THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



555 



The R. & D. Fabric Puller. 



SALVAGING AUTOMOBILE TIRE FABRIC. 



A DISCARDED ROAD-WORX AUTOMOBILE TIRE CARCASS averages 

 half rubber composition and half cotton fabric. In the 

 best makes the fabric is Sea Island and Egyptian cotton and 

 much of it is sound and in u■^alJle condition for remanufacture. 



It is readily sal- 

 able at a higher 

 price than the 

 old rubber por- 

 tions. The pos- 

 ^il)ilities in using 

 .-.alvaged tire 

 fabric have led 

 to the develop- 

 ment of two 

 profitable lines 

 of business. Re- 

 claiming or 

 "pulling" old tire 

 fabric is compar- 

 atively a recent 

 addition to the 

 business of the 

 scrap rubber 

 dealer. Many 

 tons of usable 

 fabric are re- 

 covered daily 

 and find ready 

 sale to the tire repair and rebuilding trades, and to manufac- 

 turers of tire reliners, blow-out patches, etc. 



Various power devices are employed for stripping or pulling 

 tire fabric which not only lessen the labor cost but produce a 

 uniform product with the rubber wholly on one side of the fabric 

 while the opposite side is entirely bare. Successful machines 

 for this purpose are shown in the illustration and the operation 

 of one is described below. 



METHOD OF STRIPPING TIRE FABRIC. 



The bead points are first trimmed off the old tire from which 

 the fabric is to be stripped. The work is done with a' six-inch 

 knife. The tire is next turned inside out and slipped over the 

 expanding drum of the 

 stripping machine. By 

 means of a hand-crank 

 the drum is expanded 

 until the tire is held 

 firmly. One ply of fab- 

 ric is then cut through 

 clear across from bead 

 to bead. One edge of it 

 is peeled back a short 

 distance by means of a 

 pair of pincers until the 

 end will reach once 

 around the fabric shaft 

 of the machine. This 

 lever is thrown for- 

 ward, bringing the shaft 

 near the tire, the free 

 end of the fabric is 

 wound round the shaft 

 and the clutch engaged. After the shaft has made a few turns, 

 it is drawn away from the tire to allow room for the accumu- 

 lation of fabric on the shaft. While the fabric is being removed 

 from the carcass, should it tear or a large blow-out be reached, 

 (he cl'Jtch is disengaged and the fabric around the bad place 



HiEBs' Fabric Stripi'eh 



IS peeled back with the aid of pincers. The operation of stripping 

 the tire is continued until the level of the beads is reached. 



REMOVING THE BEADS. 



.•\t that point the tire is taken from the machine and the beads 

 removed on a special machine. This machine is simple of opera- 

 tion and consists of a rigid stand, somewhat like a tire-building 

 machine, with a locking device to hold the tire securely, and an 

 arm actuated by a hand-lever. This arm is provided with an 

 interchangeable tool, of which one end is ground for removing 

 beads, and the other for cutting through the treads and first ply 

 of fabric. The bead-removing tool engages the exposed bead, 

 pushing it away from the tire for a space of about twelve inches, 

 after which it is easily pulled from the tire. 



After removal of the beads the tire is returned to the strip- 

 ping machine and the remaining plies stripped as described, 

 down to the ply next to the tread. This ply, usually filled with 

 sand and dirt, is worthless for reuse, and is discarded with the 

 attached tread and side wall rubber, as junk. 



The cost of stripping fabric by machine is a relatively small 

 item in view of the amount of possible output and profit. 



GERMAN WAR TIRES' 



The FOLLOWING ACtouxT of what the Germans were obliged 

 to substitute for rubber tires on their army motor vehicles 

 relates particularly to the tire situation in Belgium as affected 

 by the blockade. 



SITBSTITITTES FOR RUBBER TIRES. 



The loss of rubber was a serious blow. While the Allies ran 

 all their trucks on rubber tires, and even had automobile-hauled 

 gun carriages rubber shod, the tire dimensions going as high as 

 60 by 9 inches, it was a rare occurrence to see a German truck 

 with rubber tires. Of the hundreds of abandoned or captured 

 German trucks I examined in Belgium, not more than a dozen 

 had rubber tires. 



The stories of artificial rubber appear to be a myth. The 

 majority of these trucks had very thick wood rims; mounted 

 on the rim of the wheel around this was a light steel rim which 

 made contact with the road. Another equally common method 

 was a series of rubber blocks, each of which was set in a pair of 

 cups mounted respectively on an inner and an outer rim. The 

 inner rim was fixed and the rim had a certain amount of elasticity. 

 In this case, as in the first instance, a steel rim was in contact 

 with the road, the rubber giving a cushioning effect without 

 being subject to friction with the road surface. 



In some instances this system of rubber blocks between two 

 steel rims was applied to touring cars. The result, however, 

 was not at all satisfactory; speed had to be kept down to 12 

 miles an hour, the vibration was tremendous, and there was a 

 decided tendency to skid. 



Sufficient pneumatic tires were obtainable to supply the cars 

 used by the higher staff officers at the front, but the scarcity 

 of rubber and the impossibility of finding a substitute for pneu- 

 matic tires restricted the use of touring cars to officers in the 

 field. 



CONVERSION OF A GERMAN TIRE FACTORY. 



Becaiise of the special nature of its requirements, the balloon 

 companies had their own main supply depot, independently 

 of the airplane service. It was one of the accidents of war 

 that the factory used by the Continental Tire Co., of Hanover, 

 until August, 1914, was taken possession of by the French, who 

 enlarged it and later turned it over to the American Air Service 

 as a balloon depot. Before the fighting this one-time German 

 rubber factory had become the biggest hydrogen-gas pro- 

 ducing center in the world, with an output of 500,000 cubic feet 

 per day. During the active period this depot sent out 1,630 tons 

 of special balloon material. 



FROM SALOONKEEPING TO TIRE SALES AND REPAIR. 



After j'uly 1, thousands of excellent store locations now 

 occupied as bar-rooms will be released for other business pur- 

 poses. In Ohio alone the number is estimated at 6000. Tire 

 manufacturers believe that liquor men who enter the retail 

 tire and accessory field are undoubtedly making a wise choice 

 and predict that hundreds of them will do so. 



' By W. F. Bradley in ".Automotive Industries." 



