Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-12-30

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vantage of this engine. which i not
so pronounced now, however. Is It's
quietncss Of operation, because the
sleeves sliding up and down short
distance make comparatively no roihe,
while the camshaft and the poppet
valve gear is likely to emit numerous
Clicks and rattles.
Knight Advantages.
The carly disadvantages of tic
Knight centoring around sleeve lubri-
eating and power output have been
entirely eliminated and the Knight en-
gine Of today is considered as reliable
piece Of mechanism as any poppet.
However, 1t costs more TO build than
II poppet. and If any trouble should
happen to come up with the interior
parts the engine must he partially
dismantled. a strong advantage which
Is claimed for the knight aside from
the others is that carbon does not
affect It I'm any way as 1t does pop
pet. Whereas in the poppet carbon
interferes with valve seating. this sub
stance Is said to make far greater efri-
cheney I'm the knight by glazing the
sleeve surface.
In passenger car work the air
cooled engine has but one user IN
America. namely. the Franklin. There
are obvious advantages In using the
air-cooled engine, some of the import
ant ones being the enormous weight
saving due to the discarding OF the
radiator, heavy cylinders, pump. etc.
and the freedom from troubles in
winter. The air-cooled car as now
made Is much more economical than
the gasoline water-cooled OF the same
size. which is due partly to the re-
duced weight OF the chassis. How
ever the power output of the air
cooled does not compare with that OF
a water cooled the same size, and in
other respects the performance of an
air-cooicd automobile engine is below
that of a water-cooled. For ordinary
work, however, the air-cooled as now
made Is perfectly satisfactory, giving
minimum OF trouble regardless of
ill-handling. 1t is stated upon good
authority that many prominent en-
gineers are working out some air
cooled engines for high speed, high
/ power output work.
Rotary Valve Engine.
The rotary valve engine, which at
one time was considered n very APP
propriatc type for automobiles, and
even now is thot to be a future con-
tender for first honors, failed in this
country Only one maker--Speedwell
marketed a car fitted with Il rotary
valve engine and soon after the COM
pany failed. In rotary engines, instead
of using poppet valves or sliding valves
there are long bars of steel or iron
which revolve in the cylinder head.
The bar or bars have ports cut in them
and proper registration is made with
the manifoids and the cylinders. In
some designs only one valve, that is,
one bar. was used for both Inlet and
! exhaust, hut in the later types one
valve had exhaust ports cut In Il, the
other the inlets. There were any num-
Der of departures from the basic de-
| sign, some using revolving disks in the
| cylinder head. The main trouble mot
| within these designs is due TO the
valve sticking or slapping or otherwise
not running free and easy In it's guide.
| Leakage between the valve bar and
| the housing also was troublesome.
! fabrication of the valve was not easy,
and tho direct oiling was used In cor
nection with oil in the gasoline, trou-
bile still existed. Inventors have en-
deaVored to overcome the primary OBJ
jections to this type. but so far seem
1 to have been unsuccessful. There are
a number of engineers who believe
that the real merits of the rotary valve,
such as Quietness of operation, sim
plicty. Cheapness, etc, viii bring 1t
back AT some future time.
Many Designs.
Dozens of designs OF piston valve
engines have sprung up in this coun-
try, none of which, however, have been
used i'm commercial production in pas
scnger cars In this type of engine
ordinary pistons, small In size, control
a.. ,.,l. ..Nl aNl ~
pistons move up and down in their
own small cylinders just as the regular
pistOns do Intended to simplify de-
sign. this type does just the opposite,
making the engine bulky i'll appear
ancc and with greater internal resist
ance. Tho the valves do not move as
fast as the regular piston there is
nevertheless the chance Tor wear and
trouble with the valve gear. which Is
difficult to get at and not simple to
repair. fabrication OF the valves also
must be taken care Of.
The revolving cylinder engine,
which many readers know about he
cause OF its use in certain types OF
airplanCs was once used In an Amer
can passenger car, the Adams-F Far
well. but its life was not long. Not
only does IL interfere with body design
but il is noisy and so far as perform
ance is concerned IL has no advantage
over the ordinary type of engine. In
airplane work the fuel and oil con
sumption has been found to pe out
Of all proportion to its weight and
power. indeed one early type con.
sumed almost as much gas as oil ard
the oil and gas together which had to
be carried weighed much more than
the engine itself The fuel consump-
ton has been reduced In the later de
sign. but still the type has application
only in planes which make short
flights As type for vehicles ON land
il is passed, tho one maker insisted
upon attempting to offer revolving
cylinder engine in car as late as
last year.
Steam Power Plant.
The steam power plant is used to-
day in two cars, the Stanley and the
poble. and for fleXibility, quietuess
power and speed there are few which
can equal the steamer. Economy also
wight be added to the list OF advan-
ges. The disadvantages as regards
complicated mechanism, trouble. the
necessity for replenishing the water al
frequent intervals and the fact that
the fuel consumption was equal TO that
OF gas car, has been overcome to q