TECHNICAL REPORT: Ray Beardslee
FUEL
FILTER PATENT:
Last
month was the end of the series on the patent numbers that appear on the
firewall patent date plate.
Hope I peaked your interest and satisfied your curiosity.
I have one more patent article I found originally published in “Ford
Dealer & Service Field and subsequently in Nov/Dec 1993 RESTORER.
Patent number 1,629,493 was granted to Henry Ford on July 10, 1928.
(application filed February 14, 1927).
Henry states “The object of my invention is to provide a fuel filtering
screen of simple, durable, and inexpensive construction; to provide a fuel
filtering screen of especially adapted for use in connection with automotive
vehicles, and having a minimum number of parts, and which may be conveniently
and readily installed, removed and replaced; to provide a fuel filtering screen
which will allow free filtering through of as much or more fuel than will be
allowed to enter the screen by a fuel nozzle placed in the fuel tank; to provide
in combination with my filtering screen a protecting guard which will prevent
the fuel nozzle from rupturing the screen when being inserted or taken out of
the fuel tank;
to provide in combination with my filtering screen a guard which will
allow free movement of the fuel through it, and which will hold the screen in
position and present a minimum of contact surface between it and the screen so
as to allow minimum area of the screen to be used for filtering the fuel; to
provide a filter screen which is so constructed and installed that will prevent
a flame, originated outside of the fuel tank, from entering the tank, thereby
preventing the probability of damage from a possible explosion of the fuel tank”.
MODEL A TOOL KIT
By Arlyn Bieber
When
introduced in late 1927 each Model A Ford sold was equipped with a 14-piece tool
kit. The tool kit consisted of an oil can, grease gun, tool bag, adjustable
wrench, sparkplug and cylinder head wrench, two open end wrenches, screwdriver,
pliers, jack and handle, tire iron, tire pump, crank, and owner’s manual.
In May of 1928 the oil can was deleted so after that date the tool kit
consisted of 13 pieces. As with many
of the parts for the Model A, changes were also made in the tools with at least
14 different Companies manufacturing the tools.
For example, at the introduction of the Model A, it was a Ford
engineering requirement that all steel tools have the Ford script
identification. This requirement was deleted in April 1928 but brought back in
November 1931. For some reason the
jack, grease gun and screwdriver never had a Ford script.
The tire pump Ford script was deleted in April 1928 but did not return in
November 1931 like many of the other script tools.
The early tools had just the Ford script but when the script returned in
November 1931, it was followed by “USA” making it read “Ford USA”.
Many of the wrenches we see today have the “Ford USA” probably
because this designation was used until 1940 so millions of these wrenches were
produced after the Model A era making them quite plentiful.
Finding the proper wrench with just the Ford script or no Ford script can
be quite a challenge.
Come
to the June 13 meeting to see examples of these tools and learn about the
various tool changes that took place during the Model A production years.