The third installation of air conditioning equipment in the binocular assembly room of Bausch & Lomb, optical manufacturers of Rochester, N. Y., was recently made. Air conditioned rooms are required for the preparation of optical parts of binoculars because dirt cuts the light-gathering properties of the prisms and lenses. In cementing the lens element, the room air must be scrupulously clean in order that the Canada balsam shall not be contaminated. Also, the temperature must be held within close limits both for applying the balsam and for drying.
Air conditioning is also being called on at Bausch & Lomb to aid in high precision work in the manufacture of range finders, essential components of modern warfare. In space where these products are manufactured, assembled and tested, air conditioning equipment reduces heat that is generated by motors and people, eliminating danger of expansion or contraction of delicate metal parts by maintaining constant temperature. Likewise it controls humidity to prevent corrosion caused by perspiration on the fingers of workmen.
In the assembly of lenses in microscopes, air conditioning is used to dehumidify the air between the assembled lenses so that they will not fog up under the varying temperature conditions of field use. Absolute dust control is required because a speck of dust on a range finder, for example, might look like a distant airplane to the observer.
Polishing lenses is another delicate operation which calls upon air conditioning to help insure perfection. For the polishing process, lenses are mounted on wax and any change in the wax, either softening or hardening, might cause inaccuracies. Consequently, it is important that the wax mountings remain the same during polishing, and air conditioning insures against the possibility of changes.
R. H. O.