TPMS and RFID
Hofmann Power Weight has added TPMS starter kits and valves to its product portfolio; both products are made to original equipment quality levels and provide wide coverage for their respective target markets, the company states.
Japanese automotive supplier Denso reports that it is will launch a new “unique aftermarket product” and expand its TPMS range at November’s AAPEX show, which will be held at the Sands Expo Center, Las Vegas from 4-6 November.
Just over six months since the last time Tyres & Accessories met Michel Rzonzef at the Geneva Motor Show, the Goodyear executive has switched segments. When we met before he was vice president of the Consumer Tire Business at Goodyear EMEA. Now he is vice president of Commercial Tires EMEA. So, with the move from consumer to commercial still relatively fresh, T&A took the opportunity to discuss the development and direction of the truck and fleet tyre business with Rzonzef during the course of the recent Goodyear Fleet Symposium in Brussels on 14 October. Henk van Tuyl, Goodyear’s director of regional technology – Heavy Tires EMEA, also joined in with the conversation.
Tyre, wheel and automotive data firm DriveRight reports that it will soon be offering TPMS CAD analysis. In a recent newsletter the company reports that it has a number of different CAD drawings of OE and AM tyre pressure monitoring sensors from a variety of manufacturers (including Alligator, Schrader, Huf and VDO/Continental).
On 20 October Freescale Semiconductor introduced the FXTH87 tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) family, which the company claims is the smallest integrated TPMS solution available. Weighing in at just 0.3 grams the FXTH87 family is said to be 50 per cent smaller than competing products. Freescale reports that its newest TPMS provides low power consumption combined with the highest level of functional integration in one package, featuring a dual-axis accelerometer architecture, pressure and temperature sensor, integrated MCU, RF transmitter and low frequency receiver.
Sensing and electrical protection supplier Sensata Technologies has completed its acquisition of Schrader, the global tyre pressure monitoring sensor (TPMS) and valve solutions manufacturer. The transaction provides Sensata with a leadership position in the growing TPMS market, the company said in a statement announcing the news.
First-time registered passenger cars and vans up to 2.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight are required to be equipped with tyre pressure monitoring systems from November 2014 onwards. In most cases, vehicles will be fitted with direct TPMS in which sensors monitor both the tyre pressure and its temperature. For the diagnosis of these direct systems, Bosch has developed the TPA 200 mobile tester, a unit that can be used when working directly on a vehicle or in a tyre warehouse.
With half a million pounds invested in a new state-of-the-art hydro-blasting machine based on a Scania 8×6 chassis, W J Roadmarkings wanted to take every measure to ensure nothing would disrupt its availability for work. Tyre failure was a major potential problem, especially as the vehicle would be working mainly on road construction sites and rural roads. To overcome this, the UK’s leading independent company in both laying down and erasing road markings fitted the Scania with a ContiPressureCheck tyre pressure monitoring system.
Slow and constant air pressure loss is one of the most common causes of tyre failure in port environments and other industrial settings. The consequences of tyre damage and the vehicle downtime that results from it are costly and disruptive to the supply chain. As a means of minimising such problems, Continental Commercial Specialty Tires (CST) has extended its ContiPressureCheck tyre pressure management system into the specialty tyre segment. Continental says its system is reliable and facilitates greater tyre lifespan. ContiPressureCheck is suitable for use on all types of industrial vehicles and functions with all brands of tubeless pneumatic tyres.
WheelRight, the firm which has been recently promoting an award-winning off-vehicle pressure monitoring system, has confirmed its membership to the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP).
Set up 11 years ago, the LowCVP operates to move the UK to low carbon vehicles and fuels, and works with its 200 members to promote low carbon opportunities, research in the field and accelerate the take up of lower carbon choices.
Sensata Technologies Holding NV, a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of Sensata Technologies BV, has agreed to buy TPMS Schrader group of companies from Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC for a total enterprise value of US$1 billion. Schrader is the global leader in tire pressure monitoring sensors (TPMS). According to the company, the transaction provides TPMS and additional low pressure sensing capabilities, adding to Sensata’s “industry-leading sensing position”. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval but is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2014.
Private equity firm Calculus Capital has invested £2.5 million in WheelRight Ltd, the tyre pressure monitoring company.
Richard Moore, Investment Director, Calculus Capital said: “We are very excited to invest in WheelRight and its market-leading, patented technology. The WheelRight sensor array provides a very hi-tech solution to a practical, every day problem. It will help to lower the costs of motoring, reduce the number of road accidents and limit carbon emissions. We are pleased to be able to support a leading UK technology company that has developed a product with significant global potential.”
German OTR tyre specialist Rösler has launched its Intread TPMS system. The system is the first OTR TPMS system with the ability to measure the tread depth and the belt temperature. Rösler exhibited the system at Reifen 2014.
Continental aims to place workshop services centre state at the upcoming Automechanika show in Germany and demonstrate that, now more than ever, the company embodies the formula that “top-quality products + A to Z service = success for workshops.” Amongst the products Continental will present in Frankfurt am Main between 16 and 20 September are tyre pressure monitoring sensors, belt drive components, air springs and diagnostic devices. The company also promises a number of new additions to its product portfolio.
Leading UK technology company, WheelRight, has been awarded the Frost & Sullivan New Product Innovation and Leadership Award. The award was presented for its remote tyre pressure monitoring system. The system comprises a sensory pad that is embedded into the road, at a point where vehicles enter or leave a facility or forecourt. As the device is driven over, ‘in-motion’ measurements of the tyre pressures, axle weights and tyre temperatures are acquired and analysed without the need for any equipment being attached to the vehicle. Within seconds, these readings can be delivered directly to the driver’s mobile phone.
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