Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 89.djvu/929

 Popular Science Monthly

��EQUALIZER REMAINS

��ORDINARY brake: rod

AND HAND LE.VE.R ,RtMOVtD

��91.5

WIRES TO CONTROLLER ON WHEEL

���ELECTRIC BRAKE CABLE.

��POSITION OF ELECTRIC BRAKE TO CORRESPOND WITH PHOTO

The motor can be attached to any make of automobile simply by substituting it for the usual hand-levers, lever quadrant and brake connections. The brake is disengaged by push- ing the switch-handle back to its original position. The device weighs twenty-five pounds

��pull on the brake-cable, it has been found feasible to have the brake-drums run in oil, reversing the usual practice which is to keep them as dry as possible.

By means of the two-point switch-con- troller, the electrical energy is so govern- ed that the brake can be applied gradually or in the fraction of a second in an emergency. The first-point switch posi- tion supplies enough braking power for service purposes and the second for an emergency stop.

��A Device for Adjusting the Ends of Steel Rails

ARAILROAD man of Louisiana has invented a device for adjusting rails, which is employed at the rail-ends where space is allowed for expan- sion and contrac- tion.

Two strong clamps are provided, one of which is fitted over each end of the ad- joining rails. A double-threaded screw connects them. Over this a rod is fitted, by means of which the screw is turned to spread the rails or draw them together as desired.

���One of the clamps fits over each rail-end and a screw-rod spreads or joins them

��Wire Wheels for Automobiles Are Rap- idly Taking the Place of Wood

ONE of the most interesting tenden- cies of the times in the automobile- manufacturing business is the growing popularity of the wire wheel. An exami- nation of the statistics of wheel produc- tion in this country reveals the fact that a distinct wire wheel boom is under way and is rapidly gaining momentum. At the end of 1915 it was estimated that there were not more than ten thousand cars equipped with wire wheels. The 1916 season, though not yet finished, has probably added fifty or even sixt\- thou- sand cars to this class, a gain of five hundred per cent. With that spectacu- ar increase in mind it is not difficult to credit well-inform- ed automobile men who predict that 1917 will see two hundred thousand new cars put on wire wheels. These wheels are popular on ac- count of their hand- some appearance; and they have re- ceived an impetus from the scarcity of hickory of the best quality, and from the patent litigation which has vexed the manufacturersof the demountable rim.

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