Allied Trades Research Association Research Articles

The Sharpness of Blades Used in Dermatologic Surgery

There are numerous blades available for use in dermatologic procedures. There are different advantages that are inhere.nt to different blades due to their shape and size. One aspect of the blade that is instrumental to its performance, but is not objectively defined, is sharpness. This information could be useful when choosing a blade for a particular procedure. This study aims to objectively define the sharpness of blades used in dermatologic surgery. The Sharpness Tester (Cutlery and Allied Trades Research Association, Sheffield, UK) was used to test the force in Newtons a blade requires to cut through a silicone cylinder. New blades were used to determine a standard for the sharpness of new blades. Blades used for surgery were tested to determine the sharpness after use. The sharpest blade is the double-edged razor blade (0.395 N) followed by the dermablade (0.46 N), plastic handled #15 (0.541 N), #15c (0.575 N), #10 (0.647 N), and the #15 blade (0.664 N). The sharpness of a blade is an important factor in its ability to perform a task and should be taken into account when choosing a particular blade for a particular procedure.

Wear tests of steel knife blades

A study is presented on the relative wear rates of two carbon steels, a Damascus steel and a stainless steel, using the Cutlery and Allied Trades Research Association (CATRA) of Sheffield England cutting test machine. The carbon steels and stainless steel were heat treated to produce a fine array of carbides in a martensite matrix. Tests were done at hardness values of HRC = 41 and 61. At HRC = 61 the stainless steel had slightly superior cutting performance over the carbon steels, while at HRC = 41 the Damascus steel had slightly superior cutting performance.

Obituary – Dennis Hine

AbstractIt is with regret that we record the death of Dennis Hine on 15 June 2007 at the age of 80. Hine joined the Packaging and Allied Trades Research Association (which subsequently became Pira( at the age of 27 and remained with Pira until his retirement.Hine was a gifted scientist with a natural interest in understanding the world around him. He pioneered the development of test instruments that simulated and quantified packaging machine operations, for example, adhesive bonding, film runnability, crease stiffness and carton opening. Test instruments designed by Hine continue to be manufactured and sold around the world. He is particularly noted for his research on carton quality and machine–material interaction during the 1960s and the 1970s. His research reports in this field continue to be cited, and he was awarded a fellowship at the Institute of Packaging in recognition of his contribution to packaging science. The understanding of carton quality developed by Hine is widely applied today and is the basis for the only national standard for crease quality.As well as authoring many technical reports and papers, in his retirement Hine also wrote the textbook Cartons and Cartoning.Hine was awarded a special degree in physics by the London University in 1947, and then worked during the later war years at the Research Association of British Rubber Manufacturers in Croydon on war‐related work. After the war, he was allowed to present his work as a thesis, for which he was awarded a master's degree.Hine had a genuine fascination with understanding the world around him, and he approached research and investigation with enthusiasm tempered only by a highly structured and analytical approach. These qualities can be seen in his personal as well as professional life through his final years, where he took a serious interest in understanding the treatment of his cancer.Dennis Hine is survived by his wife Grace, his three children and four grandchildren.

Implementing Performance Review and Career Planning: Part One

Describes an initiative to refocus the appraisal, review and career planning within the Shoe and Allied Trades Research Association (SATRA). First of a two‐part article; the second part describes the implementation of the scheme and the monitoring of its effectiveness.

Crimp Retraction of Textured Poly(ethylene Terephthalate) Yarn

The crimp rigidity test devised by the Hosiery and Allied Trades Research Asso ciation (HATRA), England is used as a measure of crimp retraction and also of the "degree of set." This paper attempts to assess how far this test is representative of set. Of the two components of crimp rigidity (extension under load and recovery upon unloading), only the recovery component is related to set in the samples studied.

