THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



341 



Machines For Making Bathing Caps. 



Fig. 1. — Rotary Vapor Vulcanizer. 



THERE was a time when the bathing cap was plain and un- 

 attractive. Today it is made in a score of shades and 

 shapes, and so berutfled and trimmed that it is a most at- 

 tractive part of the bathing costume. 



These changes have turned the old-time hand process work 



_ into a line of rubber 



manufacture for which 

 a number of labor sav- 

 ing machines have been 

 designed. The present 

 day processes begin, of 

 course, with the prepara- 

 tion of the stock. 



First, late.x plantation 

 rubber is massed and 

 mixed with the desired 

 dry aniline color, be it 

 yellow, orange, red, vio- 

 let, blue or green. 



It is here that the 

 scarcity of imported 

 dyes has seriously af- 

 fected the industry. Most 

 of the brilliant colors 

 formerly came from 

 Germany, and are therefore not obtainable. However, satis- 

 factory results are attained by proofing both sides of bright 

 colored plaids, figured poplins, taffetas and crepe de chines. 

 with a transparent coating of pure rubber. Indeed, beautiful 

 effects are thereby obtained, and it is further true that the colors 

 will not run. 



The rubber stock is ne.xt calendered and dusted with corn 

 starch. It is then cut into 25-foot lengths, which are laid on 

 a smooth surfaced shrinking table, one upon the other for a 

 period of 48 hours. Whether the material from which the caps 

 are to be made is calendered sheet or waterproofed cloth, the 

 following methods of manufacture are practically identical in 

 both cases. 



The metal patterns for the bathing cap body are 18, 19 and 

 20 inches in diameter. When the .shrinking is complete the pat- 



tern is laid on the sheet 



and the body of the cap 

 cut out by hand. 



The edges of the cap 

 body are then "hemmed." 

 This operation is per- 

 formed on an ordinary 

 sewing machine, but 

 without needle or thread, 

 the hemming device sim- 

 ply folding over the 

 edges of the cap body 

 while the feed and the 

 presser foot solidly unite 

 them. 



L'p to this point the 

 work has been with soft, 

 uncured rubber that re- 

 quires careful handling 

 as it is easily distorted and damaged, besides being sticky. As 

 the operations that follow require a certain amount of firmness 

 in the material, this quality is obtained by semi-curing the rub- 

 ber in the rotary vapor vulcanizer shown in Figure 1. This is 

 a box-like chamber heated by steam coils and enclosing a belt- 



Fig. 2. — Head-Band Ruffling 

 Calender. 



-Pleating and Formi 

 Machine, Open. 



driven perforated wooden cylinder. In this the cap bodies are 

 tumbled for an hour at a temperature of 110 degrees F., and ex- 

 posed to nionocliloride of sulphur vapor, which effects a semi- 

 cure. 



Making the inside and 

 outside head-band and 

 the ruffled trimming that 

 forms part of the latter 

 is the next step to be 

 considered. The unvul- 

 canized sheet, that has 

 been previously dusted 

 with corn starch, is 

 rolled on a mandrel, 

 which is placed in a 

 speed lathe, and the 

 head-band strips are cut 

 into separate rolls of the 

 proper width. The edges 

 of the band strips are 

 folded by passing 

 through metal folders. 

 The lower strip forming 

 the rufifled part of the 

 outside head-band is 

 wider than the upper one, and is unvulcanized, while the nar- 

 rower, upper strip is semi-cured. In this position they are fed 

 to the small 2-roll calender shown in Figure 2, meanwhile the 

 operator pulls on the elastic upper strip, thereby ruffling the lower 

 uncured strip as it passes between the rolls. The inside head- 

 band is a plain strip of unvulcanized rubber about % inch wide. 

 The cap is formed and the lower part pleated on a machine 

 especially designed for this purpose. Before this is done the 

 points of the pleats, where they will come in contact with the 

 inside and outside head-band, are brushed with cement made 

 of pure rubber dissolved 

 in naphtha, and allowed 

 to thoroughly dry. 



The next step in the 

 operation is pleating, 

 forming and assembling, 

 which is done on the 

 machine shown on Fig- 

 ure 3. The round semi- 

 vulcanized and cemented 

 cap body is placed evenly 

 on the lower folding 

 blades A. These are 36 

 in number, and arranged 

 in circular form with 

 their inner ends pivoted 

 to the hollow plunger B 

 that is reciprocated ver- 

 tically by action of the 

 treadle C and coil spring 

 D. The inside head- 

 band, which has been 

 previously brushed with 

 cement, is placed around 

 the head-block E and the ends joined, making the band endless. 

 The upper pleating blades F, 36 in number, are arranged in 

 circular form around the flange G, and turn on their vertical 

 axes when the ring H is partly revolved. They also alternately 

 register with the lower blades. The upper blades are then 



— Pleating and Fori\ 

 Machine, Closed. 



