JjLY I, 1906.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



331 



STRIP CUTTING MACHINE. 



INDIARUIiBIvR, with or without a backing of fabric, is 

 often required in long strips. As it comes from the 

 calender in sheets from ;,6 inches up to widths that only the 

 largest calender can handle, it follows that to cut this sheet 

 longitudinally into strips from '4 to 3 inches wide, an acces- 

 sory machine is needed. Hence the Strip Cutter. It is 

 simple, and of course eflfective ; made up of a series of sharp, 

 rotary knives that revolve against a steel roll. Between the 



■a^ 



roll and the knives the sheet of rubber or rubber coated 

 fabric is led, and the strips cut at a speed that is marvelous 

 The knives are so arranged that they can be set at varying 

 distances apart and the machine equipped with various 

 starting, stopping, and speed regulating devices that need 

 no specific description. [The New England liutt Co., 

 Providence, Rhode Island.] 



A CABLE LAYING MACHINE. 



' I ^HE signal service of the United States government has 

 -*■ purchased a submarine-cable laying machine made by 

 Johnson & Philips, Limited, (Old Charlton, Kent, Kngland), 

 which is thus described in an exchange : 



The machine consists essentiallj^ of a drum, round which 

 the cable to be laid takes three or four turns. This drum 

 can be driven by a small steam engine, the valves of which 

 are controlled from the same platform as the brakes and tail- 

 gear. The engine drives the drum bj- means of a pinion, 

 which can be moved out of gear when the cable is being 

 laid in deep water, in which case the weight is sufficient to 

 drive the drum against the resistance of its brakes. Pre- 

 vious to passing round this main drum the cable passes 

 over a tailgear, which maintains a constant pull on it, and 

 thus ensures that it takes a firm grip of the main drum. 

 This gear is fitted with a brake, by which the amount of ten- 

 sion can be adjusted. In lifting a cable it is, of course, es- 



sential that this tailgear shall have a positive drive, and 

 this is provided for by means of a Renold chain drive, one 

 sprocket of which is keyed to a spindle carrying a sliding 

 pinion, which can, when desired, be thrown into gear with 

 the main drum. This chain drives the tailgear through a 

 friction clutch, .so that the gear can yield to sudden strains. 

 In anything but a smooth sea, it is necessary- to adjust the 

 brakes on the main drum and tailgear with the motion of 

 the vessel, since, if either brake wheel stojjs for an instant 

 following the pitching of the vessel, it is liable to " seize, " 

 since the friction "of rest" is, of course, considerably 

 greater than the friction of motion. Provision is therefore 

 made for tightening this brake from the working platform. 

 Twin machines are usually fitted, being required in splicing 

 a cable ; one machine can then haul in one end, whilst the 

 other pays out. The machine is designed to carry a load of 

 25 tons. 



BICYCLE TIRES IN ENGLAND. 



TN an article on light weight bicycles, in London Fitimicial 

 ^ jVetcs, the writer says it is impossible to have these 

 without light tires. "The days have gone," he says, 

 "when economical riders ordered tandem tires for their 

 back wheels, in the hope of escaping punctvires. It is now 

 recognized that the side walls of a tire must be thin. If 

 decent road surfaces could be counted upon everj-where, the 

 tread might be thin also, as the gain in cofnfort and speed 

 would be great. But a thin tread, even if composed of the 

 purest material, must puncture on occasion, and therefore 

 prudent riders usually have a strip of compressed rubber 

 added to the tread of a light tire. Four years' experience of 

 fabric-sided tires has convinced the writer that the actual 

 road wear on the rubber treads is almost negligible. It is 

 the fabric which ultimately gives out, owing to the ravage 

 caused when riding through stretches of loose road-metal. 

 The rider frequently escapes trouble, and passes unscathed 

 tiirough most puncturesome country, but afterwards discov- 

 ers the injuries to his open sides. " 



On account of the continued popularity of cycling in Creat 

 Britain, the demand for bicycle tires is still an important item 

 in the rubber trade. Fiiiancial Neivs mentions the use of 

 bicycles on a wide scale by the postoffice department, both 

 by letter carriers and in the delivery of telegrams, which is 

 a government function. ' ' In rural districts the C3cle mounted 

 policeman, in the full dignity of helmet and tunic, is becom- 

 ing a familiar feature." 



A GRINDER FOR SCRAP RUBBER. 



^ I ^HE Birmingham Iron Foundry (Derby, Connecticut) 

 -*■ have just put upon the market a double geared grinder 

 refiner designed for pulverized scrap rubber. They have 

 just put one in the (ioodyear Tire and Rubber Co., in Akron, 

 and it is doing a remarkable amount of work. The machine 

 is described as follows : It is a 22" and 24" X 60" chilled 

 milled, double geared, giving a total friction of 2''2 to i, the 

 fast roll running 20'i r.p.m. It is designed primarily for 

 reclaiming mill work in grinding and pulverizing scrap rub- 

 ber, and should handle from 6000 to Sooo pounds per day of 

 10 hours. The machine is readily equipped with adjustable 

 guides, any t3pe of bedplate, and if requested a safety stop 

 device. The total weight of the machine is 50,000 pounds. 



