Rubber to Metal Bonding History

Rubber to metal bondings were first produced more than 120 years ago. The first products aimed to cover rollers for wringers, carriage wheels and fire hose nozzles. A great deal of ingenuity was used and mixtures of rubber, turpentine and resins were mixed with a wide variety of inorganic pigments which were then dissolved in benzene to form a cement. The best result were achieved using ebonite cement which was applied to the metal surfaces. It was soon recognised that this had to be cleaned either by mechanical abrasion or chemically. A freshly prepared layer of thinly sheeted ebonite would then be applied directly over the dried cement. When moulded in contact with the rubber stock, the ebonite formed a good bond. Such bonds were notoriously sensitive to heat due to the low softening point of ebonite (60℃ to 70℃)