Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

(wormy"), ribbon fish or water buf falo meat, rice and a vepetable. Yet the morale of the American and British prisoners at Pootunfj: was high. The men seldom worried about themselves, the welfare of their families at home being the great source of anxiety. Although w-e had only Japanese language newspapers to read, it was surprisingly easy to keep track of the war in the Far East. The news- papers highlighted Japanese vic- tory claims, but the northward progress of United Nations forces could be marked by the frequency with which "His Imperial Majesty's forces made a strategic withdrawal after achieving their objectives." I believe that a vast majority of Japanese now know that they can- not win the w-ar and that as their situation becomes desperate they will launch a peace offensive based on compromise. The acceptance of such a Japanese offer would be only the prelude to another war. It was difficult to leave so many of my friends behind but Septem- ber 19, when I started the long journey back to the United States. was a great day for me. When the ship stopped at Manila I heard the good news that James F. Waples and Hai-old Evory, Assistant-Su- perintendents of RCAC in Manila, and Fred J. Sager, Manila cashier, were in good health even though interned. I could discover nothing then about Lt. Earl G. Baumgard- ner, USNR, who had been Superin- tendent at Manila, but since arriv- ing in the United States I have learned that Lieutenant Baumgard- ner is reported as a military pris- oner in the Philippines. Probably the most thrilling mo- ment in my life, and in the lives of the 1,500 other returning Ameri- cans, was when the Gripsholm hove into sight outside the little harbor of Mormugao, Portuguese West India, where we had been taken by a Japanese ship to await its arrival. The prospect of being free men and women again at last seemed real. No other thrill matched this e.xcept our first glimpse of the grand old lady of New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty, as she appeared through the fog and our tears the morning of our arrival in New York. ELECTRONICS EXPANDS HORIZON FOR PLASTICS Molded Products Berne? Turned Out Much Faster. QimlJti) Improved by Ncu) Methods NEW horizons for the plastics industry and resulting new conveniences for homes and offices, schools and factories, and other in- stitutions were envisaged in a re- cent address by Fred W. Wentker. manager of the Electronic Appa- ratus Section of the RCA Victor Division, Radio Corporation of America, at a meeting of the Plastic Club of America in New York. Molded plastic products already are b€ing produced much faster, without the usual risk of damage to molds, and, most important, with marked improvement in quality, Mr. Wentker said, through new RCA electronic devices which pro- duce and apply radio-frequency cur- rent to generate heat in raw mate- rial preforms before molding. Further developments promise to make practicable the use of plastic materials and production of plastic products heretofore prevented by molding limitations. Increased strength resulting from the more complete and more uniform curing made possible by electronic heating, he said, will expand the ust of i.las- tics into fields involving stresses for which they have net previously been suited. Mr. Wentker also indicated the possibility that the higher curing efficiency of electronic heating methods may make practicable the use of less costly plastic compounds for products in which a high degree of strength is not an especially im- portant factor. Experimental developments and practical experience thus far, he said, have influenced leaders in the plastics industry to state that the introduction of electronic heating is the most significant advance in the industry in more than a quarter of a century. New plastic materials and new- techniques made possible by elec- tronics promise to maintain the momentum gained by the industry during the war, he pointed out, by establishing permanent advantages Research Director E. W. E.N(;STKOM, WHO RECENTLY WAS APPOINTED RESEARCH DIRECTOR OF RCA LABORATORIES. from the use of plastics in some products in which they have been introduced as wartime substitutes. Unlike heat applied hy steam, hot plates, gas flames, and other con- ventional sources, which must pene- ti'ate industrial materials from the outside, electronic heat is generated within the material by the passage of radio-frequency currents which are produced by electron tubes and their associated circuits. In the heating of metals for proc- esses such as case-hardening, an- nealing, soldering, and welding, these currents are induced in the material by passing it through an induction coil. In heat treating of jilastics and other non-conducting materials, current is passed through the material by placing it between two electrodes. Close c o n t r o 1 of application, which is inherent in electronic methods, makes it possible to con- fine the generation of heat to any desired area and depth, a particular advantage in such operations as case-hardening, it was explained, or to generate heat uniformly and almost simultaneously throughout a jiiece of material. For the plastics industry the lat- ter principle means thorough heat- ing of the inside of a preform with- out overheating and consequent toughening of the outside, render- ing the piece workable at once. RADIO AGE 31]