292 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[March 1, 1913. 



6. Superintendents should present to the supervising 

 chemist, monthly reports embodying all ideas of their own, 

 or their assistants, that might in any way warrant investiga- 

 tion. Through such a system thoroughly carried out, valu- 

 able suggestions can be obtained that might otherwise be 

 lost. This plan will also stimulate closer thought and ob- 

 servation concerning all the details of manufacturing. 



7. There should be (through proper connections) sys- 

 tematic prompt advices of all improvements in European 

 practice that would be of value to the corporation. 



8. The Laboratory should place at the disposal of the 

 sales department, whenever this is necessary to demonstrate 

 the value or quality of the company's products — a competent 

 testing engineer, who can instruct the customer in the 

 standard methods of conducting physical tests of manufac- 

 tured rubber goods. 



The Engineering Chemist receives instructions from the 

 Operating Engineer (through the supervising chemist). His first 

 and most important field of activity is the examination of ma- 

 terials used by the power plant. This includes : 



1. Periodic analysis of the coal supply. 



2. The control of combustion by flue-gas analysis. 



3. The examination of lubricants. 



4. The examination of the water used for boilers. 



5. The examination of boiler deposits and boiler com- 

 pounds. 



6. Practical tests on the quality of paints and varnishes 

 used in the works. 



As a result of his contact with the power plant, the engi- 

 neering chemist is in a position to provide the factory 

 chemist with exact data on the wearing qualities of rubber 

 goods used in the power plant. Such materials include 

 steam-packing, transmission-belting, water-hose, conveyor- 

 belting and washers of all sorts. He also keeps his eye on 

 the various structural materials, metals and lumber brought 

 into the factory, in whi'-.h case he co-operates with the 

 buyer's chemist. 



The Buyer's Chemist receives instructions from the 

 purchasing agent (through the supervising chemist). He is 

 essentially an analyst, for he must determine the purity and 

 the comparative commercial value of mineral drugs, organic 

 fillers, reclaimed rubber, crude gum, textiles (sheeting, duck 

 and yarn), and the various metals — which have been offered 

 to the purchasing department. He must control all work 

 relating to sampling and analysis, because so much depends 

 upon prompt and accurate results. He must be able to devise 

 special methods, and should endeavor to make his methods 

 conform to those of the vendor so far as this is consistent 

 with good work. He must record all physical tests made on 

 rubber and textiles, and enter these with the chemical tests 

 in a special folio kept for this purpose. 



He devises for the purchasing departments, rational specifi- 

 cations, so that it will be possible for the buyer to procure 

 bids on a standard material which the vendors will be able 

 to supply, without an abnormal rise in price for the com- 

 modity. 



The Factory Chemist receives instructions from the 

 factory manager (through the supervising chemist). He inves- 

 tigates problems which arise in the factory and endeavors, by 

 simplifying operations, to reduce the cost of production. 

 This may be attained by increasing the speed of machinery; 

 by omitting unnecessary operations; or by eliminating waste. 

 Before arriving at final conclusions regarding recipes for 

 new compounds, he will, of course, have to make such exami- 

 nations as "friction tests" on belting and hose ; pressure tests 

 on fire-hose; steaming tests on steam-hose and so forth. 



Other problems which he must face from time to time are : 

 the reclaiming of waste rubber; the correction of defective 



cures on molded goods and steam-cured articles; defective 

 frictions on cotton-jacketed hose. 



In addition to the actual manufacturing operations, he must 

 follow up for the factory manager, the preparatory processes 

 of washing and drying the crude gum; compounding, mixing 

 and calendering the stock. In his record book he enters all 

 improvements made in any of these departments and devotes 

 a separate page to each department. By thus entering the 

 date on which the improvement or new method was installed, 

 he will be in a position to give the factory manager complete 

 data on the advantages gained by the step. He also makes 

 such analyses as are necessary in the intermediate steps of 

 some processes in order to insure proper control and a uniform 

 product. 



The "premature hardening" of steam-packing; the "boot- 

 legging" of belts; the "blooming" of hose; the "loose sleeve" 

 effect on rubber covered rolls; the "dead-friction" effect on 

 cotton-jacketed hose; the "uncurable" stamp gum; the abnor- 

 mal "swelling" of extract-tank packing — these are but a few 

 of the innumerable defects which must from time to time be 

 investigated by the factory chemist. 



Another field of activity is the writing of recipes to meet 

 certain specifications. The various government departments, 

 municipalities and railroad companies have at present sharply 

 defined specifications for the delivery of manufactured rubber 

 goods, so that it has become necessary for contractors to 

 exercise considerable caution in the making up of these goods. 

 In such matters the factory chemist as a rule works in con- 

 junction with the foreman of the compounding room. 



The Sales Chemist receives instructions from the sales 

 manager (through the supervising chemist). To him are 

 brought commercial rubber products put on the market by 

 competing firms. His duty is to pick apart these products 

 and determine the manner in which they were constructed, so 

 that the desirable features of the sample can be duplicated if 

 need be. He makes chemical analyses of these samples and 

 carries out physical tests to determine in the laboratory their 

 approximate value compared with similar products turned 

 out by his employers. Thus he determines as far as possible 

 the character of the textiles used and the particular fiber 

 employed (whether it be cotton, flax, hemp, or ramie). 

 He determines the "friction" value on belting and hose; the 

 strength and stretch value of the rubber lining in articles like 

 fire-hose; he also determines the tensile strength and other 

 physical properties of such products as steam packings. 



If the competitor's article is of inferior quality and is sold 

 at a lower figure than the article made by his firm, he must 

 give the sales manager information which will enable him to 

 present these facts to the customer. The sales manager oc- 

 casionally has turned back to him specimens of conveyor 

 belting or transmission belting which have not stood the test 

 of time. In such cases it is for the sales chemist to ascertain 

 the exact conditions under which the belt has operated, so 

 that he can determine whether or not the usage has been un- 

 expectedly rough. 



The Sales Chemist conducts the final physical and chemical 

 tests on specification goods and places his "O. K." on all such 

 orders before they are shipped. 



The Research Chemist receives instructions direct from 

 the supervising chemist. The raw material for his research- 

 es is obtained to a considerable extent from his colleagues in 

 addition to the problems which are mapped out for him by 

 his superior. He should have at his disposal a well arranged 

 and adequately equipped index to periodical literature and 

 the patent literature of all countries. It is from these sources 

 that many valuable suggestions are obtained, and it should 

 not be forgotten that many very important suggestions for 

 development work are obtained from sources entirely outside 



