Control of metal build-up in minimum pressure sensitive contact systems

The race for automaticity has allowed little time for simplification and cost reduction. We have automatic jet engine control as a function of ten parameters employing 30 vacuum tubes. But do we have adequate reliability? In view of these problems, this paper investigates the simplest information sensing and control element for servomechanisms ¿ sensitive electric contacts. Contact protection and reliability are carried beyond the scope of electric networks and a mechanical solution is proposed to the remaining problem of metal build-up. Reliable operation on 50 microwatts of input signal power, 200,000 times power amplification, 4-ounce weight, cigarette package size, no heat-dissipation problem, no stand-by power required for cathode heating, and tens of millions of cycles of operation may be the reward of further study of sensitive contact signal sensing devices.