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Accesson, Premiere
Page 88
Page 89
Page 90
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-F,QUIPMENT for improving driver and passenger comfort and products designed to aid the bodybuilder in his efforts to reduce vehicle weight are displayed on the accessories and components stands of the Commercial Motor Show. Improvement of basic designs is evident from the displays of manufacturers in the electrical field, whilst others introduce new products notable for ease of installation and maintenance.
S. Smith and Sons (England), Ltd., Cricklewood Works, London. N.W.2, gives prominence on Stand 231 0 to its new heating and ventilating equipment for coaches. This falls into two types: heaters that derive heat from the hot water in the cooling system, and those incorporating oil burners. Combustion heaters can also be used for supplementing radiator-water types.
Six of the first classification may be inspected, including the type CHS.680 ventilating blower, the type CHS.880, which can also be used for demisting and defrosting, and a large-capacity unit designed for easy mounting on longitudinal distribution ducts. Smith's combustion heaters have an output of approximately 50,000 B.Th.U.s per hour•and an air flow of about 200 cubic ft. per minute against 0.3-in, water-gauge resistance.
A new heater for fitting in smaller types of vehicle is shown by Tudor Accessories, Ltd., Silverdale Road, Hayes, Middx, on Stand 267 L. Plates attached to the radiator collect heat, and a fan directs warm air through an outlet unit, which measures 5i ins. by 4h ins, Available in 6-volt and 12-volt versions, the Tudor heater costs £5 18s. 6d.
Delaney Gallay, Ltd., Edgware Road, London, N.W.2, shows, on Stand 217 0, heating and demisting equipment of the tlaermo-syphon type, one model of which
D30 is combined with an ozone air-conditioner. The company also produces a high-output unit that is not dependent upon the engine coolant.
Thomas Ash and Co., Ltd., 19, Rea Street South, Birmingham, 5, displays an ambulance heater on Stand 375 M. It consists of a steel casing housing a hotwater battery and a fan. The air intake may be connected by a duct to an intake on the roof. A louvred grille is fitted in front of the fan. The output is 130 cubic ft. per minute. The company also shows its new Quietus exhaust silencer.
The Cosmic heater is shown by Weathershields, Ltd., Bishop Street, Birmingham, 5 (Stand 361 JK). Two plates arc fixed to the radiator of the vehicle and a hose leads from them to a distribution box, which may be mounted either on the scuttle or the toe board. Provision for windscreen demisting can be made. The provisional price of the Cosmic is £4 5s.
A number of recent additions to the range of the Key-Leather Co., Ltd., 5, Urswick Road, London, E.9, is seen on Stand 369 LM. The latest K-L demister and defroster units have a greater heating and air capacity than former types, whilst compact dimensions are retained. Equipment is made for installation in coaches, ambulances and individual cabs.
A radiator blind that can be opened and closed from the cab by means of a cable and spring-loaded return control is introduced by the concern. This fitting need not be removed in warm weather, as it
does not interfere with the air flow in its inoperative position. It is made in various sizes for different vehicles and is supplied with a metal cover to protect it when not in use.
Designed to meet the demand for an economical half-drop window with rounded corners, the Baron half-drop window shown on Stand 355 HM by the Rawlings Manufacturing Co., Ltd., 106-108, Bedford Hill, London, S.W.12, has a control unit that works on a stainless-steel bar and that may be removed without detaching the window itself. Whip and rattle are prevented by the tie between fixed and moving glasses.
A new Widney Ace half-drop window, known as the Hylevel, is displayed by Hallam, Sleigh and Cheston, Ltd., Widney Works, Birmingham, 4, on Stand 319 F. There is no metal strip along the bottom of the sliding glass plate, so that passengers' vision is unobstructed. This exhibitor also has a system for reclining seats that saves space and may easily be incorporated in normal seat frames.
Wcathershields, Ltd., exhibits a glazed coach-roof ventilator known as the Ventlite and a new design of flush-fitting sliding door. Messrs. Wilfrid Overton, Marsh Street, Walsall, Staffs, also introduce a flush-fitting door on •Stand 413 P.
Constant-force Member The Levenex compensator, a new constant-force member for balancing drop windows in vehicles, which has been developed after much research by Beckett, Laycock and Watkinson, Ltd., Acton Lane, London, N.W.I0, is shown on Stand 277 O. This spring device is small and compact and weighs less than 1 lb.
A new sunk handle is also exhibited by the concern. It is suitable for leftand right-hand fitting and has a return-spring mechanism for the handle. Independent stops are provided so that when the handle is released it remains in styled alignment with the dish.
Competitively priced opening door gear that is simple to install and efficient in operation is shown by Wilmot Breeden, Ltd., Amington Road. Birmingham, 25, on Stand 248 A. The entire mechanism is supplied mounted on a plate measuring 3 ft. by 9 ins., and having a height of 8 ins.
When a control button is messed, a solenoid switch is energized and the reversible motor is started. This drives a hydraulic pump, capable of delivering 1 g.p.m. at 100 lb. per sq. in. The fluid is fed to the appropriate side of a jack which actuates the door-operating linkage, A micro-switch cuts out the motor when the doors have reached their extreme position. Closing pressure in the door is limited by a by-pass in the jack, which also allows the doors to be manually operated in the event of mochanical failure.
221-1b. Seat
Tested after two years' service with the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Co„ Ltd., the Dapta lightweight bus seat is exhibited by Accles and Pollock, Ltd., Oldbury, Birmingham, on Stand 423 R. The model made for 7-ft. 6-in.-wide vehicles has a seat width of 2 ft. 10 ins. and weighs 22i lb. fully trimmed. The model produced for full-width buses has a 3-ft.-wide scat and weighs 25 lb.
