Save fuel and CO2: This machine regrooves car tyres

Studies by Michelin and Continental show: Regrooving a tyre can save up to 0.5 litres of fuel per 100 km. This saving is particularly noticeable in lorries. If a truck with a semi-trailer consumes an average of 30 litres per 100 km, it saves three litres with six regrooved tyres on the trailing axles. In addition, up to 650 kg of climate-damaging CO2 emissions can be avoided per tyre. In addition, extending the service life of the tyres leads to potential savings on raw materials in tyre production. The only problem is that manually regrooving tyres is physically demanding and requires maximum concentration. Bear Machines GmbH from Heek is therefore developing a semi-automatic machine that takes over this job. During the construction of the machine trade show, the company was faced with the challenge of finding bendable and flexible cables for the motors as well as space-saving guidance for the hose and cable. Conventional cables proved to be inadequate and could not fulfil the necessary requirements.

The engineers therefore switched to robust yet flexible motor cables from the chainflex® range from igus® (CF280.UL.H301.07.04.D). The cables move in compact e-chain® made of high-performance plastic from the E2/000 series. According to the engineers, the solution perfectly fulfils the requirements for oscillating movements and compliance with the bend radius. It has helped to save costs and significantly improve the performance of the system. Pre-selection and configuration of the components was also child's play. Thanks to the intuitive online configuration tools, the company was able to save development time. Last but not least, the solution from igus® contributed to the machine's particularly energy-efficient operation thanks to its mechanical specification. It only consumes a minimal 800 watts of energy in full operation, which further emphasises its efficiency and environmental friendliness.