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Manufacturing
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About Our Process
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Technological breakthroughs and advances in high performance
polyurethane technology have made it possible to recreate artificial
skin, fire proof aircraft interiors, even safer non combustible toys
that are 100's of times better than from just a few years ago.
The expense in the development of this new technology, financed
largely by the government and public contributions to the medical
and aerospace programs eventually finds its way into the development
of more consumer oriented products. And as the price of this
technology falls, businesses find more and more ways to use this new
technology in our everyday lives.
Enter the Air Free tire. In reality what could be less important
than a bicycle tire? If you're like a lot people, you keep your bike
in the garage, on the porch or in the shed, and the one day you go
to ride it, darn it, the tires are flat. Or others who ride more
often a flat can be a serious inconvenience. Many might address
safety concerns, especially parents and those who ride long
distances.
For some urban dwellers the bicycle is their main form of
transportation and a flat tire could cost them a days pay or even in
the most severe situations a crippling or even fatal accident.
Granted this is a little melodramatic because most of the time it's
just going to be someone like you out for a fun day on your bike and
you'll have a flat tire and have to push or carry your bike to the
nearest shop to have it repaired. Even if you have the tools and
patches with you, in most cases you still won't have much success
with an emergency repair because about half the time the rim will be
damaged.
All this special technology that the government and private industry
have spent Billions of dollars creating has been put to use in an
Air Free bicycle tire. That's why we say
If its Air Free its Flat Free
We at Air Free make over 40 types and sizes of bicycle tires and
over 100 models of disability and wheelchair tires and we employ two
different urethanes.
The first urethane we use is what we call the 'standard foam' and
has been in use for over twenty-five years. This 'standard foam' is
a simple two component urethane, part 'a' and part 'b'. When these
two parts are mixed together with a foaming agent, the urethane will
swell up to six times its original volume thus trapping air in the
foam matrix. This is why standard foam tires are relatively light
and have a fair degree of bounce. You could recreate this effect by
mixing a urethane with its hardener such as a roofing urethane and
mix a cup of water into it. The resultant foam would take days to
cure because of the water but the foaming effect can be seen.
The process for making the tires is fairly simple as well. First the
urethane is mixed and fed into a measuring device which will
dispense predetermined weights of the liquid urethane into waiting
molds. These molds contain specially hollowed out cavities which are
mirror images of the finished product. Before the production mold is
fed into the machine it is coated with silicon and specially
designed cords are laid into the inner diameter of the mold. Two
halves of the mold are put together and the mold begins its' journey
to the dispenser. Once the mold is underneath the dispenser, the
predetermined weight of urethane is shot into it and the mold moves
over one spot on a twelve station carousel machine. At that point
the mold will start to spin as the urethane is foaming and will
force the material evenly throughout the mold and will balance the
foam perfectly. The mold will continue to spin until it reaches the
twelfth station and will be removed from the machine. This process
is called "spin casting". |
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Dispensing unit |
Single station machine |
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Images courtesy of Nu-Teck Corporation |
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Once the tire has made its way around the carousel, it is unmolded and
removed and given to the quality control station where it is inspected.
Since the hardener that is used in making these tires, they are firm and
almost ready to use in under five minutes. This process repeats itself
over and over and literally thousands of tires can be made in one shift.
The tires are allowed to cure fully for several hours before being boxed
up and ready to ship.
The centrifugal action of the tire making process causes a slight outer
skin to develop by the collision and breaking down of the urethane
against the outer periphery of the mold. The skin is several millimeters
thick in some places, depending on the tread pattern and will have the
look and feel of a urethane soled sneaker. We can vary the psi
equivalency of any tire by putting more urethane in the mold. This
causes the tire to be heavier, and there will be less air, but the
denser tires will roll better but obviously will not be as springy. This
has been our secret and why Air Free Tires are accepted by the consumer.
The advantages of our 'standard foam' are that the tires are relatively
inexpensive and are very consistent in appearance. They come in all
shapes and sizes and are in use on things everywhere on the planet. Also
this is a 'closed cell' foam so if the skin is pierced it will not
absorb water. One of our competitors will make a big deal that their
tires are closed cell and give the implication that others may not be.
This is not true as all urethane tire manufacturers use closed cell
technology and none absorb water.
Also, many visitors to the Air Free website will have undoubtedly
visited the competitor websites as well and seen differing prices and
hyperbole. Air Free Tires, Inc., is the only company actively engaged in
bringing better performing bicycle tires to the market. Our prices
reflect our ongoing research and development and also our commitment to
the purchaser of our tires. No one else gives a ninety day money back
guarantee and no one else has a lifetime warranty. Since our competition
has under priced their tires, they will have a hard time effecting third
party distribution for their product and have effectively eliminated the
possibility that their tires will reach the shelves of retail stores.
Air Free Tires has only to observe the mistakes of the last twenty-five
years and learn from them. Our philosophy is simple, either bring the
best airless bicycle tire to market that is possible or go away. This is
why we are pleased to announce that we are bringing to market a new line
of higher performing tires.
You may have noticed that many of our tires come with the "High
Resilient" option. The name "High Resilient" is exactly what it implies.
This material is a solid elastomer developed by Bayer Chemical several
years ago for use in the electric disability industry. The parameters
for the development of the "High Resilient" material were to resist
weight and to provide excellent traction.
The methods for making the "HR" are exactly the same as making the
'standard foam' tires but the curing process takes longer and the
material is more expensive. Rolling resistance tests have shown that the
"HR" material has lower rolling resistance than most rubber tires and
has superior traction. Over the next couple of years we will be
developing tires to fit the thinner rims that are in use on today's'
bikes and all will employ the "HR" technology. In the meantime, get
yourself some Air Free tires so you can ride with out having to worry.
Air Free Tires, your source for the best performing bicycle tires on the
market today with the largest selection and your source for even better
tires to come.
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