Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-04-22


! starting and lighting system. want
tot call attention TO the fact that \
self starter" is nothing more thar A
device for cran%inG the engine. As
/ ne self. starter is only a device for
Cranking the ensine, the engine must
be prepared for starting. the ignitior
switch must be thrown on, the spark
retarded, carSurot,i primed, just as
1t would be We're the Cranking done
ly hand. Some people lave an ijel
that by self-starter is meant that the
engine will start of its own accord.
This Is not so.
In explaining the various units
necessary in an electrical starting sys-
tenn, | am going to compare the flow
of the electvic1 current TO the flow
of water as ! have often done before.
In ZIG. /. a is the engine which W.
wish to start or crank. If We were to
fasten a gear to Tic flywheel, and
then had another gear or pinion en-
ga"ed with this gear, and then made
the pii ion revolvn, the flywheel would
be made to revolve and so the engine
would be cranked.
Let us assume that the pinion is
! driven by Watermelon, as shown.
Now. for this Watermelon to operate
water under pressure must be sent to
II Well, from where shall we get this
water? Let us furnish a pressure
/ storage tank, such as shown, for this
| purpose, and let us have a weight
resting on top of the water in the
tank so as to give the required pres
sure TO drive the Watermelon.
As we want the cranking motor to
work only when we want to start the
engine, some device which we can
control must be placed between the
motor and the tank, whereby the wa
ter can be allowed to flow to the mo-
tor, or stopped from flowing to it, at
will. A valve would be such n device
Refer now to figure 2. Here we
have an electrical motor geared to
the flywheel of the engine, and we
have a storage battery which will send
a current of electricity under pressure
TO the motor, and we have switch TO
control the flow of this electricity.
For the pressure storage tank, we
have substituted the storage battery;
for the control valve. the switch, and
for the water motor, the electrical
motor.
Coming back TO figure /, as the
! cranking motor is used, the water is
drawn out of the tank and 1t would
soon be empty unless other water is
sent or pumped to IT, How then shall
we take care Of thH problem? why,
simply by connecting pump to the
tank and driving the pump by means
of the engine.
As the water tank becomes empty,
so will the storage battery. but by
! connecting an electrical generator to
the storage battery and driving this
generator from the engine the stor-
age battery can be kept charged.
, Refer again to figure !. obviously
the water will flow from the pump
to the tank only when the pressure
of the pump is greater than the pres
sure in the tank, not only that, but the
water will flow back from tank to
pump under reverse conditions, and
so the tank would become empty.
Thus device, such as the check valve
shown. must be placed between the
pump and tank. which will let the
water flow from the pump to the
tank, hut Will stop il from flowing
from the tank to the pump.
In the same way some device must
he placed between the storage battery
and generator, which will prevent the
current from flowing from the storage
! battery to the generator when the
pressure or voltage of the generator is
less than the pressure Cor voltage) OF
the battery. For this purpose what is
known as an automatic cutout Is fur
nished.
On most cars the voltage of the gen
orator will be greater than the battery
voltage. only when the engine is run
ming at a speed which would drive the
car at "a speed OF Is miles per hour or
more. For this reason the cutout
must disconnect the battery and gen
orator when the engine is idle or run
ming below the above speed
The automatic cutout takes caro- Of
the problem of the generators voltage
tpressure) being too low, but at high
speeds the voltage may be too high,
thus here is another problem.
Again referring to figure /. Sup
pose that the pressure storage tank
were full and suppose The pump were
to create pressure high enough to
burst the tank. Our system would |
then be ruined, and so some device |
which will prevent the pressure get
ting above a certain point mast be |
placed in the system. In the draw !
ing | have shown this as "A safety |
valve. Here. when the pressure in |
the system gets too great the valve + |
viii raise against the weight and the |
water can then escape thru tie pipe |
l., and so no harm will be done.
We likewise have the problem OF
harm being done by the generator
having too high voltage Gas you now
know voltage means electrical pres
sure) and SO some device must be
placed in the system 10 act as n sort
of safety valve, and preven. the bat