high-voltage current which ionizes the air.

A 20-mc oscillator supplies this ionizing energy to the air by the medium of a thin metallic unit. As this oscillator voltage va ries from positive to negative peaks, the molecules of air within the chamber are correspondingly pushed in and out, creat ing the pressure and rarified areas necessary for the creation of sound. When the system is used with a record player, the 20-mc oscillator current is mod ulated with the output of the audio ampli fier and these variations are imparted to the ionized air giving rise to the equivalent of the pumping action of the usual loud speaker diaphragm. The oscillator coils and tube are shown on right of the chassis with the cover removed; the coupling coils for the modulated r-f voltage are shown in the separate case under the compartment with
P&W News Photo

DIGITAL INFORMATION punched into tape (foreground) automatically operates P&W verti cal precision hole grinder [background] from operator's control panel Heft).

all blueprint data needed for locating, in dexing, boring, and grinding is stored on punched tape and translated directly into mechanical action bv the machine. The system actually feeds blueprint information directly to the machine. Since "Numerical Control" offers auto matic programming, the high precision of jig borers, precision hole grinders, and rotary tables is made available for produc tion work. Punched tapes are easily and economically prepared, and take the place of costly and complex fixturing. Thus, auto matic programming and operation become practical for short production runs and for the machining of one or two pieces with multiple holes at a minimum of operator fatigue. The system is based on the common decimal system (decimal of an inch and decimal of a degree of arc), and the dimen sions shown on a blueprint are punched on tape as easily as numbers are tabulated on an adding machine. This decimal system eliminates the necessity of making complex mathematical "translations" which are re quired by automatic control systems based on binary numbers. In the case of the numerical control sys tem, P&W engineers established that punched records were preferable to mag netic or optical storage of digital data because of the simpler equipment neces sary to sense a punched hole.

by Airborne Instruments Laboratory (AIL), Mineola, N.Y., to Ford Motor specifications, functionally check each distributor pro duced by the Ypsilanti plant, displaying the parameters of performance in pictorial form on a 17-inch television picture tube for cali bration by operating and quality control personnel. The AIL distributor test stand is used for the production-line testing of a fully assembled distributor. The equipment dis plays the following operational characteris tics of a distributor: (1) dwell and dwell uniformity, (2) advance-angle-versus-speed, (3) firing uniformity, and (4) advance-angleversus-vacuum. All information is displayed to the operator on the face of a 17-inch tele vision-type cathode-ray tube having a longpersistence phosphor. The display size is 10 inches in the vertical direction and 15 inches in the horizontal direction. The over all accuracy of the equipment is within 1 % of full scale on either axis. Provision has been made for a tolerance mask to be placed over the cathode-ray tube. A calibrated angle puiser is supplied on the drive shaft of the equipment for check ing the nominal maximum advance point and the nominal dwell point on the display mask, and circuits are provided for a con venient calibration check by the operator. The over-all power requirement for the equipment is about 4 kva at 440 volts, 60

THE OSCILLATOR with cover removed is on the right of the Ionovac chassis. Coupling coils are shown in the middle of the reproducer unit in the upper compartment of which is the quartz cell in the throat of the rectangular horn.

the quartz cell. The center of this is in line with the throat of the rectangular horn, which has a cutoff at 3 kc. This is a 17-watt unit. The frequency response of the system is essentially flat from about 1,800 cycles up to 20 kc, at 0.64 volt across 16 ohms. It is stated by the Dukane engineers that there is no interference with television re ception, because of the efficient oscillator shielding and the coaxial cable employed. Lower cutoff frequencies can be obtained by lengthening and enlarging the horn. It is also planned to manufacture units up to 100 watts or even higher. The distortion of the unit shown is about 2%. Inasmuch as the Ionovac system can be extended up in the ultrasonic frequencies, its use may be greater in medical, research, and industrial circles than in the entertain ment field.

SUBJECTING each distributor to a more severe range of conditions than it would normally encounter in the automobile engine, the ana lyzing equipment ensures optimum durability and performance.

