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KARRIER PROGRESS.

29th June 1920, Page 34
29th June 1920
Page 34
Page 35
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Page 34, 29th June 1920 — KARRIER PROGRESS.
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Pariculars of the New Karrier Models and a Description of the Works where they are Produced.

ANY MANUFACTURERS have slogans, and

-that of Karrier Motors, Ltd., is "Make the

lcest. There is always a market for quality," and in this epigram is summed tiircthe whole policy of the company.

The .Karrier works were founded about 13 years ago by Messrs. Clayton. The first workshop employed 35 persons, and the production of lorries for the second year of working amounted to a total of 15. This output was increased to 46. in the third year, and now the company employ over 1,200 men. As showing the quality of the material and workmanship put into vehicles of Karrier make since the very beginning, lorries manufactured immediately after the founding of the works are still running, and during a visit which we paid recently to the Karrier works we noticed a shop vanwhich has been running ever since the 'inauguration of the cement.

The Karrier subsidy model was approved by the War Office not long before the outbreak of the war, and, as it so happened, the firstsubsidy vehicles were produced and ready for service just as the war broke out. Over four years of arduous work on the battlefields of Europe have proved that the Karrier lorry is one of the finest produced-. In this connection the Anglo-American Oil Co. etate that during the war the Karrier vehicles gave them the least • trouble and did the most work. Incidentally, this company are still taking deliveries from large orders. Now that so many cheap fdreign machines are on the market, machines in which almost everything has been sa.erificed to price, we must emphasize that the Karrier is a really solid workmanlike British production deigned primarily for strength and cheapness of maintenance:, the cost of production being a secondary consideration.

The new Karrier models incorporate all those features which proved satisfactory on the subsidy chassis, and any weak points which showed themselves' under war !conditioni . have been eliminated, but there have been no vital changes in the design, except as regards the engines and frames. The old models included the well-known subsidy type, a three-tonner with worm gear final drive, and a fivetanner with chain drive. The three models now produeed.all incorporate a, bevel and spur double reduction gear. It is not surprising to find that the chain drive has been dispensed with on the five-tonner, but it is somewhat strange to find that the worm drive on the three-tonner has also been eliminated.

The company are also overhauling and, in fact, completely renovating a large number of ex-W..D. Karrier chassis, and we were interested to learn that on these vehicles not 1 per cent. of the gears, either in the gearbox or final drive, have to be replaced, and as regards these vehicles on service during the war we learned that only eight gear wheels were supplied by the company, excluding those for the engine; such a figure is remarkable when we remember that there were 2,000 Karrier vehicles employed on war service. -Apropos of the renovation of all vehicles, it may interest some of our readers to know that the. company can supply any part from stock for any of the vehicles, produced by them during the last 12 years. To probeed with a more detailed description of the latest Karrier models], it will be sufficient to describe one model and to point out where the others differ. The main differences between the model$, lie merely in the strength of construction and in the final gear ratio. In the five-tonner the latter is 9_52 to 1, and in the char-a-banes model 6.63 to 1. The same size and design of engine is employed in each. chassis.. The char-a-banes is also provided with such minor alterations as, plated fittings to the steering column arid controls, and domed m.udguards. The company have also designed for the char-a-banes chassis a 'very striking radiator of the cast header a,ntt-bottorn tank type with a core of straight gilled tubes. One of the points .about this radiator is that the whole of the bolts used for the top portion are concealed inside the tank iind this has a remos able plate at the back in order that the bolts can be tightened As regards the rear 'axle construction, this is practically the same on all the chassis except that in the five ton model heavier journals are provided, and a tie rod passed underneath.

The company have been experimenting for some years with an engine of their own design and manu

