NEW RUBBER PROCESS

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 171, 7 April 1923, Page 16

NEW RUBBER PROCESS

remarkable discoveries. Handling rubber in liquid form in largo quantities is an interesting new devclojiment of the rubber indus ry. Tank wagons are now m daily use. The latex (milk) is transported from the plantation by tank cars to tho nearest port and placed in storage tanks, later to bo pumped into tho tanks of steamers for shipment to the United States. Tho latex is again pumped into railway tank cars tor transportation to the factories. Rumours of some / mysterious new process of manufacture have been agitating rubber circles in America and Europe for several months. Tho conjectures aro now explained by a statement .that two remarkable new processes of manufacture have been discovered and perfected by tho Development Department of tho United States Rubber Company, whose chemists and research engineers have devoted, years of experimentation to tJiis new field. Ono process covers a. method of extracting rubber from the latex of tho rubber tree* The method is so now and effective that a crude rubber of a quality never before known is made availably to the world.

Tho second series of patents covers a process of treating .fabrics and cords with latex, making it possible to manufacture tires and other articles _ with . a degree of strength hitherto impossible of attainmentRubber produced in tho new way is found to show a substantial increase in tensile strength and resistance to abrasion, and also a degree of uniformity never before attained. Though the company itself is modest in its claims regarding the superiority of tho crude rubber coagulated in this way, other rubber experts do not hesitate to predict that the results obtained will completely revolutionise coagulating methods throughout the world, and give to consumers rubber goods of a distinctly better quality. In almost all so-called rubber articles of commerce, some sort of fabric—usually of cotton—is used to give body and strength to the article, and in a large measure the wearing qualities depend upon the construction of this fabric part.

In many articles, especially tires, it has been learned by experience that the more completely each strand of cotton can be covered or permeated by rubber the better the wearing qualities. Tho chief fault with the former methods of uniting the rubber with tho cotton fabric have been duo to tho difficulty of forcing rubber dough into tho body of tho cotton goods, and to the fact that when rubber has been used in the form of a solution the chemicals have a harmful effect on tho cotton. When an article is in 'use it rapidly begins to deteriorate when thq union of rubber and fabric is broken. In the case of tires, tho breaking of this union is called “separation,” and is usually tho inital .stage of destruction, which proceeds rapidly from this point on. Tho United States Rubber Compaljhas found that if a tread of tho fabric is immersed in rubber latex, tho rubber penetrates to tho very centre of the strand. Threads so treated, whether individual or comprised in a knitted or woven fabric, have very great advantages over threads of woven fabric treated by tho processes hitherto in use.