From: bretcahill@aol.com   
      
   > >>> There are other factors at work here.  In the late 19th Century and much   
   of the 20th Century they didn't always have the money or tools for more   
   sophisticated designs requiring more components so mechanical design relying   
   on dove tails, i.e, using    
   the rims of a bicycle wheel for the brakes instead of a dedicated disk rotor,   
   seemed justified.   
   > >>   
   > >> business is competitive. Things were far tighter in the past   
   > >>   
   > >>   
   > >>> This is in stark contrast to the way electronic design has always been:    
   Most every component has always been for a single purpose.   
   > >>   
   > >> Someone never heard of reflex receivers. I couldn't even begin to count   
   the number of circuits using bits for more than 1 purpose.   
   > >>   
   > >>   
   > >>> As the electronics industry has mushroomed and taken over a lot of the   
   tasks of of machinery, i.e., electric motors vs engines -- there isn't much   
   out there more multi duty than crankcase oil   
   > >>   
   > >> what does it do other than lubricate an engine & carry debris away?   
   > >    
   > > cools the pistons and fills the hydraluic valve lifters   
   > >    
   > > I'm not certain that that's everything.   
      
   > Helps cool the valves too.  Sodium-filled exhaust valves work by    
   > improving heat transfer from the valve head to the guide via the oil.   
      
   The head gasket is the multi tasking hold out that should have gone dedicated   
   a century ago, even in small vehicle engines.  The oil and coolant ports in   
   the head and block could be recast / re 3-D printed to cool anything that's   
   being cooled now with    
   dedicated external tubing from the block to head.     
      
   Then the head gasket could be dedicated to just one task:  sealing the high   
   pressure high temperature cylinders.  Not only would this reduce blown H-Gs   
   but when they did blow the engine would still run indefinitely on the   
   remaining cylinders.  They may    
   already do this with larger engines, i.e., marine diesels.   
      
   First guess:  A multi tasking head gasket saves about 2 minutes labor in the   
   manufacture of the engine.   
      
      
   Bret Cahill   
      
      
   > Dr Philip C D Hobbs   
   > Principal Consultant   
   > ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics   
   > Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics   
   > Briarcliff Manor NY 10510   
   >    
   > http://electrooptical.net   
   > http://hobbs-eo.com   
      
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