Electrical into Sound Energy without Diaphragm

A new means of transforming electrical energy into sound energy without the use of a diaphragm has been developed by en gineers of the Dirkane Corp., St. Charles, 111. This development, called the Ionovac, consists of a small open-ended quartz cell about the size of a peanut shell. One of the chambers of this cell narrows down to an aperture about the size of an automatic pen cil lead. Within this small space air mole cules are bombarded with a high-frequency,

Electronic Test of Distributors on Assembly Line

An ignition distributor development pro gram has been climaxed by sponsoring the development of a new high in ignition dis tributor quality controlthe first all-elec tronic distributor test stand. Installation of a battery of this new equipment in the Ford Parts and Equipment Division plant in Ypsilanti, Mich., provides the Ford Motor Company with distributor uniformity here tofore unknown in the motor vehicle in dustry. These units, developed and manufactured

cps, three phase. The over-all physical size of the equipment is 40 inches wide, 50 inches deep, and 7 feet high. The height of the working table level is 36 inches. The weight of the machine is about 2,000 pounds. Joint Industry Conference Stand ards are followed throughout.

AIME Annual Meeting Highlights

J. K. Richardson, assistant general man ager, Chino Mines Division, Kennecott Cop per Corporation, Hurley, N. Mex., addressed the annual Extractive Metallurgy Division luncheon of the American Institute of Min ing, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engi neers (AIME), during their annual meeting. The luncheon was held at the Jung Hotel,

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New Orleans, La. Mr. Richardson spoke on the subject "New HorizonsNew Responsi bilities." New developments in industry and their bearing on social responsibilities were dis cussed by Mr. Richardson. As automation becomes more prevalent, it was stated, we create additional problems of labor. Mr. Richardson also developed the relationship of industries to communities as industrial changes come about. During the five-day annual meeting many subjects relating to the technology and economics of mining, metallurgy, and pe troleum were covered. The Office of Naval Research was cited by AIME at a dinner meeting of its Metals Branch, held in New Orleans, for its "effec tive and continuing support of fundamental research in metallurgy and the physics of metals." This is the 10th Anniversary of the establishment of Office of Naval Research. The citation reads in part, " . . . instru mental in the training of over three hun dred and fifty graduate students and the prosecution of research projects that re sulted in over seven hundred and fifty tech nical papers, the Office of Naval Research program in metallurgy has made a sig nificant contribution to the metallurgical profession. This program of research has demonstrated that there can be a continu ing, effective partnership between the Gov ernment, the universities, and other re search groups in the pursuit of significant basic investigations. The publications stem ming from this work have reflected credit in the investigators and the Office of Naval Research." The citation was presented to Captain A. B. Metsger, USN, who received it on behalf of Rear Admiral Rawson Bennett, Chief of Naval Research. The citation was presented by Dr. Robert Mehl, head of the department of metallurgical engineers, Car negie Institute of Technology. Following action taken at the annual meeting held in New Orleans, La., the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgi cal, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) now conducts its activities through a reorgan ized structure. Previously known as the Mining, Metal lurgical and Petrolem Branches of AIME, these units now are the Society of Mining Engineers of AIME, the Metallurgical So ciety of AIME and the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME. Though each has its own officers and administrative setup, the three constituent societies remain under control of the AIME Board of Directors. The national president of AIME is G. J. Holt, of Ishpeming, Mich., general man ager of the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co. The secretary is E. O. Kirkendall. Headquarters of AIME and the Mining and Metallurgical societies are in New York, N. Y. The Pe troleum headquarters continues in Dallas, Texas. E. A. Jones, first president of the Society of Mining Engineers of AIME, is manager of the Southeast Missouri Division, St. Jo seph Lead Co., in Bonne Terre, Mo. The president of the Metallurgical So ciety of AIME is J. C. Kinnear, Jr., of McGill, Nev., general manager, Nevada Mines Division, Kennecott Copper Corp. The first president of the Society of Pe troleum Engineers of AIME is J. P. Ham

mond, assistant general superintendent of Amerada Petroleum Co., Tulsa, Okla. The new AIME bylaws provide that the Metallurgical Society of AIME shall consist of the Institute of Metals Division, Iron and Steel Division, and Extractive Metal lurgy Division. The Society of Mining En gineers of AIME shall consist of the Coal Division, Industrial Minerals Division, Min erals Beneficiation Division, and Mining, Geology and Geophysics Division. The Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME is not set up in divisions. Each of the three Societies, in rotation, will name the AIME national president for one year. Each year, each of the Societies will elect two AIME national directors for three years and will designate two of its seven institute directors as AIMEX national vice-presidents for one year.

