Split Automobile Engine Said
To Cut Fuel Consumption
Washington, (Science Serv- Stuntz, Hyattsville, Md., ! sists of a base, containing a
ice)-A split automobile engine, j whose resulting anti-ground
operating more economically
on only half of its cylinders,
is the brainchild of two Mich
igan inventors.
. For their invention, John
Dolza of Fenton and William
H. Kolbe of Huntington Woods
received one of 1,035 patents
awarded by the U. S. Patent
Office here recently. They as
signed their patent. No. 2,878,
798, to General Motors Corp.,
Detroit.
clutter invention brought
them patent No. 2,879,504. The
patent was assigned to the
Westinghoue Electric Corp.,
East Pittsburgh, Pa.
This approach is based on
the lengths of reflected radar
pulses.
Each pulse sent out by the
antenna is a tiny fraction of
a second long, and the reflec
tions from distant objects in
the sky are essentially the
The rationale for the inven-1 same length. The ground re-
tion is that internal combus
tion engines are inherently
more efficient when each cyl
inder is running under a high
load. At cruising speed the
load is relatively light and
gas consumption uneconom
ical. Fuel Supply Cut
In an eight cylinder car, the
new engine operates some
thing like this:
Accelerating the car from
a standing position is hard
work and requires the power
of all eight cylinders. Once
the car is rolling easy at a
steady speed, the load on the
cylinders is relatively light.
The fuel supply to four of the
cylinders is automatically cut
off, placing a greater load on
the operating cylinders. The
now split engine is running
more efficiently with less gas
consumption.
In order to pass another car,
the driver depresses the ac
celerator pedal and the inac
tive cylinders are kicked into
operation. This supplies the
additional power for fast pas
sing. When the pedal is let
up, the split operation is re
sumed. Clutter Eliminated
One of radar's disadvant
ages is that it reflects off near
ly every solid object and often
causes a confused picture on
the scope. One of the major
sources of confusion is
"ground clutter," reflections
from the ground.
The problem has been at
tacked by Robert J. Howell,
Harunsdale, Md., and John W.
turn pulse is longer, however,
because the radar wave is re
flected from a considerable
number of places at various
distances.
The invention consists of
electronic gates which block
out the long reflected pulses
and allow only the short ones
(reflecting from distant tar
gets) to enter the viewing
scope.
Lambert Decker, Ulster
Park, N.Y., received patent
No. 2,878,641 for a motor
which employs two natural in
exhaustable sources of energy
the sun and the earth's grav
ity. The motor consists of four
extendable metal arms placed
like the spokes of a wheel. At
the end of each arm is a dead
weight. In one of the motor's
several methods of operation,
part of it is kept in sunlight
and part in the shade:
When an arm is in the hot
sun, its metal expands, push
ing the dead weight' out in
front. This causes a shift in the
center of gravity and the
weight tends to fall toward
the earth. The arm turns into
the shade and contracts as the
second arm is carried over to
the sunlight. The process is
repeated for all of the arms
and the motor is kept turn
ing. A small planetarium, which
used heated air from a lamp
to revolve "planets" around
the "sun," brought patent No.
2,878,591 to Arnold H. Harris,
Santa Clara County, Calif.
lamp, arid a hollow transpar
ent sphere. Heated air from
the lamp rises into the sphere,
hits vanes on one end of su
spended metal arms, and caus
es the arms to revolve. Small
balls representing the planets
are attached to the other end
volve at approximately the
same angular speed as their
natural counterparts.
A machine that hands out
lighted cigarettes at the push
of a button has won patent
No. 2,878,960 for Peter E.
Holtsch, Wiesbaden, Germany.
The cigarettes are lighted by
an electric heating coil, into
which they are inserted a
short distance. They are then
partially ejected and held un
til the customer pulls them
out of the machine.
NEW CONTENDER A brand new contend
er in the compact car field is this five
passenger Taunus sedan, to be imported
from Germany by the Ford Motor company
in June for sale in the United States. Med
ford Motors will be the local representa
tive. The Taunus has a 102.5-inch wheel
base and an overall length of 172.2 inches.
It is powered by an overhead valve, four
cylinder engine delivering 67 horsepower
at 4,400 rpm, and provides up to 35 miles
per gallon in fuel economy.
Merit Rating Auto Insurance
Plan Due Test in California
Editor's note: This is the first of
two dispatches on the merit rating
insurance plan for motorists which
will be tested for the first time
on a large scale in California be
ginning May 1.
