June 1, 1914.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



477 



THE CLOSE CONNECTION BETWEEN COTTON 

 AND RUBBER. 



A 



By Edwin II. Marble. 



\'ERY suggestive incident which occurred at the rubber 

 exposition lield in New York would furnish a text for a 

 many-page article. Approaching one of the exhibits, a gentleman 

 took a piece of cotton cloth in his hands and asked rather sar- 

 castically, "That's common cotton cloth, isn't it?" Informed that 

 his premise was correct, his next remark opened up a very ex- 

 haustive subject. "Now, what's a piece of cotton cloth got to do 

 with the rubber trade?" It is my intention to answer this ques- 

 tion in a somewhat more serious manner than the questioner 

 expected. Broadly speaking, the piece of clntli is tlie means by 

 which the rubber, in many of its manufactured forms, is put into 

 usable condition. In the raincoat it carries the rubber surfacing to 

 the wearer's back; in the overshoe it puts wearing qualities into 

 that article, and in the tire, it is the bond which unites the rubber 

 surfaces and adds durability and life to the combination. 



When the importance of this medium is considered we can 

 see how essential it is that this fabric should be properly selected 

 for the particular use to which it is to be applied, properly pre- 

 pared for the application of the rubber, and properly combined 

 and united witli tiie other element tliat enters into the manufac- 

 tured form. 



First its selection. The use to which it is to be applied and 

 the processes thru which it passes during that application are both 

 to be considered. While the fabric is manufactured it must receive 

 certain well defined courses of selection and treatment. The 

 fibre which enters into its composition — Upland, Midland, Sea 

 Island, Egj'ptian — each has well known characteristics that best 

 fit each staple to a particular class of goods, and once selected 

 this fibre must be handled by the cotton manufacturer to produce 

 a yarn of suitable size and strength to meet the requirements. 

 This yarn must then be organized into a fabric, according to a well 

 defined plan. Now when we use the term "well defined plan'' we 

 mean a plan which will produce a fabric suitable for the require- 

 ments of the rubber manufacturer ; and these requirements are 

 of a widely varied nature. The shoe drill, the wrapper or liner 

 clotli, the cotton backing for hospital sheeting and the fabric for 

 the automobile tire, each requires a planned organization. 



Taking the last item as an example we find a strength test nec- 

 essary to satisfy our requirements. An openness of structure to 

 allow the rubber to properly rivet or friction the pieces of fabric 

 together is a second requirement, and an inter-laying of the warp 

 and filling strands tliat shall give a uniform elongation along lon- 

 gitudinal and transverse lines of pull, is a third requirement. Any 

 of the other fabrics may be examined in a similar manner. A 

 most important point to consider at this time is when the rubber 

 man shall decide whether the fabric fulfils the requirements. It 

 sometimes happens that a fabric has been tested at the wrong 

 time. A fabric when received from the seller may show a strength 

 test above requirements, and yet when subjected to the processes 

 incidental to manufacture, it may have lost part of its strength and 

 be condemned as unfitted for its purpose. The specifications 

 should state when and how this strength test should be applied, 

 and the manufacturer of the fabric be asked to cooperate with 

 the rubber man in obtaining the proper strength under the proper 

 test. 



And don't expect too much of the fabric. A certain sized yarn 

 organized into a certain fabric under certain fixed conditions of 

 moisture will satisfy a certain test, and the variations in ditTerent 

 testing will be slight. 



Now as to the equal elongation of warp and filling. If the 

 piece as received is correct in this particular, how aliout the 

 rubber man's subjecting the narrow strip of this fabric to an 

 abnormal pull in a particular direction — extending the threads 

 along one line to their fullest straining point, while little strain is 

 applied in an opposite direction? Is this a fair method of treat- 



ment? Is it not unfair alike to the cotton manufacturer, the tire 

 manufacturer and the innocent victim — the automobile owner who 

 pays many of the unfair bills? A closer acquaintance between the 

 two first mentioned will produce a much pleasanter acquaintance 

 between the two latter. 



The other requirement noted is the particular openness of 

 structure required to allow the rubber to properly friction the 

 pieces together. This is largely a matter of individual decision 

 and must be to a great extent a matter of experimental tests at 

 the rubber factory. In this, as in the other considered points, a 

 mutual co-operation between the parties interested will aid in 

 determining just what is best to do in each particular case. 



We have dealt quite fully with the tire fabric, as it seemingly 

 is the most important of all the cotton fabrics made, and at the 

 same time there seems to be less understanding of its particular 

 requirements and of the causes of its failures than should be the 

 case. The steel manufacturer is taken into the confidence of the 

 user, who requires a product just suited to his needs, and their 

 combined efforts have given this country a commanding position 

 in that industry. Similar results can be accomplished in the tire 

 industry. In fact we have already made fast strides in this branch 

 of our manufactures from the rather crude product of only a few 

 years ago. 



The proper preparation of the fabric — what does this mean? 

 Simply tins: the two elements that seem to be most detrimental 

 to the rubber coating of fabrics are dirt and moisture. The first 

 can be largely eliminated by mechanical means, clearing the fabric 

 of the loose or partially loosened foreign matter. In some parti- 

 cular cases even the projecting fibers should be sheared off or 

 otherwise removed ; while it is necessary in some classes of coated 

 goods to force through or rivet into the cloth the projections or 

 spurs of rubber to obtain a proper adhesion of the two materials. 

 In others a close enough adhesion is obtained by cementing the 

 rubber to the face of the fabric; or again a thin application of 

 rubber unites the two layers of a piece of double texture goods. 



In the one case 'the fabric must be thoroughly cleared of any 

 substance that prevents a proper adhesion, and in the other case 

 the openings or meshes must be thoroughly cleared to allow the 

 rubber to penetrate into these openings. Those processes are 

 almost entirely mechanical and suitable machines can be secured. 



The third consideration, the proper combining of the fabric and 

 the rubber, is a rubber proposition and outside the limit of this 

 article. Enough has been said, we believe, to satisfy any of those 

 interested that the piece of cotton cloth has considerable to do 

 with the best showing that rubber in many forms can make. 



NIAGARA FALLS TO HAVE A RTTBBER INDTTSTRY. 



The Santo Rubber Co., incorporated December 24. 1913, 

 under the laws of Delaware, purchased early in February of 

 this year five acres of ground at Niagara F'alls, New York, 

 for a factory site. It is the intention of the company to have 

 its plant built, machinery installed and to be ready for busi- 

 ness by January, 1915; and architects have been preparing 

 plans and specifications to be submitted to contractors for 

 bids on the construction work. E. T. Brockman is president 

 of the company and its executive offices are located in the 

 Oliver building. Pittsburgh. 



SLOW OPERATION OF HAW COTTON MACHINERY. 



It has been pointed out on competent authority that the ginning 

 of cotton is not now so well done as it was by the original ma- 

 chine of Eli Whitney 110 years ago, owing to the forced rapidity 

 of the saws which cut the fibers. Baling cotton remains as it was 

 at the close of the war of 1812, with the exception of the com- 

 press and the use of iron bands in place of ropes. Notwithstand- 

 ing the many desirable improvements in both the ginning and 

 compressing of cotton, the relatively slow operation of the gins 

 and the enterprise required for installing and managing the 

 slow hydraulic compresses ,at the plantation have retarded their 

 commercial introduction. 



