New Ideas

Memory Machine. International Business Machines introduced a memory computer to step up office automation. The computer will tell a businessman immediately how daily transactions in sales, payroll, inventory, production, etc. affect any desired aspect of his business. Called RAMAC (Random Access Memory Accounting machine), the computer also serves as an electronic filing cabinet in which company figures are stored on 50 magnetic metal disks, will turn out any needed figure in seconds, thus eliminate endless hours of file checking. Rental per month: $3,250.

Mud for Deep Oil. The Magnolia Petroleum Co. announced a drilling mud that will make it possible to reach oil at depths that could neyer be attempted before, save more than $50,000 in costs on deep wells. Chemical muds are pumped down inside a drill pipe to the bit and then back up the hole, thus holding down subterranean oil pressures, keeping the bit cool, and carrying the drill cuttings back up to the surface. In deep holes, conventional muds jell under the intense heat and dry up at 300DEG F, cause expensive delays. The new muds, DMS (Drilling Mud, Surfacant) and DME (Drilling Mud, Emulsifier), which are chemically similar to automobile antifreeze, work like detergents to eliminate the drill cuttings, withstand pressures up to 20,000 Ibs. per sq. in. at temperatures up to 500DEG. In the search for more oil, the new muds will make it possible to drill 10,000 ft. deeper: e.g., South Texas, now limited to 15,000 ft., could go to 25,000 ft.; South Louisiana, with the world's deepest oil well (22,000 ft.), could now exceed 30,000 ft.

Cellophane Print. At the Packaging Machinery and Material Convention in Cleveland, the Dennison Mfg. Co. showed a new process that makes it possible to bond labels to Cellophane, is more economical than printing. Called Therimage, the bonding process is based largely on an old device of "printing by transfer." A special heat-and-pressure machine is attached to standard packaging units, then labels made of gumlike inks are fed into it. The machine's heat releases the ink from the label, presses it firmly onto the Cellophane, in a process much like fixing a decal.

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