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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



August 1, 1921 



A Brief Analysis of Tire Fabric Manufacture 



By H. R. 



IX the early history of tire fabric manufacture it was deemed 

 advisable to use nothing but Sea Island cotton which is the 

 longest staple cotton grown. It was also thought that it was 

 necessan- to subject this to the combing process in order to obtain 

 a superior quality of fabric. However, within the last few months 

 there has been a general trend toward careful thought concerning 

 cotton and the necessity of the combing process in the manu- 

 facturing of tire fabric. 



CAREFUL CLASSIFICATION NECESSARY 



One thing most certain in regard to cotton to be used is that 

 it should have careful classification whether it be Sea Island. 

 Peruvian, Peeler, Brazilian, Arizona, or any other type of cotton. 

 Cotton does not run uniform in grade and staple from year to 

 year or from consignment to consignment. Therefore, one of the 

 most important men to consider in the textile mill is the cotton 

 classifier. He should thoroughly examine every bale of cotton 

 that is received by him and whenever a bale is found that is not 

 up to the type specified, it should be rejected and not accepted at 

 an allowance — a practice which is being carried on by a majority 

 of the mills in all lines of fabric manufacture. While a gray or 

 yellow tinged cotton is not necessarily detrimental to quality, a 

 cotton that has met weather conditions which may damage the 

 staple should not be used at any price. If this cotton is not ex- 

 amined by somebody thoroughly conversant with climatic effects 

 upon cotton, a quality fabric will not be manufactured, no matter 

 how carefully the cotton may be handled in the process of manu- 

 facture. 



Today, one of the most vital points for the tire manufacturer 

 to consider is the proper cotton to use in making up his fabric 

 specifications. Within the past few months the writer knows 

 that one of the largest cotton research bureaus of the country has 

 been making flexing tests on the various growths of cotton and 

 it will probably be surprising to some of the readers of this 

 article to know that our own American peeler cotton has shown 

 far greater flexing properties than all the other kinds of cotton 

 with which we are familiar. Similar tests are being carried on 

 with carded fabrics against combed fabrics and the result will be 

 known in due time. If these reports continue favorable, it will 

 mean a saving of millions of dollars to tire manufacturers, and 

 it will also be a wonderful help to our American cotton growers 

 and American cotton itself. 



THE PICKING PROCESS 



The rst process in manufacturing, after the cotton has been 

 received at the mill and classified, is to arrange ten or twelve 

 bales around the bale breaker and tear from each bale a sheet 

 of cotton, similar to the method in which a sheet of paper is 

 torn from the pad on which it is made, throwing a sheet from 

 each bale at the same time upon the conveying apron. By a 

 series of spikes placed upon an inclined apron, and a spiked 

 dofifer beater, the cotton is broken into small particles and by 

 suction of a fan it is carried any distance required and dropped 

 into bins for aging purposes, or conveyed directly to the opener 

 picker, where it is automatically brought between two feed rolls. 

 These rolls carry the cotton forward to a revolving beater that 

 forces the cotton away from the feed-rolls and underneath which 

 is a series of wires through which the impurities of heavy seed, 

 not entirely removed by the gin, are driven to the floor below. 

 Meanwhile, the good cotton passes along, automatically forming 

 into a sheet, and is wrapped under compression into a roll of 

 continuous yardage similar to the winding of a roll of wrapping 



'General Superintendent, Textile Division, The Mascn Tire & Rubber Co., 

 Kent, Ohio. 



Whitehead' 



paper. The object of the picking process is to remove only the 

 coarser impurities. 



CARDING THE COTTON 



From the picker tlie cotton is carried to the cards, and here 

 the finer impurities, which the picker has not taken care of, are 

 removed. This is accomplished by placing at the back of the 

 card the roll of cotton which has been taken from the picker 

 and passing it through a feed-roll set, where the cotton is imme- 

 diately acted upon by a drum entirely wound by saw-tooth 

 wires. This drum drives beneath the card the coarser impurities 

 left by the picker, the good cotton passing along to a large 

 cylindrical drum wound with needle-point wires. Over this drum 

 is a series of flats covered with needle-point wires, with the 

 points so bent that there is a pulling action between the fiats 

 and the cylindrical drum, whereby the finer impurities are 

 removed by a vibrating stripping comb which strips the impur- 

 ities from the flats and winds them into a roll at the front of 

 the card as a waste product. Another cylindrical drum situated 

 directly in front of the one previously mentioned removes the 

 good cotton, and a high-speed vibrating comb removes the good- 

 quality cotton from the smaller drum. The cotton has all the 

 appearance of a very fine spider's web when it is removed from 

 the smaller drum, and by passing the web through a trumpet 

 containing a very small hole, it is carried through the coiler 

 automatically to a can placed under the coiler, which is removed 

 when filled. The next step in combed goods is the sliver-lap 

 machine, which forms a series of rope-like strands into a lap, or 

 roll, formed sitriilarly to that at the picker, only in smaller 

 dimensions. 



THE COMBING PROCESS 



From the sliver lap the roll is conveyed to the ribbon-lap 

 machine, which forms a lap very similar to the sliver lap. From 

 here it is taken to the comber, the object of which is to remove 

 any short fiber that the card has failed to remove. However, in 

 the action of the comber the fibers must be straightened, due to 

 the peculiar action of the comber upon them. In so doing, the 

 spirality of the cotton is lost, and this matter has been the cause 

 of a great deal of discussion as to the merits of combing in the 

 production of tire fabric. 



Originally, combing was practiced particularly on fine dress 

 goods, or any particular fabric requiring very high counts of 

 yarn, and especially on mercerized yarn. There is no doubt that 

 a yarn of a higher luster and slightly cleaner is produced by 

 the combing process. However, there is a question in the minds 

 of some of our best textile men as to whether or not, for tire 

 fabric purposes, the elasticity taken from the yarn in the combing 

 process does not offset all the advantages claimed for it. The 

 writer has discussed this matter with several textile men. and 

 after exhaustive tests he believes that the comber is absolutely 

 unnecessary in the manufacture of tire fabric. However, as before 

 stated, research work is going on, and it is an experimental matter 

 for the rubber companies to ascertain for themselves the bearing 

 which this statement may have on their future product. 



THE DRAWING FRAME 



.At the end of the comber the cotton is coiled into a rope-like 

 form similar to that at the cards and is carried to the drawing 

 frame. By a series of doublings of a number of the rope-like 

 strands at the back of the drawing frame and the use of a series 

 of rolls increasing in speed from the back rolls to the front 

 rolls, the rope-like strands are condensed at the front of the 

 machine into one single strand. The weight of this one strand 

 is equal to the weight of one of the strands at the back of the 

 fraine, or any weight which is required. The doubling process 



