Kaysam. A Casting Process for the Manufacture of Rubber Products from Latex

Various practicable methods of applying the solids of latex and latex mixtures in the manufacture of various types of products have been employed in this country during the past years. While meritorious within their respective fields, these processes, except that for the production of sponge rubber, all have the common limitation of being applicable only to comparatively thin articles of relatively uniform thickness. The recent introduction into this country of an important English invention, Kaysam, supplies the positive three-dimensional shrinkage control and accelerated drying method, which now opens new fields to all types of products with superior strength, stretch, tear-resistance, aging, and advantages characteristic of articles made directly of latex. The Kaysam Development Confronted with the conflicting problems of distressing competition and the necessarily wasteful and uneconomic methods of producing crepe rubber soles, Walter Kay, of Sam Kay & Co., Bury, England, despaired, of meeting the problem except by some workable substitution of latex for crepe rubber. The result of his experimental effort was a workable process of casting liquid latex into rubber articles without limitation of size or shape. This process became known as “Kaysam,” a contracted inversion of his company's name. This process has been applied in England during the past several years, and in various continental European countries to the volume production of many types of soles, metal-inserted heels, cloth-inserted boots, and various kinds of molded articles, including those of solid and hollow construction. More recently still, Kaysam, supplemented by other important inventions of prominent American technologists relating to the fundamentals of latex compounding and use, has been made available to manufacturers in this country by the Kaysam Corporation of America.