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Tower Optical Company, Inc. is a small, Norwalk, Connecticut-based company which has manufactured a binocular tower viewer used at major tourist sites in the United States and Canada since 1932.〔(Home page ), Tower Optical Company website, retrieved August 2, 2010〕 The company's large, silver-colored devices are used at Niagara Falls, the Empire State Building and other locations.〔Juliano, Michael C., ("Tower Optical sees turnaround" ), August 1, 2010, ''The Advocate'' of Stamford, Connecticut, retrieved August 2, 2010〕 Only about 35 of the viewers are manufactured each year, but several thousand are maintained by the company. Tower Optical has various arrangements with owners of the sites where the devices are located. Where the viewers are free, they are leased; at other locations, revenue is shared between the company and the site owner. Each machine can hold up to 2,000 quarters.〔 The binocular machine has essentially kept its distinctive, tubby shape since it was first manufactured, a deliberate strategy "to preserve its identity", according to Bonnie Rising, the third-generation owner of the family business.〔 When coin-operated, the machines can be timed for roughly 1.5 to 2.5 minutes.〔Web page titled ("Binocular Viewer Specifications" ) at Tower Optical Company website, retrieved August 2, 2010〕 ==Operations== A foundry in Pennsylvania manufactures the parts used for Tower's viewers, about 35 of which are assembled each year in its two-story building in East Norwalk. The company maintains several thousand of the devices, sometimes removing some in the fall, rebuilding them and returning them in the spring.〔 A typical viewer is housed in a chrome-plated, bronze-cast shell mounted on a cast iron yoke and pedestal. The inside of the machine is bronze and stainless steel. The binoculars can be raised 45 degrees up, 22 degrees down and swung entirely left or right by 360 degrees. The device and its pedestal typically stand 63 inches high and weigh 300 pounds.〔 The company limits its distribution of the machines to the United States and Canada for easier management.〔 As of 2004, the devices were in use in San Francisco at Vista Point at the Golden Gate Bridge and at Coit Tower. That year, the City of Sausalito, California was considering installing five of the machines on its bay waterfront as a fund-raising move. Former Mayor J. R. Roberts, a member of a citizens committee which suggested the installation, said the machines typically cost a user 50 cents, with the city collecting half of the revenue if it took on the responsibility of collecting the coins, or 30 percent if Tower arranged for collection. Each machine was expected to earn somewhere between $1,200 and $10,000 per year. The price and length of viewing time could be customized, he said. Paul Albritton, then mayor of Sausalito, said, "In some areas, telescopes earn a few hundred dollars a month and in other places a few thousand dollars a month."〔Bova, Carla, "Sausalito plan sees revenue in coin-operated telescopes", July 8, 2004, ''Marin Independent Journal'' of San Rafael, California, article retrieved August 2, 2010 from NewsBank Inc. website (subscription required)〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tower Optical」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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