Not too long ago I was going through some papers, old ads and such…. I have a small forest’s worth of rare books, vintage (as opposed to just old) catalogs and spec sheets, ads, etc. Such a library, no matter how well organized (or not!) is essential to the type of work I often undertake. While chasing down some Cataphote reflector information, I came upon something equally interesting: Magneon. But first, you are likely wondering what the heck a “cataphote” is.
A very long time ago, road signs had glass bead reflectors placed upon them along the lettering to make them more visible at night. These reflectors were mostly made by Libbey, who chose to market them under the “Cataphote” name. They quickly became known as “cat eye” reflectors. Today, the signs that were made this way are prized by collectors and carry a hefty price tag. In the town I used to work in when I first became involved in making road signs, there were still one or two remaining cat eye reflectored signs. No, don’t ask, they are long gone now. …and no, sadly, I do not have them. …but….Now you know what a “cataphote” is. (and aren’t you better for it?) The topic had come up in a facebook page that I am a member of and so I, naturally, had to dig up some more information. It’s one of the things I do. This lead me to an ad pulled from a 1932 Municipal Directory.
On the back of one of these pages, I found an ad from the Magnetic Neon Corporation of Ohio for a product called “Magneon.” Magneon was a battery operated flashing warning sign system that could be placed and installed nearly anywhere and at minimal cost. Not much detail existed in the ad to explain how it worked or what lighting technology it really was. A quick search online yielded nothing of substance related to this. (Google only knows ALMOST everything) Was it really neon? Probably. Or at least I hope so. But I can’t say for certain. The company was based in Cleveland, and is obviously long out of business. 1932 was a rough time…..even if you had a better mousetrap, you likely couldn’t sell it.
The concept of neon road signs is not new, nor is it isolated to this product. There have been neon railroad crossing signs, drivers on the Turnpikes back east have seen them used to advise of traffic and weather conditions, etc. But…..a battery powered neon street sign. Now that is kinda interesting. Especially for 1932.
The ad specified that these signs were flashing. This would significantly reduce the battery consumption. Now, in 1932 there were several ways to flash and step up the 6 to 12v power from a storage battery into the 2000 to 10000 volts needed to run a neon tubing unit. Given the technology of the day, and the desire to keep things VERY inexpensive and easy to service, it seems plausible that they may have opted to use a buzz coil similar to that employed in the ignition systems of older cars like the Model T Ford. (see “Buzzed” http://www.novioljourneys.com/?p=622 for more information) They may have used a purpose built coil….but it likely operated on the same principle. This would have easily provided the boost in voltage necessary to run many feet of bright neon tubing. But what of the flashing? Again, there are a couple of simple options.
A bi-metal flasher would suffice. These are common in automobiles to flash the turn signals. Two dissimilar metals are bonded together in a flat strip. These metals have differing coefficients of expansion. When a current is passed through the strip, it becomes warm. The differential rates of expansion cause the strip to bend. This moves it away from the contact, breaking the circuit and turning out the light…..as it cools down, it returns to the original position which then reconnects the circuit and lights the lamp, thereby repeating the process until the person has made their turn or lane change and switched it off. (you did turn the blinker off, right?)
Of course, cars in 1932 did not have flashing turn signals. True. But the technology existed to do it this way. Possibly they had a purpose built flasher to do this function.
Another option is a bit trickier…and it would make the flashes of shorter duration and spread farther apart (shorter ON and longer OFF timing)…..this, while tricky to get it right, would have the advantage of reducing power consumption to a point that storage batteries could run this for a long time before being replaced. It is, for lack of a better name, what I’ll call the “LeJay” method. Only because it is a copy and variation on the theme of an electric fence charger kit sold by LeJay in the late 1930’s. This fence charger used a model T buzz coil. And, as desired in a fence charger, it pulsed on and off.
LeJay accomplished this by altering the contacts of the buzz coil such that instead of being normally closed (power energizing the magnet opens them, breaking power to the magnet which closes them…etc…etc…..setting up the pulses in the induction coil to fire the sparkplug) they were set up as normally open. With power connected, nothing happens. Nothing until a small marble rolls down an inclined test tube, striking an extension arm on the movable contact–this closes the circuit. When the magnet pulses, it creates a corresponding high voltage output from the induction coil. In addition, the magnet pulls the contact arm, opening the circuit—and….in so doing, it “kicks” the marble back up the inclined tube…ready to roll back down and repeat the process. Depending upon the length and incline angle, the duration of the OFF time could be made somewhat adjustable. The ON time would be only a very short flash.
Since no mention of flash timing or duration is available for the old Magneon signs, it is all just conjecture. At least until someone finds one of these gems sitting in an old garage someplace. (Call me if you do!!)
I decided to take a crack at both variations on my workbench. I started with an old buzz coil….a rather poor example that had “survived” a flood and which I had repaired about 10 years ago in order to have a running spare for another project engine. I then soldered on some Fahnstock clips to make attaching wires easier in the absence of the proper coil mounting box that the model T used. For my initial test, I just connected a simple little short straight neon tube and used a common automotive turn signal flasher. This was simple enough and gave a suitable result….but I was still not convinced that this is how they did it due to the question of battery life….the “on” duration being the length of time needed to heat the bimetal strip in the flasher….it seemed to me that it would eat the batteries a little too quickly. A shorter duration was needed.
Next, I decided to tackle the rolling ball switch. BUT….After some consideration, however, I arrived at a much simpler solution. I decided to treat the vibrating contact of the buzz coil like a pendulum and by altering the length and weight on the end of a pendulum, one can alter the period of its oscillations. The easiest way to do this was to add a length of metal to the moving contact, open the fixed contact such that the circuit is normally open…then adjust the length and weight to get the desired results. After a few tries, I got it set up to where it gave a desired flashing rate and, once started, it kept going as long as the power was maintained. Perfect!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZEammwlKWM
At this point, I guess that I have found the likely mechanism by which they made it work. If I choose to pursue it further, I will make more permanent and professional modifications to the coil and then create a suitable “statement” to emblazon in flashing neon and mount upon a highway sign. What would YOU say to the drivers in your town? Hehehe.