CHEM TEXTS
Vol. 2 No. 2 Page 3
Reclaim Quality To Improve With New Modern Equipment
Water Pollution Will Be Reduced
The following pictures show some of the latest manufacturing equipment the Company has recently purchased to keep us in business against strong competition. Improved quality of our reclaimed rubber will result from the finer grinder and fibre separation machines.
Some equipment has been already installed and is undergoing shakedowns to work out the “bugs”. The miracle of the modernization of the plant is that full scale production is continuing without interruption.
Previously it was difficult to control the lint escape after the fibre was separated from the rubber. The new equipment now makes it possible to catch the fibre lint and bale it like hay. This new piece of equipment will now control the amount of lint that was formerly discharged into the Naugatuck River, and causing a pollution problem. After the modernization program is completed, further studies will be made and evaluated to reduce the air pollution caused by the reclaim manufacturing process. This fits in with the Division’s policy of air and water pollution abatement in the area.
[IMAGE: Industrial building exterior with equipment]
[IMAGE: Control panel with lights and switches]
New control panel will aid operators in controlling the operation of fibre separation and fine grinding.
[IMAGE: Industrial baler equipment]
New baler equipment collects and bales lint previously discharged into Naugatuck river.
PURDUE U. INSTALLS OUR ALL-WEATHER “RUBBER” TRACK
“The installation of the first and new outdoor all-weather “rubber” track at Purdue has any number of advantages, not the least of which is that we are now able to get a boy ready for the track, instead of getting the track ready for the boy”, says the University highly respected track coach for 20 years, Dave Rankin.
Sold under the tradename “U.S. Royal Track”, the surface is a mixture of specially selected natural and synthetic rubber made at Naugatuck. The rubber must be of the highest quality to produce a smooth uniform texture and mixed with asphalt cement and fine aggregates at a contractor’s hot mix plant.
Unlike cinders, which are high-priced and difficult to buy, the “rubber” track can be used 12 months a year under almost any weather conditions. This new all-weather track practically makes postponements and cancellations a thing of the past.
The “rubber” track doesn’t create dust and can be painted with long-lasting markings that stay clean and sharp under constant usage.
The track is tough but pliable enough to give under pressure without cracking. Unlike cinder or clay tracks, the spikes do not dig up the track permanently, because the rubber surface quickly restores itself.
Maintenance of cinder and clay tracks has always been a major and costly expense. Inclement weather meant cancellation of a scheduled meet or poor performance. A crew was oftentimes required to rake, roll, groove and reline it.
Frost works havoc with a track, causing potholes, surface bumps, a lot of time and effort to restore it to fast condition.
With Uniroyal Chemical’s “rubber” track, none of these problems occur. It would take a hurricane to cancel a meet and besides, it virtually guarantees a consistent performance because the footing is always sure and constant. Practice sessions now mean more to the athlete and the University, for the runner’s time on Monday or Tuesday will be the same time as the day of the meet.
The “rubber” track can be installed in practically one day and ready for use on the next with regular highway paving equipment. Usually two Chemical R & D personnel are on the spot to provide technical assistance to the contractor.
The contractor, prior to submitting his bid to Purdue, made it a point to witness similar applications of competitive products. He found other materials difficult to pave, difficult to handle, control and roll. The U.S. Royal track won out for its reputation of a quality product.
[IMAGE: Construction equipment on track]
[IMAGE: Workers installing track surface]