Robert, The North American paper sizes are not irrational, just dated. The engineering sizes (A through D) were originally mainly used with the contact diazo (blueprint) duplicating method. The copies are all at 1:1 ratio with the original drawing, which was hand drawn in the days before CAD. Enlarging/reducing had to be done with a very large and expensive process camera. This was usually only done to make offset printing plates for manuals. The selection of sizes was actually very rational, as all the larger sizes can be neatly folded to A size (8 1/2 X 11) with the title block showing on top.
As for the U.S. Patent Office, I believe the switch to the metric paper was done at the same time the patent period was changed (along with other details) to harmonize with other nations under international patent agreements. Finally, the side issue of discussing paper sizes resulted after it was mentioned that the downloaded galvanic compatibility chart could not be printed on 8 1/2 X 11 paper. If the host based printer driver is loaded it is possible to scale printed output to any size desired. The hardware based print drivers generally do not have this ability. Scott Lacey -----Original Message----- From: owner-emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org [mailto:owner-emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org]On Behalf Of Robert Wilson Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 11:47 AM To: emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org Subject: RE: Pencil erasers for pre-EMI cleaning? (cleaning mating surface s, chassis, ) More importantly, North American paper sizes are just plain irrational. At least the metric sizes all have the same aspect ratio, so enlarging/reducing from one size to another doesn't result in a large band of unused space. Even the US Patent Office has given up on US "A" (8-12 x 11") or US "legal" (8-1/2 x 14") size, and for at least 10 years, submissions have to be made on the metric A4 size paper that most of the civilized world uses. Bob Wilson TIR Systems Ltd. Vancouver. -----Original Message----- From: John Shinn [mailto:john.sh...@sanmina-sci.com] Sent: March 4, 2002 4:18 PM To: 'John Woodgate'; emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org Subject: RE: Pencil erasers for pre-EMI cleaning? (cleaning mating surface s, chassis, ) Actually, US "Legal" size is 8-1/2 by 14 inches. 8-1/2 by 17 inches is B-size. John Shinn, P.E. -----Original Message----- From: owner-emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org [mailto:owner-emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org]On Behalf Of John Woodgate Sent: Monday, March 04, 2002 11:36 AM To: emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org Subject: Pencil erasers for pre-EMI cleaning? (cleaning mating surface s, chassis, ) I read in !emc-pstc that david_ster...@ademco.com wrote (in <2DF7C54A75B dd311b61700508b64231002c5a...@nyhqex1.ademcohq.com>) about 'Pencil erasers for pre-EMI cleaning? (cleaning mating surface s, chassis, )', on Mon, 4 Mar 2002: >It prints on legal (8-1/2 x >17) paper. That size is 'illegal' in Europe! (;-) -- Regards, John Woodgate, OOO - Own Opinions Only. http://www.jmwa.demon.co.uk Interested in professional sound reinforcement and distribution? Then go to http://www.isce.org.uk PLEASE do NOT copy news posts to me by E-MAIL! ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. 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