Invented in 1893 the carburettor was the preferred method of supplying fuel to car engines until the advent of fuel injection. In the 1970s fuel injection began to replace carburettors in many popular car models. Carburettors came in a variety of forms but the basic principle which governed their action was the same. In a carburettor the amount of fuel supplied to the engine is controlled by air flow. The faster the air moves the lower its pressure and the carburettor uses this principle to determine the mixture of air and fuel sucked into the engine.

Space beneath the bonnet became congested as more mechanical and electrical parts were needed to operate the car. One off-shoot of this was the replacement of up-draft carburettors with more space efficient side-draft ones in the 1930s.

In 1956 Carter Carburettor's the site in the American town of St Louis was taken over by ACF Industries. The replacement of carburettors with fuel injection systems led to the closure of the factory in 1984. By this time it covered 10 acres and the hydraulic fluids used in the manufacturing processes had created contamination problems on the site.

References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carburetor
http://www.epa.gov/region7/businesses/consent_agree_final_order/2005/carter_carburetor_site_stlouis_mo092905.pdf

Geoff Barker, March 2007

B2249-1 was created by the Carter Company in the USA in 1916 and B2249-2 was created by the Marvel Carburettor Company in Michigan, 1911.

A carburettor is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It was invented by Hungarian scientists Donát Bánki and János Csonka in 1893. Today, carburettors have been replaced by the fuel injection, which was first introduced in the late 1950s and then successfully commercialised in the early 1970s. However, the majority of motorcycles are still now carburetted due to lower cost but as of 2005 many new models are now being introduced with fuel injection.

Side draft automobile carburettors (2), 'Carter', metal, made by the Carter Company, America, 1911-1916

Two side draft automobile carburettors made of metal. Both carburettors consist of an open pipe with throttle and air valves.

Made: Carter Company; United States of America; 1916

Made: Carter Company; Michigan, USA; 1916

See parts

B2249

1916