Popular Science Monthly 



919 



A Turn in the Road ? Swing the 

 Headlights Electromagnetically 



ANEW electromagnetic device for 

 automatically turning the headlights 

 of an automobile so that the rays of light 

 will follow the wheels instead of being 

 thrown straight ahead while the car is 

 turning a corner has been patented by a 

 Mississippi inventor. The device may be 

 connected up to work in conjunction with 

 the steering apparatus or be manipulated 

 by hand through an electric switch to vary 

 the amount of current sent through the 

 electromagnets and thereby vary the 

 angle at which the lights are turned. 



Each headlight is carried in a yoke at 

 the top of a vertical shank made of non- 

 magnetic material and inserted at the 

 center of a hollow cylindrical case. The 

 shank is rigidly attached to the case by a 

 washer at the top and a nut at the bottom. 

 The lower portion of the vertical lamp 

 shank is threaded to mesh with the threads 

 cut on the surface of a vertical hole of a 

 cast-iron core carried in the bottom of the 

 cylindrical case. This core is square-ended 

 at the bottom and retained in an envelop- 

 ing L-shaped bracket on the bottom of 

 the case. At the top it is provided with 

 two springs attached to an inverted cup- 

 shaped collar of slightly 

 less diameter than the 

 main case. The energiza- 

 tion of the magnets, 

 which are carried in the 

 top of the case, causes 

 them to make the iron 

 core move upward, since 

 it cannot revolve be- 

 cause its end is held in 

 brackets. Since the lamp 

 shank cannot move up- 

 ward, it is caused to re- 

 volve, turning the light 

 with it in direct propor- 

 tion to the lift of the 

 iron core and the amount 

 of current used. Springs 

 between the top of the 

 core and the cup-shaped 

 collar and threads of 

 little pitch on the inside of the collar and 

 the top of the core prevent the light from 

 becoming unstable through the jolting of 

 the vehicle over rough roads. 



This swinging of the headlights pro- 

 tects the tires from puncture by lighting 

 up the road in all directions. 



becoming 

 stable duf 



Each headlight is carried in a yoke 

 at the top of a vertical shaft 

 made of non-magnetic material 



The ordinary telephone receiver is 

 placed over a base which carries 

 the sound to the Y-shaped tube 



Must You Telephone a Secret ? 

 Whisper Into This Device 



WHILE a telephone booth shuts out 

 all disturbing sounds, it cannot in- 

 crease the power of the voice projected 

 from the receiver. Both of these desirable 

 objects are accomplished by means of the 

 new device shown in the accompanying 

 illustration. 



The device is in reality two receivers 

 instead of one, and yet 

 the conventional receiver 

 is not used directly but 

 merely as a medium to 

 transmit the sound to 

 both ears. The instru- 

 ment consists of a small 

 base of hard rubber with 

 a felt bottom. From 

 this base a Y-ended tube 

 with hard rubber ear 

 pieces on the ends of the 

 Yis employed to carry 

 the sound to both ears at 

 once, thereby doubling 

 the volume of the sound. 

 A flexible wire in- 

 side the tube serves to 

 carry the sound waves 

 and to keep the contour 

 of the ear pieces so that 

 they will not drop off. 



Experience has proved conclusively that 

 most of the confusion of sounds encoun- 

 tered in telephoning is due to the fact that 

 only one ear is used in listening. The other 

 ear is receiving other sound waves from the 

 room. This is not true with this device. 



