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RESEARCH PHYSICIST
Claxlon shows how much ma-
lerial his CEPAR saves, in a
test to determine the processing
qualities of rubber material.
What the CEPAR can do in one
New Machine
Aids Rubber
Processing
A new machine developed in
the Firestone research labora
tories in Akron, Ohio makes it
easier and less expensive to de
termine processing qualities of
rubber materials.
It took three years for Wil
liam E. Claxton, a Firestone re
search physicist, to develop the
machine. He calls it the
“CEPAR”, an abbreviation of
its ability to study the curing,
extrusion, plasticity and re
covery qualities of rubber ma
terials.
The instrument has been pat
ented, and its inventor says
several outsiders have express
ed interest in it. The pilot model
has been invaluable to Firestone
scientists during the last two
years.
CEPAR is more versatile than
other instruments, one test re
placing five or six separate ex
periments on other machines.
Only small samples are needed
operation with five grams of
material formerly required a
pound or more of material, and
five or six separate steps. Test
data is recorded on the graph.
☆ ☆ ☆
for accurate testing, and tem
peratures up to 600 degrees can
be employed.
The physicist said CEPAR has
been used effectively to study
problems such as cracking of
material during the molding of
tires. It also can be used to
detect bad batches of rubber,
thereby avoiding processing dif
ficulties later on in the manu
facturing method.
Record ‘Good’
For Donaldson
Clarence W. Donaldson Jr.,
fixer in Twisting (synthetics),
had a rating of “Good” in his
Mill Maintenance course at
North Carolina Vocational Tex
tile School, for the period end
ing in mid-November. Mr. Don
aldson received a diploma in the
Belmont school’s Weaving-De
signing course at commence
ment exercises last spring.
Said the school principal,
Chris E. Folk: “An employee
who works a full shift in the
mill and is ambitious enough to
go to school to improve his
Former Employee A Paratrooper
Pvt. Reginald E. Deal, who en
tered the Army after having been
employed here for several months,
is stationed with a paratroop outfit
at Fort Bragg, N. C. His father,
Archie Deal of Dallas, works in
Spinning.
While at Firestone, Reginald was
in Spinning also. He and Mrs. Deal,
the former Irene Long of Ranlo, are
parents of Reginald Jr., born in
early September. Reginald’s ad
dress: Co. B, 2/504; Fort Bragg,
N. C.
25-Year People |\
Service Anniversaries
Ten persons v/ho have
moved into their 26th year
of employee service are pre
sented in photographs on this
page. They passed their
quarter-century v^ork mark
in November, w^hile 13 others
completed records of from 5
to 20 years. The list includes:
Twenty Years
W. E. Deanhardt, Weaving
(cotton); Isaac Trammel, Card
ing.
Fifteen Years
J. P. Hart Jr., Oscar J.
Jenkins, James M. Smith Jr.,
William Sanders and Jess L.
Shehane, all Twisting (syn
thetics) .
Ten Years
Mildred B, Hayes, Weaving
(cotton); Clifford R. Stuman,
Service (mechanical).
Five Years
Cecil Head, Twisting (syn
thetics); Marvin W. McCurry,
Weaving (synthetics); Robert E.
Froneberger, Industrial Rela
tions (plant protection); Grace
A. Spencer, Quality Control.
New Plant Nears Completion
An increase of nearly 12 per
cent of Firestone’s capacity for
production of synthetic rubber
is expected when its polymer
plant at Orange, Texas goes in
to operation in early 1961.
An addition to the Firestone
Petrochemical Center, the unit
in construction will produce
both Coral, a complete replace
ment for natural rubber; and
Diene, an extender which is
blended with and improves the
quality of natural rubber in tire
production.
Annual capacity of this new
facility will be 30,000 tons of
either Coral or Diene, The Com
pany’s present synthetic rubber
capacity is 251,000 tons a year
at plants in Akron, Ohio; Lake
Charles, La.; and Pottstown, Pa.
Diene output will begin soon
after the Orange unit is finish-
value to himself and to his em
ployer, is to be highly com
mended.'”
