Login | Register
The Engineer's Place for News and Discussion®


What Is It?

What Is It? is a place for engineers to test their knowledge (and sense of humor). Each week the CR4 team will post an unidentified picture. We're looking for your best (or funniest) guesses at what it might be (or could be) in the comments below.
Got an image* that you think would stump the community? Submit the photo to the blog admins and we'll post it!

*No vulgar or obscene photo submissions, please.
Previous in Blog: What Is It? for 5/27/12   Next in Blog: What Is It? for 6/10/12
Close

Comments Format:






Change Mode
Close

Subscribe to Discussion:

CR4 allows you to "subscribe" to a discussion
so that you can be notified of new comments to
the discussion via email.

Close

Rating Vote:







Add Vote
17 comments
Subscribe Rate this Comments: Nested

What Is It? for 6/3/12

Posted June 03, 2012 12:00 AM
Pathfinder Tags: What is it?

This week's image:

Click here for the answer!

Reply

Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.

Comments rated to be Good Answers:

These comments received enough positive ratings to make them "good answers".

Comments rated to be "almost" Good Answers:

Check out these comments that don't yet have enough votes to be "official" good answers and, if you agree with them, rate them!
Tornado
Guru
Technical Fields - Technical Writing - New Member Engineering Fields - Piping Design Engineering - New Member

Join Date: May 2009
Location: Ketchikan, AK, USA
Posts: 12928
Good Answers: 463
#1

Re: What Is It? for 6/3/12

06/03/2012 1:32 AM

It looks like an ancient one-banger air compressor.

__________________
In vino veritas; in cervisia carmen; in aqua E. coli.
Reply
WAWAUS
Guru

Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 537
Good Answers: 16
#9
In reply to #1

Re: What Is It? for 6/3/12

06/04/2012 12:41 AM

I agree, thats what it looks like to me
Reply
SolarEagle
Guru

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: at the beach in Florida
Posts: 5448
Good Answers: 268
#2

Re: What Is It? for 6/3/12

06/03/2012 2:29 AM

Looks like a gas engine....

__________________
The relentless pursuit of pacification....
Reply
2
Usbport
Guru
Engineering Fields - Optical Engineering - Member Engineering Fields - Engineering Physics - Member Engineering Fields - Systems Engineering - Member

Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Trantor
Posts: 2948
Good Answers: 296
#3

Re: What Is It? for 6/3/12

06/03/2012 7:22 AM

An old hit-and-miss engine.

__________________
"...any library is a good library that does not contain a volume by Jane Austen. Even if it contains no other book." - Mark Twain
Reply Good Answer (Score 2)
No more Good Answers. Go to first "Almost" Good Answer
IdeaSmith
Guru

Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Out of your mind
Posts: 507
Good Answers: 11
#4

Re: What Is It? for 6/3/12

06/03/2012 10:54 AM

Air-motor in a shearers shed?

__________________
Everything will be alright in the end. If it its not alright yet - it is not the end.
Reply
Anonymous Hero
Guru
Popular Science - Evolution - New Member Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member

Join Date: May 2006
Location: The 'Space Coast', USA
Posts: 7431
Good Answers: 566
#5

Re: What Is It? for 6/3/12

06/03/2012 5:25 PM

Bovine breast pump.
Reply
Usbport
Guru
Engineering Fields - Optical Engineering - Member Engineering Fields - Engineering Physics - Member Engineering Fields - Systems Engineering - Member

Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Trantor
Posts: 2948
Good Answers: 296
#6
In reply to #5

Re: What Is It? for 6/3/12

06/03/2012 5:34 PM

What an udderly strange answer.

__________________
"...any library is a good library that does not contain a volume by Jane Austen. Even if it contains no other book." - Mark Twain
Reply
SolarEagle
Guru

Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: at the beach in Florida
Posts: 5448
Good Answers: 268
#7
In reply to #6

Re: What Is It? for 6/3/12

06/03/2012 8:41 PM
__________________
The relentless pursuit of pacification....
Reply Score 1 for Good Answer
Go to Next "Almost" Good Answer
redfred
Guru
Engineering Fields - Electrical Engineering - New Member Engineering Fields - Control Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Long Island NY
Posts: 6992
Good Answers: 463
#8

Re: What Is It? for 6/3/12

06/03/2012 11:06 PM

ALERT! ALERT! The humans have discovered grandpa! ALERT!

