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Automatic inspection device
156
CURRENT TOPICS
Mr. Woods said “Surface-Barrier” transistors operate reliably in frequency ranges up to 70 megacycles, which include an important military VHF communication band from 20 to 58 megacycles. Automatic Inspection Device.General Electric Company engineers have developed a new automatic inspection device to speed production and insure uniform quality of sheet electrical insulating materials. It was designed and built by the General Engineering company’s Laboratory to find, “measure” and mark voids in such materials faster and more accurately than the besttrained human inspector. In a year’s test here, it enabled a 260 per cent boost in production of mica tape, which is in great demand as insulation in motors and generators. Accompanying benefits included an average saving of $100 per eight-hour shift in material costs as the result of the constant check on quality. Mica tape is made from splittings These about the size of a half dollar. are blown into a chamber and fall like snowflakes onto a steel drum. The drum in turn deposits the flakes on a moving web of varnish-soaked paper. Since the flakes do not fall uniformly, open spaces are handpatched as the tape moves past a group of operators. Then the tape passes through the inspection device, which gives a continuous indication of the quality as determined by the number and size of If quality falls voids still remaining. below an established level, the device sounds a signal and corrections are made. A permanent record of quality is obtained by means of a photoelectric recorder. In addition, the device is designed to mark with a drop of dye
[J. F. I.
all voids that exceed a permissible size. Detection elements “scan” the entire sheet as it moves past the point of inspection. When a void passes between the detection elements, current flows. Inspection is accomplished by automatic measurement of the flow of current, which is limited to low value and cannot harm human beings or ignite volatile vapors. Study to Aid Courts in Cases Involving Scientific Questions.-How successful have this nation’s courts and administrative agencies been in rendering correct decisions on complex scientific questions beyond the comprehension of well-educated jurists and administrators? Can new procedures be devised which will produce more reliable results? A study of these questions will be made pursuant to the terms of a $50,000 grant made by Major Edwin H. Armstrong, well-known electrical engineer who made extensive contributions to radio, including the invention of FM radio. Under the terms of the grant, the study must be formulated and directed by the dean of the Columbia University School of Law, in association with two or more co-directors selected by him. It is required that one director be an outstanding engineer and another an outstanding lawyer, both to be impartial persons not connected with Columbia University. Dean William C. Warren, Dr. Karl T. Compton, Bethuel M. Webster, and Professor Young B. Smith will serve as directors of the project, with John G. Palfrey in charge of research. In making the grant, Major Edwin H. Armstrong explained that it was “for the purpose of making a study or studies of problems affecting the public interest which are of mutual
CURRENT TOPICS
Mr. Woods said “Surface-Barrier” transistors operate reliably in frequency ranges up to 70 megacycles, which include an important military VHF communication band from 20 to 58 megacycles. Automatic Inspection Device.General Electric Company engineers have developed a new automatic inspection device to speed production and insure uniform quality of sheet electrical insulating materials. It was designed and built by the General Engineering company’s Laboratory to find, “measure” and mark voids in such materials faster and more accurately than the besttrained human inspector. In a year’s test here, it enabled a 260 per cent boost in production of mica tape, which is in great demand as insulation in motors and generators. Accompanying benefits included an average saving of $100 per eight-hour shift in material costs as the result of the constant check on quality. Mica tape is made from splittings These about the size of a half dollar. are blown into a chamber and fall like snowflakes onto a steel drum. The drum in turn deposits the flakes on a moving web of varnish-soaked paper. Since the flakes do not fall uniformly, open spaces are handpatched as the tape moves past a group of operators. Then the tape passes through the inspection device, which gives a continuous indication of the quality as determined by the number and size of If quality falls voids still remaining. below an established level, the device sounds a signal and corrections are made. A permanent record of quality is obtained by means of a photoelectric recorder. In addition, the device is designed to mark with a drop of dye
[J. F. I.
all voids that exceed a permissible size. Detection elements “scan” the entire sheet as it moves past the point of inspection. When a void passes between the detection elements, current flows. Inspection is accomplished by automatic measurement of the flow of current, which is limited to low value and cannot harm human beings or ignite volatile vapors. Study to Aid Courts in Cases Involving Scientific Questions.-How successful have this nation’s courts and administrative agencies been in rendering correct decisions on complex scientific questions beyond the comprehension of well-educated jurists and administrators? Can new procedures be devised which will produce more reliable results? A study of these questions will be made pursuant to the terms of a $50,000 grant made by Major Edwin H. Armstrong, well-known electrical engineer who made extensive contributions to radio, including the invention of FM radio. Under the terms of the grant, the study must be formulated and directed by the dean of the Columbia University School of Law, in association with two or more co-directors selected by him. It is required that one director be an outstanding engineer and another an outstanding lawyer, both to be impartial persons not connected with Columbia University. Dean William C. Warren, Dr. Karl T. Compton, Bethuel M. Webster, and Professor Young B. Smith will serve as directors of the project, with John G. Palfrey in charge of research. In making the grant, Major Edwin H. Armstrong explained that it was “for the purpose of making a study or studies of problems affecting the public interest which are of mutual