HANOVER, Germany—Continental A.G. and Kordsa Teknik Tekstil A.S. are pleased with the progress of their sustainable adhesive technology and still feel confident they can make their Cokoon-brand dip technology into an industry standard.
Since Hanover-based Conti and Turkey's Kordsa, one of the global leaders in the tire reinforcement sector, detailed plans in early 2019 to offer Cokoon as a license-free, "open source" technology, more than 70 firms have expressed interest; 24 have signed non-disclosure agreements to receive detailed information about the newly developed know-how; those sampling Cokoon have given positive feedback after testing; and Continental itself has started tire series production using Cokoon.
"We are even more convinced that our target (to be the industry standard) is the right thing to do, and the concept to change over the tire industry and maybe the technical rubber goods industry to this eco-friendly dip solution is just the right target," said Andreas Topp, Continental vice president of material and process development and industrialization tires.
He discussed the progress of Cokoon in an interview with Rubber & Plastics News, along with Devrim Ozaydin, Kordsa director of global technology, and Bjorn Joachim, managing director of Advinno GmbH, the firm that is administering the licensing pool.
Ozaydin said the 70 companies that have expressed interest include a mix of tire manufacturers, converters, textile suppliers and mechanical rubber goods producers. "Feedback has been quite positive," he said. "The sample process was a big success and I think exceeded our expectations."
Conti and Kordsa have worked together since 2017 on what became Cokoon, a technology they said eliminates the need for resorcinol and formaldehyde in the dipping process to treat the tire cords. The two materials have been part of a combination commonly known as the RFL glue—with latex as the "L"—that have been the industry standard for 80-plus years as the adhesive agent in the bonding activation of textile reinforcing materials to the surrounding rubber matrix. The textile reinforcing materials mainly are used in tire manufacturing, but also are used to produce mechanical rubber goods such as hoses and conveyor belts.