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New Methods of IGNITION needs differ in Sparking Ignition for ...the turbine type of i.e. engine Engines from those of the reciprocat ing type. Amongst the ignition devices being developed in this new field is electronic discharge Such circuits give a sparking voltage of sufficiently high value to prevent significant leakage. New ignition circuits for reciprocating engines employing low voltage and high frequency are also being developed. They are potentially capable of operating satisfactorily between engine-overhaul periods without replacing the sparking plugs, although this probably applies more to aircraft engines than to others.
Some Municipalities A RECENT issue of the Will Lose Under "" Daily Worker" carried Nationalization . . . the following letter:—" In this
great industrial town of Swansea we have a private company operating our transport system, while the people have to pay fares far in excess of those in most towns. I'm sure the people of Swansea welcome nationalization of transport whole-heartedly.—E.K." A few days later the secretary of the British Omnibus Companies Public Relations Committee sent a letter to that paper to the following effect: Apparently, E.K., who alleges that the people of Swansea will welcome nationalization, is unaware that when the South Wales Transport Co substituted buses for trams in Swansea in 1937, the minimum fare of I id. was reduced to Id., and has remained so. This contrasts with the only virtually nationalized undertaking in the country, the pre-war ld fare of which has been raised to lid., and others higher accordingly. It may also interest him to know that a quarter of all specified profits earned in the County Borough by the local bus undertaking goes to relieve Swansea's rates. and in the past three years the sum has amounted to £72,607. As the average yield of a id. rate during these years was just under £4,000, the contribution to rate aid has represented over ls. 6d. in the pound. If the transport services in Swansea be nationalized, this money will not find its way into the municipal coffers, and the ratepayers will have to face an increase equivalent to the contribution hitherto made by the South Wales Transport undertaking. This reply has not, apparently, been published by the "Daily Worker."
Fine Steel Wire ACCORDING to the " Cord " Used for ", American Firestone con
Tyre Casings . cern, it is now possible to
construct commercial-vehicle tyres, the casings of which can be retreaded up to five times. This is due to the use of wire-cord carcases, suitable material for which is being produced by the American Steel and Wire Co. The wire is 0.0059 in. in diameter. Three of these wires are twisted into a strand, and six strands laid around a core, thus form ing a cord 1/32 in. in diameter The cords are placed parallel with each other and coated with rubber. When three or four of the plies thus formed are laid with the wires in each running at an angle to the adjacent plies, an extremely strong, flexible foundation is afforded for the tread rubber. Four thicknesses are said to be equal to about 20 plies of fabric, and considerably less rubber is required to saturate .them. Such casings give higher resistance to punctures, bruises and blow-outs, whilst the thin structure, apart from giving increased resiliency, obviates the creation and storage of heat, whilst stretch of the casing is eliminated. The wire material can be used for other purposes, such as reinforcement for belts employed for power transmission or conveyors.
Executive Warning System by Lights Stops " Traffic "
AT the Dennis Works, as with some others, a system of coloured lights is used throughout to warn important executives that they are urgently required on the telephone Recently, a king line of vehicles built up between the workshops, and as this showed no inclination to move, an irate foreman tracked down the cause. It was a new driver who was " waitin-g for these flaming lights to change!"
New Tyres for French PEAKING at Le Mans last Public Transport "month, M. Le Breton, of the Vehicles F.N.T.R. (French National
Hauliers : Federation), said that, after much negotiation, the Government had decided upon a really !orge allotment of tyres to the public passenger transport industry. Under this scheme, all the vehicles concerned should be able to start this year shod with a new set of tyres—not before it was time, as anyone who has visited France since the war will agree The deplorable state of the tyres on coaches and buses has been one of the first things to strike the eye. Production has been rising well in France recently, but supply, under the dead hand of bureaucracy, has been quite another matter. Faulty distribution of such sorely needed material is the curse of French economic life to-day.
Portable Reirigerating A N American concern, the Plates '' tot Standing "Dole Refrigerating Co., of Vehicles Chicago, is producing simple
containers, .1 in to 2i ins. thick, in a variety of sizes, for installation within the insulated bodies of motor vehicles They may be used with any commercial refrigerant They are " charged " by a vehicle-mounted compressor or connected to a central system. The object is to maintain the cold when the vehicle on which they are used is not in operation, thus permitting loading during the day or early evening for delivery the next morning.