- Email: [email protected]
New thermal insulation
80
CURRENT
dies are used in turn to punch and stamp out metal body parts for cars and trucks. The mahogany veneer is impregnated with synthetic resins and laminated into board. This treatment greatly reduces swelling, shrinking and moisture absorption in the wood, and increases its resistance to heat. Ordinary wooden die models and patterns may swell or shrink so much between the time they are built and the time they are used that they require resurfacing. This not only is costly, but may result in loss of production by disrupting the precise timetable required for developing and manufacturing presentday automobiles. Since the wooden models determine the shape of the steel dies, it is important that these models do not change dimensions from the time they are built until the steel dies have been copThis period may vary ied from them. from a few months to nearly a year. Because the processed wood, unlike the plain board, is only slightly affected by changes in temperature and humidity, much costly reworking of die models will be eliminated. Due to the ability of the material to resist high temperatures, Ford Engineering Staff, using wood patterns made from it, has been able to produce successfully experimental p recisi0n moulded castings. Feasibility of applying the new type of wood to the manufacture of wooden die models and patterns was proved during a year-long research program sponsored by Ford at the U. S. Agricultural Department’s Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wis. New Thermal Insulation.-How scientists of the General Electric Research Laboratory applied scientific principles to the development of an en-
TOPICS
[J. F. I.
tirely new thermal insulation that is the most promising improvement in household refrigeration in years, has been disclosed by Dr. C. Guy Suits. GE vice president and director of research. Dr. Suits told of the discovery of a new insulation for refrigerators, capable of reducing the present four-inch thick walls to only about a fourth of an inch, without reducing insulation efficiency. The new development in thermal insulation promises to be an outstanding application of fundamental science to a longstanding human proI)lem-providing a benefit every housewife can understand and appreciate. The subject is one that has been stutlied by many of the world’s leading scientists and technologists over man! years. Up to now, with the exception of the thermos bottle and Dewar flask, the best thermal insulation found consisted of finely divided matter in either powder form or fibre form such as asbestos or glass wool. “One of the important functions of such finely divided material in itlsulation,” the director of GE research declared, “is to immobilize air. It is the circulation of air due to convection. which transfers most of the heat in insulation. Hence, if the air can be inmobilized in the interstices of the insulation, the transfer of heat is prevented.” The principle of the thermos bottle was obviously far superior to any other fundamental yet known, Dr. Suits asserted, explaining that it couldn’t be applied to a household refrigerator earlier because refrigerators have flat panels rather than self-supporting walls. The problem was to support these flat panels, without conducting appreciable heat, against the crushing strength of atmospheric pressure (more than a ton for each square foot).
July, ros4.1
CURRENT TOPICS
“How to accomplish this seemingly impossible requirement was discovered recently in our laboratory by Drs. F. P. Bundy and H. M. Strong, ” he said. “The result is going to have very important uses in industry and the home,” “This new flat panel he continued. vacuum insulation is the most perfect heat barrier ever devised. It is from ten to thirty times more effective than the best flat insulation in common use, and in its best form, is three times better than the Dewar flask or thermos bottle.” High Speed Accounting Machines. -A new automatic high speed printing and accounting machine capable of turning out 27,000 punched card paychecks an hour, handling in the process up to 108,000 punched cards, has been announced by John S. Coleman, President of Burroughs Corporation. Operating at a speed of over 43,000 characters a minute, the new line of machines, called the Burroughs Series G, has the fastest printing process yet developed for accounting purposes, Coleman said. It is also the first business machine equipment in which printing and simultaneous high speed punching can be accomplished in a single operation. “The Burroughs Series G machines,” Coleman stated, “are a milestone in the development of automatic high speed data processing equipment. Up to now, the application of electronics to clerical work has been seriously hampered by the inability of printing equipment to match the extraordinary speed of electronic computers. The printing process employed in the new Series G machines has made a major stride in bridging this gap and will broaden greatly the range of practical applications for electronic office equipment.” By synchronizing high speed totaling, printing and card punching, the
81
Series G machines will integrate, in one fast operation, a number of separate steps in the accounting process, each one of which has traditionally been an expensive and time-consuming operation. Principal applications of the Series G machines are expected to be found in public utility companies, publishing and mail order concerns, insurance companies, and other industries where there is a large volume of accounting records, promotional and mailing pieces. In preparing utility bills, for instance, customer cards would be placed in one feed of the card reading unit, and billing information in the other. With one pass of the two sets of unmerged cards, the machine would produce a postcard bill with name and address printed on one side and meter readings, rates, dates and charges printed on the reverse side. In the same operation, the stub would be punched with the account number and amount for the purpose of crediting the customer’s account when payments are received ; a separate punched card would be created for use of the meter reader on his next round ; totals for proof and analysis would be provided and, if desired, a register would be furnished containing all the billing information. In many companies, the different tasks accomplished by this single integrated run now require eight separate operations. The Burroughs, Series G machine could have bills for over 2200 families ready for the postman every ten minutes. By the use of the dual card feed in direct mailing operations, two name and address labels may be produced side by side simultaneously at a speed of 36,000 three-line addresses per hour. At the same time, the machine will be able to create punched cards on a selective
CURRENT
dies are used in turn to punch and stamp out metal body parts for cars and trucks. The mahogany veneer is impregnated with synthetic resins and laminated into board. This treatment greatly reduces swelling, shrinking and moisture absorption in the wood, and increases its resistance to heat. Ordinary wooden die models and patterns may swell or shrink so much between the time they are built and the time they are used that they require resurfacing. This not only is costly, but may result in loss of production by disrupting the precise timetable required for developing and manufacturing presentday automobiles. Since the wooden models determine the shape of the steel dies, it is important that these models do not change dimensions from the time they are built until the steel dies have been copThis period may vary ied from them. from a few months to nearly a year. Because the processed wood, unlike the plain board, is only slightly affected by changes in temperature and humidity, much costly reworking of die models will be eliminated. Due to the ability of the material to resist high temperatures, Ford Engineering Staff, using wood patterns made from it, has been able to produce successfully experimental p recisi0n moulded castings. Feasibility of applying the new type of wood to the manufacture of wooden die models and patterns was proved during a year-long research program sponsored by Ford at the U. S. Agricultural Department’s Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wis. New Thermal Insulation.-How scientists of the General Electric Research Laboratory applied scientific principles to the development of an en-
TOPICS
[J. F. I.
