Tire Chains TUV

1

Product-Specific Legal Requirements or similar provisions — Other Regulations

1.1

Road Traffic Licence Act (StVZO):

1.1.1

§ 22a in combination with § 37 section 1 sentence 2 awarding a legal approval (ABG) for traction aids; look also to point 6.3.8.

1.1.2

§ 37 section 2 (snow chains); look also to points 3.2. 6th hyphen, 4.2, 6.3.2, 6.3.4 and 6.3.8!

1.1.3

§ 30c (relevant guide lines included) following the Council Directive 74/483/EEC, if need be test of splinter safety (external safety) – look also to point 6.2.2.

1.2

Road Traffic Ordinance (StVO):

§ 3 section 4 – 50 kph maximum speed if snow chains fitted.

1.3

Injury Insurance Regulations: § 56 section 5 VBG 12 (vehicles) – Use of personal protective equipment.

2

Packaging / Marking

2.1

Protected and safe use/placing of the snow chains/traction aids in a stable, weather-resistent box, bag or similar together with a German user instruction – simple handling appreciated.

Avoidance of unnecessary packaging waste and simple separation of the materials, if necessary, under the (German) Packaging Regulations.

2.2

Identification of the equipment (durable, well legible, min. height of letters/numbers: 2 mm) as follows:

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name, company logo (origin) or similar of manufacturer/distributor

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type (type designation) or model (if need be)

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version/size

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article (or item) number on packaging or snow chain/traction aid (if need be)

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year of manufacture (if need be)

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legal marks or private labels (look also to point 1.1.1)

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Material (look also to point 5.2.2.2)

3

Instructions for use

3.1

The instructions for use must be available in a waterproof and durable (rain, snow, ...) version.

3.2

Completeness and comprehensibility (German language, with drawings/photos) — based on pre-standard DIN V 8418 : 1988-02 with among others:

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Data on manufacturer or distributor and issue (year-month).

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Notes on equipment (scope of supply and sort of snow chain type).

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Notes on proper and/or safe assembly (fitting, tightening, removing) – Relevant information about mounting tools and aids required! (look also to point 4).

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Data on proper suitable application, exclusion of misuse (warning notes; look also to points 1.2 and 1.3.):

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The snow chains/traction aids must be checked for tightness shortly after initial operation.

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The snow chains/traction aids negatively influence the vehicle’s behaviour on dry carriageway.

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Heavily worn snow chains/traction aids are likely to break.

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Notes for the end consumer/user pointed out in the legal approval (ABG) for traction aids must be added.

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Notes on maintenance (care, servicing, repair, fault repair).

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Listing the application range: tire sizes suitable for each size of snow chain/traction aid if possible by adding the vehicle model additionally — where applicable exclusion e. g. of certain sorts of vehicles or limiting up to a certain maximum mass of the vehicle; look also to point 6.3.1!

ð

Snow chain made of metal only must be used with elastic set of tyres.

4

Assembly

4.1

Risk of injury must be prevented wherever possible.

All parts necessary for the handling must belong to the set of snow chains/traction aids.

4.2

Fitting, retigh

5

Material testing (look also to point 1.1.2)

5.1

Materials must be selected such that they are able to withstand the stresses and wear of use.

5.2

Proof of correct materials used (especially for plastics)

5.2.1

Give material type name, provide (safety) data sheets; proof of product-specific suitability of material.

5.2.2

Material identification

5.2.2.1

If need be e. g. IR-spectrogram, density, ...

5.2.2.2

Marking of plastics (specified in ISO 11469) due to correct recycling.

5.3

Corrosion testing (if metal parts used). 2 test cycles per 7 days...

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24 hours salt spray test

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4 days condensation water test atmosphere

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48 hours standard atmosphere

5.4

All links, connecting rings and hooks of a snow chain must be welded without any tears, defects or other faults.

Similar is valid for traction aids.

5.5

A high speed test must be conducted with one pair of snow chains/traction aids at 80 kph for 20 km.

Four deceleration tests must be conducted afterwards from 50 kph down to 0 kph at maximum braking power.

6

Fitness for purpose of use

6.1

Test carried out a. o. with check of the drawings

6.2

Conditions referring to the dimensions – the snow chains/traction aids, mounted on a fully loaded vehicle, must fulfil the following requirements:

6.2.1

Overlap at inner side of the wheels must be small enough to avoid damage to any other parts of the vehicle (as e. g. tie rods, suspension arms, brake lines, etc.)

6.2.2

Mounting systems on the outside of the tires of the vehicle must be constructed in such a manner that they do not cause injury.

6.3

Construction

6.3.1

The snow chains/traction aids must fit the application for which they have been specified.

6.3.2

Mounted on a fully loaded vehicle with properly inflated tires, one cross member must, throughout a complete rotation of a tire, be in simultaneous contact with the tire and carriageway (flat road surface).

This check has to be carried out with the biggest and the smallest tire size of each snow chain/traction aid size.

6.3.3

The links must be able to adapt to deformations of the tire during driving.

6.3.4

Links (of a snow chain) in contact with the carriageway must be constructed form components whose lengths are three times of four times their thickness.

6.3.5

The attachment mechanism of the snow chains/traction aids must be constructed such that it does not unexpectedly release, even in the event of a loss of tension.

6.3.6

The tension mechanism must be constructed in such a way that necessary tension for the use of the snow chains/traction aids leaves maintained.

6.3.7

The links must be connected in a way that assures a proper arrangement of all links, connecting rings and hooks.

6.3.8

No sharp-edged parts of the snow chain that may damage the carriageway are permitted.

Otherwise the equipment has to be presented to a German authority, the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA) at Flensburg, to get legally approved as traction aid if it isn’t a snow chain as defined in § 37 section 2 StVZO; look also to point 1.1.1.

6.4

Functional requirements

6.4.0

Test vehicles

The test described as follows are to be carried out each with 2 different passenger cars (v1: vehicle 1 – v2: vehicle 2) with the description succeeded:

max. permissible

all-up weight: min. 1.200 kg v1

max. 1.000 kg v2

sort of drive rear wheel drive v1

front wheel drive v2

Unladen vehicles with two subjects of the test as riders, snow chains/traction aids fitted on the tires of the driven axle.

6.4.1

Pull test

Tests carried out with approved standard snow chains („Spurkreuz") as the reference and with the snow chains/traction aids being presented for approval.

Either dynamic pull tests (moving resistance) or static pull tests (stationary resistance) are performed; minimum 8 tests.

The traction power on a hard pack snow covered carriageway must be at least 30 % of the vehicle kerb weight (the two riders included).

6.4.2

Lateral traction

In 8 tests driving on a circular path with radius (20...30) m at the following speed:

v [kph] = 3,6 • (0,35 • 9,81 • r [m])^½

the snow chains/traction aids must keep the vehicle on the track with a lateral acceleration of 0,35 g = 3,4335 m/s²; conditions: hard pack snow covered carriageway.

6.4.3

Braking

In 10 braking tests from (30...40) kph down to 0 kph the snow chains/traction aids must prove to achieve a coefficient of friction: