PUSH-BUTTON FACTORY — SHALLENBERGER 245 



necessarily desirable in 100 percent automation. Circumstances may 

 warrant making the job only 50 percent or maybe 10 percent auto- 

 matic. The cost may not be as great as first assumed. Ford reports 

 that automatic handling equipment frequently costs less than standard 

 equipment. Moreover, one need not always sacrifice flexibility for 

 automation. The new Magnadrill, for example, has drill heads which 

 can be quickly and easily j^ositioned at any angle for cycled multiple 

 drilling. Keller Airfeedrills, which fasten directly to the drill jig, 

 can be readily converted to other jobs. Pneumatic pistons can be 

 switched from one job to another. 



General Electric has developed an automatic lathe equipped with 

 "playback" control. As the machinist makes the first piece, his opera- 

 tions are recorded on a magnetic tape. The tape can then auto- 

 matically direct the movements of that lathe or any number of others 

 so equipped. The Anna Corporation has developed an automatic lathe 

 directed by a punched-paper tape similar to a player-piano roll. On 

 demonstration, this lathe turned out in 4 minutes a piece which would 

 require a skilled machinist 30 minutes, referring to blueprints, to 

 produce. It took only 15 minutes to punch the tape, and tolerances 

 were held to 0.0003 inch ! Neither of these machines is yet available, 

 and at this stage they are probably limited to fairly simple parts. But 

 the same control principles may some day substitute for cams on 

 automatic machines of all types to make highly versatile yet highly 

 productive equipment. The next step will be to connect these, or 

 automatic machines already available, with automatic handling de- 

 vices, electronically tie in inspection and assembly, and the automatic 

 factory will be a reality. 



Some of the hesitancy in automatizing processes and operations 

 comes from a feeling that electronic controls are unreliable and ex- 

 pensive. Past experience has justified that belief. They have been 

 fragile and temperamental. In most cases they must be engineered 

 specifically for the job, and that costs money. But it must be recog- 

 nized that electronic control is not always required. Mechanical 

 means (cams, templates, pneumatic or hydraulic pistons) or electrical 

 devices (thermocouples, limit switches, relays, solenoids, and the like) 

 can often do the job. Our students are developing an almost com- 

 pletely automatic shell-molding machine without using any elec- 

 tronic controls whatsoever. The cost of the control mechanism will 

 be less than $500. And this machine will be highly flexible — it is, 

 in fact, being developed for the job-shop foundry. 



Military demands are leading to electronic controls which are much 

 more reliable and less expensive. With new developments in minia- 

 turization, in printed circuits (which in themselves offer tremen- 

 dously fascinating possibilities for automation), in circuits imbedded 



