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Passing Comments
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Interesting Claims From Japan
THROUGHOUT the world chemists and other technicians
are searching and experimenting with, all kinds of synthetic material. For example, Japan is said to, have developed a new urea fibre which is claimed to be strong, elastic and to possess exceptional -resistance to water. It isalso reported that it equals and possibly surpasses nylon in its properties. Its possible applications are expected to be for tyre cord, the reinforcement of plastics, and the weaving of textiles.
Problems of Colour Television
THE remarkable medical colour-television vehicle des' cribed recently in this journal, which provides excellent pictures, may induce the thought that we are on the brink of broadcasting in colour. It seems, however, that difficult problems will have to be overcome before this happens in a general way, despite the fact that experimental broadcasts are already being made.
At present some receivers require as many as 20 controls, and it would obviously be impossible to expect the average televiewer to be faced with these, quite aparrfrom the cost of the set, -which might in present circumstances be several times that of a black and white model. Technicians in this work do, however, believe that it will be possible to reduce the number of manual controls by a process of grouping, which means that each knob would be able to deal with several carefully pre-set controls. Only three of the primary colours, red, green and blue, are involved in producing an effective result. These involve three signals from the camera, which are encoded into a single signal that can be sent out on one wire or wave and decoded in the receiver. The medical projector has three tubes, the colours forming the image by exact superimposition. The direct "home "set requires.a single screen, which is also served by three tubes contained in a common glass envelope. B30
Those Were the Days
HAD the Dunlop anti-lock braking device been invented
in the early years of this century, says a reader, it would have saved many a London bus driver from going prematurely grey. In those times practicallyno bus, on its solid-tyred wheels, stopped in wet weather without swinging in against the kerb and ..no wise would-be passenger ventured into the gutter until, this tnanceuvre, especially the bump, had been achieved. The buses often proceeded broadside-on along the smooth, wood-block or othersurfaces, and anti-skid devices used to be tested in special trouble spots, such as Victoria Street, Westminster and Holborn Viaduct, which were frequented by equine, as well as motor, traffic. But the pace of all was more leisurely and the'volume incredibly small compared with the modern jams. In fact, traffic's teething troubles had barely begun.
For Interior Decor
MANY and various are the materials employed for the "I decorative internal finish of certain classes of motor vehicle. This applies particularly to coaches, buses, dualpurpose models, mobile shops, and cabs on goods vehicles.In this connection there has arrived from an important manufacturer in Italy examples of an embossed fibreboard which would seem to possess many qualities that make it suitable for these purposes.
The facing is hard and can be finished in a large range of colours and attractive designs, whilst the resin-impregnated back, although adequately stiff, is sufficiently pliable to Permit bending to small curvatures without cracking the face. The material can also easily be cut and fitted. Although as a whole it is not entirely waterproof, as it is not intended for external use, the facing is washable, and tests have shown that grease and paint can readily be removed without the surface deteriorating. An important factor with materials of this type is that of inflammability. This board will burn only after considerable heat has been applied; even then combustion is slow and it does not readily smoulder. The production manager of one well-known maker of the station-wagonutility type has stated that he has waited for years for such a satisfactory product of this type.
The representatives here are Jack Rose and Co., 277 Old Street, London, E.C.1, who can supply the board in thicknesses of 1.2 mm. to 1.9 mai. at competitive prides.
A Rolls-Royce Bus in 1905?
ARECENT inquiry received by The Commercial Motor referred to an article, published in another journal, in which reference was made to a Rolls-Royce bus of 1905 vintage. This was passed to Rolls-Royce, Ltd., with most interesting results. One was the receipt of a reproduction of the first Rolls-Royce catalogue, which was issued in January, 1905. This was made possible by • the discovery of the original half-tone blocks of the various models then available and of the personalities concerned.
From this document and other information supplied it appears that the company did not produce any models other than private cars in the 1904-1906 period. What may have been considered as a.bus, however, was possibly a shooting brake with a detachable top, and it is interesting to learn
that this could be supplied on the 15 h.p. chassis with a three-cylindered engine at 090. This power unit was the only one in which the cylinders were cast sepiirately.
There were also a 10 h.p. model in which the engine had two cylinders cast en bloc, and four-cylindered and sixcylindered engines with two and three of these blocks respectively. The ignition system on all employed a lowtension and high-tension distributor with dual trembler coils, all of Rolls-Royce make. Just over 100 of these and a V8 type, the last introduced in 1906, were built before Royce profited by the mistakes made in them and produced the famous "Silver Ghost."
Reverting to the 1905 catalogue, it was mentioned in this that the vehicles were manufactured exclusively for C. S. Rolls and Co., by Royce, Ltd., of Huhrie, Manchester, who were established in 1884. One of the objects aimed at was to produce a vehicle that "a fool can drive," and it was claimed that it was not necessary to employ a skilled and expensive chauffeur.
An amusing comparison with modern maintenance procedure was that at the repair works at Lillie Hall, Seagrave Road, Fulham, London, S.W., a separate lock-up compartment was provided for each vehicle undergoing repair. There was even emphasis on standardization, for such parts as valves, pistons and connecting rods were identical and interchangeable in all models. •