The Determination of Fabric Loop Length

An alternative approach towards the measurement of loop length while in fabric form is proposed employing techniques of scanning electron microscopy and aerogrammetry. Distortions inherent in the recorded image have been taken into account by obtaining coordinates at intervals as determined by a micrograph of a cross-ruled grid. The lengths of all the resultant elements have been summed to obtain an estimate of the loop length, which was found to be 4–5% different from that obtained using the HATRA (Hosiery and Allied Trades Research Association, Nottingham, England) Course Length Tester. Some suggestions are offered for improving the estimated loop length by obtaining coordinates for both the face and back views of the same knitted loop. It is proposed that a similar approach would be beneficial towards an understanding of parameters governing the geometry of the knitted loop.

An Analysis of the HATRA Acceptability Data

AbstractData on the acceptability as matches of textile samples determined and published by the Hosiery and Allied Trades Research Association (HATRA) are analyzed by near‐optimal fitting of ellipsoids to the colorimetric data in CIE color space. The resulting ellipsoids are compared to those of similar data published earlier.

Getting started Topic 4

Most of the earlier articles in this series have been aimed at the less experienced training officer who is a new hoy in a company employing 700 plus. This article is more relevant to the smaller firm, where the training officer may even have to combine this function with other duties. Obviously, some of the points raised in the article will apply also to the larger company, but this is basically a ground floor approach. The author is one of the training team at the Shoe & Allied Trades Research Association, who, besides running courses, carry out a considerable amount of consultancy work. The majority of companies in footwear manufacture have between 100 and 500 employees.

The British Boot, Shoe and Allied Trades Research Association

The British Boot, Shoe and Allied Trades Research Association

Wear trials of 37 solid rubber soling compounds of known formulation: W. E. Booth. (British Boot, Shoe & Allied Trades Research Association) 1960. Booklet 36 pp. Rubber Abstracts, 39 (1961)

Wear trials of 37 solid rubber soling compounds of known formulation: W. E. Booth. (British Boot, Shoe & Allied Trades Research Association) 1960. Booklet 36 pp. Rubber Abstracts, 39 (1961)

Printing, Packaging and Allied Trades Research Association: Exhibition and Conference

Printing, Packaging and Allied Trades Research Association: Exhibition and Conference

Sir Robert Pickard, F.R.S

ROBERT HOWSON PiCKARD was the eldest son of the late J. H. Piokard, of Edgbaston, Birmingham, and was educated at King Edward's Grammar School, Camp Hill, Mason College, where he studied chemistry under Tilden and P. F. Frankland ; and the University of Munich, where he received his Ph.D. degree in 1898. A year later he was appointed head op the Chemical Department of Blackburn Technical College, and he became principal eight years later, at the early age of thirty-one. He held this dual post until he moved to London in 1919 to become principal of Battersea Polytechnic. Here he undertook additional duties as director of the newly formed British Leather Manufacturers' Research Association, an organisation with which he was later associated in an advisory capacity up to the time of his death. During this period he served on the Senate of the University of London and on the councils of the British Launderers' Research Association, the Boot, Shoe and Allied Trades Research Association, and on many important committees including the Burn-ham Committee, of which he was for some time secretary. He was director of the British Cotton Industry Research Association during 1927-43, vice-chancellor of the University of London (1937-39), chairman of the Chemical Council (1936-38), and president of the Institute of Chemistry (1936-39). He was a past president of the Society of Chemical Industry, twice vice-president of the Chemical Society, a member of the Research Committee of the Federation of British Industries, and chairman of the Committee of Directors of Research Associations. He was knighted in 1937.

