Utility Motors at the Brewers' Exhibition.
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Several makers . of commercial vehicles are represented at the 28th Annual Brewers' Exhibition, now being held at the Agricultural Hall, Islington. In all ca.e the vehicles are of the makers' standard design, although, in one or two cases, a few Small departures have been made in detail. Platforms with high sides, or iron stanchions and retaining chains, are general, and the floors are made extra strong to withstand the hard wear incurred by the iron-hooped chimes on the ends of the beer barrels.
WILLIAM ALLCHIN, LIMITED, Globe Works, Northampton, shows a standard 5-ton steam wagon, as supplied to the Northampton Brewery Company, Limited. The boiler is of the locomotive type, with a heating surface of 86 square feet, whilst the grate has an area of 3 square feet. The exhaust steam from the engine passes through a feed-water heater, and the twct fuel bunkers have space for 8 cwt. of coke. The boiler is fed by a road pump, driven from the crankshaft, and a steam donkey pump is also fitted as an alternative. The engine is of the compound-horizontal type, with cylinders 41 inches and 71 inches in diameter, by 6 inches piston stroke. Link-motion, of the ordinary pattern, is employed, and an auxiliary steam valve, operated by the driver's foot, admits high-pressure steam into both of the cylinders when starting the lorry on soft ground, or up a hill. The crankshaft has four bearings, and the engine speed is, normally, 450 revolutions per minute. The first brake is of the screw-down type, and the brake
blocks, which act on the back wheels, are large, whilst it will hold the lorry on a gradient of in io. The second brake, as required by law, is by reversing the engine. The steering pins are case-hardened and ground, and the details of the steering gear are strong and well proportioned. The platform has high sides, and the available useful area is 73 square feet.
The most noteworthy body of any vehicle at the Exhibition is undoubtedly the SPIKER delivery van, supplied to Messrs. Worthington, the well-known brewers, by the BRITISH AUTOMOBILE COMMERCIAL SYNDICATE, LIMITED, Of 97 and 98, Long Acre, London, W.C. The van body represents a beer bottle, on a huge scale, lying horizontally on the framework of the chassis, the sides bearing the Brewery Company's label. The driver sits in a " cab " formed by the "shoulder" of the bottle, whilst the extreme end, usually occupied by the cork, is utilised to hold a large acetylene headlamp. The bottom of the bottle opens, and the interior is fitted with one or two shelves. The vehicle will shortly go on tour through the provinces as an advertisement. The engine has four vertical cylinders, cast in pairs, each having a bore of Ito mm. and a piston stroke of 120 mm., and, when running at L000 revolutions per minute, it develops about 2oh.p. The valves are mechanically operated by two camshafts. The gear-box has three speeds, with a reverse, controlled by one lever, and all the bearings are of extra length. The final drive is by a cardan shaft to the differential gear on the back axle.
The FODEN wagon shows the usual excellence of design and finish, for so long associated with wagons built at Elworth Works, Sandbach, and the example staged is a repeat order for J. Shipstone and Sons, Limited, Brewers, New Basford, Nottingham. This company took delivery of its first lorry over two-and-a-half years ago, and the lorry now on exhibition is the tangible result of the consistent good work achieved by its fore-runner. The boiler is the standard locomotive type, using coke or coal, and the compound engine is Fitted with a patented form of valve, which allows of both cylinders using high-pressure steam, if necessary, for starting up the wagon. It is interesting to note that this multiplying valve was invented by Mr. Foden 23 years ago, and was employed upon all compound traction engines made by the company. The two cylinders have bores of 4 inches and 61 inches, with a piston stroke of 7: inches; the h.p. is about 40, with a boiler pressure of zoolb. on the square inch. The finish of all parts is of the highest class, and working joints are hardened and ground. A new feature, now being shown for the first time, is found in a trailer brake attachment ";this is operated by a small
vertical hand-wheel, just beside the driver. The hand-wheel is connected to a screw which causes a steel cable to pull the trailer brake-blocks up against the wheel tires. The whole arrangement is powerful, and of undoubted utility. Axles are ncw manufactured from nickel-steel ; the back one is 41 inches in diameter, whilst the front one is 31 inches by 21 inches. The driving chain is supplied by Hans Renold, and has a pitch of zi inches, there being three side plates. The locking device, which is now the standard pattern, was shown, for the first time, at the Royal Agricultural Show, held this year at Derby. The arrangement consists of a star-wheel, attached to the right-hand end of the live back axle, and this has a series of holes, registering with others in the hub of the back wheel, which runs on the differential sleeve. A steel pin can be inserted when required.
