort Worth is kept rolling with flat prooof tires as are the baggage transfer carts at most major airports where a scheduled Interruption can produce logistical [Music] chaos the floats in New Orleans marra parade are also protected by flat prooof [Music] tires trams for visitor tours often have a carefully programmed some times even choreographed life of their own for the visitors at these very special places entirely aside from the host company's logistical problems of processing its steady stream of guests a breakdown due to a flat tire could spoil a whole day of vacation for families who have traveled literally thousands of miles for this unique experience Universal Studios For example has all of its tram tires flat proofed to make sure they keep rolling on schedule [Music] [Music] [Music] this famous Disneyland monal can never be delayed by a flat tire since its pneumatic tires are flat proofed for farm tractors polymer filling presents many advantages over traditional calcium chloride fill in addition to Flat proofing perhaps more than in any other application the mining industry illustrates that flat proofing is not just a matter of convenience it is indeed a matter of economics [Music] here both above ground and down below when a piece of equipment is Idle due to a flat tire costs Mount up at an alarming rate downtime is measured in hours during which the operator continues to be paid in addition to the workers who must demount and repair the tire but the really big cost of downtime is the literally thousands of tons of ore production which is forever lost in such a 7-Day operation [Music] this is why a single flat in the life of a tire can cost significantly more than the price of flat proofing with wing fill moreover the same flat prooof tire can be retreaded and used again and again as long as tires must operate in hazardous environments Goode's Wing fill materials will provide the flat proofing necessary to keep them rolling come [Music]