Continental to highlight on- and off-road tire solutions at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2020

Continental will highlight complete solutions for the construction and other on/off-road industries at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2020.

On display will be Continental's broad tire portfolio including medium and heavy truck tires and earthmoving Off The Road (OTR) tires. Digital tire monitoring solutions which help construction fleets increase uptime and reduce costs will also be available.

Along with tires, Continental will feature three rubber products: Trackman rubber track, ContiClean conveyor belting and select products from the air springs business. A demonstrative model cab will preview in-cab solutions including V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle) Awareness Driving, the ProViu 360 camera with surround view technology and display panels for construction and off-road applications.

Earthmoving OTR and specialty tires

Continental offers a lineup of earthmoving Off The Road (OTR) radial tires. This includes the EM-Master, RDT-Master and DumperMaster, which all come direct from the factory pre-equipped with Continental tire sensors.

The EM-Master is designed to excel in a variety of conditions from soft and muddy soil to rocky terrain. Featuring an exceptionally high tread volume along with availability in both E3/L3 and E4/L4 versions, the tire is versatile to perform in all conditions.

The E3/L3 features a normal tread depth and wide spacing between the blocks for good traction and maneuverability, even in muddy terrain. The E4/L4 features a greater block size with less spacing between the blocks and a deeper tread depth. It offers high carcass protection and superior cutting resistance, minimizing the risk of punctures and downtime. 

The RDT-Master has angled tread edges and an open shoulder design to facilitate high lateral stability and maximum traction even on rough terrain while driving at high speeds. The RDT-Master's special tread design with a deep tread depth and a wide and flat tread radius offers high loading capacity and cutting resistance. 

The DumperMaster has an all-steel radial carcass which lowers heat build-up. The up to four-star rated carcass design allows extremely high load-carrying capacity that increases efficiency. Its tread pattern ensures high self-cleaning ability and good traction in muddy and loose ground conditions.

In addition to radial OTR tires, the TeleMaster, MPT81, and TE188 will be displayed. The TeleMaster is a solid OTR tire designed with a rugged tread pattern to handle rough surfaces at worksites and is capable of heavy load bearing and travelling long distances.

The multi-purpose tire MPT81 is designed for mixed on- and off-road use with a strong emphasis on tough conditions. The flexible carcass and the wide inflation pressure range allows for both high-speed on-road and rough-ground off-road operations. Thanks to their outstanding traction and non-slip grip, they're ideal for construction applications. 

General Tire, a brand of Continental, is launching a bias line of OTR tires in 2020. The General Tire TE188 will be making its debut at CONEXPO-CON/AGG. The TE188 is a multipurpose earthmoving tire for use on ADTs, RDTs, loaders and scrapers. Its bi-directional pattern with massive bars provides gripping edges on soft and wet ground and the wide ground patch leads to even wear, good surface interaction and a long service life. It comes in one E3 size (16.00-25) and seven E3/L3 sizes (ranging from 20.5-25 to 37.25-35).

New truck tire products

The event will serve as the public debut of Continental's new Generation 3 construction truck tires for on/off-road or mixed use. The Conti HSC 3 steer/all-position tire, Conti HDC 3 drive tire, and Conti HAC 3 all-position tire deliver key benefits for on/off-road applications, including construction, cement, utility, emergency vehicles, forestry and logging.

All tires arrive from the factory pre-equipped with Continental tire sensors for digital monitoring of tire pressure and temperature, and are covered by a six-year, three-retread warranty. 

Conti HSC 3, a heavy truck, all-position, construction tire, delivers significant benefits over its predecessor, HSC1, including an estimated 11 percent mileage improvement.

Built on Continental's 3G casing for reduced heat build-up and improved retreadability, the tire features a wider tread platform to increase mileage. The off-road belt package delivers improved penetration resistance. New cap and base tread compounds deliver a 100 percent improvement in cuts to the belt during cut-and-chip testing, as well as reducing heat build-up.

The Conti HSC 3 answers demands from the market, including excellent on-road mileage, stone ejectors in the tread pattern for self-cleaning to prevent stone drilling, and strong, thick sidewall reinforcement. As an intelligent tire, it is ready for Continental's digital tire monitoring solutions to identify punctures and creeping air loss, helping avoid breakdowns in a time-critical industry. 

Conti HDC 3, a heavy truck, drive, construction tire, delivers significant benefits over the previous product, HDC1, with an estimated 15 percent improvement in life expectancy.

The new tread pattern delivers excellent lateral traction throughout tire life, and features self-cleaning design to prevent stone drilling. The tire has a broad, even-pressure footprint for improved wear, traction, and cut resistance. It is built on Continental's 3G casing with 250 mm wide tread platform – wider than the Michelin X Works XDY, Bridgestone M799 and Continental HDC1. A wide tread platform delivers increased mileage and longer tread life.

With an aggressive open shoulder design and lug design for maximum traction, excellent retreadability, and a strong, thick, sidewall, it answers demands from the market. As an intelligent tire, it is equipped for Continental's digital tire monitoring solutions to help maximize traction through proper air pressure.

Conti HAC 3, a heavy truck, all-position construction tire, delivers significant benefits over its predecessor, HTC1, with new cap and base tread compounds for improved mileage and traction.

With a casing designed to resist irregular wear, a self-cleaning tread pattern, and a rugged 4-belt package to resist impacts, bruises, and penetrations, the Conti HAC 3 delivers maximum hours of service. It answers market demands such as increased sidewall gauge for road hazard protection, and the same high-performance on/off-road cap/base tread compounds used in all Generation 3 construction tires.

