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).
Letter from The Gates Rubber Company regarding the development and successful testing of fan belts.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 135\1\ scan0189 | |
| Date | 31th August 1938 | |
| File Fan Gears The GATES RUBBER COMPANY Sales Division, Inc. CABLE "GATES" DENVERCOLO, U. S. A.{Mr Adams} Denver,Colorado Rolls Royce, Ltd. Derby England Attention Mr. C. S. Steadman August 31, 1938 1135. hrly/300 Gentlemen: Last month, the Massey-Harris Company of Canada, one of the largest farm equipment manufacturers, asked us to develop a fan belt for one of their tractors. The competitive belts they were using were not giving them the service they wanted. Operating conditions, engine design, and horsepower requirements all combined to make this one of the most difficult problems we've ever tackled. Our Engineering Department began by running the competitive belts on accelerated service and they failed in 57 hours. That was the mark we had to beat. Then we started building belts. The first one ran just 27 hours. We changed the construction and hit 50 hours -- a slight alteration in dimensions and we had those belts running 161 hours. That was a real improvement and we felt that we'd done the job we started out to do. But we didn't stop there, Mr. Steadman -- we kept working. And as I write this letter that belt is running on test. It has already passed the 300 hour mark and doesn't show signs of failing yet! That's the kind of development work we'd like to do for Rolls Royce. The drive problem you asked us to work out was a difficult one and although we are confident that the sample belts we sent you for parts EXS-194 and EB-221 will be a big improvement, it's certainly possible that we can give you even better belts. But it's something we can't do much about, Mr. Steadman, until we hear how those first tests came out. Would you check these over and write us? We would certainly appreciate your comments. Cordially yours, C.A. Winser Export Division C.A.Winser/b | ||