APRIL 28TH, 1906
THE AUTOCAR s ·3ournal publishet > in tbe interests of tbe trtecbanicall\? propellet, roat > carriage.
EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.
No. 549. VOL. XVI.
SATURDAY, APRIL 28TH, 1906.
lPRICR 3D.
THE AUTOCAR.
(Published Weekly.)
Registered as a newspaper for transmission in the United Kingdom.
Entered as second.class matter at the New York (N.Y. ) Post Office.
EDITORIAL OFFICE :
COVENTRY.
PUBLISHING OFFICES :
20, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C.,'_ENGLAND.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
NOTES: BALANCE GEAR OR FREE-WHEELS-AI.COHOL
AGAIN !-THE
ELECTRIC OMNIBUS
...
527-528 ... 529 530-532
USEFUL HINTS AND TIPS, ON AccuMULATORS TESTING A New 30 H.P. CAR !illustrated) OccASIONAL Gossip, By ·' The Autocrat" .. . THE AusTIN 25-30 H.P. CAR (illustrated) .. .
. 533
534-535 ... 535 536-537 . .. 538
INDIAN MOTOR CAR-A NATIVE CIRCULAR ...
.. .
THE HuMPHRl!v-ScowEN GEAR MECHANISM (illustrated) .. . GENERALJTIE~. By " Rutulan" ... THE G1ssoN INDICATOR (illustrated) .. . . .. . .. IGNITION TIMING AND Powt.R PRODUCTION (illustrated) A RUN ON A 12·16 H.P. HORBICK .. . . ..
.. . 539 540-541
T HE AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY .. . AFRONAUTICAL NOTES (illustrated) ... ... ... ... . .. A SIXTEEN CYLTNDER PETROL ENGINE (illustrated)... ... ... . .. CONTINENTAL NOTES AND NEWS: ELASTIC VVttEEL TRIALS (illustrated)
541 541 542 543
-Rl!:coJ.-os· AT MONACO-THE R1v1ERA RACE-MILAN A C. GOLD CuP-T"HE -H8'RKOMER TROPHY-THE ENTRIES FOR THE C1Rcu1T
EUROPEEN .:.
A PUBLIC SPIRfT!'D ACTION
...
SPEED ON THF. ICE (illustrated) ... .. . ... ... ... ...
544-546
547
548
CORRESPONDEJ'ICE: THE 8°'LANCE Gl!'AR AND ITS ACTION-CAR DEPRE-
T1:i!~~~?iE~T~ E ~~~:!::15T~:o~s;1R~~!E~~~v;:R~ fHHEE cZ~i=~~T_ BAYARD ,ftACER-BALANCING OF PF.'IROL ENGJNF.S-TOP GEAR RUN ON A T t\l'o-CYLINDER CAR-A DtSCLAIMER-MOTORING IN NEW SouTH WALES (illustrated)-DISGRACEFUL CONDUCT-THE S1z& OF TYRES-A ROAD WARNING (illustrated)-SUMMARY OF CORRE!-iPOND- ENCE ... . .. . .. ... ... . .. 549-553 THE N,w MtcHELtN TYRE LEvFRS (illustrated) 553 CAR DEPRECIATION. By J, T. Ward .. . .. 554 THE COLLIER WoRM BALL DRIVE (illustrated ) ... 554 AN IMPROVED STARTING HANDLE (illustrated)... .. . 555 FLASHES .. . .. . .. 556-558 CLUB DOINGS: CLUB FIXTURES-ROYAL NORTH OF IRELAND YACHT
CLUB-HEREFORDSHIRE!. A.C.-NOTTS, A.C.-NOR'IH LONDON A.C. -KENT A.C.-PROPOSEO KENSINGTON A.C.-THE AKRO CLUB ... 559 SOME QUERtES AND REPLIES ... 560 COPPER JN ACETYLENE LAMPS ... 56 1-562 THE 4,000 MILES TYRE TRIALS ... ... 562 WARNING MOTORISTS OF POLICE TRAPS ... ... ... 562 T HE MILWAUKEE DIFFERENTIAL GEAR (illustrated)... ... 562
" THE AUTOCAR " SUBSCRIPTION RATES : llritisb Isles, 16s. Abroad (thin paper edition), 22s. Bd. per annum.
/
f otes. Balance Gear or Free-wheels. Much has been written of late about an .American axle known as the Hedgeland. Roughly speaking, this axle consists of a device which gives a free-wheel to each road wheel, and therefore eliminates the balance gear o,r differential. I t will be understood with this fr ee-wheel arrangement in turning a corner the inside wheel on lv drives and the outside wheel over-rnns. \Vhere the arrangement differs from lhc uevice fitted lo cycles is that it a lso provides fur I Jack ward driving. Now, the great claim made for this axle is that it will preYent side-slip, and we shal I be very much interested to see some tests carried oul to prove this. There is no proper theory on the subject, because it is not based on practice, but we may say that many years ago pedal tricycles were made 1rith what was practically a similar arrangement. That is to say, a ratchet or roller clutch was provided for each driving wheel, so that whenever the tricycle 1ras driven round a corner the inside wheel drove. So far as our memory serves us in connection with these early machines they were more prone to side-slip than those fitted with a balance gear, the driving of the inside wheel on turning a bend always having a tendency to force the front steering wheel along a line tangential to the desired curve. The distribution of 1reight on these machines, however, was very different from that on a. motor car, and it will be extremely interesting to see whether there is any diminution of side-slip with the Hedgeland device.
There is another point, too, which has to be considered, and that is the turning of sharp corners up steep hills. Very little reflection will be required to see that it would be most difficult, and under certain conditions impossible, except with a driving gear oJ much lower ratio than is usually provided, becausl' if the bend is sharp the inside wheel is almost stationary. At these times, too, the tendency tc push the front wheels away from the centre of th(: circle they were describing would be very great. Jt should be remembered, too, that the idea is not novel from a moto,r car point of view. It was embodieu in the Ridley small car some years ago, and for a time a very similar Swift car was made, and specimen, of both cars are still on the road in which free-whee l clutches are provided to each driving wheel, so that the inside wheel necessarily drives in turning a corner. It is true the Hedgeland arrangement provides for backward driving, but this in no way affects our criticism , which is based on the fact whether driving backward or forward the wrong wheel is driven whenever a curve is described. It 1rould be far more satisfactory if it were possible to produce a thoroughly satisfactory arrangement which practically locked the two wheels solid on the axle so long as a straight course was being pursued, and then automaticall: released the inside one when a curve was described . This has been attempted many times, but up to thPpresent nothing really practical has resulted. At the same time the differential is by no means an idea I device, and whether the Hedgeland be satisfactory or not we welcome it as an attempt to improve upon a part of the car which many .seem to have regard e<i as having reached the final form . What is really wanted i3 a balance gear which discriminates for distances, anc.l not fo r resistances. The differentia I 1rorks on a bend not because the inside and outside 1rheels are describing paths o.f different lengths, but he<'ause the resistanl'e offered to each wheel is not the same, and this means it is sometimes in action when it should be hoiding the two 1rheels solid on the axl e. At the same time, it is a better compromise than the free-wheel clutch arrangement.
