Tier 1 supplier Kordsa and Continental Tire have been working on a new environmentally-friendly passenger car tire since 2017. The duo announced recently that it will release the first 250,000 tires this year. The idea behind the project was to create tires that are free of resorcinol and formaldehyde adhesive.
The technology is called Cokoon and according to Continental and Kordsa, it has been a success. It activates bonding between rubber compounds and textile reinforcing materials without the use of the two chemicals. The sampling process turned out to be a huge success. According to VP of material, process development and industrialization at Continental Tires Dr Andreas Topp; the results exceeded the team’s expectations.
The feedback the company got from the industry encouraged them to continue integrating Cokoon into tires. More than 40 companies, who include textile suppliers, converters, and tire manufacturers have already expressed their interest. Cokoon will be availed license-free.
The first series of production started in 2019. Continental will see the technology expanded as of 2020 into the following years. 20 of the companies that have already expressed interest have already received samples of the technology. Interested parties are advised to obtain the free license and join the pool of contributors. They can find out more about the technology at www.cokoon.com and request for samples.
Those licensed are expected to avail any new patents to other partners for free. The pool of licensees is under AdvInno, an independent law firm that specializes in managing IP portfolios. According to Kordsa’s global technology director Devrim Özaydin, the goal is to implement an industry-wide eco-friendly standard for bonding rubber and textiles. All invited parties are encouraged to contribute to further development of Cokoon and get it to mass production.