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Ingenuity has been Exercised by Manufacturers in Producing Equipment to Improve Vehicle Comfort and Ease the Task of the Driver
AN account of various novel accessories and components displayed at the Commercial Motor , Show was published in the October 3 issue of " The Commercial Motor," and this week the theme is continued. Manufacturers have been ready to produce equipment to meet the needs created by advances in vehicle design and the demands of drivers and passen
gers for greater comfort. .
A simple and efficient coach-heating installation has been evolved by Weathershields, Ltd., Bishop Street, Birmingham, 5. It comprises two hotwater elements which may be run along each side of the vehicle at roof or seat level. Around each element is a rectangular-sectioned duct through which air is driven by an electric fan at the front, warm air being discharged into the coach interior through slots. Air may be taken in through a Flomatic 4-in. ventilator. Extractors of similar pattern are mounted at the rear of the vehicle.
A knob-controlled vane at the forward end of each duct may be used to regulate the air flow. Installations may be made any length to suit customers' requirements and can be incorporated in bodywork behind the roof lining or body panelling.
Delaney Galley, Ltd., Edgware Road, London, N.W.2, is to concentrate its efforts in the commercial-vehicle field, having established its heating equipment in private-car and aircraft manufacture. Brief reference was made in the October 3 issue to the heater employing a radiator-coolant medium and to a combustion heater. This latter type, which incorporates a petrol burner, is for use in extremely cold climates to facilitate engine starting. In addition, the company has introduced a unit with a 2 kW element for installation in the drivers' cabs of trolleybuses. This can be adapted for windscreen demisting.
The concern has also made a marked contribution in the campaign to reduce vehicle weight by producing radiators of light alloy which weigh little more than half normal types, thus effecting a saving of about 60 lb. on an average passenger chassis. A further innovation is the bonded-plate method of radiator construction. Rubber-bonded tube-plates are used, and an exchange of tubes can be made easily without removing the radiator. These types are intended for vehicles designed for operation under arduous conditions. The company is also developing an oil-bath air cleaner.
Another concern aiming to increase its sales in the commercial-vehicle market is Trico-Folberth, Ltd., Great West Road, Brentford, Middlesex. Its main line is its range of vacuum and air-pressure windscreen-wiping equipment. The most powerful wiper is the type FPK, which is suitable for probably only the heaviest vehicles. The type FPM is applicable to all vehicles fitted with air brakes and can be supplied with a pressure-regulating valve to control the speed and power of the wiper blade itself. In snow, for instance, greater pressure would be needed than in slight rain. Vacuum-wiper models inclufle the heavy-duty CHMX model, the SK and the KB. A new electric wiper for commercial vehicles, the EM, has a high torque output, whilst the SP selfparking model will shortly be made available with double-pole insulation. For fitting to large windscreens, such as are common to many of the rrewest coach designs, a pantograph-arm assembly has been introduced, which affords a large area of wipe as the blade is kept upright throughout its stroke.
A neatly designed foglamp, known as the Rectilux, is available from TricoFolberth's associated company, Marchal Distributors, Ltd. This has a rectangular 'reflector and lens specially moulded to give a 180-degree arc. It incorporates a yellow-tinted 45-watt bulb and costs £4 14s. 6d. retail in chromium finish,
Another new Marchal product, likely to interest Continental tour operators, is the Girofar swivelling spotlight. This may be .fixed to the windscreen by suction and the beam can be directed as desired by hand. This unit costs £6 5s.
Coachbuilders have been seeking ashtrays that will not allow their contents to be extracted by draughts. Wilmot Breeden, Ltd., Amington Road, Birmingham, 25, and the Rawlings Manufacturing Co., Ltd., 106-108, Bedford Hill, London, S.W.12, have produced designs to meet this need. The Wilmot Breeden model has a deep container and incorporates a mirror. The Rawlings product, known as the Ashute, has a spring-loaded cylindrical device which opens at the pressure of a catch and closes when released.
Quicktho Extractor
Quicktho (1928), Ltd., Point Pleasant, London, S.W.18, has produced a sliding , ventilator which incorporates a weather proof quarter-light extractor. This unit, called the Flexinnount Mark III, is illustrated. A strip of rubber is fixed to the deflector plate to seal it.
The company is making many windows for crush-load single-deckers exported to hot countries, placing the ventilation units at the bottom of the windows instead of at the top, as is usual in this country, so that a strong current of cool air can be received by the seated passengers, whilst those standing have unobstructed vision.