facture. This engine has . proved so ;:satisfaetory during these tests that it will now be incorporated in. all their chassis. The bore and stroke are 5 his. and 6 ins. respectively. The cylinders are cast in pairs, and a particular point of interest about them is that . the branch connections for the cooling water and mixture have been done away with as far as possible by incorporating pa.ssages in the castings themselves. For instance, the water lead, from the pump passes between the two pairs of cylinders, and.is connected by double Vee, rubloor joints to bosses on each pair. of cylindevs. The inlet connection, which, incidentally, is water jacketed, divides at the top and is held by two studs to the inlet orifice face on each pair of cylinders. The crankshaft is of the three'hearing type, and the journals are 2 ins. diameter, so that there is practically no crankshaft. whip or vibration.' Silent chain drive is employed for the timing gears. The chaiinis unusually wide arid is, in fact, 50 per cent, wider than the dimension recommended by the chain makers. The magneto, water pump and oil pump are all situated at the near side of the engine in very accessible positions, the magneto being driven direct from the timing gears through the medium of a flexible joint. The water pump and oil pump, however, are 4driven by spur gearing from the camshaft, and may . be withdrawn as a unit for inspection or repair. The lubricant from the pump is fed into troughs, the big and little ends and pistons being lubricated by oil which is thrown by dippers on the big ends. The. oil pump is of the two pinion gear type, and the oil passes through a large filter contained in the near side rear crankcase arm. This filter can be withdrawn for cleaning without draining the oil from the sump. In the centre of the crankcase, between it and the sump, is a basket filter through which all the lubricant has to drain before it returns to the: stump. The valves and their tappets are totally enclosed, partially by the cylinder castings and 'partially by two plates. The tappets are adjustable, and are provided with' rollers which bear on the cams. Each pair of tappets is held down by a dog fixed by one stud. Tho crankshaft bearings are, white metal, and a double thrust ball bearing isprovided at the front end. No governor is provided, as the company. have found that, when fitted, these are seldom used, as it is sometimes necessary to accelerate to over the normal. speed in an emergency. Two large round inspection plates give access to the big ends, and on one of these plates is a handy oil filler with a spring Veld cap. The correct supply of oil'is indicated by an overflow in the sump.

Over each journal bearing is cast a large oil pocket in Which oil thrown up by the big end dippers is collected. Three large diameter set screws 'are positioned over these oil pockets, and by removing these screws the pockets earl be cleaned out. The fan bracket is a malleable iron casting bolted to the top of the timing gearcase. The four-hladed cast aluminium fan is mounted on an eccentric spindle, which permits of adjustment of the Whittle belt.

. The engine is mounted in the chassis at three points, at the fi•ont it is dung from a pressed steel cross-member by a steel stamping bolted to the top half of the crankcase.

The new frames are constructed of quarter inch material, and are built up complete with pressed, channel section side members and a gearbox cradle Consisting of two dropped cross members, by the frame specialists who make them for the company. The maximum depth of the frame Side members is 8 ins. The top of each tapers dawn to the dumb iron, and the bottom up to the rear end.

The rear axle consists of a banjo stamping bored right through from each end. The ring of the banjo is disposed horizontally, and in it is suspended the bevel and spur double reduction gear and differential. The lower portion of the easing forms an oil bump: This is provided with an oil filler plug which also acts as an oil level indicator. The top half of the back axle casing is made in two sections, the upper of which can be lifted off for inspection or replacement of the gear. The driving shafts carry no weight, the axle being of the full floating type, and when required the driving shafts can be removed, and the whole of the rear axle gearing lifted clear of the chassis without removing the rear wheels.

Belted to the double reduction gear easing is a tubular ini9Jiher, the front end of which is spherically shaped and floats ie a similarly shaped socket in a stout cro s s member. The tubular member thus acts ite a combined torque and radius member, the spherical end of which contains a universal joint of the ordinary type. The four-speed-and-reverse gearbox is situated amidships on the special hangers already mentioned in connection with the frame.

The drive from the engine is taken through al leather covered cone clutch totally enclosed, and thence through two universal joints of the flexible disc type to the gearbox.

There is a powerful foot brake of the ex■ernal contracting type positioned behind the gearbox, adjustment for this is provided. by 'a hand operated hut. The hand brake operates on drums bolted to the rear wheels, but the shoe,ssin this case are of the internal expanding type

A pg.rtieidar point' about the new chassis is that splined shafts are used throughout in preference to tapers and keys. . In fact, we were informed that only two keys are employed in the whole chassis, these beingin the engine. A,nother point is that the number 7}f lubricators has been reduced considerably. The old Karrier 'chassis were renowned for the large number of lubricare,rs incorporated, but it has been found that drivers are apt to neglect these, and now, as far asrassible, points where wear occurs are lubricated from the main units.

The liar. ries works, which are . 'conveniently situated not far from the Centre of the town, have recently been enlarged considerably, and at the time of our visit the new shops, though taken over, had

The fine 5 in. by.45 in. engine w in the Karrier works. Silent • timing not been completely finished. For instance, a fine electrical engine-testing plant is being laid down, but is not yet in operation. The shops are large, airy, well lighted and equipped with the most modern machinery. In the machine shop the drilling machines, capstan lathes-, etc., are arranged in sections, apart from two separate sections devoted to all the operations on crankcases, connecting rods and cylinder boring. We were surprised to note the immense numbers of aluminium crankcase castings which were awaiting machining. Amongst ths tools we noted some Barnes horizon

tal drilling machines. These, we were informed, relieve the capstans of a lot of work by turning it into drilling machine jobs. In few works which we jigs. Practically inspected have we found employed so many Practically every part is machined to jig, and thus there is very little liability for errors to occur. The cylinders are bored, two pairs at a, time, on a, four spindle Alexander machine. Vertical mills are employed for tap and bottom faces, and horizontal mills for side faces.

