JUME I, 1907.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



283 



A TIRE FABRIC MACHINE. 



VV7HILE we speak continually of "rubber" tires, and in terms 

 ''' that would be proper if they contained nothing but rubber, 

 the fact is becoming more and more appreciated that, in the case 

 of pneumatics, it is the textile fabric that really makes the tire. 

 The inner tube— the air chamber— has become standardized, so 

 to speak, so that one make differs little if at all from another, 

 and the "cover" is the essential thing in deciding what tire to 

 buy. And tire making has developed new needs in the way of 

 fabrics, since none of the countless different means resulting 

 from the cloth making art for thousands of years sufficed for 

 the demand created by the introduction of the automobile. This 

 is not the place for saying what is the best type of tire fabric 

 now in use — possibly no one fabric on the market is best suited 



1 \> '■' '^^ 



The P.\lmer Cord Laving M.vchi.ve. 



[In practice the "former" is a complete circle, permitting the fabric for 

 an entire tire to be made upon it.] 



for all the different requirements of pneumatic tire service — 

 but in the field of successful tire making account nuist be taken 

 of the Palmer Cord, and the ingenious machines invented for 

 producing the fabric to which this name is applied. 



Originally canvas was used as the restraining material in the 

 making of penumatic tires. But even while the demand for 

 such tires was confined practically to bicycles specially designed 

 fabrics began to be brought out to meet pressing demands. 



Detaii. of Palmer Cord Laying Machine. 



among the earliest being the Palmer invention, which has under- 

 gone various modifications to adapt it to the heavier service re- 

 quired of motor tires. In this fabric every thread is separated 

 and cushioned in vulcanized rubber, with the effect of adding 

 to the resistance of the tire in which it is used. At tlie same 

 time the threads (warp and weft) are so arranged with relation 

 to each that all the strains are direct, there are no slack threads, 

 and the tensions on all the threads are uniform. 



All these are desirable qualities, but all were not arrived at 

 without much study and e.\pcrimenting. To-day the Palmer 

 system involves not only the making of a particular class of 

 fabric, but the cords themselves are specially made. After the 

 system had been developed until it seemed that nothing remained 

 to be done for its improvement, a machine was designed to 

 replace hand work in the laying of the cords. Not only is great 

 economy involved in the machine work, but it affords an equality 

 of tension of the threads which it was impossible to obtain by 

 hand work. It is stated that a pair of these machines will make 

 the fabric for a motor tire in atout nine minutes, against an 

 average of about a day for an experienced girl by hand. 



In this machine the cord is fed from a supply spool to a com- 

 bined tension regulator and governor, which regulates the 

 delivery and maintains a reserve supply of cord under uniform 

 tension. A folding device measures off an exact length of this 

 cord and folds it into a double loop. Automatic fingers then 

 seize the loops and place them one on each side, in their proper 

 positions, on a "former," and also on to the staples which are 

 used in the bead of Palmer tires to anchor the loops of cord. 



In addition to its other advantages, the use of this machine 

 permits the work of tire making to be carried on in very much 

 less space than was required before. At a recent motor show at 

 Edinburgh The Palmer Tyre, Limited, exhibited these machines 

 at work, forming one of the most interesting features of the 

 show. The inventor is Mr. Thomas Sloper, who has designed 

 so many improvements in the tire manufacture. 



NEW DETACHABLE TIRE GRIP. 



ot 



A riRE grip developed by one of the largest leather manu- 

 ^"^ facturing concerns in America, after a thorough study 

 the needs of motorists, is recommended, first, on the 



score of not bring- 

 ing any metal what- 

 ever in contact with 

 the rubber of the 

 tire. In construc- 

 tion it is similar to 

 the chain grips al- 

 ready in use, but is 

 made throughout 

 of a very tough 

 chrome leather 

 treated by a water- 

 proofing process. 

 The cross straps of 

 this grip have steel 

 rivets inserted in 

 them, which are re- 

 ferred to as giving 

 much longer wear 

 than the chain grip. 

 The illustration 

 serves excellently to 

 show the structure 

 and method of application of the new grip, which is marketed 

 by the Healv Leather Tire Co., Xew York. 



He.\i.y Detachable Tire Grip. 



The Para Diario Official publishes a decree approving the 

 plan? for the harbor works to be constructed by the company Port 

 of Para. [See The India Rubber World, March l, 1907 — page 

 192.] The work on the first section is estimated to cost $19,- 

 159.829. and the second part $14,059.535 — the figures being the 

 equivalents of the gold milreis estimates published. 



Send to this office for a free copy of the index to "Crude 

 Rubber and Compounding Ingredients." 