A new accessory made by the KeyLeather Co., Ltd., 5, Urswick Road, London, E.9, is the Koolee air and rain deflector for attachment to quarter lights. During rain, the light may be opened but rain will not enter, and the deflector prevents a strong draught from blowing on to the driver's face.
Draught Deflector
Tudor Accessories, Ltd., Silverdale Road, Hayes, Middx. is making a quarter-light draught deflector, made of safety glass framed in rubber, which can be screwed on to metal window frames. It costs £2 7s. 6(1, This company is also producing rubberframed flat and convex driving mirrors, suction-fitting sun visors of transparent green Plexiglass which cost 15s. each, suction-fitting licence holders, plastic steering-wheel covers and petrol-locking caps suitable for Bedford vans.
The new sliding-door gear produced by Messrs. Wilfrid Overton, Marsh Street, Walsall, has already been adopted by a number of coachbuilders on account of its simplicity and ingenuity. The door is supported by runners at the top and in the middle, and there is a roller bearer at the bottom. Depression of the handle causes the whole door to turn with its rear edge inwards, this action being obtained by a member, linked to the handle, sliding in a guide aperture in a plate attached to the body.
A trip lever locks the door in this position and the door may be pulled back in the normal manner. Power opening gear can be applied. On shutting the door, the trip lever is released when the leading edge abuts the n16
forward pillar, and full sealing for weather protection is afforded as the final length of the guide aperture is acutely inclined so that a powerful leverage of the door against its frame is obtained as the door handle is pressed to Jock.
T.I.M. (Ticket-Issue Machines), Ltd., 10, Ashcroft Road, Cirencester, Glos, is now making power-operated ticketissuing machines for use on one-man buses. They are basically the same as the manually operated types, but are connected to electric-actuating mechanism that may be operated by a pedal or hand switch.
A radiator blind that can be con trolled from the cab is the Aircon, introduced by the Weir:a Manufactaing Co., Ltd., Adelaide Street, Halifax. It is fitted flush with the radiator core.
The latest Servis journey recorder has a double stylus. Made by Servis Recorders, Ltd., 19, London Road, Gloucester, it incorporates the usual mechanism for denoting the periods when the vehicle was in motion and a second stylus to indicate when the engine was running, whether the vehicle itself was moving or not. This second stylus describes a thin line: when the engine is running it traces an arc slightly nearer the centre of the disc than when the engine is stopped.
For Fork Trucks
On petrol-engined vehicles, the stylus can be actuated by means of a connection with the ignition circuit; on oilers, an oikpressure switch can be employed. One application of the recorder is to fork-lift trucks, when the•second stylus can make a trace when loads are being carried, being brought into operation by a pressure switch depressed when the booms are tilted backwards.
Priced at £4 7s. 6d., a Venner time switch sold by William Clark (Spare Parts), 1.tcL, Hedlcy Road, St. Albans, Herts, may be incorporated in the sidelight circuit of a vehicle so that the current can be switched on automatically when the machine is left unattended. The company has also introduced a new tail lamp for commercial vehicles. This has a cupshaped lens 31 ins, in diameter and costs £1 13s. retail.
World Radio, Ltd., Edgware Road, London, N.W.2, has introduced new Motorola wireless equipment. It is made fm6-volt or 12-volt circuits and all sets are fitted with the company's Magic Eliminode to suppress engine interference. Sparking-plug suppressors are not required. A range of separate speakers is available, including a 61-in.-diameter elliptical model.
New Holt Products
Holtclene and Wash-Shine are new names added to the list of products of Douglas Holt (Est. 1919), Ltd., 5-6, Eagle Street, London, W.C.1. HoltcIene is a highly concentrated liquid detergent suitable for washing garage floors, lubrication bays, petrol pumps and so on. Wash-Shine is a vehiclecleansing preparation which is applied to bodywork and rinsed away; no leathering or polishing is necessary.
Flexwyt indestructible plastic letters and digits are being offered by Hills Patents, Ltd., Chenies Mews, Pancras Street, London, W.1, for making into garage signs, name plates, etc. Customers may be supplied with the necessary letters for them to make their own. Each letter has two short hollow protuberances which are placed through holes in the base plate. A washer is placed over that part of each rivet which projects at the back and is locked by a ring which is pressed on by a tubular punch.