Opinions and Queries
Page 61
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Hard Use Hard Words
SINCE the war I have been in a part of Africa where
the opening for British vehicles designed to suit local conditions was, and still is, great. Unfortunately. British vehicles have sold there only because of the total absence of dollars. These are some of the faults in British commercial vehicles that have made operators hostile:— (I) Steering-box ratios which, in conjunction with the essential sand and mud tyres, make driving exhausting. (2) Excessively hot forward-control cabs and cabs far too small to allow adequate air circulation. (3) Windscreens so low that anyone over 5 ft 8 in. tall has to crouch. (4) Petrol pumps mounted between the exhaust manifold and the exhaust pipe, and petrol pipes running alongside silencers, causing vapour locks. (5) Mechanical air-pump connections in places where they become covered with mud and having screw threads so fine that a rough hand strips them on the first occasion of use. Air pumps themselves are placed in such positions that their valves become full of sand or dirt and are put out of action. (6) Wheels invariably too small and springs too weak. (7) Radiators not sufficiently firmly mounted, so that a few rough trips shake them to pieces. (8) No provision for grass screens, which are often essential in the African bush, to prevent radiators from becoming choked. (9) Absence of built-in towing hooks. (10) Battery terminals held by small set-screws which soon become encrusted with hard corrosion which cuts off the current. Cleaning loosens the terminal, so that the trouble is endless until the old type is fitted. (11) Petrol systems with totally inadequate filters, and tanks too small and impossible to clean out. (12) Absence of tanks for water. (13) Shock absorbers with rubber bushes which invariably work off and leak fluid. This criticism does not apply to the telescopic type. (14) Inadequate and inferior tool kits. This remark applies even more strongly to American vehicles.
All these faults are eventually discovered, but a much greater lead over foreign competitors could be secured if manufacturers consulted the hard users of vehicles in the roughest• country, instead of asking agents, who are too often on the defensive.
Tewkesbury, Glos. J. H. K. JEFFERSON.
Rochdale Removes Anomalies
REGARDING your report (May 13) that "anomalies " in the new fare structure recently introduced by Rochdale Transport Department have caused a serious drop in passengers," the facts are briefly these:—
The financial state of the undertaking demanded an increase in revenue of about £58,000 a year. The extra revenue obtained during the nine weeks following the introduction of the higher fares on April 10 indicated that this figure would be achieved.
Whilst it is not possible for a figure of passengers carried to be supplied, the increase in the number of tickets issued consequent upon the introduction of a single early-morning fare, instead of a cheap return ticket, indicates that there has been remarkably little recession in traffic.
The new fares are on a mileage basis. This system has removed anomalies, in so far as previously it VMS
possible to travel farther for 2d. than for 3d., and so on. Passengers are now charged on an equitable basis.
Regarding the recent increases, a most important point to note is that of 1,139 stages, 399 (35 per cent.) have not been affected at all; 530 (46i per cent.) have been increased by Id. and 209 (18f per cent.) have been increased by Id. Only one has been advanced by ,lid.
At a recent meeting, the council considered the position and by an overwhelming majority _reaffirmed their previous policy.
There has been an annual deficit since 1950-51. No lid. and only some 2d. fares had been increased since 1951, when id. was added to some fares. Up to that time the fares had remained unaltered since 1920.
It is pertinent to quote the remarks of the Licensing Authority, who said: " It is evident from the financial data available that the Rochdale undertaking need the additional revenue to meet rising costs since the last' application for a fares increase. It seems to us that the proposals of the Corporation to obtain it are satisfactory and place no undue burden on any section of the population, except in one or two cases where passengers have already been favoured in the way of concessionary fares, and it seems to us that we can grant this application forthwith."
RONALD Cox, General Manager, .
Rochdale. Transport Department.
Accepted Case May Not be Patented
IQUESTION the validity of the editor's footnote to I the letter from E. E. F. Atkinson (June 10). If, on
examination of a patent application by the British Patent Office, no published information comes to light in the search conducted under Sections 7 and 8 of the Patents Act, 1949, and the case otherwise meets the various requirements of that Act, the case is accepted and published. Nevertheless, because a case is accepted and published by the Patent Office, it does not necessarily imply that a patent will eventually be sealed on it.
At any time up to three months after publication of the complete specification, any person, interested may object under Section 14 of the Act to the grant of a patent. One of the grounds of objection would be "that the invention, so far as claimed in any claim of the complete specification, was used in the United Kingdom before the priority date of that claim."
I do not understand the last sentelice of the editor's comment, because the Daimler-Benz case was filed in this country and essentially the same examination procedure is adopted with regard to it as if a similar application were submitted by a British company.
It is impossible to say from reading an abridgment appearing in a technical journal, whether the case infringes any prior patent, because the invention must be read in relation to what is claimed in the claims following the description of the specification.
Richmond. FAIR PLAY.