ENGINEERS DISCUSS MOTOR STARTERS |
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| Topics: Society of Automotive Engineers
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The New York Times
May 28, 1913
British Guests of the S. A. E. Hear Discussion of Technical Problems.
As a prelude to the discussions which will engage their attention during the meeting of the Society of Automobile Engineers on Lake Huron, next week, the British engineers, who have been guests of the Metropolitan Section of the S. A. E. for the past two days listened to talks about the engine strater problem at the Hotel McAlpin last night. Fourteen distinct types of starting appliance, illustrative of as many different principles were described in short papers.
The meeting ended the programme of local entertainment.
"It will apparently require considerable time for every one interested in automobilesthoroughly to appreciate the fact that the automatic engine starter is not alone a convenience and labor saving device, but upon occasions a life-saving device as well," said Chairman Joseph A. Anglada in introducing the subject. "The majority om manufacturers, dealers, and car owners, realize its full value, especially in view of the number of accidnts which have occurred when cars have started while being hand cranked and have then run wild due to the absence of a guiding hand on the steering wheel."
"It is said of the automobile industry that the innovation and luxury to-day are the standard practice of to-morrow. The starter idea was born of the desire for convenience, suggested by being able to start on the spark. Users demanded positive starters and manufacturers had to supply them. At present there are 112 American starter manufactures listed in the trade directories."
Roger B. Whitman gave a review of the technical side of the starter movement in the United States. He said in part:
"The elements of a starter are a source of energy, a means of applying the energy to the rotation of the crank shaft, and a means or renewing the energy source and the control apparatus. No new or little understood principles are involved either in these elements or in their combination. The success of a starter lies in the ability of the designer to determine and to provide for the contingencies of operation under good as well as under adverse conditions.
"With so many commonly used devices and sources of energy available, the starter makers have approached the problem from widely different viewpoints. Compressed air has been in use for many years in the starting of stationary engines. An ignition starter causes the ignition of the residual charge, or of a charge derived from a container, ignition occurring in the cylinder—that is in the power stroke. In a spring starter, the crank shaft is rotated through its connection with the free end of an unwinding volute spring.
"In an electric starter, an electric motor drives the crank shaft either directly or through chain or gears, a storage battery being the source of energy."
Various types of starters were then described with lantern slide illustration.
The party of visiting British engineers, accompanied by an escort of S. A. E. members, leaves this morning for Pittsburgh bound for Indianapolis, where the engineers will witness the 500-mile race on Memorial Day. They will reach Detroit on Sunday morning, and will embark on June 4 for the trip to Sault Ste. Marie, during which the Summer meeting of the S. A. E. will be held.