From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Design changes to the 'Seagull' steering box, moving to a worm and worm-wheel system.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 38\1\ Scan117 | |
| Date | 15th January 1923 | |
| To Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} from R.{Sir Henry Royce} c. to CJ. Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} c. to Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} BY.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} c. to Mr. Claremont. X3465 RL/M15.1.23. RE. STEERING X.3929. X.4264. X.3465 Many thanks for memo. I was pleased to hear that most of the points are as we anticipated, therefore our conclusions seem sound. We have been working on "Seagull" steering box, and cannot find a really good scheme of any pattern of worm and nut. I have changed to worm and worm-wheel, which promises to more easily give exactly the degree of reversibility we are striving to get, and by using casehardened worm and complete wheel we can always use the tightest place for straight steering; this is greatly facilitated by our tapered V serrations. We have also a few other features of novelty which help this form. The wheel also will be a case-hardened steel forged on the shaft. The scheme as we are arranging it makes an assembling job instead of a fitting job. The change comes from (1) a desire for greater irreversibility, (2) its objection of quickly wearing wheel or sector, (3) various other disadvantages are overcome by the use of a complete wheel with serrated fixing of pendulum lever, (4) we have schemed a system of synchronsied adjustment of eccentric bearings, etc. R.{Sir Henry Royce} | ||