Engine-driven tire pump


Tires were not very reliable and drivers had to be ready with a hand pump. These came as single, dual or triple cylinder construction hand pumps. The different cylinders had a large pump cylinder feeding a smaller diameter cylinder to give a higher pressure at the hose.
Several companies developed engine-driven tire pumps in the brass era of the automobile.
The Kellogg brand was the most popular. In 1914, the company claimed that 60,000 of their pumps were in circulation. Available as an after-market product for $15 and some higher end models came with an engine powered pumps.
Chalmers automobiles had a “power inflator” which was driven by a lever operated sliding gear and this meshed with the transmission. A piston would pump air through a supplied hose to the tire.
In 1923, a Wissler friction-driven pump was introduced which was mounted to on car's running board.
To operate the car's rear would be jacked up, the care put into low gear and the rotating wheel placed against the pump to operate.
A third type introduced by The Mayo Manufacturing Company of Chicago was a spark plug pump which was less labor-intensive. To operate, one would remove a spark plug and screw this pump in its place.
The piston would provide a two-stage pump to push air into the tire while preventing lubricants from entering the tire. A rather fast system this system could inflate a tire in less than four minutes.
A. Schrader's Son from Brooklyn which produced valve stems also made a spark plug pump.