Radio Engineering Show and IRE National Convention

The world of electronics was revealed during the 1957 National Convention and Radio Engineering Shpw of the/Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE). New York, N. Y., was host to the engineers and scientists who came to the four-day meeting at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and the New York Coliseum from all over the United States and many foreign countries. The IRE's highest technical award, the Medal of Honor, was presented to J. A. Stratton, chancellor of Massachusetts Insti tute of Technology (MIT), for outstanding contributions to the development of radio engineering as a teacher, physicist, engineer, author, and administrator. The Founders Award, given on special occasions only, was given to R. A. Heising former Bell Telephone Laboratories engi neer, for his work in helping to establish IRE headquarters, and other contributions. O. G. Villard, Jr., Stanford University, re ceived the Morris Liebmann Memorial Prize, for work in connection with meteor astronomy and ionosphere physics. The Browder J. Thompson Memorial Prize went to D. A. Buck, MIT, for his paper on "The Cryotron," a superconduc tive computer component. The Harry Dia mond Memorial Award went to George Goubau, Signal Corps, Signal Corps Engi neering Laboratories, for his researches in ionospheric physics and discovery of sur face-wave transmission. The Vladimir K. Zworykin Television Prize was given to Donald Richman, Hazeltine Corp., for discoveries in color television. The W. R. G. Baker Award was made to three persons for work in the field of tran sistorsR. J. Kircher of Hughes Aircraft Co., and R. L. Trent and D. R. Fewer of Bell Telephone Laboratories. A problem "as broad as life itself"the management of peoplereceived special em phasis as psychological aspects of engineer ing in industry were discussed by experts in personnel management and psychology who told the electronics engineers that "en gineers are prone to be think-centered rather than people-centered, even when they take over management functions." A new experimental, electronic system that enables polio victims to use respira tory muscles that are still intact to control breathing of the iron lung was described

by Dr. L. H. Montgomery, Vanderbilt Uni versity School of Medicine. An "inductive inference machine" that can learn how to solve arithmetic problems based on a few correct examples was de scribed by R. J. Solomonoff, Technical Research Group, New York. A magnetic tape recording system for teaching electrocardiography was described by Gf N. Webb and Dr. W. R. Milnor, Johns Hopkins Univ. School of Medicine. Details of an electronic light amplifier panel that can increase by 1,000 times the visible brightness of a projected light image and convert X rays to bright visible light were given by Benjamin Kazen, RCA Labo ratories, Radio Corporation of America (RCA). Another novel display device, an elec trostatic character-writing tube, was de scribed by Kurt Schlesinger, B. Maggos, and A. F. Hogg, Motorola, Inc. Methods for using high mountains be tween a radio or television transmitter and receiver to improve, rather than hinder, the reception of UHF signals were described by R. E. Lacy of the Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories, Fort Monmouth, N.J. Other reports given at eight sessions dealt with the role of electronics in improving both aircraft and pilot performance. The problem of sending coded messages as speedily as possible and yet with the least chance of error was discussed in a session on Information Theory by W. B. Bishop and B. L. Buchanan of the Air Force Cambridge Research Center. Engineers at the U. S. Air Forces' Rome Air Development Center (RADC), Rome, N. Y., discussed a practical source of elec trical energy that uses heat from decay of radioactive isotopes to drive a semiconduc tor "thermopile"a transistor-like device which produces electrical energy when heated. In a paper on "biconjugate networks," H. T. Budenbom showed how these struc tures can be used in electronic "brains" to attain far higher speeds than present-day computer circuits. Computer experts from International Business Machines (IBM) and Remington Rand Univac discussed the us of computers for designing ultrareliable circuits based on lift-test data. Under pressure of the military's guided missile program, the electronics industry has intensified a study of equipment re liability which eventually may result in televisions and radios that will function "indefinitely" without failure. The Air Force has developed a program, described by J. J. Naresky, RADC, which expresses reliability of equipment in terms of actual numbers. Each component in the particular equipment has its own "prob ability of failure" number. The electronic mail sorting system, de scribed by M. M. Levy and A. Barszezewski, has been under development by the Cana dian Post Office Department in Ottawa (Electrical Engineering, December 1956, p. 1144). During sessions at the Waldorf Astoria and Coliseum, 280 papers were presented, covering 24 main branches of the art, rang ing from radio astronomy and medical elec tronics to that of color television and high fidelity. ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

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