MR. JOHN GOODE, Alderman's House, Bishopsgate Street Without, E.C., is showing a 3-ton Latil motor lorry and an 8-ton steam tractor. The peculiarity of the former system is that the whole of the machinery is carried above the front axle, and the engine drives the front wheels. The load on the platform is, therefore, pulled, not pushed, as in a vehicle propelled by the back wheels. The i4h.p. engine is placed under the right-hand front corner of the bonnet. The crankshaft is placed transversely, relatively to the frame, and one end of it carries the female portion of the internally-coned leather-covered clutch. A pinion, on the left-hand end of the short clutch shaft, drives the gears in the gear-box ; this has three speeds forward and a reverse. The gear-box is placed near the left-hand side member of the frame, and a transverse driving shaft carries a pinion which gears with a driving ring on the cage of the differential; this differential is on a shaft that lies above, and parallel with, the front axle. The final drive is from the above-mentioned differential shaft, by pinions and internally-toothed gear rings on the front wheels. This is accomplished by the introduction of hard steel balls, slotted at 18o degrees. The balls are inserted between the adjacent ends of the differential shaft and the short pinion shaft, projections on the two shafts giving the necessary universal motion for transmission and steering. Each pinion shaft is carried in a bearing provided in the casing bolted to the wheel, and covering the toothed ring. The second exhibit is a LOMAX steam tractor, which departs notably from ordinary machines : our illustration (page 152) clearly depicts its general construction. The boiler is of the vertical type, and is fed with coke through a central shoot.
The two water tanks, one of which is placed beneath the driver's seat and the other beneath the main frame, carry enough water for a run of zo
The engine is of the inclined horizontal pattern ; it is of the simple type, and has two cylinders 6i inches in the bore by 7 inches piston stroke. The front wheels are rotated by two Hans Renold chains, driven from a transverse differential shaft, carried at the rearward end of the tractor; the centres of this csoss-shaft and the driving wheels are
in the same horizontal plane. The engine drives, by gearing, the differential shaft, and only one speed is employed'. The machine staged at the Agricultural Hall has been sold to Groves and Whitnall, Limited, Brewers, Salford. It is easily attached to any ordinary lorry, by removing the fore-carriage and dropping the king-pin into a special bracket on the end of the tractor.
MANN'S PATENT STEAM CART AND WAGON COMPANY, LIMITED, Pepper Road Works, Hunslet, Leeds, shows one of its standard 5-ton steam wagons built to the order of W. M. Hancock and Company, Limited, The Brewery, Cardiff. This vehicle makes the third repeat order for these same buyers, the first machine having been delivered in March, 1ts03. The engine has cylinders 41 inches and 7 inches in hors!, by 7 inches in the piston stroke, and, when running at 300 revolutions per minute, with a boiler pressure of i8o1b. on the square inch, gives out 3oh.p. The boiler is of the locomotive pattern, and the fusible plug is placed at the top of the tire-box crown, which is the highest internal portion of the boiler, and so eliminates any possibility of the tubes becoming scorched. In the latest type (page 157), instead of the smoke-box door's protruding forward between the bunkers, RS it did in the former design, it is hidden by the steel sheet forming the front of the bunkers, which is carried round the front end of the boiler, making a very neat arrangement. The front shield has a large door, which can be opened to get at the smoke-box door. The boiler is fed by a pump,. driven from the crankshaft, and an injector is also carried as a stand-by. Two speeds are fitted, and the gearing and revolving parts of the engine move in an oil-tight engine bed. The whole machine is stout and workmanlike.
MESSRS. MOSS AND WOODD, Oaklands Road, Cricklewood, show an " Orion " chassis, fitted with a platform having removable sides. The engine has two horizontal cylinders, which are opposed, and gives out about 24h.p. A new feature is the adoption
of vertical valves, operated by a camshaft, driven from the crankshaft by means of skew gearing. Another alteration in the design is that two vertical radiators are carried near the centre of the chassis, and each one is connected to a separate cylinder. The ignition is by an Eisemann magneto, or accumulators and a coil. The gear-box has four speeds and a reverse, all of the sliding type; the final transmission is by Hans Renold roller chains. The vehicle is designed to carry three tons, and is excellently suited for hard work.
THE ST. PANCRAS IRON WORK COMPANY, LIMITED, 171, Pancras Road, London, N.W., stages a standard 5-ton steam lorry, with a platform specially constructed for brewers' use. The vehicle has been built to the order of the East Lancashire and Oldham Carrying Company, Limited, and forms the first of a new pattern, inasmuch as the back and front wheels both have identically the same width, of track. The boiler is constructed of mild steel of the highest quality ; the working pressure is 2201b. on the square inch, and it is tested to 35o1b. on the square inch. The water is supplied by a feed pump, driven from the crankshaft at a reduced speed, and a Gresham and Craven injector is also fitted. The engine is compounded, and. the cylinders are 4i inches and 7 inches in the bore, whilst the piston stroke is 6 inches. A new type of valve is used. to supply both valve chambers with high-pressure steam when this is necessary. Two speed ratios are provided, but the lower one is seldom used, as the engine is soi.h.p. Recently, one of these wagons ran up West Hill, Highgate, which the company regularly uses for tests, with a load of three: tons up, and with the top speed in gear. At ;Ile bottom of the hill the steam pressure was 1951b. on the square inch, and, when the top was reached, the boiler was " blowing off" at 22o1b. on the square inch. This proves the excellent steaming properties of the boiler. All the connecting rods and details of the link motion are drop forged in steel dies, and all bearings are of a specially hard phosphor-bronze.