tirely new thermal insulation that is the most promising improvement in household refrigeration in years, has been disclosed by Dr. C. Guy Suits. GE vice president and director of research. Dr. Suits told of the discovery of a new insulation for refrigerators, capable of reducing the present four-inch thick walls to only about a fourth of an inch, without reducing insulation efficiency. The new development in thermal insulation promises to be an outstanding application of fundamental science to a longstanding human proI)lem-providing a benefit every housewife can understand and appreciate. The subject is one that has been stutlied by many of the world’s leading scientists and technologists over man! years. Up to now, with the exception of the thermos bottle and Dewar flask, the best thermal insulation found consisted of finely divided matter in either powder form or fibre form such as asbestos or glass wool. “One of the important functions of such finely divided material in itlsulation,” the director of GE research declared, “is to immobilize air. It is the circulation of air due to convection. which transfers most of the heat in insulation. Hence, if the air can be inmobilized in the interstices of the insulation, the transfer of heat is prevented.” The principle of the thermos bottle was obviously far superior to any other fundamental yet known, Dr. Suits asserted, explaining that it couldn’t be applied to a household refrigerator earlier because refrigerators have flat panels rather than self-supporting walls. The problem was to support these flat panels, without conducting appreciable heat, against the crushing strength of atmospheric pressure (more than a ton for each square foot).
July, ros4.1
CURRENT TOPICS
“How to accomplish this seemingly impossible requirement was discovered recently in our laboratory by Drs. F. P. Bundy and H. M. Strong, ” he said. “The result is going to have very important uses in industry and the home,” “This new flat panel he continued. vacuum insulation is the most perfect heat barrier ever devised. It is from ten to thirty times more effective than the best flat insulation in common use, and in its best form, is three times better than the Dewar flask or thermos bottle.” High Speed Accounting Machines. -A new automatic high speed printing and accounting machine capable of turning out 27,000 punched card paychecks an hour, handling in the process up to 108,000 punched cards, has been announced by John S. Coleman, President of Burroughs Corporation. Operating at a speed of over 43,000 characters a minute, the new line of machines, called the Burroughs Series G, has the fastest printing process yet developed for accounting purposes, Coleman said. It is also the first business machine equipment in which printing and simultaneous high speed punching can be accomplished in a single operation. “The Burroughs Series G machines,” Coleman stated, “are a milestone in the development of automatic high speed data processing equipment. Up to now, the application of electronics to clerical work has been seriously hampered by the inability of printing equipment to match the extraordinary speed of electronic computers. The printing process employed in the new Series G machines has made a major stride in bridging this gap and will broaden greatly the range of practical applications for electronic office equipment.” By synchronizing high speed totaling, printing and card punching, the
81
Series G machines will integrate, in one fast operation, a number of separate steps in the accounting process, each one of which has traditionally been an expensive and time-consuming operation. Principal applications of the Series G machines are expected to be found in public utility companies, publishing and mail order concerns, insurance companies, and other industries where there is a large volume of accounting records, promotional and mailing pieces. In preparing utility bills, for instance, customer cards would be placed in one feed of the card reading unit, and billing information in the other. With one pass of the two sets of unmerged cards, the machine would produce a postcard bill with name and address printed on one side and meter readings, rates, dates and charges printed on the reverse side. In the same operation, the stub would be punched with the account number and amount for the purpose of crediting the customer’s account when payments are received ; a separate punched card would be created for use of the meter reader on his next round ; totals for proof and analysis would be provided and, if desired, a register would be furnished containing all the billing information. In many companies, the different tasks accomplished by this single integrated run now require eight separate operations. The Burroughs, Series G machine could have bills for over 2200 families ready for the postman every ten minutes. By the use of the dual card feed in direct mailing operations, two name and address labels may be produced side by side simultaneously at a speed of 36,000 three-line addresses per hour. At the same time, the machine will be able to create punched cards on a selective