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).
Patentability of the Kennedy Spring and the issues of using brass interleaves.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\N\October1925-December1925\ Scan163 | |
| Date | 31th December 1925 | |
| TO F.{Mr Friese} FROM DA.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} C. to - CL. HS.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} DA{Bernard Day - Chassis Design}3/M31.12.25. Y3873 X7678 re. KENNEDY SPRING. Thank you for passing on the model of the above spring to me. It is very doubtful whether this idea is patent-able, though the particular way in which it is done may be somewhat novel. Brotherhood-Crocker cars somewhere about the year 1906. had springs in which grooves were cut along each plate, and so the oil passed from one plate to another, and along the length of each plate. As regards brass interleaves our experience is that an abnormal amount of rust is produced on the spring leaves, due, as it is thought, to an electrolytic action, so that the spring, after running about with these leaves, appears to be in a much worse condition than a normal spring. This might not be the case if the spring were covered up. Since the loading on each plate is at the tip only, it has always seemed to us that interleaves of such a material as brass are bound to wear at the tips very rapidly, and to spread and split. DA.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} | ||