By JACK VANDERBERG
UPI Automotive Editor
Detroit-(UPD-A traffic ticket
may cost you more than the
fine assessed by a judge, and
an accident may be more cost
ly than merely replacing a
dented fender, if a California
experiment proves successful.
On the other hand, if you
can avoid a traffic ticket or an
accident for three years, it will
save you money.
The insurance industry will
begin its biggest experiment
with a program which penal
izes the bad driver and re
wards the good one when
"merit rating" insurance takes
effect in California May 1.
If the California experiment
proves successful, the plan is
expected to be adopted by
most insurance companies
throughout the United States,
according to the National Bu-
The educational device con- reau of Casualty Underwriters
MEDIUM-PRICED-Designed exclusively for
the medium-price field, Mercury for 1959 of
fers a combination of advanced design, me
chanical' excellence and superior perform
ance and economy, Medford Motors, 225
South Riverside ave., has announced. Mer
cury's space-planned bbdies provide a new
passenger comfort, and has a compound
curved windshield with 60 per cent more
glass area. Above is a Park Lane sedan.
steadiest stance !
Wheels are five inches farther apart. This widens the
stance, not the car, gives you road-hugging stability,
less lean and sway. Only Pontiac has Wide-Track Wheels!
RttTT YnTTW T.nr AT. ATTTTTni?T7irn PUVTTin flPITITD
. "VCTT
DEAN & TAYLOR PONTIAC CO.
6TH AND GRAPE MEDFORD
and the National Automobile
Underwriters Associations.
These two associations, rep
resenting about 200 insurance
companies, petitioned the Cal
ifornia Insurance Commission
for permission to try the ex
periment to see if merit rat
ing automobile insurance is
practical.
20 Per Cent Discount
. Under the California plan,
drivers with no accidents or
moving violations over a
three-year period get a 20 per
cent discount in their insur
ance rates. Those with one ac
cident or violation pay about
the same rate they would pay
under any standard plan.
Those with two or more acci
dents or violations will pay
higher rates.
Only moving violations, not
parking infractions, are count
ed against policyholders. Traf
fic accidents involving $50 or
less in damages and accidents
in which a car was damaged
while it was parked also are
not included in black ma"rks
against the policyholder.
This type- of insurance ac
tually is not wholly new. It
has been tried in various
forms over a period of several
years and currently is being
written by individual compa
nies in several states.
But, it is generally consider
ed to be still experimentaal
by the insurance industry, and
the California experiment is
the biggest of its kind under
taken to date.
One Big Drawback
It could be the key to wide
spread use of merit rating in
surance or the death of it, de
pending upon the results.
Most insurance companies
have been hesitant about try
ing the plan previously be
cause they foresaw one big
drawback.
Most motorists would take
the insurance and benefit
from its lower rates until they
prove to be bad drivers, the
insurance companies felt.
Once they get into the higher
premium rate bracket, they
would drop the insurance and
switch to a company that pro
vides Insurance at a standard
rate. This would mean the
companies using merit rating
plans would have to pay dam
ages incurred by these drivers
in their first accidents but
would not be able to keep
them once they had to start
Having the penalty. It could
mean the companies would not
get enough revenues from
their low-rate customers to
cover the expenses necessary
for damages incurred by cus
tomers who quit to avoid pay
ing higher rates.
Experience Lacking
So far there has not been
enough experience to deter
mine what will happen. If all
companies used the plan, and
any driver switching from one
company to another had to pay
a higher rate until he estab
lish a record with the sec
ond company, it might work J
out, insurance officials say.
There is some home this
type of insurance might furth
er encourage drivers to be
more careful. But again,
there's not enough experience
with it to be sure.
EVEN IN OLE MISS
Oxford, Miss.-UPD-A confer
ence on the rehabilitation of
alcoholics opened here today,
the day on which Mississippi
became the nation's only le
gally dry state'.
Tigard High Wins
State Math Contest
Eugene Tigard High
school placed first in the Ore- j
gon Mathematics contest for;
1959 for the fifth time in the
eight years of the contest.
Tigard students also scored
highest in 1958, 1954, 1953,
and 1952.
