San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1926-01-03

Tnc Knight motor is said TO be the
result of the natural evolution Of the
internal combustion motor car engine.
It represents the final achievement of
engineering skill toward efficiency,
auietness aud simplicity. And for
those interested in short sketch OF
motor evolution, its history is highly
interesting.
At about the time the automobile
was feeling its first flush of popularity,
when factories were springing up all
over the country for the purpose OF
manufacturing automobiles. Charles
Y. Knight of Chicago conceived the
sleeve valve principle of motor design.
The automobile, as We then knew
il i'll America, was undergoing its first
most important development, the one
cylinder type OF motor had been dis
carded for the more popular two cyl
inder type, and already few intrepid
engineers had designed and were pro-
ducing four cylinder motors.
EVOLUTION OF MOTOR.
The one cylinder car ran, and that
was about all. The two cylinder car
was noisy as a stone crusher and
possessed Of great vibration. Next
came the -Four in Line" but its all
ments were many-valve grinding was
a monthly rite-carbon scOureg-
and every automobile manufacturer
was trying to get rid of them-fol-
lowed rapidly myriad OF improve
ments. Heretofore, al lengines had
been of the T-head variety. They ate
gasoline like a high-powered yacht and
wasted half of it. Then along came
one who moved both intake and ex-
haust valves to the same side of the
cylinder, cutting off one Of the over
hanging caves and presto! we have the
L-head motor. 4 tremendous gain in
power. but owners still had to have
their valves ground and the carbon
periodically scraped away. Another
| intrepid engineer took the valves off
| the side. put them in the top of the
| cylinder. cutting off the remaining
| Overhanging cave, giving us the valve
| in-head motor. but still valve grinding
and carbon troubles were ever pres
ent. Carbon crept under the valves,
causing the faces to become pitted and
to maintain efficiency carbon had TO
be scraped, as of old, quite frequently.
Inasmuch as the Knight motor was
introduced into America at the time
that the engineering accomplishments
mentioned above were being made, and
it was Il case of orders greatly in ex-
cess of production, American engineers
were slow to 60 to the expense of
changing their plants for the adoption
of the Knight motor as the American
public cared very little for quietness,
at that time, smOothness or flexibihty,
but were clamoring for most anything
on four wheels that would run.
UNIVERSAL ACCEPTANCE.
Conditions in England and the con
tinent of Europe being quite diffec-
| ent at that time and the automobile
business having passed through its
primary experimental stages and hav-
ing reached a stage of advancement
where the public demanded qualities
not TO be found in any of the then ex-
| listing poppet valve motors, ii was but
natural that its almost universal ac'
ceptance throughout England and the
| continent of Europe followed the first
showing of the knight motor to the
Royal Automobile Club of England by
Mr.. Knight.
The principle Of the Willys-Knight
sleeve valve motor is similar to that
of the cylinder gear in the railway To-
connective. The intake of gas is accom-
plished through ports or openings in
the cylinder wall itself, which, in fact
is made up Of two sleeves, one within
the other. The exhaust OF burned
gasses is accomplished in a similar
manner through ports in the opposite
side of the cylinder wall. In the en-
tire Knight motor mechanism no two
pieces of metal come together il
clashing contact, every operation anC
every movement of reciprocating par5'
in the Willys-Knight motor is eithel
a rotating or a gliding movement. Tn
sleeves which control the intake, OK