June 1. 1916.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



469 



CHEMICAL TREATMENT OF RUBBER. 



THE UNHID SXAIES. 



Coating Cumiosition. A new product, the oil of Pontianak 

 rubber resin. [Carlton Ellis and Alfred A. Wells, Montclair, 

 New Jersey. United States patent No. 1,179,413.] 



THE UNITED KINGDOM. 



Synthetic C.\outchouc. Isoprene and synthetic caoutchouc 

 substances are prepared by the following processes: (1) Treat- 

 ing with fuming sulphuric acid a mixture of an aliphatic ketone 

 with an aliphatic alcohol or ether. Example, a mixture of acetone 

 and ethyl alcohol or ether is treated, the reaction mixture is 

 cooled and volatile products distilled ofT. (2) Passing ethylene 

 or its homologues through a heated mixture of acetone or its 

 homologues with fuming sulphuric acid, giving isoprene and 

 caoutchouc. Propylene, butylene, or amylene and methylethyl- 

 ketone, diethylketone, dipropylketone, are also specified as 

 parent materials. (3) Passing ethylene or its homologues, or the 

 corresponding alcohol vapors, together with vaporized acetone 

 or its homologues, through a red-hot tube, with or without a 

 dehydrating agent, and collecting the reaction products in fum- 

 ing sulphuric acid. [H. Stern, 42 Karlstrasse, Munich, Germany. 

 British patent No. 297 (1915).] 



THE C-ERMAN EMPIRE. 



Rubber Substitute. Sulphurized oils fluid at the ordinary 

 temperature are treated with dilute nitric acid to obtain a prod- 

 uct which can be vulcanized like rubber. It is not completely 

 soluble in any known solvent, but swells up with carbon bisul- 

 phide, benzol, etc., to a gelatinous mass, which on evaporation 

 of the solvent leaves a tough elastic residue which can be used 

 for many purposes as a rubber substitute. [H. Bayer, Vienna, 

 German patent No. 288,968 (1914).] 



THE FRENCH REPUBLIC. 



\'uLC.^NizixG Rubber Cement by Ultr.a \'iolet R.\ys. The 

 process consists in exposing, thin layers of pure rubber, a frac- 

 tion of a millimeter thick.to the action of ultra-violet rays from 

 a mercury quartz lamp "Using 220 volts, 3 amperes of current. 

 The surfaces to be united are held by mechanical means at a 

 distance of 5 centimeters from the lamp. The exposure required 

 is about 40 seconds. The'yulcanizing agent may be free sulphur, 

 metallic sulphides or metaHic sulphides in the presence of bi- 

 sulphide of carbon. Extrejhely dilute solutions of rubber are 

 successfully used for cenienting surfaces by this method be- 

 cause the surfaces freely aibsorb the solution and the vulcanizing 

 effect of the ultra-violet' jiS^s.^<onverts the cementing medium 

 into a strong elastic Kn<j^^J*,'?tiif Olivier, French patent No. 

 477,204.] '■ ''r^~r 



OTHER CHEMICAL PATENTS. 



UHITED KINGDOM. 



Coating compositions. .. S, Grav 



100.092 (1916). Lithopone. R. jJ.tUopart, 

 Cordobu. Argcnfi^-^S. A, 



Building, St, 

 Rosa street, 



POROSITY n»:lRTOBER GOODS. 



The porosity of rubber as-it Kccurs in the manufacture of 

 goods is due to one or more-of several factors. Surface 

 porosity is usually caused by condensation of steam on the 

 goods during vulcanization. In the case of goods cured em- 

 bedded in talc in open steam, dr.ops of water sometimes per- 

 colate through the talc to the rubber and cause uneven vul- 

 canization, by locally reducing the temperature. This danger 

 may be practically eliminated by .protecting the receptacle 

 for the goods with a sheet metal covering to shed the water. 

 In the case of wrapped goods, moistening the wrapper will 

 prevent blowing. Internal porosity is caused by moisture 

 in the rubber or compound, by the u«e of a low-grade, weak 

 rubber in whole or in part, or by over-milling the stock in 



breaking down the gum or compounding. Porosity in molded 

 goods may be due to imperfect closure of the mold or to 

 insufficient stock to fill-'the mold. 



LABORATORY APPARATUS. 



VISCOSITY instrument, 



IN a paper presented by 11. C. Hayes, professor of physics, and 

 G. W. Lewis, assistant professor of engineering, both at Swarth- 

 more College, at the spring meeting of the American Society of 

 Mechanical Engineers held at New Orleans, Louisiana, last April 

 a new form of viscosimeter was described. It operates in accord 

 ance with the principle that a solid body having a surface oi 

 revolution when suspended in a rotating 

 liquid experiences a torque which is pro- 

 portional to the viscosity of the liquid 

 under test, such as a lubricating oil. 



The specimen, 5, is contained within 

 a cylindrical chamber that is rotated uni- 

 formly by a motor, .1/, through a worm 

 drive, R. A cj-linder, C, is suspended 

 within the specimen by a thin steel wire, 

 ()', so that the axes of the rotating 

 liquid and the cylinder coincide. 

 A cap, V. shaped so that the ex- 

 cess liquid can overflow w-hen the 

 cap is seated and thus give con- 

 stant conditions within the speci- 

 men chamber, Is' provided. The 

 specimen chamber is surrounded 

 liy an oil jacket, /, in which a 

 thermometer, T, is suspended. 

 The jacket oil may be brought to 

 any desired temperature by a 

 heating coil. The cover of the 

 jacket chamber, D, has a scale 

 graduated in degrees or may be calibrated to read the viscosity 

 in terms of a standard liquid directly through the deflection of 

 the pointer, P. The specimen chamber and the suspended cyl- 

 inder are both made of copper to insure a constant temperature 

 throughout the specimen, and the outside of the specimen cham- 

 ber is provided with blades which keep the jacket oil thoroughly 

 mixed as the chamber revolves and thus expose the latter to a 

 uniform temperature. This is an important factor toward insur- 

 ing constant temperature throughout the specimen. 



Experimental work conducted with the machine has shown 

 that the temperature of the specimen is uniform to within a 

 small fraction of a degree and follows that of the jacket oil st 

 closely that the temperature viscosity curve can be taken while 

 the temperature is slowly raised or lowered. This has proved 

 to be a great saving of time and labor, as it is not necessary for 

 the operator to stand by the instrument continually. The deflec- 

 tion of the pointer is at any instant a measure of the viscosity, 

 so that all that is required is to take simultaneous readings of 

 temperature and deflection at intervals iri'Vhe heating or cooling 

 process. 



The \ i^u)^n\ uf .\.\ (jil 

 lb Here ME\st-RED by the 

 Twist Given to a Body 

 When Oil Chamber Is 

 Revolved. 



RESISTANCE GLASS. 



The war has stimulated the production i'n .America of resis- 

 tance glaas for chemical and other purposes. There are now on 

 the market several excellent brands of this material, capable of 

 tilling the severest requirements. Among these may be men- 

 tioned the "Pyrex" laboratory glassware of the Corning Glass 

 Works, Corning, New York; Fry resisf;ance glass, H. C. Fry 

 Glass Co., Rochester, Pennsylvania; ''Vitreosil," Henry Heil 

 Chemical Co., St. Louis, Missouri ; Transparent quartz glass, 

 Hanovia Chemical Manufacturing Co..''Newark, New^ Jersey; 

 "Nonsol" glass, Whitall-Tatum Co., N'ew York City; "Insol" 

 glass. Lenz & Naumann, Inc.. New Yoric Cltj-. 



