RL sales and marketing manager Chuck Lotocki said the liner had out performed all other flat proofing products in the interested manufacture’s radial tires.

In the toughest applications where pneumatic tyres need greater protection from flats, Hutchinson’s RL proved to lower tyre related expenses. The direct result is increased productivity, with a product that offers greater safety features than air filled tyres used in underground mining.

“Underground Mining Accounts that have used radial tyres find that they can get three and four times the life from a radial tyre over the amount of time they were getting from a conventional bias tyre,” Lotocki said.

“What has been found is the conventional types of flat proofing, such as polyurethane fills, foams and other types of flat proofing products, is that they have failed prematurely over the extended life of the radial tyres in underground applications. The RL has proven to be the best fit for their radial tyres primarily because they allow the radial tyre to run out its tread life.”

The RL functions as a solid rubber insert that completely replaces the air in a typical pneumatic tyre cavity. Various available rubber compounds and engineered internal cellular designs, allow the RL to provide vehicle ride characteristics very similar to a pneumatic tyre.

Hutchinson said the RL virtually eliminates down time from flat tyres and is re-useable once the tyre wears out. The reusability of the RL contributes directly to lowering the cost of the flat proof product.

The liner is custom made by shape matching to the tyre cavity creating contour and footprint for the extended tire life.

Recently Michelin Tire Corporation and Bridgestone / Firestone called upon Hutchinson Industries to make presentations on the RL to their sales and technical support groups at their North American headquarters.

“The outcome of these meetings have given new insight to these radial tire companies. In the coming months ahead, more information passed along to other mining companies and OEM's will increase the use of the Hutchinson RL in areas needing flat proofing.”

Lotocki said positive data that has come back from underground mines using radial tires with Hutchinson RL’s, had shown a direct cost reduction in tire maintenance.

“An increase in the use of their mining equipment, ( up time) leads to higher productivity for the underground mines.”

Safety of the RL has also emerged as an important element in underground mining.

“Underground mines can’t afford to have pneumatic tyres that are damaged underground, exploding and causing major damage. The RL is built and designed to carry the extremely heavy loads that are common in the underground mining industry, without the dangerous compression of air,” he said.

“Hutchinson’s RL solution to flat proofing tyres will become an industry standard over time.”

Hutchinson said the above radial tire from an underground operation in West VA failed because the polyurethane fill in the tyre broke down internally, before the radial tyre ran its complete life. Once the fill broke down the radial tyre began to flex at a greater degree, causing the bead wire of the radial tyre to separate from the tyre casing and in the final stages the sidewall separated.