Document 4VDRwEzN67yjvj500KymE9V

)' THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY BULLETIN PLAINTIFFS EXHIBIT I* 67St\6>.OQ Volume 27 May 15, 1948 Number 5 :: * THE ARMSTRONG CORK COMPANY, CERAMIC MANUFACTURER By K. C. Lyon and D. J. Townsend* Most persons think of the Armstrong Cork Company as a manufacturer of linoleum and other resilient floor cover ings and know little about the hundreds of other products the Company makes. They do not realize that many Armstrong products, while little known to the general pub lic, are as well known in their respective fields as Arm strong's floors are to the housewife. For example, automo bile makers think of Armstrong as a gasket manufacturer, textile men know the Company for its spinning roll covers, and refrigeration engineers, as a maker of corkboard insu lation. m V ^ |;T. KA.VV'. V X v^e'. \ . vw- tew -- ;t Htf ft - ijMji frees -t?z Arch brick specially designed (or use in furnace domes where this type o( brick is needed to provide efficient inl sulation and required strength. .# %. Among the fields in which Armstrong is an important g; producer is the ceramic industry. Three of the Company's !L products, viz., glass containers, insulating firebrick, and 5.V glass insulators, are ceramic materials. In addition, Arm s'. strong is exclusive distributor for Veos wall tile, also a ?|'ceramic product. It may seem strange for a company jig'which is identified with cork products to manufacture gi ceramics, but actually it is a natural and logical thing $^1 do. Some ceramic materials are closely related to cork, Bottles leaving the blow mold in Armstrong's Millville plant. The belt (right) carries them to the lehr, where they are annealed before inspection and packing, ^L'and the Company has always sought to offer its customers Armstrong entered the insulation field. Early in the twen ipr-8 complete line in each field which it serves. tieth century, Armstrong purchased from a German com Insulating brick is the oldest ceramic product in the S~ Armstrong line. To understand Armstrong's entrance i_lnto the insulating-brick field, it must be remembered that tei: 'Company originally' produced only cork stoppers and iff. I*13' a great volume of cork trimmings results from this jPj^Process. It was in trying to find a use for this cork that pany the patents for making a type of corkboard and an insulating refractory brick. Manufacture of corkboard was begun soon afterward, but the market for an insulat ing brick was small at the time and that patent was not used. In 1913 the Company became interested again in the possibility of producing an insulating brick and sent three .v-, * Research Laboratories Armstrong Cork Company, representatives to Germany to see the brick being made. Lancaster, Pa. In 1914 a tunnel kiln was built in the Company's Beaver 181 te-.l PLAINTIFFS EXHIBIT II 1S2 American Ceramic Society Bulletin--Lyon and Townsend One of six sections of a giant rotary hearth furnace using Armstrong's insulating firebrick. The sections of the fur nace are shipped separately and assembled on location. Assorted glassware made by the Armstrong Cork Company. Falls, Pennsylvania, plant and the first fire-clay insulating brick available in this country was produced. The brick derived insulating value from its porous structure. This porosity was obtained by introducing into the wet mix tiny particles of cork, all with a definite grain size. The cork burned out in the firing process, leaving a cellular structure occupied by "still air," which gave the brick excellent insulating value. The early brick made by this process could be used only with temperatures up to 1600F. To meet the demand for an insulating material which could withstand higher tem peratures, Armstrong's 2500 brick was introduced in 1924 after extensive research. Since that time, insulating fire brick, which combine the refractory qualities of a firebrick with the low thermal conductivity and light weight of an insulating brick, have been added to the line. This type of brick can be used as furnace linings exposed directly to maximum recommended service temperatures. Arm strong now offers a complete line of insulating firebrick for temperatures ranging up to 2S00F. ' In 1926 a new tunnel kiln was installed in the Beaver Falls plant and later another such kiln was built. All of Armstrong's insulating firebrick are fired in these tunnel kilns which makes it possible to manufacture the brick under strictly controlled conditions and high standards of quality. To further improve quality, the first sizing machine for fired brick of this type was built in 1928. The machine makes it possible for the Company to furnish accurately sized brick with sharp, clean edges, assuring heat-tight joints in the masonry construction and low bricklaying costs. This same policy of offering a complete line of products prompted Armstrong to enter the glass business. The Company's original product was bottle corks, and new types of closures for bottles and jars were added through the years. Finally, Armstrong entered the glass-container field in 1938 to offer its customers a complete package. The Company entered the field through the purchase of the Whitall Tatum Company, wdth plants at Millville and Keyport and sand deposits at South Vineland, New Jersey. This Company, which had been making glass for more than one hundred years, had a well-balanced group of prod ucts, including prescription ware, liquor bottles, beer bottles, medicinal and toilet ware, pressure ware, narrowneck food containers, and glass insulators for telephone, telegraph, and power use. To enable Armstrong to serve the midwestern territory with glassware, the Hart Glass Company of Dunkirk, Indiana, wras acquired late in 1938. With the addition of this plant, Armstrong was able to serve the vast major ity of its customers with a complete package service and make glass containers an important part of the Armstrong line. Veos wall tile, the newest of the Company's ceramic materials, is manufactured by the Clyde Porcelain Steel Corporation, but is distributed exclusively by ArmstrongThis product, which is a distinctive, high-quality, vitreous enamel-on-steel wall tile, was added to enable the Com pany to offer a broader line of wall coverings and interior finishes. Today Armstrong is not content to be just one America's ceramic producers. The Company's Research Laboratories are constantly experimenting with ceramic materials to improve present products, to develop uc" uses for them, and to develop new products. 5