ACCESSORY AND COMPONENT IMPROVEMENTS.
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A Résumé of Recently Published' Patents.
In dealing with the patent specifications this week we are concerned with no vital principles no violent upheaval in the design of motor vehicles is foreshado*ed, and no " massed production" enthusiast is 'likely to discover anything in this page to cause him to pause in 'his progress towards " thousands a week."' Ali the .inventions have to do with minor
If is as though all our inventors have tacitly, but unanimously, agreed to proceed on the lines" of that perfection. which was defined by one of the greatmasters, wa do not at the moment recollect his name; as being. " made up of a multitude of trifles." Our budget this week is made up of two spanners, a tyre valve, a spring gaiter, a priming device, a lamp design, a safety oil-level alarm, and an improved method of Cooling the engine. We mention the last-named in its order, because we propose to deal with it first.
The design is one which Will have a special interest for manufacturers of chassis which are intended to be used in climates where the temperature is habitually and for long periods below the freezing point of water. The arrangement is such that all the circulation water drains . from the cylinders and radiator Immediately the engine ceases to run: it is circulated by engine-driven pump, but only, of course, while the'engine is in Motion.. The advantage is that there is no water in the engine cylinders, pipes, or radiator during the night, or at any other time while the car is out of use, and, in the 'event of frost, no risk of those' parts being damaged -arises.. The reservoir for the water is below the' engine, and provision is Made for evading the consequences of frost.
A tank of ample capacity is formed as part of the crankcase, or is secured below that part of the engine. Near one end of it, in a .sump, Is disposed a centrifugal -pump—this type is preferred as being devoid of valves, and therefore, allowing the water to drain back through it—which is engine-driven by any cone
• venient means. The delivery pipefrom the pump communicates to the lower tank of the radiator, and water, when the engine is' running, is pumped into the radiator, in which it rises, leaving by the pipe at the top, descending througfi the eylinderS, and returning once more to the `resertoir. .The.working of the system is obvious. We would like to suggest that D.58 the filler orifice for the 'water should he on the retervoir, at such a height a-s" ' to make it impossible for too much water to be supplied. As it is shown on the drawing, with the radiator cap ocaupying its usual position, and fulfilling, as we imagine, its usual function, there is grave risk of the whole of the inventor's efforts being nullified owing to some careless operator filling the pipes, cylinders, etc., full of water.
As a safety device, to prevent damage to the reservoir owing to the water which it contains being froXen, a ligI4 tubular casing is disposed inside the tank. The inventor claims that when the ice expands on thawing it will compress this casing instead of bursting the. tank, An electric heater is also provided within the water reservoir for heating the water before starting. The patentee is L. A. Berland; the specification is No. 1,39,109.
The engine priming device is described in specification No. 139,116, by A. E. Berrunan and the Daimler Co., Ltd. Small nozzles are projected into the induction pipe,* close up to the cylinder prets, and may be either one to each , cylinder, one to alternate cylinders, or
otherwise. The nozzles are -supplied With fuel direct from the main, supply pipe on the turning of a convenientlyplaced cock. The length of piping
• between the cock and the nozzles is relied 'upon as a reservoir, and all that the driver has to do on a cold morning is to turn on tife cock for a few seconds, their turn it off, and finally turn the engine. The reservoir and nozzles are proportioned respectively so that there is suifi-, cient_petrol to keep the engine running untiirthe niain carburetter functions.'
Of the two spanners, one, No. 139,079,
• 11. 0. "MeGown, is a quick-acting adjustable one of ingenious and apparently efficient design. The loose jaW is attached to a trigger, the inner end of which bears in a groove in the stem of the fixed jaw.. When the trigger is free the, toosalaw can be moved easily.
gripping the trigger the jaw is held in any desired position and cannot slip. The other spanner is for use on petrol-can stoppers. A plain bar with a reduced portion, which fits between the lugs .on the stopper, is bent over so as to grip the stopper underneath. Specification
No. 139,098; patentee Pr. Eshelby.
In the tyre valve described in No. 139,076, by A. C. Wright, provision is made to retain the familiar rubber plunger and: washer in place, while" the detachable valve piece is away from the main body Of the valve. .
The lamps, which are .deseribed in specification No: 139,074, by P: J. Weston, are cast or stamped in one piece, and the lenses secured in place by process of -beading over a flangespecially formed for the purpose on the casting or
forging.
.No, 139,072 is the electric alarm, -which takes. effect by earthing the magneto when the level of the lubricantin -the sump•or reservoir falls-below a predetermined paint. The patentee is R. Simpson. M. H. L. Sizaire, in. company with F. W. Berwick and Co., 'Ltd., .is responsible for No. 139,102, which describes sri inioroved spring gaiter. The component la in two pieces, One each Ade of the spring buckle.