The company Reko in Östringen is involved in the development and manufacture of assembly, testing and automation technology. One example of a system: a rubber test plug machine that was developed together with manufacturers of rubber components for automotive applications. Based on the transfer moulding vulcanization process, test plugs are first produced, which are then tested using test plug machines for a wide range of values such as Shore hardness, relaxation test, force/displacement measurement, modulus of elasticity, damping and rebound elasticity. The quality of the mixtures can be tested directly after production, ensuring reproducible comparability between manufacturers and processors in terms of mixture testing - an elementary prerequisite for quality-documented component production by various manufacturers and suppliers.

The rubber test plug machines are designed as easy-to-operate stand-alone stations. Features include the pneumohydraulic press force drive for clamping forces of up to 80 kilonewtons at six bar air pressure, heating of the vulcanization mould with three heating bands with 470 watts of heating power and control of the heating bands using sensor elements and microprocessor control. The temperature of the vulcanization mould is checked by means of an electronic sensor or controller; the respective process parameters are simply set via the touch panel. As an option, the vulcanization moulds can be adapted to the customer or product-specific stopper design. For the economical realization of the rubber test plug machines, Reko relies on available standard components with high quality - here, for example, on the Tox power pack drive cylinder for the press force drive.

Specifically, this is a standard S 15 power pack, which provides a maximum pressing force of 150 kilonewtons at ten bar air pressure and 85.4 kilonewtons at six bar air pressure. The total stroke is 50 millimetres, the power stroke 24 millimetres. The cylinder is equipped with ZHD hydraulic end position damping on the return stroke and an integrated central power bypass. The end position damping protects the tool and reduces the noise level; the power bypass prevents the formation of negative pressure in the oil system. A programmable electronic pressure switch ZDO with two switching outputs is also installed.