Nobel Features in the
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Latest Bendix Brake
IN patent No. 432,194 Bendix Avia tion Corporation, of Chicago, U.S.A., shows a brake assembly possessing several novel features. The shoes are anchored on pins (3) at the operating . end, the opposite ends being togglejointed to an eccentric adjustment (4). To permit the necessary movement, the shoes are slotted where they bear on the pin, and are spread by the toggle levers (2) when pulled to the right by ' a cable arm (1) pivoted on the lower pin.
The drum itself is in the form of a double shell, and two novel proposals are made in connection with this. One is to fill the annular space with a liquid of very low boiling point, such as ethyl chloride, the vaporizing of which absorbs the braking heat with a rise of temperature. The second scheme consists of fitting outward and inward ball-valves to the jacket, and connecting the outward valve to the tyreinflating valve, so that the tyre is kept inflated by the heat-expansion and contraction of the air in the jacket.
A Self-locking Tipping Gear.
AN hydraulic tipping mechanism that will positively hold the body against . movement when at rest on the frame or at any intermediate point between
its tipping limits is shown in patent No. 430,807 by R. Gauthier, of 104. Rue Paradis, Liege, Belgium. The invention lies in the construction of the hydraulic cylinder and the pumping arrangements. In the drawing, a double-acting cylinder is ported at boat ends, and a gear-pump (3) abitracts oil from one side of the piston (1) and delivers it into the other, thus displacing the piston. Locking of the piston is brought about by operation of a stopcock (4), which closes the oil circuit.
A small tank (2) accommodates the oil displaced by the volume of the piston-rod; apart from this the total volume remains constant, and no storage tank is needed.
A Rack-and-pinion Steering Gear.
A STEERING gear in which a rack L-Land pinion replace the usual svorm and sector is disclosed in patent No. 431,901 by Daimler-Benz A.G., Stu ttgart-Untertiirkheim, Germany. In the accompanying drawing the steeringwheel shaft (I) has at its lower end a pinion engaging with a sliding rack
1346 provided with ball-joint ends (2 and 3). These are connected directly with the stub-axle arms by short rods, The claims are based prin
eipally upon the manner of fixing to the tubular-frame member (4); this is achieved by two split clips SO that an angular adjustment is easily obtained.
This system abolishes the complex rod work associated with the wormand-sector type, owing to the rack moving in approximately the same line as the stub-axle arms.
Heating the Air Intake of Oil Engines.
FROM Societe Anonyme Adolphe Saurer, Arbon, Swifterland, comes an improved form of air intake heater for oil engines, details being given in patent No. 432,150. According to this concern, the insertion of an electrically heated spiral in the intake pipe is not sufficient to ensure an easy start, owing to the air not coming into sufficiently intimate contact with the heating element. The suggested improvement consists of the combination of a heating spiral (1) with an air filter. The filtering medium (2) preferably consists of small pieces of copper, the high conductivity of which readily transmits the heat to the entire flow of air.
Progress in Hydraulic Transmission.
THE fitm of J. M. Voith, Heidenhcim, Germany, are well known in connection with hydraulic gears of the Ftittinger type, and their latest developments are shown in patent No. 431,851. The intention of the patentees is to include in the system the benefits of free-wheeling, without prejudicing the possibility of using the engine as a brake.
The gear described is of the usual FOttinger type, but it is put in and out of action by filling or emptying with liquid, this action being the equivalent of a clutch. The emptying of the casing occurs automatically by the provision of leaks, whilst the filling operation is achieved by a continually running electrically driven pump, the delivery of which is in excess of the leakage In the drawing, 4 is the pump and 5 the leakage port. The patent is based on the control of the pump by a switch (1) on the accelerator pedal, causing the gear to be filled so soon as the pedal is depressed, and emptied when the engine is idling ; this gives the equivalent of a free wheel.
To use the engine as a brake the brake-pedal (2) is provided with a similar switch, whilst an extra switch (3) enables the motor pump to be kept continually running if desired.
A Two-fuel Carburetter.
THE interest in heavy-oil carburetters seems most marked on the Continent, and in patent No. 432,180 (void) is shown a carburetter utilizing a light fuel for starting and a heavier oil for running, the patentee being C. H, Claude', of Veuxhaulles, Cote cl'Or, France. The chief feature cf the invention is the method of intermingling the two vapours so that there is no sudden change-over of fuel, the proportion of oil increasing as the engine speed rises, and vice versa, The apparatus comprises a double system of float chambers and jets, the changeover being gradually accomplished by the restriction of the petrol supply by means of an exhaust-heated thermostatic valve.