Hockey Gloves Snack Cakes Remolded Tires Wastewater Treatment
Today on "how it's made"... Hockey gloves... Snack cakes... Remolded tires... And wastewater treatment. Ice hockey can get pretty rough, so wearing the proper equipment is a must. Hockey gloves protect the forearm, wrist, and hand. A good glove has padding in all the right places, but is still lightweight and comfortable. It also has to be flexible, so the player can hold and maneuver the hockey stick. The covering material of a hockey glove is called the outer shell. It can be made of genuine leather or synthetic leather. There's even a new synthetic material called carbon that's tearproof, even if a sharp skate blade slashes it. What it's made of is a closely guarded trade secret. One hockey glove is made up of about 30 different parts, depending on the model. Workers lay a die in the shape of each part on the outer-shell material. A hydraulic press forces it down like a cookie cutter. Workers then cut foam pieces to line the glove. This low-density foam is stiff enough to provide protection, but flexible enough to enable the player to grip the stick properly. A seamstress now lockstitches the outer-shell and foam-lining parts together, assembling each section of the glove separately. After finishing the back of the hand, called the back roll, she pieces together the thumb. She sews three sides closed. One end stays open so they'll be able to insert more protective foam afterward. These are the finger pieces. The seamstress uses a tacking machine to sew up the sides and tack the corners for added strength, again leaving one end, the top, open. Now they assemble the fingers to the base of the glove. They use what's called a cylinder arm machine. It has a narrow sewing surface that protrudes, making it easy to access the fingertips. Next come the parts that make up the palm and the gusset, the piece that goes between the fingers and the palm. Like before, workers cut the parts using a die. The palm and gusset can be made of high-end synthetic suede or leather or even genuine leather. The advantage of real leather is that it can be treated with an antibacterial product that combats odor caused by the hand sweating inside the glove. Again, the seamstress uses the cylinder arm machine to sew the palm to the glove base, which already has the fingers attached. Next, the glove goes onto a machine that's custom-made for the hockey-glove industry. Using air pressure to power a piston, it injects pieces of high-density foam padding into the open end of the fingers. High-density foam is rock-hard, so it provides maximum protection. But high-density foam is too stiff to go into the thumb, which needs some flexibility. So instead, they make what's called an armored thumb plate, which is essentially a plastic thumb shield. A hot forge presses a flat piece of hard plastic onto an aluminum mold in the shape of the plate. Then they wrap the plate in low-density foam and, with another machine custom-made for this purpose, inject it into the glove thumb. The lower part of the glove is now complete. A seamstress finishes off the edge with cotton tape. All that's left is to do is assemble and attach the cuff. The standard cuff is a little over 2 inches wide. You can buy the gloves this company produces for retail stores, or order customized gloves with your name embroidered on the cuffs. Professional hockey players have the factory build gloves to their own specifications with extra protection in key areas or certain adjustments that they feel give them an advantage on the ice. The most important part of the glove is the palm. That's the area that endures the most wear and tear. The sturdier the palm material, the longer the glove will last. But at the same time, the palm padding can't be too thick. That would make the glove uncomfortable to wear and take away the player's feel for the hockey stick. When marie antoinette said, "let them eat cake," she probably didn't mean those mini jelly logs. Still, in the realm of treats for the sweet tooth, snack cakes have been revolutionary. They're just the right size for a quick snack and individually wrapped to stay fresh. Veteran snackers will recognize this as a jelly log, a sponge cake rolled up with jam and a creamy filling. First the factory bakes the sponge cake. It comes out of the oven in continuous strips. Those moving arms align the strips to receive the fillings. One machine then does it all. First it deposits an even layer of cream filling... Then blobs of strawberry jam. Now the rolling begins. One side of the cake strip runs against a metal guide. This lifts and folds over the edge. Then the cake strips run against a second guide which rolls it over some more. Now the machine cuts the continuous strip into separate cakes. Then an automated roller completes the logs. The