Equipped with tire sensors, it is ready for Continental's digital solutions to help reduce heat build-up and irregular wear through proper air pressure, as well as measure casing temperature.

Digital tire monitoring solutions

Every Generation 3 construction tire and radial Off The Road tire comes pre-equipped with a tire sensor, direct from the plant. Continental chose to pre-equip these tires with sensors due to the inherent benefits of tire monitoring in the on/off-road environment. During the off-road portion of the construction application, tires are more susceptible to cuts, chipping and chunking, and punctures.

Additionally, the tires operate under heavier loads in a limited radius, meaning there is quite a bit of starting, stopping and braking, thus causing heat build-up – especially in warmer regions during the summer season. This is where it's critical to ensure that tires always have properly maintained air pressure and to monitor internal casing temperature.

Continental's digital solutions help fleets reduce downtime, improve safety and fuel efficiency, and minimize labour and maintenance costs associated with tire inspections. Continental offers multiple receiver systems to read the sensors. One characteristic that helps Continental digital tire monitoring solutions stand out from other systems on the market is that components of all systems can be combined to take advantage of different functionalities, thus creating a customized fit for each fleet. 

ContiConnect Yard is ideal for fleets whose trucks, buses or off-the-road vehicles return to the terminal daily. The yard reader station, mounted in the fleet yard, collects data from all the tire sensors within range, an approximately 65-foot radius.

"ContiConnect is an accessible solution for domiciled fleets, such as those used in construction and regional hauling," says Carolina Wagner, Continental's director of marketing for commercial vehicle tires in the Americas region. "We don't charge by vehicle. The yard reader picks up all the tire sensors within range and delivers the data to the web portal. The portal sends text and email alerts if low pressure or high temperature thresholds are breached, and the trigger levels can be set by each fleet. This allows the maintenance manager to confirm proper tire pressure before vehicles leave the fleet yard, and as soon as they return. It's a simple way to maintain control of your tire program."

ContiPressureCheck monitors a single vehicle in real-time, alerting the driver to tire pressure and temperature issues via an in-cab display. It is ideal for fleets whose trucks or buses are away from the terminal for long periods of time, and for owner-operators.

Components of the systems can be combined. For example, Continental customers use ContiPressureCheck in-cab displays along with ContiConnect Yard, so drivers can be informed while on the road and the fleet manager see the data in the web portal once the trucks return to the fleet terminal.

For OTR tires, the embedded sensors can also be used in a new service concept, the ContiLogger Live. ContiLogger Live uses a telematic device with integrated sensors to measure speed, distance, location, lateral forces, road grade, production activity, tire pressure and tire temperature. The system issues warnings for critical conditions like: long idling time, high TMPH (ton miles per hour), low-efficiency cycle pattern, low inflation pressure and high tire temperature.

ContiLogger Live is designed to operate independently, being able to monitor thousands of vehicles. In more complex situations, field engineers can make customized recommendations on significant tire challenges, possible application improvements aimed at optimizing tire, equipment life and operational processes. 

Rubber products

In addition to tires, Continental rubber products on display include Trackman rubber track, ContiClean conveyor belting and select products from the air springs business.

"Trackman has pioneered the aftermarket track industry for more than 20 years," said Rob Schultz, Continental's product manager for rubber tracks. "Our core value as a brand is to develop tracks that enable the larger implements to take advantage of more horsepower and address the needs of tomorrow, today." 

With the Amorlug Ultra technology, Trackman incorporates a patented manufacturing process that embeds three fabric layers into the drive lugs. The top layer is continuous on all sides of the drive lug and extends into the wheel path.

ContiClean is a conveyor belt with a proprietary anti-stick synthetic coating.

"This product is especially ideal for applications where the end-user is concerned with mass buildups of dirt, material, oil and grease sticking to the belt requiring time-consuming scraping and significant system downtimes," said Chris Marchant, Continental's product manager for conveyor belting.  "ContiClean compounding solutions minimizes those costly instances."

Continental will also display its Smart Air Springs system with integrated sensors, and several industrial and automotive-related products.  

"The purpose of the integrated-sensor air spring system is to make a globally established system such as the air spring even safer, simpler and more efficient for customers – and thus also all the associated operations and processes, particularly in the fields of control and monitoring," says Carsten Klages, sales manager for industrial applications at Air Spring Systems.

Continental has a large portfolio of industrial air springs including bellow cylinders and pneumatic applications for suspension or vibration isolation. The portfolio extends into commercial vehicles, buses, rail industry, agriculture machinery and equipment and several other applications.

In-cab monitoring solutions

The booth will feature an interactive cabin display with technologies Continental offers for the construction industry. Featured in-cab technologies include:

• Left turn assist, or V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle Awareness Driving) which allows vehicles to receive messages from other vehicles approaching.
• The ProViu 360 camera, a surround view technology for improved safety and efficiency in operating commercial vehicles.
• The CAN radio system specifically constructed for rugged terrain with large, easy grip knobs and buttons to meet the challenges of on and off-road environments.
• The MVC7 Display, a programmable color display for construction and off-road applications.
• The DWP with MultiViu Professional 12-inch Display is a modular driver's workplace (mDWP) for off-highway machines featuring intuitive usability that can be flexibly configured. It has a flat, functional design and the MultiViu Professional 12 display is integrated in the basic module to provide the right overview at all times.
• Solar panels for construction applications.