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A Windscreen Washing Device

24th December 1954
Page 48
Page 48, 24th December 1954 — A Windscreen Washing Device
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ASMALL unit for directing a stream of cleaning fluid over a vehicle windscreen is shown in patent No. 718,336 (Joseph Lucas (Industries), Ltd., Great King Street, Birmingham, 19).

The device illustrated in the drawing is mounted under the bonnet through which projects a nozzle (1). The windscreen is indicated at 2.

The unit comprises a container to hold fluid and above it a diaphragm pump (3). The pump is worked by a Bowden cable attached to the end (4) of the pump rod. Pulling the cable effects the suction stroke, the delivery stroke being performed by a spring.

The improvement forming the subject of the patent is the use of a jet-rocking arrangement shown generally at 5. During the delivery stroke the jet is alternately elevated and depressed by a Bowden cable connected to a rollercarrier (6) which engages notches (7) on the rod. The aim is to cause the jet to sweep over a larger area of the windscreen.

A FOUR-CYLINDERED TWOSTROKE OIL ENGINE PATENT No. 717,832, comes from General Motors Corp., Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A., and discloses a design for a four-cylindered two-stroke

oil engine. No radical departure from conventional principles is involved, the patent being concerned mainly with the port arrangements in the monobloc cylinder casting.

The drawing shows •a cross-section of the block. Liners are used, with ports cut in their sides for admission and B22 exhaust, An air-inlet manifold leads to individual chambers (1) which surround the inlet ports. These ports have a considerable slope so that the incoming air is projected upwards inside the cylinder.

On the opposite side, the exhaust ports discharge into chambers (2) which are connected by an external bolted-on manifold. The engine is blown by a Roots-type blower fitted on the side close to the inlet manifold. The crankshaft has its crankpins set at 90" so that an even turning moment is achieved.

HYDRAULIC TRANSMISSION WITH AUTOMATIC CLUTCH DATENT NO. 718,263 comes from The Northern General Transport Co., Ltd., Stratton House, Piccadilly, London, W.1, and discloses an improved type of transmission. Its chief feature is that a torque converter carries the drive up to a certain speed, after which an automatic centrifugal clutch engages and provides a direct drive.

In the drawing, the outer casing (1) of the torque-converter is carried on the engine ,flywheel and forms the power input member. The driven member (2) of the fluid coupling is attached to the output shaft (3).

The outer casing is extended to the right to form the housing for the automatic clutch. This comprises a central friction-plate (4) carried on the output shaft and located between a fixed ring (5) and a sliding one (6).

The sliding plate can be forced into driving friction by means of balls (7); these fly outwards at speed and push the sliding plate to the right. When this occurs, the unit provides a solid drive.

By the use of this combination the best is obtained from both couplings, the hydraulic unit providing the smooth acceleration whilst the friction clutch, when operative, eliminates all loss due to slipping.

THE LATEST IN BEARING METALS 1-1. A PIONEER in the search for the

best bearing design is The Glacier Metal Co., Ltd., 368 Ealing Road, Wembley, and this concern now discloses in patent No. 718,073 its kiest improvements in this respect.

A plain steel backing strip (1) about 0.05 in. thick has bonded to it a layer (2) of copper-lead. This may consist of 24 per cent. lead, 4 per cent. tin, and the remainder copper, the thickness being about 0.03 in. Parallel grooves (3) are broached in this layer, having a width and depth of 0.005 in.; these are shown exaggerated irt the drawing.

The next operation is to deposit electrically the actual wearing surface. There are several alloys suitable for this, one being a 10/90 tin-lead mixture. After deposition, the surface is treated with a burnishing tool which forcibly smooths it into a true cylinder. A ball may be forced through an assembled hearing to complete the form.

MAGNETIC CLUTCHES

DP ATENT No. 718,414 comes from

Humber Ltd., Coventry, and discloses details of a four-speed gearbox in which the ratios are each engaged by a magnetic clutch. A dual magnetic clutch is fitted in the flywheel and a gear-lever selects which pair of ratios it controls.

• AN ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION BRAKE

A TRANSMISSION brake working 'TRANSMISSION the eddy-current principle, forms the subject of patent No. 718,458 (Electro-M4canique de L'Aveyron, Rodcz, France).

On the rotary part of the transmission is a disc having considerable thickness. It runs between eight pairs of fixed electro-magnets having the minimum possible air-gap in between.

When the magnets are energized, the disc acts as a short-circuited dynamo and exerts a powerful retarding force on the shaft. It is a smooth method of braking, as the energy is converted directly into heat without mechanical friction. The heat is dissipated by air cooling, the disc being provided with numerous deep grooves which form in effect a centrifugal blower.

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