![image_1_uv_dl[1].jpg](https://cdn.pressebox.de/r/ddcd92c7cffa0f62/attachments/32/66/32/thumbnail_326632_746x466.webp)
The new air spring system with the integrated wireless chip from ContiTech Air Spring Systems opens up entirely new possibilities in production, logistics and service, representing a major advancement with regard to safety in rail traffic. ContiTech is showcasing the new technology at the InnoTrans 2010, hall 6.2, booth 230.
The chip's integrated data memory works with RFID technology (radio frequency identification) for wireless transmission of data. Used as transponder, it makes it possible to reliably code every air spring with key product data for infallible recognition. "It is now possible to monitor vital product information electronically. This information remains fully accessible even years later, despite contamination and wear in the intervening time," notes Friedrich Hoppmann, head of the ContiTech Railway Engineering segment, citing the advantages.
Individual rail vehicle components must be traceable, so that it possible to determine in which production run the parts were manufactured. Up to now, this was done using an accompanying card on which the required information was noted, such as the pre-material data, serial number of the air spring or quality data. The type identification of the air spring, which is vulcanized into or glued onto the product, is sometimes worn to the point of illegibility when in service for many years. A visual check of the product data using the accompanying card is then hardly possible anymore, making product match-ups more difficult when the air spring has to be replaced or serviced. An air spring coded with a transponder, on the other hand, can be unmistakably identified, even after 500,000 rail kilometers. The information can be called up via a scanning pistol without coming in contact with the spring. "In this way, product maintenance and its documentation is faster and more effective," says Hoppmann, since the operator can not only access the data, but also add further information to it. For instance, the specified documentation of a routine check can be saved directly on the air spring's chip.
Wireless coding also goes a long way to protect consumers from counterfeiters. "Product forgers copy the shape and color of a product but not its quality or material workmanship. With the integrated transponder, an original ContiTech air spring can always be identified without a shadow of a doubt," maintains Hoppmann. "The customer thus obtains verifiable OEM quality." Embedding electronic data carriers in elastomer composite products has the further effect of improving air spring system production - in the manufacture of module systems, for example. It makes it possible to automate assignment of components to a system.Wireless coding also goes a long way to protect consumers from counterfeiters. "Product forgers copy the shape and color of a product but not its quality or material workmanship. With the integrated transponder, an original ContiTech air spring can always be identified without a shadow of a doubt," maintains Hoppmann. "The customer thus obtains verifiable OEM quality." Embedding electronic data carriers in elastomer composite products has the further effect of improving air spring system production - in the manufacture of module systems, for example. It makes it possible to automate assignment of components to a system.
The chip's integrated data memory works with RFID technology (radio frequency identification) for wireless transmission of data. Used as transponder, it makes it possible to reliably code every air spring with key product data for infallible recognition. "It is now possible to monitor vital product information electronically. This information remains fully accessible even years later, despite contamination and wear in the intervening time," notes Friedrich Hoppmann, head of the ContiTech Railway Engineering segment, citing the advantages.
Individual rail vehicle components must be traceable, so that it possible to determine in which production run the parts were manufactured. Up to now, this was done using an accompanying card on which the required information was noted, such as the pre-material data, serial number of the air spring or quality data. The type identification of the air spring, which is vulcanized into or glued onto the product, is sometimes worn to the point of illegibility when in service for many years. A visual check of the product data using the accompanying card is then hardly possible anymore, making product match-ups more difficult when the air spring has to be replaced or serviced. An air spring coded with a transponder, on the other hand, can be unmistakably identified, even after 500,000 rail kilometers. The information can be called up via a scanning pistol without coming in contact with the spring. "In this way, product maintenance and its documentation is faster and more effective," says Hoppmann, since the operator can not only access the data, but also add further information to it. For instance, the specified documentation of a routine check can be saved directly on the air spring's chip.
Wireless coding also goes a long way to protect consumers from counterfeiters. "Product forgers copy the shape and color of a product but not its quality or material workmanship. With the integrated transponder, an original ContiTech air spring can always be identified without a shadow of a doubt," maintains Hoppmann. "The customer thus obtains verifiable OEM quality." Embedding electronic data carriers in elastomer composite products has the further effect of improving air spring system production - in the manufacture of module systems, for example. It makes it possible to automate assignment of components to a system.Wireless coding also goes a long way to protect consumers from counterfeiters. "Product forgers copy the shape and color of a product but not its quality or material workmanship. With the integrated transponder, an original ContiTech air spring can always be identified without a shadow of a doubt," maintains Hoppmann. "The customer thus obtains verifiable OEM quality." Embedding electronic data carriers in elastomer composite products has the further effect of improving air spring system production - in the manufacture of module systems, for example. It makes it possible to automate assignment of components to a system.
