56 



National Resources Planning Board 



certain materials would accelerate the process of vulcani- 

 zation, only within the last 20 years has the company 

 been particularly active in discovering and promoting 

 the use of chemicals for this purpose. During the same 

 period the useful life of rubber products has been greatly 

 increased by the development of another class of chemi- 

 cals known as antioxidants. 



About the time of the First World War, the United 

 States Rubber Company began an intensive study of 

 latex in an effort to find methods of using it in manu- 

 facturing operations in place of dry rubber. As a result 

 of this study the companj' has developed a number of 

 new or improved products which can be manufactured 

 by using the latex method. 



Among the new products are a rubber thread which 

 when covered with textile yarns is known as Lastex; a 

 latex paper widely used in the manufacture of artificial 

 leathers and similar products where a high degree of 

 strength and good embossing properties are desii-ed; 

 a latex foam from which car seat cushions, mattresses, 

 and similar products can be manufactured directly; and 

 a wire which has a rubber insulation of such unusual 

 high quality and uniformity that it permits a reduction 

 in the over-all diameter. Substantial quantities of 

 latex are also being introduced into industries which 

 were unable to use dry rubber in their manufacturing 

 processes. 



Motor Vehicles 



General Motors Research Corporation 



About 1909 C. F. Kettering visualized a research 

 organization for the purpose of initiating improvements 

 upon which he felt the future of the automobile in- 

 dustry depended. The Dayton Engineering Labora- 

 tories Company was established to carry out the pro- 

 gram Kettering had conceived. The company hoped 

 to license its subsequent developments to the various 

 car or accessory manufacturers and in this way to 

 obtain funds for future investigations. Realizing that 

 research and production, if housed under the same roof, 

 might prove to be unfortunate rivals for the company's 

 time and effort, the men in the enterprise decided not 

 to enter immediately the manufacturing field. 



The first project of the newly organized company 

 was a battery ignition system, which found favor in 

 the eyes of several manufacturers. Inasmuch as the 

 system consisted chiefly of a coil and several small 

 parts or contacts, the Kellogg Switchboard and Supply 

 Company of Chicago undertook to manufacture the 

 unit, and a license arrangement was agreed upon. In 

 this way funds were obtained for further research, and 

 the company could continue on its original purpose. 

 In 1912, the company offered the self-starter to the 

 automobile manufacturers. A problem immediately 

 presented itself, however. Because of certain features 



in the construction of this new unit, it could not be 

 readily produced by an outside company. The labora- 

 tories, therefore, undertook the assembly of the starter, 

 purchasing the parts from dilferent manufacturers. In 

 this way the company became a manufacturing concern, 

 still devoting, however, part of its energies to funda- 

 mental research, out of which, incidentally, came the 

 Delco farm lighting unit in 1914. After an unsuccess- 

 ful attempt to have an outside company manufacture 

 the unit, the farm lighting division of Delco was organ- 

 ized to take over the production. 



At the time the United States entered the First World 

 War, several of the manufacturers of accessories found 

 it necessary to combine in order to stabilize the acces- 

 sory business. Consequently, the United Motors Cor- 

 poration was organized, with Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., as 

 president. This organization later purchased by Gen- 

 eral Motors included Delco, Remy, New Departure, 

 Hyatt, and Perlam Rim. 



In 1917 Kettering, realizing that facilities for general 

 automotive research were Umited because of the require- 

 ments of production, returned again to the idea of a 

 laboratory for fundamental research and organized the 

 Dayton Research Laboratories Company, with Mr. 

 F. O. Clements as director. The newly organized 

 company focused its energies chiefly on the problem of 

 detonation. 



During the early months of the country's participa- 

 tion in the First World War, the Government often had 

 occasion to ask the assistance of the organization in 

 the solution of war problems, among them the gyro- 

 scopic control of aerial torpedoes. Later the company 

 found difficulty in obtaining raw materials because of 

 the enforcement of the priority list. In order to over- 

 come this handicap, the company became associated 

 with the Dayton Metal Products Company as its 

 research division, but engaged also in research and pro- 

 duction work for the Dayton Wright Airplane Company. 



At the end of the war, the company again turned its 

 attention to automotive research, concentrating its 

 efforts on ethyl gasoline, combustion studies, and air- 

 cooling problems. General Motors at this time be- 

 came interested in these projects and purchased the 

 Dayton Metal Products Company and also the 

 Dayton Wright Airplane Co. 



In 1920 the General Motors Research Corporation 

 was established at Moraine City, Ohio, with C. F. 

 Kettering as president and F. O. Clements as technical 

 director. This step marks the beginning of the present 

 period of the research laboratories. In the summer of 

 1925 the Research Corporation transferred its labora- 

 tories to Detroit to be nearer the manufacturing divi- 

 sions of the company, and its name was changed to 

 General Motors Corporation, Research Laboratories. 

 At this time it was merged with the General Motors 