The contest is sponsored
jointly by the Mathematical
Association of America and
the Society of Actuaries. This
year approximately 3,250 high
school students representing
79 Oregon schools partici
pated. School rankings are deter
mined on the basis of total of
scores of the top three stu
dents in each school. -
Togard this year had a to
tal score of 292, followed by
Benson Polytechnic of Port
land at 198.5, Lake Oswego
at 183, Lincoln of Portland at
170.75, Grant of Portland at
153.25, Woodrow Wilson of
Portland at 148.5, Beaverton
at 142.25, James Madison of
Portland at 141, Springfield
at 132.25, and Parkrose of
MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford, Oregon, Wednesday, April 8, 1959 7
INVITE DALAI LAMA
Washington -(UPD- Sen. Clif
ford P. Case (R-N.J.) has urged
the administration to invite
Tibet's ousted Dalai Lama to
visit . the United States as a
gesture of sympathy to Communist-plagued
Tibet.
Portland at 129. These were
the highest 10.
CHECK; ON RELATIVES
Washington (UPD Rep. John
F. Baldwin (R-Calif.) has in
troduced a resolution to re
quire all House members to
declare whether they have
any relatives on their govern
ment payrolls and to make
public details on government
offices pace they rent in their
home districts.
SINCERE THANKS
TO OUR CITY, COUNTY
AND STATE POLICE
We appreciate and admire your skill and
promptness in recovering three cars which
were taken recently from our lot.
JAY ALLEN CO.
1078 Court St.
.....oe PROUD or
CAR ! WE'W PROUD
k record yfc
OF
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Km
Liz, Fisher Meet
Stumbling Block
Wnllvwood (DPD Actress
Elizabeth Taylor- and Eddie
Fisher are running into an
kinds of stumbling blocks,
but they're going right ahead
with their marriage plans.
The couple learned Tuesday
that the rabbi who officiated
at Miss Taylor's conversion
ceremones last week when she
1 J Tanned -fulfil
will not be able to marry ner
and Fisher in Nevada next
month.
Rabbi Max Nussbaum,
whom Miss Taylor, "27, asked
tn nerform the wedding rites,
was advised by three Nevada
judges that he" cannot perform
the Nevada ceremony because
he does not have-a congrega
tion in that state. Rabbi Nuss
baum's congregation is in
5
TTT
Consider the reasons why so many smart driv
ers are switching to Fiat: First of all there is the
low initial cost this saving alone will buy gas
and oil for years! There Is the low operating
cost a Fiat can give you up to twice the gaso
line mileage (takes less oil, too). Parts cost less,
and so do the repair bills.
But money-saving reasons aside, there are other
big reasons for owning a Fiat (if you've ever
driven one you'll know what we mean). Fiat
is so much more fun and so much easier to drive!
You can park one anywhere. And, throughout
the car, you get custom quality, quality you
expect to find only in cars costing much more.
There's so much more, why not ask a salesman!
m W0 tari.
in souftem Oregon
f on.rs-e", "n1 S..V.C-';;, BVes-
ALLEN
&
Living room comfort, features and
appointments of expensive cars
you get this plus spaikling per
formance and hardtop styling in
the new Fiat 1200 Gran Luce.
Fine styling, easy handling, maxi
mum mileage, no parking worries,
passenger roominess, large rear
luggage space all yours in the
low-cost Fiat 1100.
MVE A FIAT AND' YOU'LL. BE
A FIAT ENTHUSIAST FOR LOFE!
More fun to own, costs half at
much to buy and drive. The amaz
ing Fiat 600 Sedan or Convertible
gives you up to 43 miles per gallon!
Fiat offers a wide range of models, each with distinctive
styling and design that are typical of the skill of Italy's
largesf manufacturer. There is a just-right model for every
one . . . the comfortable 1200 and 1100 sedans, the dash
ing roadster, the economical 600 sedan and convertible
and functional Multipla. Whatever you need a ear for,
there's a Fiat that will fill the bill better and more eco
nomically! Why not discover for yourself why Fiat has
become such a favorite right here in Southern Oregon.
You get custom quality and dash
ing performance in the Fiat Spyder
Roadster Convertible. Powerful
O.H.V. front engine, 4-speed floor
shift. Now on display.
Fiat 600 Multipla holds 66 cu. ft.
payload! Two models, seating five
or six. Low initial cast functional
transportation for pennies.
UVe BETTER BY frAj
"HiTfiSftii
WWIIHII'1
Ha brand new ca
JAY' AlW C.
Fiat-Borgward Sales and Service
1078 COURT ST. SP 3-4543
Hollywood.