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).
Implementation of automatic ignition advance, its advantages over hand control, and a proposal for testing ignition timing.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 37\1\ scan 212 | |
| Date | 1st March 1920 | |
| To Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} from R.{Sir Henry Royce} Copy to CJ. " " Bn.{W.O. Bentley / Mr Barrington} X.3949 R18/G1.3.20. X.3949. RE AUTOMATIC IGNITION ADVANCE. X.3883. X.699. I am in receipt of your memo (Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}2/LG28.2.20.) with reference to automatic ignition advance, and am quite in agreement with your conclusions. A long time ago, during the Northcliffe chassis I endeavoured to make a satisfactory advance for the magnetos but complication appeared to render it prohibitive. It is more than likely that all new cars will have battery ignition, with this the problem of advancing the ignition with the speed is very much easier, and we have arranged to do so on the "Buzzard". I quite agree that if anyone will handle the controls intelligently the engines will seem much more satis-factory in softness and power over the wide range of speed which our engines are expected to run. I do not, however, think we can expect the hand control to be used as consistently and intelligently as is desir-able, as I find it is only on rather special occasions that I personally think to work this control to its best advantage. To help in this matter I shall be pleased if you will make a point of testing every engine that you come across and report to us the position of the ignition for every speed the engine is likely to run. For instance, the present car engine is expected to run from 250 to 2500 revs. which is from about 7 to 70 miles an hour. I think a range of about ten times Contd. | ||