Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 90.djvu/529

 Popular Science Monthly

��513

��If the Road is Slippery, Sand It with the Newest Automobile Accessory

SOMEWHAT like that of a human arm in operation is the action of the adjust- able sanding device for automobiles shown in the accompanying illustration. Its principal features are two piv oted fan -mouthed outlet pipes, which may be swung forward or back- ward at the will of the driver to deliver a large quantity of sand at the periph- eries of the driv- ing wheels, or lesser amountson the road- way in front. The sand is fed from a V- bottomed box, beneath the rear seat through a pipe connected with the outlet-pipes. These are piv- oted on a crosswise shaft which extends beneath the vehicle and which is revolved by means of rods and a lever beside the driver's cab. Rubber-faced disks pivoted on the ends of the pipes keep the sand in when the device is not in use. These disks are carried on toggle arms ful- crumed on the crosswise shaft.

When the driver moves his lever forward, the outlet pipes swing down and backward, the opening of the disks on the pipes increasing as the lever is moved forward. When the ends of the outlet pipes are nearest the peripheries of the wheels, the disks are fully open. The greatest amount of sand is discharged when they are in this position. In intermediate positions they are not open so wide, so that a smaller amount is deposited on the roadway.

BRIATMER PIPE

���This method for preventing skidding is less severe on the tires than any of the others now in use. Chains placed on the rear tires, for example, tend to wear them- selves into the tires. The indentations they m.ake weaken the tires prematurely. When sand is discharged under the tires, there is no more wear than when an automobile is traveling over a country road. No indentations are made, and the life of the tires are not shortened as a con- sequence.

The sand makes it possible to travel over icy pavements as well as over roads that are simply slip- pery from the rain.

��The road is slippery? Pull a lever and you sand it, just as if you were on a locomotive

The sand is fed from a V- bottomed box beneath the rear seat, through a pipe

��PIPE FROM SAMD BOX

��FLEXIBLE HOSE

����PlPl UNI TO/ RADIITOR

��The tank and coil of copper piping under the rear seat are connected with top of the radiator to receive the overflow

��WHEN PIPE I5THR0WM WHEN NOT IN

BACK COVER AUTOMAT- U5E COVER 15

ICALLY OPENS TO RE- CLOSED LEASE SAND

Novel Tank Condenses Boiled -Over Radiator Water

A SMALL 'tank under the rear seat is provided with a coil of copper piping led forward to the top of the radiator. The end of the pipe coil is kept under the surface of the water in the tank, forming a water seal. When the water in the radiator boils over, it flows down the pipe and seeks its own level in the tank where it is cooled. Due to the water seal, the admission of water in the tank causes a vacuum in the radiator and this sucks cooler water back into it, always keeping it full.

The' tank has a filler cap which is reached by remov- ing the rear seat cushion. It also has a breather pipe to discharge the excess water automatically should the tank overflow.

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