From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Properties and potential applications of Kautex, an anti-vibration and insulation jointing material.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 138\1\ scan0099 | |
| Date | 25th May 1934 | |
| X634 RM{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} To [illegible] from Ev.{Ivan Evernden - coachwork} Copy eg. [illegible] Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} EV{Ivan Evernden - coachwork}3/IH.25.5.34. Re:- KAUTEX (Plastics) LTD. -------------------------------- The above firm have supplied me with samples of their anti-vibration and insulation jointing material called Kautex. It consists of cork, fully ground and bonded with rubber which is finally vulcanised. Its properties of vibration damping and heat insulation are due to the cork, the rubber being the bond only. It is used by Daimler and Standard for body mounting to prevent vibrations from the tyres reaching the coachwork. A sample Daimler packing is enclosed herewith. We believe the idea to be good, because we have proof of it in the R.R. Body Subframe. The rubber mounting of the Subframe made it impossible almost to tell whether the car was running on macadam or stone sets. We propose to fit up a car having this mounting for the body. The material is made in sheets of any thickness. The weight is 10 ozs per sq. foot for 1/8 ins. thick. Suitable solutions are supplied for attaching it to metal. The same material, 1/32 ins. thick, is used for deadening the panels of bodies. The weight is 3 ozs per sq. foot. This same thickness is used as an anti-squeak material for mounting wings on to the stays and the frame, and for running boards, where they are attached to the step-irons and the wings. Apart from the vibration insulation effect, we feel that the use of some such anti-squeak material in all joints such as these is a move in the right direction. One notices that on the high class American Coachwork all joints where movement is likely to occur are insulated by rubber. One notices quite frequently on removing a body from an R.R. Chassi that the body brackets are polished bright due to movement having occurred. On 5.B.4. we shall do all we can in this direction. EV.{Ivan Evernden - coachwork} | ||