The British Industries Fair
Page 54
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Castle Bromwich Section a Realistic Exhibition of Recent Engineering Progress. Considerable Transport Interest at Olympia and the White City
rr HAT the ramifications of the com mercial-vehicle industry have become so large as to invade almost every sphere of industrial activity is proved by an inspection of the exhibits in the engineering section of the B.I.F. at Castle Bromwich. On innumerable stands components of private cars and passenger, freight and agricultural vehicles are to he found, -whilst garage maintenance equipment and so forth is to be seen almost everywhere.
The section is concerned purely with engineering, in the strict interpretation of the word, accerdingly one finds iron and aluminium castings staged on countless stands, with special machinery on others for producing finished components, such as crankshafts, gears, cylinders, etc., to quote but a few examples.
Even so, there are many accessories, vehicles, power units and components which any operator, large or small, should find greatly interesting.
Light freight vehicles are well represented, the James Cycle Co., Ltd., of Birmingham, showing a range of Samson Harid3rvans and open truck models ; each type costs £103, with spare wheel and all accessories, and the enclosed model provides 70 cubic ft. of space for freight. This vehicle, like the Raleigh van, has three wheels and an air-cooled engine. Both vehicles are steered by a conventional wheel.
Electric Trucks and Vans.
Gordon electric trucks and vans are also exhibited, a load of 10-12 ewt. being provided for with a 60-volt battery, giving a range of action of 85 miles on a single charge.
Although a great many power units, both of the compression-ignition and petrol-operated types, are shown, most of them are for industrial application. Such an exhibit as that of the Villiers Engineering Co., Ltd., of Wolverhampton, is a case in point. Many power plants are shown suitable for various purposes.
Transport engines of the compression-ignition type are represented by the exhibit of Tangyes, Ltd., the famous Birmingham manufacturer of heavy plant. Messrs. Barton Bros., of Nottingham, also evince an interest in oil-engine manufacture, although the main exhibit is largely confined to material and manufactured components. A range of Coventry Climax engines is on view.
Whilst dealing with engines, a few of the component makers may be mentioned. Andrews Crankshaft and Cylinder Co., Ltd., Birmingham, shows a fine selection of cylinders, with centrifugally cast liners and hardened steel liners with alloy pistons to suit, whilst an entirely new process for valve seatings is also on view. These seatings are of the renewable type, inserted in• the cylinder castings and retained by an expanding ring. They are faced on the cone portion with Stellite—a.
.840 material almost unaffected by heat and of an exceptionally tough and hard nature. A fine display of Wellworthy piston rings is seen on this concern's stand.
The electrical side of the motor industry is represented on the Lucas, Klaxon and Clear Hooters stands. Visitors interested in garage equipment should not fail to visit the Tecalemit stand, where flush-fitting lifts are on view, and the concern's latest development—a maintenance, oiling and greasing plant—is installed. A central panel controls various grades of lubricant, which are pumped directly from the original containers to two points, one on each side of the bay, each being completely equipped with its own delivery hose and adaptors.
A new Aveling-Barford product exhibited for the first time is the Barford Midget petrol-engined roller for light work. This new model weighs 9 cwt. and has a rolling width of 30 ins. The speed is 2 m.p.h. and the petrol consumption per working day -41 pints. The length is 4 ft. 8 ins., the width 2 ft. 11 ins., and the height 3 ft, 6 ins.
For the advantage of the even torque given by the two-stroke engine, this type of power unit has been chosen.
Care has been taken to make all the moving parts accessible, and, although the Midget is of light weight, the construction is robust.
There are only two controls—one for the dutch and the other for the engine —and the drive is by roller chain.
Interest is being aroused by the Eclipse Rota-Robot traffic-signal lamps made by the Cardiff Foundry and Engineering Co., Ltd. In these, rotating lamps afford a definite indication of the period thaA will elapse before each impending change.
There are, of course, fewer exhibits of interest to readers of this paper at
the London sections of the British Industries Fair. Nevertheless, at the White City, among the textiles, various moquettes, fabric and leather-cloth materials are displayed, and other exhibits which appeal to the bodybuilder include rubber cushions, such as the Dunlopillo cellular Latex upholstery fillings, and various wood exhibits— notably those of the London Plywood. and Timber Co., Ltd. Incidentally, the Dunlop Rubber Co., Ltd., is the only concern represented at all three exhibition centres.
At Olympia, Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd., has an imposing stand. Bakelite articles and materials for a variety of purposes, including gearwheels, are found among the similar products of several other concerns on the group of stands devoted to plastic mouldings. The wide range of Ever Ready dry batteries, accumulators and torches and Lissen sparking plugs and accumulators is worth examination.
Useful Tools for Workshops.
James Neill and Co. (Sheffield), Ltd., is exhibiting its pistol-grip and other hack-saws, 4S "slitting, slotting, sawing and scraping" tool, and wellknown hack-saw blades. There is a fine array of Smith's timepieces to be seen, and Henley Tyre and Rubber Co., Ltd., is exhibiting numerous sidelines to its well-known tyres, etc.
At both London exhibitions Merry-, weather fire-fighting equipment is to be seen, the appliances including the concern's Hatfield 165-g.p.m. trailer pumps, the Warspite portable fire pump, a number of Konus Kernik chemical extinguishers, and the latest Xaust Suds portable plant described in our issue dated February 2. Fire protection at London has again been entrusted to Merryweather and Sons, Ltd., Greenwich, London, S.E.10.