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).
Technical article from 'Automotive Industries' detailing the design of a GM rear-engined car's cone clutch, transmission, and shifting mechanisms.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 128\3\ scan0038 | |
| Date | 22th April 1939 | |
| GM REAR-ENGINED DESIGN 525 tion in Fig. 5. It is a cone clutch of familiar type, and the improvements relate to features that tend to reduce the cost of manufacture. The male cone (the driving member) consists of two light, almost identical stampings, each comprising a web and a cone, the two being welded together and having the edge at the open side of the cone turned inward for increased stiffness. The female cone, or driven member, consists of a web made up of two light pressings, welded together; a hub and a conical steel ring, both secured to the web. The transmission is similar to current types in that it has two sliding members, one for low speed and reverse, the other for intermediate and high speeds, but these sliding members are carried on the primary and secondary shafts, respectively. The Fig. 7—Shifting mechanism on transmission A, transmission primary shaft; B, transmission secondary shaft; C, shifter bar for high and intermediate speeds; D, shifter bar for low speed and reverse; E, clutch-control slider. Fig. 8—Connections from shifter mechanism on transmission to control mechanism in driver's compartment A, steel ribbons connecting double-armed levers on transmission housing to corresponding levers on floor of driver's compartment; B, lower end of gear-shift lever; C, steel ribbon connecting clutch throwout lever with clutch pedal. all of the gears are in the neutral position. The lower end of a ball-mounted shift lever is adapted to engage into the slot on one or the other of these double-armed levers, and when thus engaged the particular lever can be turned around its axis to move the sliding member in the transmission into one or the other of its positions of engagement. (Turn to page 538, please) sliding members are operated through shifter arms mounted on the ends of concentric tubes that extend down through a column-shaped housing bolted against the side of the transmission housing. A tube to which the clutch throw-out fork is secured also is mounted concentric with those for the gear-shifter arms. At its lower end each of the concentric tubes has a lever secured to it, the ends of which are connected by metal ribbons with shifting means and with the clutch pedal at the forward end of the chassis. The ribbons pass through grooves in the floor board, these grooves being covered by metal strips to maintain a level and rigid floor. The shifting means at the front comprise two double-armed levers, each provided with a square slot at one end, the two slots being in line with each other when Fig. 9—Hydraulic clutch-shifting mechanism A, clutch pedal; B, master cylinder; C, tube carrying fluid under pressure to clutch-control cylinder; D, stationary piston of clutch-control cylinder E; F, shifter rail connected to cylinder E; G, transmission housing. Automotive Industries | ||