The Detroit times., 1911-04-15
MOTOR IS HEART"
OF AUTOMOBILE
Great Advances in Engineering Have
Brought Auto Engines To High
State of Perfection.

Before the advent of the automo-
bile the gasoline engine. or motor, &C.
cupied comparatively small niche in
the realm of mechanics. At the
worlds fair in Chicago. in 1893, there
were but two makes Of gas engines
exhibited. Compare this showing with
the exhibit at the Michigan State Fair
last year, for example, and you will
get some idea Of the strides made In
this industry in Is years and more
especially since 1900. There are In
use in the United States today, among
the farmers alone, more than 100000
gasoline engines and the output Ia in
creasing yearly at phenomenal rate.
The application of gas power to
vehicles occupied the attention Of
mechanics and engineers for many de-
cades before the first practical motor
car was brought out. After that the
improvements came rapidly and the
permarency of this type of engine
was assured To bring 1t to its pres.
ent state OF perfection has required
the best thought of many Of the best
engineers the world has ever known,
and greater things are to come. Fol
lowing the principles established by
the automobile engineers, the manu-
facturers of marine and stationary
gas engines have likewise perfected
their products with most satisfactory
results.
While there is no fundamental diff
ference between the operation of a
marine or stationary engine and An
automobile engine. the manufacture
OF automobile motors has, from the
very nature Of things, come to be a
part OF the automobile industry prop
or, the making of stationary and
marine engines continuing as a sep
arate industry. Nearly all the Car
makers in Detroit manufacture, or at
least assemble. their own motors.
In the early days of the auto in
dustry the two-cycle engine was the
only type that claimed attention. The
four-cycle engine, which has now
come into great favor, Is a later de-
velopment.
The motor is the throbbing heart
OF the automobile. A good motor Is
a source of pride and comfort, but
when II begins to skip and balk and
act up generally, then il is that the
knock his car to the other fellow
even though the trouble may be due
TO his own neglect or unfamiliarity
with the engines requirements. The
great aim, therefore, has been toward
simplicity in motors and some great
things have been accomplished III
this direction.
With regard to the functions of a
motor, Automobile says:
Delivery Of power from. an internal
combustion motor comes from light
ing hot fire in the combustion cham
Der, burning the fuel to complete COM
bustion. and accomplishing the task
80 quickly that new fire Is lighted
every tenth part of a second. No- is
this the limit of speed. Ten fires Ter
second means 10x60x2-1 200 revolu-
tions per minute of the crankshaft
of the motor, which Is about half OF
the possible sped OF attainment under
working conditions in some motors, il
being true that there are two revClu-
tons of the crankshaft OF the motor
per fire In four-cycle work-that Is,
when the motor is designed to work
on the four-stroke cycle principle: in
other words, when there is an ex-
plosion, so called, after inspiration
and compression TO be followed BY n
scavenging stroke. making the cyclic
relation (a) suction, (b) compression,
(c) power and (d) scavenging. This
makes one cycle per stroke, and thei Q
are two strokes per revolution, so
that IL takes two revolutions OF the
crankshaft to afford the four cycles.
ITO the average motorist this cyclic
relation in a motor Is Greek. For a
better understanding Of what It
means to kindle a fire in a tenth part
of a second, let the reader go home
and ask the servant to kindle a are
In the furnace in the tenth part OF q
second, and after II burns for an
equal length OF time, let him quench
the fire, draw out the ashes and then
relight the fire in the same length Uf
time; have the servant do this for
hours or even days at a time; this is
exactly what happens In the comDus-
ton chamber OF each cylinder OF the
motor as IL is used In an automobile.
The average automobilist will lie
quite satisfied II the servant succeeds
In kindling the fire in ten minutes.
nor will he be requested TO draw the
fire. for at least a day. Now the ire