776 



removable plate, so that the stub-shaft 

 turns therein freely. A similar gear is 

 mounted on the stub-shaft so that it also 

 revolves thereon. A pair of bevel gears 

 between the aforementioned loose gears, are 

 mounted on spindles attached to the 

 journal-bearing plate, which cause the loose 

 gear on the stub-shaft to travel in a direc- 

 tion opposite to the cylindrical shell. 



The fork which is connected with the 

 usual clutch-pedal is used in this device for 

 reversing purposes. The fork engages with 

 a grooved chuck which has radially- 

 disposed tongues, designed to engage with 

 suitable radial grooves in the hub of the 

 loose gear. As the grooved chuck turns 

 with the stub-shaft, although free to move 

 to and fro a limited distance, it can be 

 thrown readily into engagement with the 

 gear, and thus be turned by the stub-shaft 

 in a direction opposite to the fly-wheel or 

 engine-shaft. 



Several features of interest may be noted 

 in this device. The pump itself is also the 

 motor, thus eliminating at least one half of 

 the elements usually employed. The 

 double pressure used with the pump and 

 motor systems, is avoided, hence less heat 

 is generated. Aside from this, the oil 

 merely flows in and out of the cylinders, and 

 the friction of movement through long and 

 tortuous ducts is avoided, thereby greatly 

 increasing the efficiency of the device. 



One of the most important advances, 

 however, is in the provision for taking care 

 of the oil expansion. In hydraulic systems 

 the cases containing the mechanism must 

 be entirely filled with oil, or with the 

 liquid used to provide the transmission. 

 In this invention the pistons are just as 

 effective if the shell is half filled, for the 

 reason that the ports are at the outer ends 

 of the cylinders, and as the shell revolves 

 the oil is thrown outwardly by centrifugal 

 force so that the ports are always sub- 

 merged with oil and are capable of taking a 

 full charge without drawing in air. 



Fully half of the cubical contents of the 

 shell may be devoted to air, or a partial 

 vacuum may be formed therein, thus taking 

 care of any undue expansion. It has been 

 found that a large part of the heat de- 

 veloped and maintained in the hydraulic 

 systems was due to the expansive force 

 exerted on the oil itself, so that large 

 chambers were necessary for this purpose. 

 In a system using two gallons of oil, the 

 expansion of the oil has frequently meas- 

 ured over two quarts. 



Popular Science Monthly 



Softening Carbon with Steam in 

 the Automobile Engine 



THE greatest enemy to the free running 

 of an automobile is the carbon which 

 collects in the cylinders of the engine. The 



Injecting water in a small spray into a gasoline 

 engine to soften and partly remove the carbon 



carbon may be softened and to a certain 

 extent removed by running water through 

 the cylinders with the gasoline. If a small 

 rubber tube D is attached over the air-cock 

 on the manifold A and run into a pail E of 

 water set at about the level of the carburet- 

 er B, the engine, when running, will suck 

 in the water and then discharge it as steam 

 with the exhaust. After the tube has been 

 removed the engine should be run for a 

 few minutes to make sure that no water 

 remains in the carbureter. 



If this is done every thousand miles 

 the car will run much easier. A more 

 thorough job may be done by removing 

 the cylinder head and scraping the carbon 

 away. After the steaming the carbon will 

 be found soft so that most of it can be 

 wiped away with a cloth. The rest is 

 easily scraped off. — William H. Leach. 



An Easy Method of Testing Gasoline 

 Engine Compression 



AN important factor having material 

 . bearing upon the power output of the 

 automobile engine is the amount of com- 

 pression of the gas in the cylinders prior to 

 ignition. If one cylinder has less compres- 

 sion than the others, the engine will not 

 pull smoothly under load, as the cylinders 

 having the highest compression will have 

 more power. An easy method of testing 

 gas compression is outlined in the accom- 

 panying illustration. An ordinary tire 

 pressure gage either of the dial pattern or 

 the plunger type may be used instead of the 



