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).
Lubrication systems for the pendulum lever, sphere, and torque tube, evaluating various methods and their effectiveness.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 26\5\ Scan027 | |
| Date | 14th April 1927 | |
| Oy1-E-41427 -3- April 14, 1927. which the pendulum lever works. We have not found anything to recommend the neater scheme of lubricating the rear ball joint by oil fed to the rocking shaft and passing down a long drilled hole in the pendulum lever (as used by Packard) because - (a) We do not want to drill radial holes in the rocking shaft (because of weakening). (b) We do not know how to guarantee a straight central hole down the pendulum lever, and if it wanders the lever will break. (c) It leaves us without a reliable means of lubricating the front ball. At present we take full oil pressure right up to the two ball joints. Actually the brass-pipe used on this job shows no damage from gravel or road dirt. With a little alteration it may be possible to put the oil-pressure pipe inside the side-steering tube, or it may be permissible to use the side-steering tube between the end plugs as a reservoir for oil and allow it to feed out either end with the motion of the car. (7) Sphere and Torque Tube. We are feeding the sphere and torque tube from the Bijur system on the experimental car, the pressure being conducted down from the rear gearbox cross-member to the torque tube by means of a simple double-coil brass pipe and fed to drip plugs on the sphere and torque tube joint as shown on prints A-9961 and A-7846 here-with. On the sphere we had to entirely revise the system to feed the oil from a catch-ring down the outside of the pins, using the existing central holes in the pins as an air-escape. The present system of lubrication depends absolutely on getting an occasional shot of oil in the sphere sufficient to bury the joint-ring 1" deep or more. This the Bijur system with its frequent small shots will not do, (we tried it 2 years ago). The system as shown on A-9961 has run some 5000 miles and promises well. On the torque tube we devised a similar scheme which did not work and returned to the standard scheme as shown on print with the drip plug vertically upwards and in line with the "knife-blade" on the baffle. This works like a charm, filling the coupling pot from a bone-dry start within 1000 miles. | ||