A method of performing preventative maintenance on an auger in a tire filling mixing machine, by: (a) mixing a polyurethane isocyanate and a catalyst in a first mixer to form a virgin polyurethane; (b) grinding polyurethane core bits in a grinder, the grinder having an auger and a motor; (c) mixing the virgin polyurethane and the ground core bits in a second mixer thereby forming a mixed flatproofing material; (d) injecting the mixed flatproofing material into a tire; (e) measuring vibration of the auger; and (f) comparing the measured vibration of the auger to a predefined maximum vibration; and (g) removing the auger from the grinder if the measured vibration exceeds the pre-defined maximum vibration for a predefined period of time, or removing the auger from the grinder if the measured temperature of the auger exceeds the pre-defined maximum temperature for a predefined period of time.

In the field of mixing rubber mixtures, the invention is directed to a rotor (100) for use in an internal mixer having a mixing vessel in which the rotor rotates, the rotor having one or more blades (104), each blade having a tip (104a) with a profile having a predefined curvature; and an anti-wear device detachably fixed to the tip (104a) of at least one blade, the anti-wear device including a plate (110) with a profile defined by a lower surface (112) with a curvature complementary to that of the tip 104a and an upper surface (114) with a curvature complementary to that of a wall of the vessel to define, between them, a zone of minimum distance that allows passage of the mixture between the plate (110) and the wall of the vessel. The invention is also directed to an internal mixer having at least one mixing vessel in which the disclosed rotor (100) rotates.

The invention relates to a silane, to a rubber mixture containing the silane and to a vehicle tire comprising the rubber mixture in at least one component.

The silane according to the invention has the following formula I)

(R.sup.1).sub.oSiR.sup.2X-A-Y[R.sup.7Y].sub.mR.sup.7S-G,I)

wherein according to the invention it has a spacer group between the silyl group and the S-G moiety, wherein the spacer group has an aromatic group A and at least one further aromatic group and/or an alkylene group and also the linking units X and Y, wherein the group X is selected from the groups HNC(O), C(O)NH, C(O)O, OC(O), OC(O)NH, HNC(O)O, R.sup.3NC(O)NR.sup.3, R.sup.3NC(NR.sup.3)NR.sup.3, R.sup.3NC(S)NR.sup.3, wherein at least one R.sup.3 within the group X is a hydrogen atom, and wherein the groups Y are selected from the groups HNC(O), C(O)NH, C(O)O, OC(O), OC(O)NH, HNC(O)O, R.sup.4NC(O)NR.sup.4, R.sup.4NC(NR.sup.4)NR.sup.4, R.sup.4NC(S)NR.sup.4, wherein at least one R.sup.4 within each group Y is a hydrogen atom, and wherein the radicals R.sup.7 are selected from aromatic groups A and alkylene radicals having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, which may have cyclic, branched and/or aliphatically unsaturated groups; and wherein G is a hydrogen atom or a C(O)R.sup.8 group or a SiR.sup.8.sub.3 group, wherein R.sup.8 is selected from linear, branched and cyclic C.sub.1-C.sub.20-alkyl groups, C.sub.6-C.sub.20-aryl groups, C.sub.2-C.sub.20-alkenyl groups and C.sub.7-C.sub.20-aralkyl groups, and wherein m can take the values 0 to 4.

The rubber mixture according to the invention contains at least one silane according to the invention.

An improved extruder apparatus is disclosed and which includes a cylindrical barrel having a feed end and a discharge end, the feed end having an inlet in fluid communication with a hopper. The extruder screw is mounted in the cylindrical barrel, and the screw has an outer surface having one or more helical flights mounted thereon. wherein the inlet end of the cylindrical barrel has a support frame mounted thereto, wherein an upper surface of the support frame is connected to a throat of a hopper, wherein an insert is mounted to the support frame and has a lower end which extends down into the cylindrical barrel, wherein the insert has an internal passageway having a first opening on the lower end and a second opening upstream of the screw for relieving the pressure.

A device for cleaning an extruder includes a frame that supports a screw and a barrel. When driven by a driver, the screw is rotatable about a longitudinal axis of the barrel. The barrel includes a feed inlet and an outlet that opens directly into an extrusion die mounted on a support. The frame is translationally movable relative to the die and the support in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis between a first position, in which the barrel and the die are in sealed contact, and a second position, in which the barrel is moved away from the die in order to allow cleaning to be performed. The device also includes an automatic coupling mechanism that enables quick locking and unlocking of the barrel and the die, so that the frame can move between the first and second positions when the barrel and the die are unlocked.

