Gummiwerk KRAIBURG Elastik GmbH & Co. KG
Göllstraße 8
84529 Tittmoning
Deutschland
Tel. +49 (0)8683 701-303
Fax +49 (0)8683 701-190
Comfort mats for
The first rubber mats over 50 years ago were solid with a maximum thickness of 2 cm. These were an achievement for tying stalls at that time – they were softer than concrete before. Modern rubber mats
are no longer comparable to this. In fact, the deformability values of these highly developed comfort mats show that they are among the softest systems on the market.
To meet animal welfare requirements, today's lying mats have special lower side profiles (e.g. honeycomb structure or blades made of rubber) that generate softness. Partly, this is additionally supported by a multi-layer composition (e.g. combination of rubber and foam). As a result, such comfort mats reach thicknesses of over 6 cm.
In its softness tests, the DLG simulates the pressure load on a cow's joints when lying down, lying and getting up using ball penetration tests with a calotte. The standardized test procedure makes it very easy to compare DLG-tested products on the market. Modern rubber mats such as KEW Plus or WINGFLEX achieve deformabili-ties of over 4 cm. A comparison of common comfort lying surfaces on www.dlg.org shows how soft and dimensionally stable "rubber mats" perform.
It is not only the new condition that is decisive: the permanent tread load carried out as part of the DLG tests provides insights into the long-term softness of the products. This is where the high elasticity of a high-quality rubber compound becomes noticeable. KEW Plus and WELA, for example, still achieve a good 96 % of their original softness after the longterm test. The classification of the lying mats into softness classes according to DIN 3763 is based on this DLG test. In future, DIN 3763 can be used as a basis for
funding decisions.
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