General Information

Serial #

52853

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

Zinc alloy/ cast brass/ other metal parts

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

17.2 cm

Width

15.5 cm

Height

17.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Motorized Ground Transportation

Category

Automotive engineering

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Accurate

Country

United States of America

State/Province

Illinois

City

Chicago

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

c. 1921

Canada

From the collection of automobile parts and servicing equipment acquired by Mr. T.H. Oliver, father of donor, during his career in automotive serving. He worked at Willys-Olivand, Fairbanks-Morse in Toronto and an auto garage in Aurora. In 1931, he began his own business, one part of which involved automotive electrical servicing.

Function

Part of an ignition system of internal combustion engine. It uses a magnetic field to produce an electric spark, which explodes gasoline vapour in a cylinder of engine, enabling it to function.

Technical

Example of a product from a small North American manufacturer entering the magneto electric field and using relatively crude manufacturing methods. The heavy cast brass construction was more robust than many competitors' products. Similar in concept and execution to the type L International Harvester magneto (970548-970549) (REF. 1). The magneto ignition system was a technological innovation first developed in 1878 by Nikolaus August Otto, which was based on the principle of Siemens' double-T armature (Diesel, Goldbeck, and Schildberger: 64). The development of electromagnetism in the 19th century greatly influenced the advancement of magnetos by various inventors around the world. As the automotive industry grew, the magneto ignition system became the standard automotive ignition system, resulting in the wide spread use of magnetos on early engines (Bosch. "Bosch Product History"). Today, automobiles rely on battery power; however, magnetos are commonly used to power small machines, including lawn mowers or snow blowers, and may be found in small gasoline engines such as motorcycles, tractors, marine, and aircraft engines because they do not need a battery ("Magneto").

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

Raised lettering on each end of brass cloured strip reading "TYPE-U/ ACCURATE/ ENGINEERING/ COMPANY/ CHICAGO/ U.S.A."/ Incised Lettering Reading "52852" on base

Missing

Appears complete

Finish

Brass coloured metal strip covering magnets/ metallic & gold painted parts

Decoration

Mfr.'s logo on each end of brass coloured strip covering magnets reading "a/ e. co./ raised edging along each side of metal strip