. SOME TOOLS AND ACCESSORIES AT OLYMPIA.
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Appliances and Fittings which Give Greater Efficiency in the Vehicle and also in its Maintenance and Repair.
ALTHOUGH THE Motor Show now being held at Olympia is one devoted to pleasure Mrs, there are several exhibits which should be of interest to those concerned with commercial motors. We therefore intend to describe here only those exhibits which are equally ap'Amble to pleasure and commercial motors.
In the matter of tools and appliances for use in the factory and garage, we notice a marked improvement, most of the exhilas being of a snore practical kind than these shown in previous years.
As time gees on, the commercial motor is falling closer into line with the pleasure car in many ways. In earlier
• days, silence was hardly considered an rssential feature in the construction of a
ehiele intended entirely for carrying goods. To-day, however, most. firms are taking paint to snake their vehicles s silent as can reasonably be expected, A Gear-testing Device..
On the Stand of David Brown and Sans, Ltd., is a new machine for testing the accuracy of gearwheels. In the past, such machines merely consisted oftwo spindles on which the gears to be iliested were mounted, the spindles being made to approach each other by means of a fine screw adjustment. By this means it. was possible to ascertain whether the gears under test would run smoothly, but Should any unevenness, be nahiced it was not possible accurately to locate the cause of the trouble, or to measure the extent of the error. In the machine shown, a card is attached to the wheel being tested, and a pen traces on it any irregularities, denoting their exact position and nature. Such irregularities as may omit' in gearwheels are extremely small, although their presence may cause considerable noise when running at a high .rate. An error of a thousandth of an inch would be .sufficient to render a gear noisy, whilst, such an error would not be perceptible unless the line traced by the pen upon the card magnified it to a very great extent. With this object in view, this machine is provided with a mechanism which causes the pen to move many hundred times more than the actual error that. may exist in the gears.
Mould the gears be perfect, the pen will trace a perfectly true circle; but the slightest error produces a very noticeable deviation fromthe circle at the exact place where the in-accuracy exists.
A New Silencer.
A new form of silencer is shown by the International Silencer Co., Ltd., of 83, Pall Mall. This consists of two tubes resembling the cartalidge cases used in light artillery, which are placed, base to base, and are connected by means of a inetal band.
Inside the chamber farmed by these two oases is a mass of thin flat wire, twisted and matted, through which the exhaust gases percolate before being discharged. It is claimed for this silencer that back-pressure is reduced, as there is no contraction of the aperture through which they have to pass. . This device is sold under the nam.C..-of the Ghost silencer.
Radiator Tube Making.
3. Richards and Sons, Wellesley Read, Graydon, show on Stand No. 317
a machine specially made to their design for manufacturing hexagonal tubes which are used in the construction of honeycomb radiators.
The machine is extremely ingenious, and forms eight complete tubes per second. Eight strips of thin brass ace fed ;nito the machine and are seized by gripperswhich Dull them forward to the veq-uired length, when they are sheared off. A die then descends which presses the strip into the Shape of a letter U. A second die descends, which forms the strip into a complete tube by interlocking the edges. An automatic device then carries the tube -into a position where two hexagonal punches are formd into the ends of it, and thus extend it to the shape which is necessary for it to form part of a honeycomb radiator. This machine is to be seen in operation, and should be extremely interesting to those concerned with automatic machinery.
A Brace for Facilitatino Wheel Changes.
On Stand No. 314, Tuck and Blackmore, Ltd., of Coventry, exhibit their Squirrel wheel brace, which is intended to facilitate the operation of removing detachable wheels, and, at the same time, to prevent the lass of nuts and keep them from dropping into the grit and dirt of the road, The brace consists of a tube which is hexagonal an the inside, and is of ,..tsufRelent, length to hold the full nuffilier of snits used in securing the wheel. A detachable cranked handle is fitted to this tube, so that rapid rotary motion can he imparted to the nuts.
