Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 88.djvu/611

 Popular Science Monthly

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��A Motion- Study Stopwatch Which Does Its Own Computing

IN the factory and other industrial estabhshments where accurate data are demanded as to costs and the time of mechanical operations is required, the stop-watch has become as much a part of the equipment of the plant as the engine or motor which drives the machinery. For a long time the ordinary stop-watch which was designed for the race-track was em- ployed. It answered the purpose, but after it had been used the real work began. It was necessary to enter into a more or less lengthy computation in order to arrive at the output per hour or day.

There has been re- cently introduced into this country, from the factory of a Swiss watch-maker, a time- study watch by which it is possible to arrive at the conclusion di- rectly without resorting to the use of paper and pencil or even undertaking any men- tal calculation. It answers the demands of the professional rate-setter as well as the factory manager who wants only a reasonably close approximation. The dial is divided into tenths and hundredths and in addition to these desirable fea- tures, it contains figures spaced two- hundredths of a minute apart to indicate at any point of elapsed time exactly what the corresponding output per hour is. If the hand is stopped over .36 of a minute, the reading directly under it shows that the output is 167 per hour.

In the manufacturing business it is often desirable to know exactly what time is required in the perf(jrmance of a particular piece of work. When an em- ployee sees that the stop-watch is being held on him he will often lag so as not to set too swift a pace for himself. By the use of this watch it is possible to de- termine accurately the exact time si)ent in "loafing" and that actually required to perform the operation. Assuming

���that an employee performs a certair. group of movements in an elapsed time of eleven minutes, a part of which time is known to have been wasted. The observer will follow up his first observation with another, stop- ping the watch during the frac- tions of the minute which the em- ployee wastes by unnecessary movements or loafed time; the result obtained will be the actual time required for the performance of the task under imvestigation. The watch is started and stopped by the movement of the slide on the edge of the watch. For rapidly cal- culating time in effi- ciency tests, this watch cannot be equaled.

A Suitcase on Wheels "DORTERS and am-

��With this watch the workman can fill out his time sheets accurately, and allow for an exact counting of time cost, which before has been an uncertain quantity in auditing

��bitious boys are

��wishing that some kind censor would prohibit the manu- facture of a new suit- case carrier, for should the use of this ingenious device spread broadcast, the familiar cry, "Carry your bag, Mis- ter?" will become a thing of the past.

A pair of wheels is set on a stand- ard that ma\' be quickly fastened to a suitcase, as shown in the illustration. An extra handle is at- tached to the end of the case, and the bag is wheel- ed along the ground with no more ex- ertion than is

required to No need to hire a red- . ' I. . capped porter if you

wtieel a ricl- have wheels like these crlessbicycle. on your suitcase

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