TESTING ENGINE CRANK SHAFTS

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 251, 18 July 1921, Page 9

TESTING ENGINE CRANK SHAFTS

When an engine is built one of the items to ho tested is whether tbo crank shaft is in strict alignment; and in order to ensure tho satisfactory running of the engine tests with a similar object should be made periodically. A. British engineering firm recently introduced a new instrument for making such tests accurately and rapidly, ft consists of a dial divided into thousandths of an inch and a pointer ■ictunted by a plunger, which juts out ai the top of the dial, blanking this plunger are two spring plungers; the ilia! is carried on a column which screws into a base. The apparatus is used —in a manner which cannot be described without technical details —to.measure the distance between tho inner faces of the crank balance weights or of tho outer ends of tho crank webs, first when the shaft is in one position and next when it has been moved through half a revolution. Tf tho pointer shows a movement to one side or the other it proves that the alignment is not perfect. This instrument is made either nonadiustable, for only one size of crank shaft, or adjustable for any sizes in which tho distance between the web Is not less than inches or more than SH inches. ft can be used for either horizontal or vertical engines.