The main feature of the invention is that, awing to the tube being of considerable length, the nuts can be re
Moved one alter another, each one passing up the tube, so that, when they are all removed from the wheel, they are contained within the tube. A spiral spring is provided which exerts a slight pressure on the nuts, forcing them outwards. At the mouth of the tube there is a pawl device, which prevents the nuts from falling out or being ndalied
out by the spring. When the wheel has to be replaced, all that is necessary is to bring the tube towards the protruding end of the bolt, and the nut can then be immediately engaged on the thread of the 'bolt by turning the cranked handle. The force of screwing The nut on to the bolt is sufficient to overcome the detaining effect of the pawl. By this means the operator can replace the huts on the bolts rapidly by passing from one to another. The cranked handle is made detachable from the tube, so that the device occupies a very small space in the toolbox.
Heating the Fuel.
E. T. White and Co., Ltd., 1, Albemarle Street, London, W., display on Stand No. 294 the Allolime induction muff. This device provides a water
• heated muff, which is placed between the carburettor and the induction The muff consists of a straight tube through which the mixture passes, and is provided with two flanges, so arranged that an outer tube of rubber can slip over them and be held in place by suitable clips. The space between the metal tube and the rubber forms a convenient chamber for the water which is intended to provide the heat. Suitable iponings are provided to allow the water to enter and leave this chamber by means of bosses on the flanges to which the rubber piping is attaohed.
A Jack for Use with Large Tyres.
Lake and Elliot, Ltd., of Braintree, nave on their stand (No, 425) a very complete set of their appliances for the repair of Ford and other oars. A novelty to be seen on this stand is a jack specially designed for commercial motor vehiele,s where large-size pneumatic iyres are used. This jack is of the ordinary screw type, but has two screws, one working within the other. By this means an extra high lift is obtained, which enables the vehicle to be raised when a pneumatic • tyre of large diaimeter has been deflated.
Tools and Appliances' for the Garage.
. Some very practical garage tools. are ehown by Mann and Egerton, Ltd.,' of
Norwich. These consist of a milling machine, a grinding machine, internal grinding attachment for lathes engine stands, pressure cleaning tanks, and many other well-known garage appliances which have been shown by them at previous exhibitions.
A new departure this year is this .firm's Universal bearing boring machine. This is a very useful and ingenious machine, as it enables the main beetling of any engine to be rebored, afterbaleeteing, while in place in the 'engine. It consists of two long shafts which lie parallel to each other, and are held together. by means of three crossheads, which can slide along the shafts to any required piece. These sTiafts take the place of a-bed in keeping the cross-heads in . correct alignment. A third shaft passei through the crossbeads and acts as a boring bar, while the crossiheads: forin bearings WI' it. By means of a simple arrangement, it is possible to bore connecting rods quickly and with great accuracy. The machine is portable, and is hand operated.
Anethet novelty introduced by this company is a small truck especially designed for carrying beeteries and those parts of tam whicelz .3t.1 too heavy to
C30 handle easily. Being only 12 ins. wide, it can be used with convenience in any ordinary garage. . This company also show a new departure in a 'magneto armature tester. This instrument is designed ilDe testingthe coil winding of magneto armatures for breakdewns. It consists of a supper'. bar ;carrying a trembler apparatus, and a high-tension spark gap wired in conjunction with separate' condensers and an anuneter.
The armature to be tested is placed in the vertical position between the base segment and the adjusting arm, with contact-breaker screw at bottom. The terminals are coupled to a battery using 4 to 6 volts, and the trembler adjusted to within lie in, of the cheek of the armature.
If the winding he perfect., a good spark e'=e in, long will jump the spark gap, and the ammeter will register about 2 amps. A weak spark at the gap ehows a fault in the high-tension winding or slipping. High ammeter reading indicates a burnt-out primary winding; intermittent sparking and high ammeter reading acquaint the observer of a faulty condenser.