At Olympia.—By Henry Sturmey.
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Although the Motor Show at Olympia was confined to pleasure cars and all that pertain thereto, and hence was of very little interest to users of commercial cars as such, there were a few new things shown, chiefly in the accessory line, which are likely to be of use to users of " heavies," and a mention of them here will put the readers of TRE COMMERCIAL MOTOR in touch with them.
Ball Bearings.
One or two of the wheels and tires dealt with in your last issue were to be seen, but I will say nothing in regard. to them, as your readers have all information, but I may note two tendencies in regard to bearings which presented themselves, and which are as important to the commercial user as to the pleasure motorist. Ball bearings are now more largely used every day, and it was noticeable that the principle of the Skefko ball bearing (Skefko Ball Bearing Co., Ltd., Carlton House, Lower Regent Street. London), viz., that of self-alignment, is apparently being recognized, as other makers of ball bearings were showing something of the same kind. This feature of the Skefko is Obtained by carrying the ball race in a spherical mounting, so that even on a badly-bent shaft the bearing itself runs true, although it will oscillate and gyrate within its mounting.The other tendency is in regard to roller bearings, which appear to be receiving more favourable consideration than formerly, for not only was the British-made Timken adjustable-coned roller bearing shown by the Electric and Ordnance Accessories Co., of Chester Road, Aston, Birmingham, but another coned roller bearing was introduced by the Auto Machinery Co., Ltd., of Coventry, which it may be interesting to note is made interchangeable with the series of ball bearings made by this firm.
Supplementary Springs.
Another tendency which made itself manifest at the Show was the fitting of supplementary spiral springs of various kinds, more than half-a-dozen of the accessory vendors showing something of the kind. The idea is to hang the weight on spiral springs, suspended from the rear end of the car springs, the spirals yielding under the smaller vibrations. to which the flat, heavy springs of the car are not responsive. They undoubtedly do improve the comfort of a car whose springs are not correctly designed, and, of course, help to save the chassis, and, although hardly likely to be of much value on cars used for carrying dead loads, they will undoubtedly improve the riding of cabs, ambulances, brakes, chars-h-bancs and passenger vehicles.
Sell-starters, etc.
One or two firms were showing cars fitted with self. starting devices, consisting in the fitting of an air pump worked off the engine, which pumps air into a reservoir provided for the purpose, from which reservoir leads are carried to each cylinder. The air in the cylinder is stored at high pressure, and by opening a valve it is passed into the cylinders, with the result that the pressure on the piston and the cylinder in the position for next firing, forces the piston down, and revolves the engine, the successive action upon the pistons giving sufficient impetus.to start the conventional series of operations, which cause the engine to run. This is a refinement if, perhaps, somewhat of a complication, which in some phases of commercial work may be very useful, as the engine can be stopped every time the ear is stopped and started again by opening a valve, and in the course of a day's delivery work may be reckoned upon to save some petrol for the owner and some physical exertion for the driver, and it might quite possibly eventuate that the merits of the system may in the long run, be recognized in commercial work. So far, the device is only fitted on the S.(.. .\.T. and Adams cars. Another device, also designed to facilitate starting, and which can be fitted to any engine, was shown by Messrs. Supplementary Carburetters, 47, Longmore Street, Birmingham, under the name of the Rightaway Easy Starter, and is designed for use with refractory engines which habitually "take a lot of starting "in the morning, or at any time, the idea consisting in the fitting of a small supplementary carburetter, so designed as to supply a very rich mixture for starting purposes. 'tills may be quite worth inquiring into, where constant trouble is experienced in this direction. A new thing in carburetters was also shown by Messrs. .Rotherham and Sons, of Coventry, which, although perhaps rather light for really hard work, has many points about it which would indicate the possibility of its proving an advance on the points of flexibility and petrol consumption, and another introduction in the same line was made by Charles Binks, of the Phoenix Works, Church Street, Eccles, on the principle of employing two jets, one of which operates when starting and running at low speeds, and the other.whengreater power and speed are called for, and it is interesting to note that Messrs. Binks showed a model of this device specially built for commercial work of the largest and heaviest types.
Engines and Cleaning Them.
In engines, the Aster Engineering Co., of Wembley, Middlesex, showed several new models, some of which are specially designed for commercial car use. This i firm s one of the oldest makers of motorcar engines in the trade,. and a special branch of their business is the re-engining of private ovi tiers' cars, so that, if any reader of THE COMiIERCIAF. MOTOR has a. car which is satisfactory in all but the engine, he might do worse than communicate with the firm and have an Aster engine put in, and talking of engines reminds me that the Motor Accessories Co. were showing for Messrs. Brame°, Ltd., of 158, Widdrington Road, Coventry, a chemical carbon remover, termed Casso, which will thoroughly clean the piston and cylinders of an engine which have become caked with carbon deposit, by the simple process of putting it into the combustion chamber, leaving an hour, and then starting the engine, thus saving the time, trouble, expense, and danger caused by taking down and scraping for carbon removal, an operation which is periodically necessary on most engines if continual satisfactory results are to be obtained. The same firm—the Motor Accessories Co., 55, Great Marlborough Street, London—were also introducing something quite new in rapid-movement wrenches, termed the " Fitzall," made for gripping either pipes or nuts and instantly adjusted to size, the use of which must mean quite an appreciable saving of tune where much adjustment has to be done.
Various.
Messrs. Trier and Martin, of New Church Road, Camberwell, had on view a little novelty which should be very useful where trouble is experienced in keeping the joints of the rubber water connections with the radiation system tight. It is called the Tape Grip Joint, and consists of a ring, with a slot in it, through i which the end of a tape is passed. This s then wound up within the ring upon the rubber tube of the joint, gradually compressing the rubber and metal surfaces together and making an absolutely tight joint, as the pressure is even the whole way round. Another thing which will interest those owners who. wish their drivers to obtain a more intelligent knowledge of the cars they have to handle, was the newly introduced system of motor instruction by post, which has been adopted by Motor Schools, Ltd., Heddon Street, Regent Street, London. The series of diagrams used in the instruction was shown, and I may say that owners desirous of having their men taught may take it from me that the instruction given is thorough andpractical., Norton's stoves for heating the garage (Toni Norton, Ltd., Llandrindod Wells) are very largely used in private garages by pleasure-car owners, and in view of the cold weather coming on such things are worth thinking about by commercial-car users. These stoves burn a species of charcoal fuel and are perfectly safe to use in any garage.
But perhaps the things shown at Olympia which will be of most interest and value to readers of this journal are the Recorders, two of which were shown. One of these was the Jones, an American instrument, shown by Markt and Co., 6, City Road, Finsbury Square, London, and made by the makers of the Jones speedometer, recording on a circular card-face, distance, time and speed. The other is a British production and much the more interesting of the two. It is termed the Jurus, and is made by Messrs. F. M. Russell and Co., of Willesden. When once fitted and wound up, it ' goes for eight days and records, on a continuous strip of paper, every movement of the car during that time, showing not only when it started and when it stopped, but all variations of speed during the time of running, including reversing, and showing at the same time the actual time of day at which any particular speed rate was attained, and for how long maintained, as well as showing exact distance run. As a permanent and indisputable check on drivers it is one of the best things I have ever seen.