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A low-temperature, high-torque mixing process developed at Yokohama raises efficiency and quality in producing rubber compound for tires. The method of mixing rubber with carbon black and other raw materials affects the characteristics of the resultant rubber compound and thus affects the durability and wear resistance of tires. Durability and wear resistance are overriding considerations in truck and bus tires, and our new mixing technology is especially promising in that product category.
Our new technology is notable for permitting mixing at low temperatures. Traditional mixing takes place at high temperatures in fixed-speed mixers, but heat can cause the deterioration of rubber quality. We employ a variable-speed mixer in our new process. Our mixer helps prevent the temperature of the rubber from rising and therefore helps maintain the integrity of the compound. The molecular weight is even throughout the compound, and the polymer chains are extremely long. The dispersion of the carbon chains is also even.
In truck and bus tires, our new mixing process results in an improvement of 10% to 15% in resistance to chipping and an improvement of 5% to 10% in resistance to wear. The new technology also reduces lead time greatly—some 90%—in mixing and therefore shrinks inventories of work in process. Heat builds up rapidly in traditional mixing and requires repeated interruption of the mixing process to let the compound cool. Our low-temperature mixing allows for conducting the mixing swiftly in a single, uninterrupted process. |
