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).
Scheme for direct lubrication of the sphere by circulating oil from the gearbox.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 16\1\ Scan090 | |
| Date | 7th July 1923 | |
| ROLLS-ROYCE OF AMERICA, INC. SPRINGFIELD, MASS. X740 Oy3-W-7723 July 7, 1923. PERSONAL To: Mr. E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} W. Hives From: Mr. Olley Re Lubrication of Sphere On 102-CE, we have rigged up a scheme for direct lubrication of the sphere which seems to promise well. The idea is that the sphere can be lubricated continuously by oil circulating from the gearbox and back to the gearbox. The first thing we found was that a sphere filled with oil with the plug in the right hand arm left open, will discharge oil through the arm until the oil level (stationary) has dropped to half way up the universal joint ring, and will not discharge any more however fast the engine is run. We connected this discharge to the gearbox through the bronze cover of the reverse mechanism drilling holes through the eccentric to let the oil flow back freely. We found it necessary to leave an air vent as shown, since apparently the oil is blown out of the sphere rather than pumped out, the sphere filling up and overflowing at the ends if the air vent is stopped up. Then we connected a feed pipe from the rear end of the gearbox cover to the left hand arm of the sphere as shown. Originally we had a collector on the inside of the gearbox, but found that this collected more at a certain speed when the oil from the first speed driven gear struck it squarely than at any other speeds. So we found that without any collector but with the end of the union standing under the inner wall of the cover (as shown) we collected a regular 30 to 40 drops a minute at any speed, and have left it as shown for the sake of getting a road test. | ||