Two More Whatsits

[oldgoaly]

Rusty  the pic below says it all!

the two casting tools? never seen curved ones  but have straight ones.

[Billman49]

Next question: what sort of valve was found on early tubes that the Stevens/Acorn/Eclair connector was used with???? I know that with the modern Schrader type the connector will blow off the valve stem unless it is securely fixed. Does this one need to be held in place when being used???

[rusty]

One other tidbit, Leon Rubay (corporation) went bankrupt in 1908, they were in New York, so perhaps Stevens (NY) simply aquired rights rather than acting as manufacturer.  Another possability that occurs to me here is patent infringment, which would explain the acorn patent number on it. (eg Stevens threatened to sue, and they licenced it under the existing patent)

Leon shows up in the 1920's as a prolific importer of automobiles, and as a maker of custom bodies...

One of the creditors is Lovell-McConnell Mfg co. In a 1910 index they are listed under Eclair.
I have never figured out who was making stuff for Stevens, but this is an interesting hint..

Edit: 1917 Auto Trade Journal lists Eclair under Stevens & Co.

[rusty]

>what sort of valve

Prior to the 20's every tire maker had their own design for a tire valve, even after schrader monopolized the valve market there were still imports, Michlin, Dunlap had non standard valves because they were imported, Presta valves were smaller and used on bicycle tires...

Before that there were several dozen tire makers, all unique...
(And the tubeless tires took valves determined by the rim, so those folks are involved also)

So a universal coupling makes sense, how well it worked is a different question tho...
I think, from the descriptions that it forces the rubber washer to compress onto the valve stem threads, which would probably work ok, remember, they were not putting 90 pounds of air into those tires...