The company is also making a lightweight coach seat designed for a semihammock type of squab. The weight in finished trim is 37i lb., the frame itself being only Ii lb. Servais Silencers, Ltd., Ashford Road, London, N.W.2, has entered the seat market, and on Stand 257 AB exhibits its Cintique products, which embody platforms of horizontal tension springs suspended at four points.
A driver's light-alloy scat that weighs 16 lb. is displayed by A. W. Chapman, Ltd., Ranelagh Gardens, London, S.W.6, on Stand 284 CD. In addition to vertical and horizontal adjustment, the squab can be moved to any of three positions and the seat cushion reversed to suit the angle of the squab. The company also introduces a low-built seat for installation in small coaches.
Bodybuilders specializing in lightweight construction should find great interest in the new body fittings made of light alloy shown by John Perks and Son (Forgings), Ltd., Lye, Stourbridge, on Stand 215 0. These include corner brackets, hinges, eyes and hooks, fastening lugs and handles. Typical prices per dozen are as follows: Double rope hooks, 10s. 4d.; barrelfinished cab handles, 10s. 9d.; and strap staples, 3s. 8d. New ILM.V. coach radio and passengeraddress equipment is displayed by S. Smith and Sons (Radiomobile), Ltd., Cricklewood Works, London, N.W.2, on Stand 264 B. The great advantage of these products is that a coach operator can have radio and passenger-address equipment installed separately or together. Passengeraddress equipment, with a microphone in the driving compartment and loudspeakers in the saloon, has obvious potentialities for one man operated buses.
The range of items comprises a microphone for passenger address, a radiocontrol unit, a master-switch unit or a combined masterand microphone-switch unit, an amplifier and the loudspeakers. The maker states that the ideal method of presenting radio programmes is by means of " personal radio," whereby loudspeakers are built in the headrolls of the seats.
Easy Servicing
Attention may easily be given to the new direction indicator made by TricoFolberth, Ltd., Great West Road, Brentford, Middx. (Stand 281 CD), because of the split die-cast light-alloy case. It is divided lengthwise and one section may be quickly removed to give access to the working parts.
Two Two new lamps of different type appear on Stand 387 N (James Neale and Sons, Ltd., Graham Street, Birmingham), The first was produced in response for calls for better rear lighting and is known as the Raydyot Beacon tail lamp. It has a red-ribbed lens of 41-in. diameter and contains two independently wired 6-watt bulbs. A combined stop and tail lamp of similar appearance has no side window and is fitted with a 6-watt and a 12-watt bulb.
The second lamp is called the Planet trunnion utility light and is for mounting on breakdown lorries, ambulances, etc. The diameter of the lens is 7 ins., and that of the base 4 ins. A handle is attached to the back for manipulation.
A coach lamp fitted with one bulb but providing two beams which may be switched on or off independently is displayed by Wilmot Breeden, Ltd. There are two separate lenses, each with its own shutter. When fitted to a rack above a twin seat, each person is provided with his own light. The bulb is automatically switched of should both . persons close their resPective shutters.
Rubber Rear Lamps
Two new rubber rear lamps are shown by Flexible Lamps, Ltd., 216, High Street, Epping, Essex, on Stand 238..A. They are similar in appearance, but the Model 2 has a single lamp holder and the Model 15 two. Both have white interiors and ruby warning lights which are visible from both sides of the vehicle. Diakon reflectors, which are 3 ins, in diameter and mounted in rubber, are also introduced.
A new foglarnp for upright or pendant mounting on commercial vehicles and embodying a pre-focused bulb has been produced by Joseph Lucas, Ltd., 46, Park Street, London, W.1 (Stand 234 0). This concern also shows its latest distributor units. C.A.V., Ltd., Warple Way, London, W.3, displays its new type WT 717 Wind Tone horn on Stand 232 0.
One range of batteries shown by Oldham and Son, Ltd., Denton, Manchester, on Stand 296 DM, features the new visual electrolyte-level indicator. Especially designed for passenger vehicles where batteries are carried pannier-wise, this device enables an operative quickly and accurately to check acid levels.
D32 Each cell has two oblique openings, one for topping-up, the other being the indicator. This consists of a tube with a transparent conical portion at the inner end and a vision cap at the top. The apex of the cone lies at the proper electrolyte level. When the acid level is so low as to be beneath the cone, no image is visible in the cap. As liquid is poured in, two triangles appear diametrically opposite each other and they increase in size. When their apexes meet at the centre, it is an indication that the right level has been reached. Should further liquid be added, the triangular images broaden and the whole visual area of the indicator becomes obscured.
Park Bros., Ltd., Brunswick Works, Canterbury Street, Blackburn, introduces the Superelad range of heavy-duty batteries on Stand 370 LM. The active material of the positive plate is held in perforated ebonite tubes so that it cannot be shed during severe use. A type is made for every commercial vehicle and a four-year guarantee is given.
To meet the need of operators of articulated vehicles for a power winch, Thompson Bros. (Engineers), Ltd., Gilmore Road, London, S.E.13, has produced a 4-ton 'screw-brake-type winch that incorporates a J.A.P. It h.p. air-cooled engine. It can be seen on Stand 416 PQ. The drive from the engine to the winch gear is taken through Rertolds clutch and chain mechanism. The winch may be manually operated if desired.
The base of the winch measures 2 ft. 6 ins. by 2 ft. 11 ins., and the unit weighs 71 cwt. The rope drum has a capacity of 200 ft. of I-in.-diameter steel cable and the ratio of the revolutions of the engine sprocket to those of the drum is 488 to 1. At an engine speed of 1,600 np.m., the speed of the rope is 8 ft. per minute.
(To be concluded.)