William York
Spooling
Robbie Miller
Spinning
r
AT ORANGE, TEXAS
Lois Bolding
Spinning
Reid A. Deal
Spinning
ed. Diene will be made from
butadiene, a basic ingredient in
synthetic rubber which has been
produced at the Petrochemical
Center since 1957.
PRODUCTION at Orange will
augment synthetic operations
elsewhere, and will reduce Fire
stone’s amount of natural rub
ber required for many products.
The plant at Orange is design
ed to allow easy switch from
production of one to the other of
the new synthetics, as demand
requires. Diene will be produced
first, because of its promise for
improving the quality of natural
rubber in blends. Diene has
been well tested in a pilot plant
at Akron, and has been in pro
duction for almost a year.
Diene already is used in Fire
stone’s premium passenger car
tires and truck tires. Its resili
ency and low-temperature qual
ities add durability to tires, im
prove tread wear and traction
on ice and snow, and is more
resistant to tread cracking.
Oliver Taylor
Spinning
Rosa 6. Lane
Weaving (syn)
Mi
4
Hurley Brooks
Spinning
Fred E. Deal
Twisling (syn)
srNi
Trenton Ginn
Twisling (syn)
D. Hoyle Helms
Carding
A New Name
for an
Old Principle
Did you ever wonder
what it would be like
in the United States had we
not had scientific progress
for more than the past 100
years? People call it auto
mation these days. But that’s
just a new name for an old
principle.
On this subject, someone
has observed that with pro
duction equipment and meth
ods of the 1850s, it would be
impossible to meet consumer
needs of the 180 million
Americans today.
Then, there are these addi
tional points to think about;
• At the production level
of 110 years ago, today’s
America could not produce
nearly enough food, cloth
ing, housing and other essen
tials of life. Goods would be
scarce or unobtainable.
Thousands — maybe mil
lions — of Americans would
lack the necessities of exis
tence.
• Population has grown
from the 23 million of the
1850s to 180 million now. By
1980, look for it to be well
into the 200 millions.
Today’s production would
not support these additional
millions. So, to keep pace,
we will need more goods and
more jobs — more of every
thing for our progressive na
tion.
This leads to another
point: Progress often creates
additional challenges , , •
problems. But failure to
make production growth
keep up with population in
crease would create prob
lems far more serious. As the
years come and go, we must
have all the productivity
boost that improved machin
ery and equipment can offer.
Industrial progress is the
road to economic survival
and material prosperity.
RULE
for
the
ROAD
When my father taught me to drive an
automobile he laid down a basic rule;
"Drive as far ahead as you can see the
road. Observe all of it. length and beam
on each side. Watch for vehicles approach
ing or entering the highway."
I have found this a sound rule of life
as well as of driving. One must modify his
speed according to the range of his vision.
There are corners to turn, grades to sur
mount, traffic to watch.
Dean Everest Walker
December, 1960 Page 4
Volume IX Number 12
☆ ☆ ☆
Published by The Firestone
Tire & Rubber Company,
Firestone Textiles Division,
Gastonia, North Carolina.
Claude Callaway, Editor
Charles A. Clark, Photographer
?LANT REPORTERS
Carding—Payton Lewis, Jessie
Ammons
Cloth Room—Margie Waldrep
Industrial Relation s—Flora
Pence
Main Office—Bea McCarter
Quality Control—Sallie Craw
ford. Louella Queen, Leila
Rape
Spinning—L i 11 i e A. Brown,
Maude Peeler, Mary Turner
Spooling—Nell Bolick, Rosalie
Burger, Ophelia Wallace
Mechanical Department — Rosie
Francum
Twisting—Vera Carswell, Elease
Cole. Annie Cosey, Katie El
kins, Catherine Fletcher
Twisting (Sales)—Elmina Brad
shaw
Warehouse—N a n c y Cloningef'
George Harper, Albert Meeks#
Rosevelt Rainey
Weaving (cotton)—Ruth Veitch
Weaving (synthetics)—Mary E.
Johnson, Irene Odell
Winding—Ruth Cloninger, MaY'
zelle Lewis