THE ANDREW POWER TRANSMITTER.
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An Appliance for Utilising the Power in a Ford Engine for Industrial Purposes.
THE AMOUNT of power available in the motorcar engines of the oountry, could it be made available for industrial purposes, would be enormous in the aggregate, and many, no doubt, having machinery of various kinds, the
u se of which is of an intermittent character, have wondered,if it would be possible to apply the power of the engine in their ear to driving it instead of having to purchase and install a special engine for that pnrpose. Few Cars, and not many commercial motors, are continuously on the road, and much of the machinery which ls found installed on farms, in builder's yards, and other business establishments, is only required to be used for an hour
o r so at a time, and that not on every day of the week. So that it would
appear to be a very desirable thing, from an economic point of view, if the engine of a motor vehicle could be used for such purposes during thei time it is not emplayed for its more legitimate purpose of driving the vehicle.
This desired object has, apparently, now been achieved, at any rate, so far as the uhiquitouslFord cars and vans are concerned, in an apparatus known as the Andrew s' Power 'Transmitter, which is manufactured by 'Jae AndrewMotor Manufacturing Co., of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A., and which is being introduced to this country by Messrs. Bramco, Ltd, of Coventry. It is mounted on the front frame, and weighs 47 lb., and the power is taken off the engine sffaft by means of a bevel gear, which, with a special starting handle, takes the place of the regular starting handle on the Ford. This bevel 'gear is enclosed in a ease, and meshes with another, bevel at right angles to it, also within the same casing, carried on one end of a.,short shaft, which is mounted in bearings attached to the frame, and carries a belt 'pulley at the other end. The pull of the belt, therefore, is in the direct line of the car, no cross stresses are set up on the chassis, and the tension of the belt is easily adjusted by driving forward or reversing_ the car to the distance' required.
When in position on the vehicle, the operation of the vehicle is not interfered with in anyway, so that a farmer, for example, can operate machines in the farmyard at home, and then drive out to a field and connect up his engine with a water pump,or root crusher, and, the work doneV,here, take off the belt and drive straight off to market ; or, if the use of the machine for .power purposes will only be needed at certain periods of the year, or on certain days of the week. the apparatus can readily and quickly.be removed, and as readily remounted, the fastening attachments only remaining a Permanent fixture on the car frame. In order to meet the difficulty.of anticing controlled even running when under load .with,the belt, and also to prevent racing and overheating, a centrifugal governor is furnished, vvhich connects up with and controls the fuel inlet, and can, if desired, be used without the transmitter, so would, no doubt, be found useful on some of the converted Ford vans,
with which overheating, owing to reduced gearing, is at times not unknoWn, In addition, a supplementary fan, consisting of four flat fan blades,. is provided, which can be attached to and driven by the regular Ford fan pulley, working as an adjunct in addition to the
regular Ford fan. This, • like the governor device, will often be found aseiful, quite apart from the preSence. Or operation of the transmitter.
When the governor ia. adjusted to run the engine at a speed of about 900 revs., which is equivalent to running the , vehicle at 24) m.p.h., 9 h.p. is developed at the pulley .and' this is recommended as the best speed at which to drive it; but, when much less •power is required, the engine can be economically run at
less speeds, with, of coarse, a corresponding redaction in belt speed. , Judging from the illustrations, and from a sample we have seen, the apparatus, which is very neat and compact, should prove extremely useful to those so situated as tube able to use it. . .
Many Ford van owners have considered the provision of a small repair shop, equipped: With a. Lathe, drilling machine, etc., but are debarred by the lack of power, such owners would certainly find the Andrew power transmitter useful on their vehicles.