Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-01-01
MOTOR WORLD OWES DEBT
TO BUREAU OF STANDARDS
Development of Many Devices and Increased
Efficiency Due to Tests by
Federal Experts.

air and supefhested fuel vapor into q
glass bomb and by varying the proper
ton Of air until the fame could just
propagate throughout the entire bomb
when spark was applied. Mixtures
! cont lining % parts Of Fir 10 l part
OF fuel Vapor were found 70 be the
| leanest applicable mixtures for both
cratke and stra!ght-ryn fuels. Irc!.
dentaliy. your Carl 7tor In pr0Da riy
get for 1l-to1 mixture. since that
has been found to re the most en-
Gent under ALI operating :empers-
iures ar I conditions. The results Of
this. :"st. The bureau concludes, i.di-
, ca;os that, asirc frOin volatility. there
are no apDreciah;e differences between
, the Far.nus kids nr motor fuel 90
far az starting IL concerned.
Manifold Heat Important.
Recent tests ind al. thar "a corsid
| cradle difference in j4cket wste- -s-o.
| peratGre mas but a iIrtle erec. in cs-
| acceleTd'ion, bot that warming :hs
| intake manifold ~ a. - break Cr IN.
! fuel into smaller Uart.c,e. han :hs
hca"y mixture that rrteT- cold mar
/ fold ids considerably the abilit~ NJ
/ the engine 20 PICK up speed ore 81
I the curTe1. problems Ut f,ieI reysarch
ia "A general study Of engine aIcelera-
! ZION. Tests thus far have beer made
/ in the iaDDra tory on li3-ysar-olG
/ six-tylinder passenger car engine
They show considerable difference Re.
/ tween the performance obtained win
I different csrbUretoTs at normal tenn
( pefatures. 4 change in rns 5acker
/ water temperature from 312 TO 81
degrees appeared tn have little effect
! on acceleration. but a change in in
! take ma nifold temperature from $50
I 10 172 degrees Fahrenheit made a
/ marked Improvement. Additional tests
show the effect on acceierafion Of air
| fuel ratio, initial engine spee3 and
I the injeC ton Of an acceisra;ing charge.
! For many years. g etching hack IN
I the dark ages of the automobile. that
/ much abused term road courtesy"
dictated that the bright headlights OF
automobiles approaching each other
| from opposite directions should he
| dimmed. so the other fellow could SEQ.
It's all wrong. the bureau scientists
/ say. The art Gf automobile headlight
manufacture has progressed 81 far
and municipal and State ordinances
/ are so uniform that dimming OF the
/ headlights for an approaching car -
now cried down bv the bureau "a a
needlessly reckless piece ot business.
! So universal has the move become
/ against dimming Of headlights that
Mai. r. F.. Carlson. once the bureaus
automobile headlight expert. has in
Structed classes in proper headlight
/ ing and spread far and wide the Cos
! pei Don't dim your headliShts'-ai-
ways assuming that the other fellows
+ lights are properly adjusted 10 shine
/ down on the road and not up into the
/ eyes Of motorists in passing cars
Proper Lights DO Not Blind.
lF1+
moIorist see a pedestrian walking or
. his side OF the road il his headlights
are dimmed because another car =
| approaching? The question answers
{ itself. II the other chaps lights are
/ within the regulations. they won't
! blind. and it's up TO the nlotOrist him.
self tn see that his own lights meet
specifications The bureau has gore
extensively into this matter Of proper
/ hsadlighting in cooperation with the
Society Of AutonlotiVe Engineers. the
American Automobile Association and
/ the Illuminating Engineer Society.
Research associates assigned to the
automotive power plants were engaged
for several months in a systematic
. study of the types Of light d;strihu-
ton required for satisfactory vision
! under usual driving conditions in the
absence of opposing traffic and with
opposing traffic. This work was Gcne
late at night on lonely highways.
using ears provided with special test
equipment. which included four head
lamps mounted side by side on a bar.
50 they could he aimed individually
or collectively. They had interchange
allie lenses Of various kinds. and their
brightness was controlled hy rtseO-
stats. The usual method at test was
10 SET up a dummy about the size and.
shape o. an adult and 10 record siss
various distances at which il could ~
seen and identified under various coz
tiitions with varying lighting diSsriny-
/ lions. As might hs expected. the enSi-
nserS found that the darker the niSht
thu greater the visibility for n given
beam intensity and pattern Visibility
was found 10 D. the same fcx all
!. speeds between a walk and - miles an
hour.
Attention ia now hsinS directed 10 n
study ~ illumination when other We
htclsS are met. For use in this work
a test ear has been equipped with one
of the four head lamp sets and ether
special devices, The four lamps are
mounted at the rSS4r af this car. but
are controlled from thu drivers seat.
as Is dummy. which = carried ~
the riSht hand running S,Nsrs tbs
car ks-,lNS Sssme distances ia advance cf
ths Observers car until q suitable test
tocatboa is reache<i The driver then
swings IN the left. Sso,s> and turns an
his rear heajs;shtS tn simulate a ear
approaching from the S>ap<Ssiss [iirs<~
tias, he Sfso SWINGS the dummy out
alongside 81 his car. The observer
Keeps ~, uattl he can dsnnsteiS DIS,
tsnSui>h between the dummy heySNrSs
and tc the rtSht oF tss opposing tights.
Funds sOs' these tests have Ae~n pr~>,
SkttNi BY the National Automobile
Chanst<sr az CN,nmete~
PISTON tts't(cn against cylinder
uuntlnusi on Ninth pasel