380 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August i, 1903. 



THE EVOLUTION OF "GALALITH." 



THE new material •" Galalith," mentioned lately in The 

 India Rubber World |June 1 — page 306] as having 

 been taken up on an important scale by the Vereinigte Gum- 

 mivvaaren- Fabriken, Harburg-Wien, as a substitute for hard 

 rubber or celluloid in the making of certain goods, is the 

 subject of a recent report by the United States consul gen- 

 eral at Coburg, Germany — Mr. O. J. D. Hughes. He says that 

 a patent was issued fifteen years ago for the manufacture of 

 buttons, handles, and the like from casein, the principal albu- 

 menoid substance of skimmed milk. To fresh casein a metal- 

 lic salt was added, yielding a firm substance when pressed into 

 molds. But it became brittle, and softened easily in water. To 

 counteract the latter drawback soap was added, but the arti- 

 cles were then both soft and brittle. Then a process was in- 

 vented to make the casein insoluble by adding formaldehyde, 

 but the product distended in water, and was abandoned. 



Recently a new process has been evolved. The first step was 

 to make the casein insoluble by the addition of salts and acids. 

 The product was dephlegmated and dried, when, by the addi- 

 tion of formaldehyde, Galalith was obtained. To produce, for 

 instance, a material similar to ebony, which could be used for 

 handles of table knives, the process was as follows : " Dissolved 

 casein was given a dark color by the addition of soot, and with 

 the help of acetate of lead, a slate colored precipitate was ob- 

 tained. This was mixed with water and the thin pap filled into 

 a cloth stretched over a frame. The water becoming absorbed 

 by the cloth, the pap contracted into a uniform, firm, and dark 

 mass; this was placed in a solution of formaldehyde and, after 

 being dried, a product resulted which in luster and color was 

 equal to ebony. In this way a raw material is produced which 

 the inventors have protected by numerous patents. An advan- 

 tage of the new product as compared with celluloid is the fact 

 that it does not ignite so easily and is entirely odorless." Of 

 late trials have been made to produce, by the addition of vege- 

 table oils, an insulating material for electrotechnical purposes. 



A NEW •'KERITE" COMPOUND. 



WILLIAM R. BRIXEY, in the specification o( United 

 States patent No. 728.851, recently granted to him for 

 an improved vulcanized " Kerite " insulating compound, points 

 out in detail wherein the new material differs from the com- 

 pound patented under the same name by the late Austin G. 

 Day, to whose business Mr. Brixey succeeded. In this connec- 

 tion, " crude Kerite " is the basic component of a compound 

 which, when it is made complete by the combination with it of 

 India-rubber at a vulcanizing heat, forms the material known 

 as " Kerite." According to Mr. Brixey, although India-rubber 

 is by itself one of the best insulators known, it possesses no 

 durability for electrical purposes, and cannot be used alone. The 

 object of his compound is to utilize the insulating property of 

 the India-rubber, while imparting, by the use of other mate- 

 rials, the necessary permanency and the capacity to resist dete- 

 riorating influences. 



" Kerite " in its original form included cottonseed oil, which 

 has been omitted by Mr. Brixey, for the reason that " when a 

 crude Kerite which contains cottonseed oil is united with rub- 

 ber, the presence of this oil in the product impairs and lowers 

 to a very great degree the insulating capacity of the rubber." 

 He now adds talc, not as absolutely necessary to the making 

 of a good compound, but because "its use will be found to 

 give such an increased adhesiveness to the crude material 

 and to render the latter so much better adapted to combine 



with the India-rubber to produce the finished Keri 

 does not confine himself to the precise proporti 

 given for the different ingredients of "crude Kerite 

 patent specification suggests the following 

 Mixture for 180 Pounds. 



Coal tar 



Asphalt 



Heat together to 350 F. for M> hour ; then add — 

 Linseed oil 



te." He 

 ons here 

 ," but the 



ain to ;so° F. for 7 hours ; let stand over night ; heat up 

 to 140° F., and add— 



25 pounds. 

 15 pounds. 



70 pounds. 



Sulphur 



Heat up to i2'/''F. in Vs hour and add- 

 Sulphur 



Heat again to -500° F. and add— 

 Talc 



10 pounds. 



4 pounds. 



56 pounds. 



Keep at same temperature ':■ 10 % hour, when vulcanization will 

 have taken place, and the mixture can be poured into molds or 

 allowed to cool in mass. 



Where " Kerite " Is intended for the insulation of aerial wires 

 or cables, the proportions of crude compound and rubber to be 

 used are 4 to 1 ; if for underground conductors, 3 to 2 ; if for 

 submarine cables, 2 to 3— in the latter case the amount ol rub- 

 ber being larger than of crude Kerite. The crude Kerite is first 

 ground until it comes to a warm homogeneous mass. The rub- 

 ber is put into the rolls, together with litharge, to aid the sub- 

 sequent vulcanization of the mass, and oxide of zinc, to render 

 the product more solid and to prevent its oxidation. Mr. Brix- 

 ey also adds Chicle, the adhesive nature of which assists in the 

 combination of the rubber with the other materials. Next the 

 ground compound and the ground rubber mixture are placed 

 in the rolls together, until all are thoroughly united, after which 

 sulphur is addea, but before the vulcanization is performed, 

 and while the mixture is still plastic, it is applied to the electri- 

 cal wires by means of the usual covering machines. Based 

 upon the specification, the following formula may be stated for 

 a material for insulating overhead wires : 



Crude Kerite 54 pounds. 



India-rubber 13^ pounds. 



Litharge 3 pounds. 



Oxide of zinc 3 pounds. 



Chicle 1 }^ pounds. 



Total 75 pounds. 



Add 5 pounds of sulphur for vulcanization. One other point 

 of difference from Day's " Kerite " is that no sulphide of anti- 

 mony or other sulphide is used. In connection with Chicle, 

 Mr. Brixey refers to " Columbian gum." which he says may be 

 used as a substitute, since it "costs only about half as much, 

 and answers a better purpose." Previous patents have been 

 issued to Mr. Brixey as follows : No. 714,85s, for the manufac- 

 ture of crude Kerite, and No. 714,859, for Kerite — both dated 

 December 2, 1902. The last of the Kerite patents granted to 

 Mr. Day was dated in 1885. 



UNITED STATES RUBBER GOODS EXPORTS. 



OFFICIAL statement of values for the month of May, 

 1903. and the first eleven months of four fiscal years, 

 beginning July 1 : 



