June I. 1920. 1 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



POWER. HEAT AND LIGHT. 



These are the next factors to be considered. A great many 

 ruliber shoe factories buy all their power, and unless the cir- 

 cumstances are exceptional it is generally cheaper to do so. It 

 is assumed, therefore, that the electric power necessary to run 

 the motors in the mill, calender, and cutting rooms is received 

 from an outside source and reduced to the required voltage 

 through transformers. Enough power to run the lighting plant 

 can be made on the premises. Heating is by direct steam from 

 tin- boilers located in room D, which also supply heat for the 

 Milcanizers, mills, calenders, and heel presses. Machine shop E is 

 lilaced between the arms of the U next to the boiler rooms 

 and adjoining the mixing and calender rooms where the bulk 

 of the heavy machinery is located. 



COMPOUNDING. 



We will now follow the productive arrow through the opera- 

 tions. First of all is the mixing of the compounds, which is 

 done in a separate compartment B, next to the mill and calender 

 room. 



Despite the fact that compounds are no longer secrets in the 

 fullest sense of the word, rubber manufacturers still closely guard 

 their formulas. In one factory, known to the writer, the stocks 

 are mixed in a separate building some distance from the mill 

 room. In another, the mixing is done in the calender room with 

 no pretext of secrecy. The sequence of operations calls for it 

 being located next to the calender room, as is shown in the 

 diagram. It is equipped with four 20 by 22 by 60-inch mixers, 

 one washer, two 15-inch crackers, and two 40-inch refiners. The 

 ingredients are weighed in the compound room T on the second 

 floor and lowered to the mixers on a small lift or dummy 



CEMENT, VARNISH AND SCRAP DEPARTMENTS. 



The making of cement and varnish is done in two separate 

 buildings apart from the main factory on account of the highly 

 inflammable materials used. A scrap department is also located 

 in an outside building. 



CALENDER ROOM. 



In the calender room the work divides itself into three or four 

 classes which call for grouping of machinery along these lines. 

 The rolls of cloth are brought from the store room A to the 

 cloth dryer in room C, where the moisture is removed before 

 calendering. Three 4-roll calenders are provided for coating and 

 frictioning cloth. This type is now generally used, the fourth 

 roll insuring a more uniform gage in running the stocks. Each 

 calender is provided with two mills for "warming up." 



The heel department is equipped with a calender for laminat- 

 ing the stock, a beam cutting press for dicing out the blanks, 

 three two-platen heel presses, one single platen press for mold- 

 ing fibre soles, and two heel trimming machines for removing 

 the overflow. This semi-cured stock is returned to the mixing 

 room, run through a refiner, and used again in fresh stock. The 

 upper and outsole calenders complete the units in the depart- 

 ment. For running uppers, two of the calenders are used for 

 print uppers for gum shoes and a third for running plain sheet 

 for boots and heavy all-rubber gaiters. Two outsole calenders 

 complete the outfit. 



MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 



It will be noticed that all stock from these calenders is carried 

 directly to the cutting room on conveyor belts. This prevents 

 the soft upper stocks from being exposed to the necessarily 

 dusty atmosphere of the calender room. The coated and fric- 



§ STORES 



MIXING 



CALENDER 



BOILERS MACHINE 

 SHOPE 



FLOURINGi COURT 

 ROOMF 



SHIPPING C- 



SHOWERS 



FIRST AID 



PRINTING 



EMPLOYnENT 



STORES 

 H 



COMPOUND 



I 



VARNISH III 



VULCANIZEfiS 



L 



STOCK 



IMIHO MACHINE CurriNC- 



CUTTING- 1^ 



GUM 

 CuTUtJCr 



PACKING K 



ARROWS INDICATE STAIRWAYS AND ELE' 



First Floor. Seco.vd Floor. 



T..\v-ouT OF AX Ide.\l Foot\ve.\r Factory. 



drvalnr. The rubber is weighed out near the mills. Most man- 

 ufacturers break down the rubber before mixing, and one of the 

 mills can be reserved for this purpose entirely. 



The mixing of rag stock made of fabric scrap, reclaimed rub- 

 ber, and cheap fillers which is used exclusively in footwear for 

 coating insoles and inside pieces where a stiff compound is 

 required, forms an important part of the work of this depart- 

 ment. There is considerable truth in the statement that the 

 cheaper the stock the harder it is to manipulate successfully. In 

 the plan here shown the scrap from the cutting room is fed into 

 a bin by means of a chute from the second floor. Bins are also 

 provided for gum scrap which is worked back in the freshly 

 mixed batches in fixed percentages to insure uniform stock. 



tioned slocks are carried to the cutting room on an elevator 

 which is used exclusively for keeping material moving lictween 

 departments. Lastly, but not the least important, we have the 

 foreman's office centrally located, that each section of his de- 

 partment may be under his eye at all times. A wash room with 

 shower baths for the use of the mixers is a necessity in all 

 rubber factories where accelerators of a poisonous nature are 

 used. The first aid room is located on the first floor with a 

 separate entrance and easily accessible to all departments. 



CUTTING ROOM. 



The cutting room J is the next department in the sequence 

 and is located on the second floor directly over the calender 