jelly logs go onto a conveyor belt that positions them closer together, aligning them for the next phases of production. They travel through a waterfall of strawberry-flavored syrup. This sticky coating acts as a tasty glue to adhere the shredded coconut that showers them next. The conveyor belt shakes off the excess which, like the excess strawberry syrup before, gets fed through the machine again. Now, if all this doesn't have your sweet tooth tingling yet, the next snack cake will. It's a chocolate cream cake covered in a chocolate coating. Production begins in the mixer, where they combine eggs, a vegetable-oil mixture... Flour... Sugar... Water... Glucose, a liquid sweetener... And cocoa powder. The mixer blends the ingredients at high speed for one minute. Then it pumps the batter into a machine called the automated depositor, which squirts the batter into cake molds. The conveyor belt transports the mold pans to the oven. The batter bakes for 7 minutes. To achieve just the right texture, there's a very specific heating pattern. Once the pans exit the oven, a robot flips the cakes upside down onto a conveyor belt. It stacks the empty mold pans onto another conveyor that sends them back for more batter. Now the cakes flip right side up onto a wire conveyor belt. Air circulating between the wires cools the cakes. The next machine aligns the cakes in position for the next phases of production. First thin blades saw the cakes in half. Then suction tubes remove the tops and place them next to the bottoms. Next the machine drops a portion of cream filling on each bottom. The cream is about the consistency of margarine. As the feeder tube above each cake delivers it, a wire cutter slices off a piece about 1/4 of an inch thick. Then the suction tubes put the tops back on. Now the cakes pass through a shower of hot, chocolate-flavored liquid. This coats the top and sides. At the same time, the cakes travel through a bath of the liquid. This coats the underside. Air jets blow off the excess. The cakes pass through a cooling tunnel. This hardens the chocolate-flavored coating. Then it's off to the packaging department. The cakes file into a sheet of polypropylene film. The machine seals, then cuts the film between each cake. This keeps each one fresh until snack time. If you need new tires for your car or truck and are looking to save money, you might consider buying retreaded or remolded tires. Retreads are worn-out tires onto which the factory glues new rubber treads. Remolds, on the other hand, are actually rebuilt. This company specializes in remolding commercial truck tires. The worn-out tire is called a casing. This is a cross section. That steel reinforcement rod, called the bead, won't be replaced. But most of the rubber around it will be, along with most of the tread area. The steel belts underneath the treads-- those dots-- will remain. They begin the remolding process by thoroughly inspecting the casing to determine whether it's indeed salvageable. They consider its age, whether it's had repairs. They examine the steel components to make sure they haven't rusted. If the casing passes inspection, it moves on to the buffing machine. There, sharp blades spinning at high speed shear off most of the worn-out rubber tread. Buffing prepares the surface so that the new rubber will adhere well and stand up to road friction. Buffing takes about 6 minutes per tire. It leaves just over 1/16 of an inch of tread on the casing. Now they use a tool called a skiver to shave off any imperfections. A rubber tire is like a car windshield-- even the smallest crack can spread outward, so it has to be stemmed. After excising problem spots, they smooth them with a grinding stone. Then they repeat the buffing-skiving-grinding procedure on the sides of the casing, but they use a less abrasive grinding stone because the sides don't need such aggressive treatment. Unlike the tread area, they won't be subjected to road abrasion. Now, using a drill, workers remove dirt and rust from each spot. Then they work the area some more with a grinding wheel, so that the rubber they'll use to patch it will adhere properly. Now they glue the patch from the inside with rubber cement, pressing out any air bubbles with a roller to ensure full contact. Workers can now start rebuilding the tire. They feed a rubber strip into a machine called an extruder. First it heats up the strip, making it malleable. Then it wraps it onto the casing, building up anywhere from two to four layers depending on how thick the customer wants the tire to be. That depends on several factors-- for instance, how much traction the tire needs to have and whether the truck will be doing mostly local or long-distance driving. Now they apply a wider rubber strip to the sides, building up one to three layers, the choice again