British Boot, Shoe and Allied Trades Research Association

Opening of New Laboratories THE British Boot, Shoe and Allied Trades Research Association was one of the first to be incorporated. It started in the town of Northampton in a very small way in 1919. At that time, when the research association movenient was quite new, the principle obtained that anything was better than nothing in the way of science in industry, and this Association began with a trade contribution income of only £500 a year. During the first four years it remained small and its staff was only part-time. In 1922 steps were taken to put the Association on to a more national basis, and it was towards the end of that year that a full-time director was appointed, the headquarters were moved to London, a small staff duly appointed, and a beginning made with full-time work in somewhat incommodious premises in City Road, E.G. In 1927 a move was made to better accommodation in Bedford Square, W.C. These premises were damaged early in the air raids of 1940 and the Association went to temporary accommodation in the Boot and Shoe Technical School, Kettering, where the work was carried on through the War. When the War ended, search was made for suitable premises in the Midland area for the Association's permanent home, it being almost impossible to find suitable accommodation in London. A house in Kettering with reasonable area of land was acquired and at the beginning of 1947 the Association took it over. In due course the erection of extensions was begun, culminating in the opening of the new laboratories at Satra House by the Duke of Gloucester on October 28.

A Package Testing and Advisory Service

THE Printing, Packaging and Allied Trades Research Association has recently extended the scope of its work by the provision of a Package Testing Station and Advisory service at its new research centre at Leaifherhead. The service is available both to member of the Association and to non-members on a fee-paying basis. The facilities available fall into four main categories. (1) The advisory service is Uesigned to solve individual practical problems quickly and to supply information related to the many technical aspects of packaging ; consultations may be made and, if required, laboratory research will be undertaken. (2) Packaging Abstracts, a monthly publication, hitherto restricted to flexible packages and packaging materials, has now been extended to cover the whole field of packaging, including bottles, cans, metal drums, wooden boxes, textile sacks, etc., in addition to fibreboard cartons and paper containers, and this journal has now been placed on general sale. (3) The packaging technical library contains many British and foreign books on packaging, and about two hundred periodicals and journals which are abstracted and form the basis of Packaging Abstracts. The library is open during 9.30 a.m.–5 p.m. (Mondays to Fridays) for bona fide inquirers. (4) The package testing station provides three groups of tests which enable manufacturers and users to select the design or the material for a pack so as to provide the optimum protection to the packed goods against all the hazards to which they are likely to be subjected. The first group of tests is that concerned with the mechaster nical strength of the package –a drum test designed to simulate general handling, an inclined plane tewhich reproduces the type of shock -encountered in shunting, and various types of drop test for determining tensile, burst and tear strengths, etc. The second group is concerned with the resistance of packages to atmospheric conditions, and materials are tested for their permeability to water vapour, gases and liquids (including water and oils). The third group of tests covers the protection afforded by the package to attack by insects and moulds, particularly for goods exported to tropical countries. In addition, storage rooms have been installed where the climatic conditions may be controlled to imitate those prevailing in most parts of the world. All inquiries should be addressed to Patra House, Randall Road, Leatherhead, Surrey.

Frozen Foods Consultative Group

To ensure the fullest co-operation and collaboration between the various research organisations engaged in the field of food, and also that inquirers will be directed to the best sources of information, the Frozen Foods Consultative Group was set up last year. It consists of representatives of research organisations, official and semi-official, under the chairmanship of the director of food investigation, Dr. Franklin Kidd. The objects of the Group are in the main the exchange of information on research investigations in progress on the preservation of food by quick-freezing processes so as to prevent overlapping and to discover gaps in research programmes. The terms of reference are : (a) to table and discuss the results of investigations into new developments in methods of preserving food by freezing ; (b) to consider the planning of further investigations (each organisation to retain its own independence and the responsibility for its own programme) ; (c) to maintain contact between investigators in such fields as packaging and engineering which bear on preservation by freezing ; (d) to direct inquirers in industry to the best sources of information. The following research organisations and stations are represented : Low Temperature Research Station, Torry Research Station and Ditton Laboratory (all of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research) ; Scientific Adviser‘s Division, Ministry of Food ; British Food Manufacturing Industries Research Association ; Printing, Packaging and Allied Trades Research Association ; British Baking Industries Research Association ; Fruit and Vegetable Preservation Research Station, Chipping Campden. The Group has power to invite to its meetings representatives of other organisations such as the Refrigerated Cargo Research Council, the Institute of Refrigeration and the Food Manufacturers Federation. The secretary of the Group is Mr. P. R. P. Claridge, Food Investigation Organisation, Lloyds Bank Chambers, Hobson Street, Cambridge.