__________________
"A good scientist is a person with original ideas. A good engineer is a person who makes a design that works with as few original ideas as possible. There are no prima donnas in engineering." Freeman Dyson
Reply
Epke
Guru
Popular Science - Weaponology - New Member Netherlands - Member - New Member Fans of Old Computers - Commodore 64 - New Member

Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Japan
Posts: 2388
Good Answers: 29
#10

Re: What Is It? for 6/3/12

06/04/2012 3:02 AM

makes me think of those speed differentials in old factories run by steam engines and leather bands going all over the place

__________________
From the Movie "The Big Lebowski" Don't pee on the carpet man!
Reply Score 1 for Good Answer
No more "Almost" Good Answers.
Johannescnc
Power-User

Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Hannover, Germany and Jacksonville, Florida
Posts: 142
Good Answers: 8
#11

Re: What Is It? for 6/3/12

06/04/2012 10:14 AM

Antique refrigerant compressor...

__________________
Johannes
Reply
leveles
Guru

Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1611
Good Answers: 55
#12

Re: What Is It? for 6/3/12

06/04/2012 6:47 PM

An one banger cylindr. It is too simple for anything else.
Reply
pnaban
Guru

Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: srilanka
Posts: 1802
Good Answers: 5
#13

Re: What Is It? for 6/3/12

06/05/2012 5:15 AM

On the left there is a flywheel,on the right there is a loose pulley & tight pulley. What is in the middle is confusing,is it a compressor,shock absorber or single cylinder engine?. Why no connections are shown on the middle one?.

__________________
pnaban
Reply
ronseto
Guru
Technical Fields - Technical Writing - New Member Engineering Fields - Marine Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Vancleave, Ms about 30 miles inland from Biloxi and the coast
Posts: 2375
Good Answers: 82
#14

Re: What Is It? for 6/3/12

06/06/2012 10:57 AM

USBPORT is correct. It is a "hit-or-miss" gas engine.

__________________
Almost as smart as the average bear
Reply
SavvyExacta
Guru
United States - Member - Lifelong New Yorker Popular Science - Biology - Animal Science Technical Fields - Technical Writing - Technical Writer CR4 Admins - CR4 Admin - CR4 Admin

Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: NY
Posts: 1656
Good Answers: 28
#15

Re: What Is It? for 6/3/12

06/07/2012 6:26 AM

According to the contributor of the image, it is a belt-driven compressor.
Reply
Lehman57
Guru
Engineering Fields - Nuclear Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Louisville, OH
Posts: 524
Good Answers: 9
#16

Re: What Is It? for 6/3/12

06/07/2012 6:38 PM

I'll go with the first reply--an air compressor likely made to be driven by a belt from an overhead line shaft. I can't explain 2 pulleys on the right end.

All the hit-n-miss engines I have seen are "hopper" engines with a reservoir of water for cooling. The cooling fins on the cylinder are typical of air compressors.

__________________
Lehman57
Reply
Inventer
Active Contributor

Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 21
#17
In reply to #16

Re: What Is It? for 6/3/12

07/08/2012 10:57 PM

The one pulley runs the compressor the other one is a idler pulley where you put the drive belt when you don't want to run the compressor.Most things that were run by a lineshaft had the two pulleys for this purpose
Reply
Reply to Blog Entry 17 comments
Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.

Comments rated to be Good Answers:

These comments received enough positive ratings to make them "good answers".

Comments rated to be "almost" Good Answers:

Check out these comments that don't yet have enough votes to be "official" good answers and, if you agree with them, rate them!
Copy to Clipboard

Users who posted comments:

Anonymous Hero (1); Epke (1); IdeaSmith (1); Inventer (1); Johannescnc (1); Lehman57 (1); leveles (1); pnaban (1); redfred (1); ronseto (1); SavvyExacta (1); SolarEagle (2); Tornado (1); Usbport (2); WAWAUS (1)

Previous in Blog: What Is It? for 5/27/12   Next in Blog: What Is It? for 6/10/12


"When you play, play hard; when you work, don't play at all." -- Theodore Roosevelt

All times are displayed in US/Eastern (EDT) (Register to change time zone)

Got Something to Say?
Ask a Question
Start a Discussion

Search this Section
General:
Go

Search this Blog
What Is It?:
Go

Search all of CR4
Go

Recent Blog Entries

Blog Tags
Exhaust pipe for an Industrial vehicle games hay bale hook Ice hook It is a traveling car frfor loading hay into the l meat hook puzzles What could it be? what is it What is it? Where is it?

Blog Links

CR4 Sections
Aerospace
BioMech & BioMed
Chemical & Material Science
Civil Engineering
Communications & Electronics
Education and Engineering Careers
Electrical Engineering
General
Instrumentation
Manufacturing
Mechanical Engineering
New Technologies & Research
Software & Programming
Sustainable Engineering
Transportation

Site Directories
Forum Directory
Blog Directory
User Group Directory
RSS Feeds
CR4 Store

CR4 Rules of Conduct
CR4 FAQ
Site Glossary

Who's Online (130 right now)
Show Members