No More Flats

Last week science promised motorists another postwar boon: synthetic inner tubes that will hold air ten times as long as natural rubber, will need to be inflated only three or four times a year, and will run on nicely for miles after a puncture.

The material that makes this possible is butyl rubber, a synthetic which has been in commercial production for only two years. Standard Oil Development Co.. which developed it, said that butyl has now had a thorough tryout by the Army. has proved its value. Butyl's great virtue is that its carbon molecules have far fewer loose (saturated) ends than natural rubber; hence it has better resistance to chemicals, sunlight and oxygen. When torn, butyl clings together so that when a tenpenny nail was driven into a tube that had run 35,000 miles, the tube stood up for miles without going flat.

Butyl is made from petroleum. The Army is getting 12,000,000 Ibs. a month for tire tubes. Other butyl uses: waterproof clothes, tents, hoses, draperies.

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