depending on the customer's thickness needs. Using a perforating roller, they release the trapped air. This enables the layers to adhere well. Now they sprinkle the tire with rubber powder, residue from the buffing. This will prevent the tire from sticking to the mold. The mold consists of sections which allows it to open wide enough to receive the tire. The backward lettering inside will imprint the remolding company's brand name on the tire. The mold applies about 220 pounds of pressure as well as heat--  320 degrees fahrenheit. This fuses the molecules in the old and the new rubber-- a chemical reaction called polymerization. Once the mold closes to begin this process, a tube inflates with air and fills the void. This provides counterpressure, so that the tire doesn't get crushed. Molding time is anywhere from an hour to an hour and 15 minutes per tire, depending on the thickness. After extracting the tire, workers remove the seams of excess rubber with a special comb. This remolded tire is now ready to hit the road at considerable cost savings. Depending on the size and type, a remold is 30% to 60% cheaper than a new tire. Have you ever wondered where all the rainwater goes, or the snow once it melts, or the water in your sink, tub, and toilet after you've used it? This wastewater flows through the underground sewer system to a treatment plant. The plant removes most of the pollutants, then releases the water into a lake or river. The underground sewer network feeds into a regional interceptor, which is a kind of sewer highway that runs to the treatment plant. The action begins at the plant's pumping station. It doesn't look like much from above, but the building extends some 15 stories belowground, right through solid rock. The wastewater collects in huge underground wells. It's not a pretty sight. It's full of dirt, garbage, and fecal matter. It also contains high levels of phosphorus, a poisonous element in the nitrogen family harmful to waterways because it promotes the overgrowth of algae. The water flows from the wells to giant pumps that force it to the surface. The plant has backup generators to keep the pumps working in case of a blackout and devices to prevent water from backing up should a pump have to be shut down for servicing. Once the wastewater reaches the surface, it flows through the pumping station down discharge channels leading to the treatment building. Along the way, it's sprayed with either aluminum sulfate or ferric chloride, two chemical coagulants. They gradually transform phosphorus in the water from liquid to solid so it can be removed later on. Once the water reaches the treatment building, it flows through screens. This preliminary filtration removes any solids larger than one inch in diameter-- such things as stones, paper, and plastic. Giant presses compact this garbage, squeezing out the excess water. Trucks then haul the stuff to a landfill, where it's buried. The wastewater, meanwhile, flows into large tanks called grit chambers. Grit refers to particles in the water such as gravel that are inorganic, meaning they don't decompose or burn. These particles, some as tiny as a grain of sand, gradually settle to the bottom. Then they're pumped out and trucked to the landfill. To remove organic particles, mainly phosphorus, they add a polymer, a type of chemical compound. This demonstration shows what happens. Remember, as the wastewater left the pumping station, it was sprayed with coagulant. That transformed the phosphorus in the water into solid particles. The polymer solution completes the process. It binds those particles, forming what are called "flocs," masses of phosphorus that look like snowflakes. They're heavier than water, so they sink to the bottom. And that's exactly what occurs in the plant's clarifier tanks. It takes about two hours for the flocs to settle at the bottom, forming a layer of sediment called "sludge". A system of rakes and pumps collects the sludge and transfers it to the sludge treatment building. Unless testing shows a need for additional treatment, the clarified, fully treated wastewater now flows to what's called the outfall, a series of channels that discharge into the river. In the sludge-treatment building, they spray the wet sludge with another type of polymer. This further solidifies it, so that filter presses can more easily squeeze out the water. Most of the sludge goes into giant incinerators to be burned. The ashes go to a landfill. The gas that the incinerators emit powers several machines that dry and transform the remaining sludge into pellets. These pellets are sold as organic fertilizer. When it arrived at the plant, the wastewater was full of contaminants that harm aquatic life. Now, after treatment, it contains 80% fewer suspended solids such as fecal matter and 75% less phosphorus.