A method for operating an extrusion system with the automatically executed steps of detecting, on a time-dependent basis, at least two operating parameters, which are selected from the following list: a screw rotational speed parameter, from which the number of rotations made by an endless screw of an extruder of the extrusion system as of a predefined point in time can be determined, and/or a torque characteristic value, which describes the torque applied to the endless screw, and/or an operating pressure in a cylinder of the extruder and/or an abrasion parameter, which describes an abrasiveness of material processed in the extruder, calculating, from the operating parameters, a wear parameter, more particularly a time for maintenance, which encodes a wear state of at least one component of the extruder, and outputting a maintenance message, which encodes the wear parameter.

The invention relates to a sulfur-crosslinkable rubber mixture, to a vulcanizate thereof and to a vehicle tire. The sulfur-crosslinkable rubber mixture contains at least the following constituents: at least one diene rubber; and 10 to 300 phr of at least one silica; and 1 to 22 phf of at least one silane A having general empirical formula A-I)
(R.sup.1).sub.oSiR.sup.2(SR.sup.3).sub.qS.sub.x(R.sup.3S).sub.qR.sup.2Si(R.sup.1).sub.o; andA-I) 0.5 to 30 phf of at least one silane B having general empirical formula B-I)
(R.sup.1).sub.oSiR.sup.2(SR.sup.3).sub.uSR.sup.2Si(R.sup.1).sub.oB-I) wherein x is an integer from 2 to 10, q is 0, 1, 2 or 3 and u is 1, 2 or 3.

The invention relates to a sulfur-crosslinkable rubber mixture, to a vulcanizate thereof and to a vehicle tire. The sulfur-crosslinkable rubber mixture contains at least the following constituents: at least one diene rubber; and 10 to 300 phr of at least one silica; and 1 to 22 phf of at least one silane A having general empirical formula A-I)
(R.sup.1).sub.oSiR.sup.2(SR.sup.3).sub.qS.sub.x(R.sup.3S).sub.qR.sup.2Si(R.sup.1).sub.o; andA-I) 0.5 to 30 phf of at least one silane B having general empirical formula B-I)
(R.sup.1).sub.oSiR.sup.2(SR.sup.3).sub.uSR.sup.2Si(R.sup.1).sub.oB-I) wherein x is an integer from 2 to 10, q is 0, 1, 2 or 3 and u is 1, 2 or 3.

A fluoroelastomer composition, and a crosslinked fluoroelastomer obtained by crosslinking the fluoroelastomer composition. The fluoroelastomer composition contains 10 to 60 parts by mass of a carbon black (B) and 0.1 to 10 parts by mass of a peroxide cross-linking agent (C) per 100 parts by mass of a peroxide-crosslinkable fluoroelastomer (A). The carbon black (B) has a number of foreign particles of 30/mm.sup.2 or less measured as described herein.

The invention relates to a silane, to a rubber mixture comprising the silane and to a vehicle tire comprising the rubber mixture in at least one component.

The inventive silane has the following formula I)

(R.sup.1).sub.oSiR.sup.2X-A-Y-[A-Y-].sub.m-A-S.sub.k-A-[-Y-A].sub.m-Y-A-XR.sup.2Si(R.sup.1).sub.o, wherein, according to the invention, the silane has spacer groups between the respective silyl groups and the S.sub.k moiety which have at least two aromatic groups A and the linking units X and Y, wherein the groups X within a molecule may be identical or different from each other and are selected from the groups HNC(O), C(O)NH, C(O)O, OC(O), OC(O)NH, HNC(O)O, R.sup.3NC(O)NR.sup.3, R.sup.3NC(NR.sup.3)NR.sup.3, R.sup.3NC(S)NR.sup.3, wherein at least one R.sup.3 within each group X is a hydrogen atom; and wherein the groups Y within a molecule may be identical or different from each other and are selected from the groups HNC(O), C(O)NH, C(O)O, OC(O), OC(O)NH, HNC(O)O, R.sup.4NC(O)NR.sup.4, R.sup.4NC(NR.sup.4)NR.sup.4, R.sup.4NC(S)NR.sup.4, wherein at least one R.sup.4 within each group Y is a hydrogen atom.

The inventive rubber mixture comprises at least one inventive silane.