When a material is to be used for such a specialised application as airships or helium balloons there are, of course, particular demands on the material. High strength, air-tightness, weather and UV stability, conductivity and non-flammability with minimum weight at the same time are just some of the necessary requirements.

Thanks to the targeted selection of the materials used, innovative manufacturing processes and extremely rigorous finishing quality, ContiTech Elastomer Coatings has succeeded in developing materials which meet the specified requirement profile in optimum fashion.

The rubber used, for example, is filled with conductive carbon black to dissipate the static charge which is generated during normal operation.

A high level of flame retardant is incorporated in the material. In a combustion test carried out by AXIVA GmbH the materials used were the only ones among the tested products to be classified in S4, the safest flammability category.

Furthermore, the Tedlar foil used is now chemically bonded to the CSM coating in a new process which makes the materials almost impossible to separate, a significant advantage over the sandwich method used previously.

A further example of the innovative applications for ContiTech materials is the HeliMax.

HeliMax is a giant helium-filled "light balloon". From a height of up to 50 metres its 16,000 Watt metal vapour lamps illuminate an area with a radius of 800 metres, while it can also provide twilight-like lighting conditions within a radius of 2 kilometres.

This makes it ideal for use at events such as concerts, sporting occasions or trade fairs or to illuminate large-scale building sites and disaster sites.

ContiTech Elastomer Coatings supplies the canopy material for this intelligent lighting idea.

We develop and manufacture elastomer sheetings from a wide variety of materials. The sheetings are processed into high-precision static and dynamic seals as well as other products such as scrapers, lining materials, suspension components, floor coverings and cutting underlays.

With our extensive range of elastomer sheetings together with our high-quality silicone and FKM sheetings we are able to cover the requirements for a whole host of different applications.

Elastomer Sheetings

Our versatile elastomer sheetings – made, for instance, of SBR, NR and EPDM – enable us to meet virtually every individual customer requirement. Their features include high temperature and media resistance, and they are available in almost any colour and with a surface texture ranging from glass-smooth to highly textured.

Silicone Elastomer Sheetings

are used in medical technology, the food and chemical industries and in many other application areas.

Fluoroelastomer Sheetings

are outstandingly suited to use in automotive engineering, aviation and aerospace, the electrical industry and in many other application areas.

Specialty Elastomer Sheetings

All sheetings are available in special grades, in other thickness, widths and lengths, and with different surfaces/textures. Most are also food-safe. Elastomer sheetings are colorable. All sheetings made of rubber, silicone and fluoroelastomers can be produced with optional reinforcement plies.

Materials with Natural Rubber Coating for Use in Sportsboats, Lifeboats, Service Boats or Liferafts

Hard-wearing and tear-resistant materials for use in extreme conditions with natural rubber coating for making the buoyancy tubes and canopies of liferafts.

• Give reliable service, even after years of being stored in the fibreglass container
• Approved by the most important certification authorities, i.e. the German professional marine association, DOT, MOD etc.
• Delivery of the complete working system, i.e. buoyancy tube material, canopy material, cover strips and adhesive.

Applications

• Yachting liferafts
• Liferafts for commercial shipping
• Air rescue liferafts

Boatex® Inflatable Boat Materials

...for use in extreme conditions.

Outside coating: highly wear-resistant, weather-resistant Hypalon

Reinforcement: high-tenacity polyester

Inside coating: airtight neoprene

Properties of our boat fabrics

• Extremely hard-wearing and tear-resistant
• Resistant to weathering, UV exposure and seawater
• Dimensionally stable and wear-resistant
• Available in 6 standard colours and many special colours

Applications

• Marine service boats
• Sports boats
• Ship's boats
• Lifeboats

Greater safety, comfort and economy – these are the key advantages of the newly developed protective cloth material with ContiBarrierSystem®.

When used in chemical protection suits, the new material design offers much greater protection from chemicals and gases. Hazardous substances such as chlorine, chlorinated hydrocarbons and ammonia are unable to penetrate the barrier layer. A high resistance to acids, lyes and aggressive chemicals, together with an excellent tear resistance, guarantees the highest possible level of safety for the wearer.

At the same time, the material is around 30 % lighter at 450 g/m2 instead of the usual 700 g/m2, and thus much thinner and more flexible than previous materials. This doesn't just make it easier and more economical to work and process the material; it also increases the comfort for the wearer, meaning they can now move better and for a longer time.

A mere 0.30 to 0.40 mm thick, the new protective cloth material consists of ten different layers. The inner and outer layers are made of elastomers. Depending on the customer’s requirements and area of application, different elastomers (fluorocarbon, chlorinated sulfonate polyethylene, butyl rubber) can be used both on the inside as well as on the outer layers.

The fabric reinforcement materials can also be varied according to individual requirements. Two polymer layers have been integrated, independent of one another, into the protective clothing material via special adhesive layers. These make possible an exceptionally high level of impermeability and optimum safety, even if one barrier layer is destroyed or damaged.

ContiTech Materials for Mobile Buildings

• are transparent composite materials made of synthetic rubber and fiber glass fabric for use in diaphragm, light-weight and pneumatic constructions, for temporary buildings or as facing;
• are ideal for cladding roofs because diaphanous;
• can be used as window material because light-fast;
• can be dyed to your specifications;
• can be bonded to other materials;
• are resists weather influences in a temperature range of -20 to +120 °C;
• are tear-resistant.

Application Examples ContiVitroflex

Mobile Buildings
Festo AG, Airtecture division, used this material to construct an exhibition hall with a net cubage of 2.250m³ in Esslingen.

The world's largest translucent textile diaphragm dome, the "Airquarium", is likewise from Festo. It protects vintage autos from environmental influences at the exhibition "4 : 3 - 50 Jahre italienisches und deutsches Design" [4 : 3 - 50 Years Italian and German Design] in Bonn.

Most of the special characteristics of ContiTech Materials for mobile buildings - like transparency or temperature stability in a range from -20°C to 120°C - are evident during the exposition. Another of the material's major advantages, however, does not become apparent until the event is over. The 800 meter² ContiVitroflex canopy can be rolled up into a 6.20m x 1.50m x 2.10m bale weighing only 1,600 kg and thus easily transportable.