THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



637 



New Goods and Specialties. 



BAO.OON ACCESSORIES OF RUBBER. 



THE EXIGENCIES OF THE WAR resulted in the development of 

 balloons as aids to the Army and Navy in a thoroughly 

 practical way. Concentrated effort and the application 

 of the knowledge of rubber and its possibilities by the large rub- 

 ber manufacturers, even though their aeronautical experience was 

 limited, resulted in wonderful achievements. One of the former 

 obstacles to the practical 

 use of the balloon was the 

 inability to control its 

 movements. Modern in- 

 ventive genius has over- 

 come this in several dif- 

 ferent ways, applicable to 

 the different types of 

 balloon. 



THE G AMMETER VALVE. 



Balloons in the early 



days could not be better 



controlled because no 



means had been devised 



for regulating the supply 



of gas used for inflation. 



Hydrogen gas, the light- 

 est known, which weighs r,A>t meter \ alve and Ha 



only one-fifth as much as 



air, is used for inflating balloons. Great care must be taken to 



preserve uniform pressure. When a balloon ascends or descends 



and passes from one atmospheric stratum to another, the outside 



air pressure decreases and the hydrogen gas within the balloon 



expands correspondingly. Some means must 



be available for counterbalancing this. 

 In the recent war a valve was devised 



which accomplished this purpose. Called 



the Gammeter valve, from the name of the 



man who invented it, the device regulates Goodrich B 



automatically the pressure of gas within 



ihe balloon, releasing enough gas to in- 

 sure proper stabilization. When greater 

 inflation is afterward required, the 

 sas already released cannot be re- 

 j^^~. -MM placed. Resort has been made to a 



f ^^^ series of secondary balloons called bal- 



lonets, constructed within the balloon 

 proper, which are filled with air by a 

 blower when required. These, together 

 with the Gammeter valve, permit the 

 regulation of ascent and descent. The 

 accompanying illustration shows two 

 views of the valve and the way in 

 which it is inserted in a balloon. 



AIRPLANE-WHEEI. WINDSHIELD. 



Rubber tires on airplane-wheels 

 proved to be just as great a necessity 

 as on automobiles and just as efficient 

 but for the fact that the wheel offered 

 a small amount of resistance to the 

 air passing through its spokes. In 

 these days of exact scientific calcula- 

 tion of ultimately important effects, 

 Goodrich Airplane Wheel even this slight resistance must be 

 AND Windshield. reckoned with. Accordingly, a wind- 



shield for airplane wheels was de- 

 vised, shown in the lower left-hand corner of this page. This 

 windshield is made of rubber and can be readily adjusted or 

 removed from the wheel, as desired or required. 



This shield is so constructed that the air particles glance off 

 with as little interference as possible with the revolution of the 

 wheel. Many of Uncle Sam's training planes, bombing ma- 

 chines, and reconnaissance planes were equipped with these 

 rubber-tired wheels. 



AIRPLANE BUMPER COED. 



In order to minimize the shocks of landing in an airplane, some 

 device was needed to 

 provide more play or 

 spring in the mounting of 

 the frame-work on the 

 axle, and this spring 

 must be so mounted as to 

 prevent the frame-work 

 from touching the 

 ground. 



Experiments in this di- 

 rection led to the devel- 

 opment of bumper cord, 

 which is now in universal 

 use. It consists of many 

 small strands of rubber, 

 covered with two jackets 

 of cotton thread woven 

 ON Equipped Therewith. ;„ jygt jjjg ^ight way. The 



cord is very supple and 

 exceptionally strong. By its use, the frame-work of an airplane 

 is practically swung to the axle, and much the same result is 

 produced as is effected by the spring in the corresponding place 

 in an automobile. This provides a considerable degree of 

 safety for the aviator in neutralizing land- 

 ing shocks. A photograph of a section 

 of this cord is reproduced herewith. (The 

 B. F. Goodrich Co., Akron, Ohio.) 



IPER Cord. COLD-PACK PROCESS JAR-RUBBERS. 



Two new brands of jar rubbers intended 

 to be used in canning fruits and vegetables by the cold-pack 

 process have recently been produced. This process requires 

 jar-rubbers that will withstand the effect of a considerable de- 

 gree of heat and which, therefore, must be made of a high 

 quality of rubber. One of these brands is known as the "Usee 

 _ Kold Pak." (United 



States Rubber Co., New 

 York City.) The other, 

 on which the trade-mark 

 has just been patented, is 

 called the "A 1 1 P a c k." 

 (Acme Rubber Manufac- 

 turing Co., Trenton, New 

 Jersey.) 



UNSINKABLE RUBBER 

 MAIL-POUCH. 



An aviator's mail- 

 pouch, unsinkable and 

 watertight has recently 

 been put on the market. 

 It is made of black rub- 

 berized material, with 

 high-gravity pliable rub- 

 ber composition base 

 which keeps the pouch upright in water. .\ kapok lining pro- 

 vides buoyancy. The pouch is 16 inches high, 14 inches wide, 

 and 3 inches deep at the base, weighing about 5 pounds. (Safe- 

 ty-at-Sea Corp., 1358 Broadway, New York City.) 