The British Boot, Shoe and Allied Trades Research Association

The British Boot, Shoe and Allied Trades Research Association

Abrasion Tests on Rubber

Abstract Although the abrasion machine to be described has been used in the laboratories of the British Boot, Shoe and Allied Trades Research Association for many years, there has been no publication of a description, nor any account of its performance. The original machine has been modified by the incorporation of an efficient suction device, and redesigned structurally, though still employing the same basic mechanism. Experiments have been carried out on large numbers of war-time substitutes for soling-leather, rubber-soling materials with reduced rubber content, for containing GR-S, and new plastic materials and synthetic rubbers. The machine has been found to give reproducible figures, quickly and under easily controlled conditions, and the results have been of value for comparing various materials. No attempt is made in this paper to judge the significance of these figures or to correlate them with actual wear data.

Indexing and Filing

A ONE-DAY conference convened by the Association of Special Libraries and Information Bureaux was held at Friends House, London, on February 15, to discuss problems connected with the indexing and filing of unpublished material. Some hundred and fifty members and guests were present. The chair was taken by Captain Harry Ward, secretary of the Industrial Management Research Association, and papers were presented by Miss M. Shaw on “The Indexing and Filing of Correspondence in the Laboratories of J. Lyons & Co., Ltd.”, Dr. Holmstrom of I.C.I., Ltd., on “Moot Points in the Filing of Business Correspondence” and Mr. K. S. Jefferies of the Treasury on “The Practice of the Civil Service”. These were followed by Miss L. G. Thomerson of the Printing and Allied Trades Research Association, Mr. A. E. Dodd of the British Refractories Research Association, Mr. W. Ashworth of the British Cast Iron Research Association, and Miss D. Knight of the National Institute for Research in Dairying, who described the schemes used by their organisations to deal with technical data contained in correspondence, certificates of tests, technical reports and other unpublished material. Interesting points that emerged from the discussion were the importance of the routine handling of such documents and the widespread misconception that 'filing' is an unskilled job. The Association of Special Libraries and Information Bureaux was urged to investigate the present facilities for training and to formulate the qualifications needed for such posts. If the demand is sufficient it is hoped to publish the proceedings of the conference together with a summary of the discussions. Non-members interested should notify the General Secretary, ASLIB, 52 Bloomsbury Street, London, W. C. I.

Packaging Research Committee

THE Printing and Allied Trades Research Association has'set up a Packaging Research Committee to carry out investigations concerned with packages of which paper, board, film or foil form the main part. The research work will be carried out by the Association, which will set up a new department for the purpose, using its own laboratories or other research organizations as may be most appropriate. Preliminary consideration will be given to the systematic investigation of the elementary principles of the relation between the make-up of packages and their performance in use. The Association will also collect empirical data from individual firms in Great Britain and abroad with the view of obtaining a basis for long-range research. The outline programme already drawn up includes investigations on the penetration of various packaging materials by vapours, liquids, gases, heat and light, the effect of impregnation with various materials, damage by pests, design of packages, methods of sealing, and optimum use of automatic packaging machinery. Some ninety members of the industry have already applied for membership under the scheme. Communications should be addressed to the Director of Research, Printing and Allied Trades Research Association, 101 Princes Gardens, Acton, London, W.3.

'TACK' AND STICKY MATERIALS

AN informal discussion on the subject of 'tack' and sticky materials, arranged jointly by the British Rheologists' Club and the Printing and Allied Trades Research Association, was held at St. Bride Institute, Fleet Street, London, on June 10. Dr. G. L. Riddell presided.