Abstract: A piston and cylinder for two-cycle engines wherein the fuel-air mixture is precompressed in the crankcase and flows to the combustion chamber through transfer passages formed in the cylinder wall and under the control of the piston movement. The piston skirt is formed with windows or openings adjacent the end faces of the piston pin, the latter being mounted in piston pin bosses carried by bearing brackets depending from the piston head and, when the piston is at its lower dead center, the windows or openings register with the inlet openings of the transfer passages so that the precompressed fuel-air mixture then flows through the interior of the piston, the openings in the piston skirt and the transfer passages and into the combustion chamber itself which contains a depression volume.

Abstract: A piston for internal combustion engines, preferably made from aluminum alloy, has machined, oil-dragging grooves formed on the periphery of the piston skirt and concave transitions with a sawtoothlike profile with an obtuse profile angle. The piston skirt is provided with an electrodeposited hard iron layer having a thickness of 1-30 .mu.m and contains 0.5-6% metal-oxy compounds incorporated therein.

Abstract: The hub of a vehicle steering wheel is provided with signaling contacts one of which is connected to a source of electric current through a connector which comprises an upwardly and downwardly movable conductor whose end remote from the contacts is anchored to a solid metal contact finger guided in an insulating sleeve. The insulating sleeve has a cylindrical portion in which the cylindrical shank of the contact finger is guided and defining a clearance around the shank open at an end of the sleeve to accommodate a coil spring which is seated against a shoulder of the sleeve and a head of the shank which bears against a slip ring. The other end of the contact finger, connected to the cable, is a solid body of square cross section guides in a corresponding square cross section passage of the insulating sleeve.

Abstract: Low-pressure casting apparatus is disclosed and includes a holding furnace having a cover, an ingot mold positioned on top of the furnace cover, a riser pipe connecting the holding furnace with the interior of the mold, upright tension rods to vertically move the cover plate of the mold, two opposite, upright flat members attached to rear portions of the sidewalls of the holding furnace, a horizontal bridge structure mounted between the flat upright members and having a U-shaped slot in which is horizontally slidably mounted a tension element, and means to horizontally move the tension element. The apparatus is improved by brackets vertically adjustably mounted on the upright flat members with the bridge structure being pivotably mounted between the brackets.

Abstract: Locking means for a piston pin is loosely mounted in the bosses of a piston and which piston is larger in outside diameter than the external distance between the bosses. At least one angled locking pin having one arm secured in the boss and extending approximately parallel to the axis of the boss is provided and the other arm of the locking pin is bent so as to extend before the opening of the boss.

Abstract: Chill mold for casting piston blanks, e.g. for internal combustion engines, from metals such as aluminum alloys, includes a steel cylinder, an inner core for reproducing the inner contours of a piston, and a spray ring which surrounds the cylinder. The spray ring delivers cooling water to the exterior of the cylinder which flows down forming a water curtain around the cylinder.

Abstract: A light alloy piston having an annular cooling passage in its head portion is prepared by a process wherein a permanent mold, preferably having a steel shell and a water cooled bottom, is filled with the molten piston alloy. Thereafter, core elements, particularly a salt core for forming the cooling passage are introduced into the molten material by means of a holder and the permanent mold is held at an elevated temperature by external heating. The permanent mold is then lowered into a water bath for a given period of time. The soluble core, which has a specific gravity lower than that of the molten light alloy, is forced into the molten material to the desired position and depth using a holding device. The holding device is withdrawn from the remaining molten material when the solidification of the molten material has proceeded to the underside of the core.