The axle banjos, which are solid stampings, are bored right through from each end. As is to be expected where chassis employing so many splined shafts are manufactured, much use is made of breaching machines ; 'in fact, each hole in every lever employed, on the •v shicle is broached. The largest broach is mini:Cloyed for the rear axle brackets carrying the brake shoes, and this is about 4 ins. in diameter. Incidentally, all the hich has been designed and is employed for the broaches, t o el s, built is employed for the broaches, t o el s, built i g s, • etc., em gears. ployed in the works are made by the company in their own tool room. For gear cutting the principal machines employed are Sunderland gear planers, which have proved very satisfactory. There is also a Robey. Smith bevel planer.

In the smithy we found seven forges in operation but some of these will shortly be done away with, as stampings are now employed to a great extent in lieu of forgings. The forges are blown by power operated Rea'sblowers. There is a 15 cwt. airdriven hammer and a Blacker automatic striker.

Our next visit was to the hardening shop. Here only the small bushes, etc., are case hardened. All the large parts, gear shafts, etc., are oil hardened.. Most of them are made of Keyser Ellison 805 steel. Owing to the large number of parts dealt with, the oil is liable to become very hot, and if this was permitted it would upset the hardening process, a special radiator and pump device is, however, employed for cooling the oil. After treatment the parts are sand-blasted, which process removes all the scale and dirt. Gas furnaces are employed for beating the parts, and a movable pyrometer is utilized for testing the temperatures of the different furnaces. Two welding plants are installed, one an electric and onedig, elainoxy-acetyIene, but most of the work is spot 1,,,

After every operation each part is inspected, and there is a final inspection by one man. For hardness testing a Derihon Brinell machine is used. All axles and gearboxes are run in with emery and oil for nine hours in order to eliminate noise. To prevent wear of the bearings during this processa special stock of..balI bearings is kept, and new bearings are fitted into position after the running in is completed. The assembly shop is arranged on the separate unit system, each man being employed on a. certain unit so that he becomes expert in the work required on that unit.

In the erecting shop erection is proceeded with in one direction, starting with the frame. Hand operated travellingcranes run right round the shop, and assist in. the placing into position of the heavier units. In this shop much use is made af pneumatic hand drills. These take drills up to in. diameter. Electric drills, which were previously employed, will not do this, as the load is too great. The power is obtained from the Corporation electric supply, about 500 h.p. being consumed.

The works %,re heated on one side by a low pressure, and on the other by a high pressure boiler. For testing chassis sand boxes weighing one ton ate employed, and the chassis are run to a special loading bay for the purpose. Each three ton chassis.is tested with a four ton dead load.

An interesting one-man hood for chars-a-banes is being developed by the company. In this hood the runners fold over sideways into a, housing at the off side of the vehicle. This, of course, necessitates the use of doers on the near side only-. A particular . point about this hood is that there is no overhang whatever at the end of the vehicle, which is of particular interest, in view of the fact that a Bradford by-law will not permit more than 7 ft. 6 ins. overhang from. the centre of the rear axle, and also when the hood is folded down at the rear of a char-a-banes the driver cannot see well when backing. It is unnecessary tor disturb the passengers when either opening or closing the hood, whereas in certain other types the passengers have to diSmount. We hope to, give furtherdetails, of this interesting hoed shortly._

At one part of the-works we found a man engaged in tapping castings with a light hammer in order to find blow holes and soft spots. This method, providing the man is an expert at the work, saves considerable loss of money and labour which might otherwise be caused by partially machining the castings before finding out these faults. At another part of the works we found installed a Hollings and Guest hydraulic tyre press.

Considerable space is devoted to a fine woodworking shop and trimming department, as the company not only produce the chassis but; also bodies of all descriptions for fitting to them. As regards welfare work, a very fully equipped and beautifully kept first-aid room is installed, with a competent man in charge, and for the welfare of the inner man the company have fitted up a capacious canteen, where good meals, consisting of meat, two vegetables, and a sweet, can be obtained for is. 2d.

Huddersfield, like all other towns, being short of housing accommodation, the company are doing what they can to alleviate the situation so far as their workpeoples are concerned. They already have a hostel for 50 men, and this is now being extended to accommodate at least 100.

In their sales policy the company are making special previsions which should appeal to all their agents. They are whole-hearted believers in the wholesale business, and their terms to agents are of a very generous nature and not on the skiing scale system. In those districts where Sales are small, bigger territory is given in order to equalize matters, thus proving that the company are in sympathy with the agents in every way. Their example might well be followed by other companies, particularly now that the rush for chassis is diminishing. We must not conclude without expressing our appreciation of the courteous treatment which we received from all the members of the staff with whom we came into contact.

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Locations: Bradford, Sunderland

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