September 1, 1917. 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



701 



Automobile Tire Fabrics. 



By Alvin Kingsbacher. 



THE bigness of this subject lies not only in its possibilities, 

 but in its very realities. The present-day application of 

 tire fabric to industry and to society is enormous and one 

 may naturally but wrongly infer that a greater development is 

 likely to result from the present unprecedented demand for it. 



I am prepared to contradict the belief — widely current, gen- 

 erally accepted and apparently supported by fact — that tire 

 fabric is in its experimental stage. There have been so many 

 innovations attempted, such as the substitution of ramie for 

 cotton, the twisting of a wire with the component cotton threads 

 of the yarn and the experimentation with other than plain 

 weaves, such as leno and similiar ones, that the failure of all 

 these has not only removed the possibility of further develop- 

 ment in tire fabric but has reflected greater merit on its present 

 qualities and construction. In mentioning these various ex- 

 periments it may be well to make evident in a brief manner the 

 cause of their failures. 



The substitution of a stronger material for cotton has neces- 

 sitated the introduction of a fiber which has not the necessary 

 properties of elasticity and flexibility. Any increase in strength 

 without these 

 qualities would 

 not be consid- 

 ered a n im- 

 provement, but 

 rather a detri- 

 ment. In twist- 

 ing wife with 

 cotton threads 

 the d i ifi c u 1 ty 

 encountered is 

 to secure a wire 

 of such a mate- 

 rial as will pos- 

 sess the same 

 elasticity as the 

 cotton. Another 

 feature of this 

 construction is 

 that the wire 

 will tend to cut 

 the cotton or 

 other fibrous 

 material. 



In using leno 

 or other weaves 

 which, by cross- 

 ing the threads, 

 yield a stronger 



fabric, the objection arises from the cutting action of the threads. 

 The effect of tire service on a fabric is so peculiar that it would 

 not be long before the threads would cut each other in the 

 places where they cross. From these observations of what has 

 already been tried, it is natural to suppose that tire fabric has 

 long since ceased to be an experiment. It stands to-day as a 

 scientific certainty and is as much a standard commodity as 

 army duck or any such similar fabric. 



It is not my intention, nor have I the ability, to expound the 

 theories of tire manufacture. My experience has been gleaned, 

 firstly, in a cotton mill running exclusively on tire fabric, and 

 secondly, in a tire factory as fabric analyst. It is my desire 

 to combine these experiences in such a way as to give not only 

 a fair idea of how fabric is made, but also what is expected 



A MoDERx Tire Fabric Loom. 



of it liy the manufacturer who endeavors to make a reliable tire. 

 The pneumatic automobile tire is a complex combination of 

 fabric and rubber. It has been created like most other inven- 

 tions to meet existing demands, and having arrived at its pres- 

 ent efficient stage, has succeeded in establishing for itself a 

 monopoly, opposed to which countless devices designed to sup- 

 plant it have not even made an impression. 



The name "automobile tire fabric" is generic. It includes 

 many kinds of fabric which are used in the construction of a 

 tire, but the most important of these and the one that is used 

 in greatest quantity is the "building fabric." It is estimated 

 that of this style alone about sixty million square yards are 

 used annually. In addition to this building fabric there are 

 various other fabrics that go into the making of a tire. These 

 sundry fabrics include special construction, known as "chafing 

 fabric," "breaker fabric" and others, such as "Osnaburgs," 

 "sheetings" and "tapes." The last two are used more especially 

 in the process of tire manufacture and are not an inherent part 

 of the tire itself. Then there is another fabric called "thread" 

 fabric that is frequenth- used in making certain types of beads. 



Before ap- 

 proaching the 

 subject of fab- 

 ric construction, 

 I wish to out- 

 line in a crude 

 and desultory 

 manner the 

 various proces- 

 ses through 

 which the fab-- 

 ric must go be- 

 fore it becomes 

 part of a tire. 

 When the fab- 

 ric is received 

 at the tire fac- 

 tory it is in- 

 spected by the 

 proper officials, 

 and of this I 

 shall deal at 

 greater 1 e n gth 

 later, but in 

 this connection 

 it is well to 

 state that not 

 all tire factories 

 • maintain a de- 



partment of this kind. It is to the credit of a few that they 

 do maintain this department. It bespeaks a high standard of 

 quality, and the rigidness and thoroughness of inspection in 

 regard to fabrics betokens a similar care and exactness in the 

 selection of other materials and in the various processes of the 

 manufacture. 



After tlie inspection comes the drying process. The fabric 

 is run over hot rolls and all the moisture extracted, as it is essen- 

 tial that the fabric be dry before it is coated with rubber. The 

 "calendering" or "frictioning" process is the means of forcing 

 the rubber compound into and onto the fabric. Tlie spaces or 

 "pores" in the fabric are filled with rubber and then the fabric 

 is "skimmed" or coated with a layer of rubber. The fabric is 

 then ready to be cut into strips, the cutting being on a 45-degree 



