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).
The objections and potential improvements to ignition switch arrangements.
| Identifier | WestWitteringFiles\Q\2April1927-June1927\ 162 | |
| Date | 3rd June 1927 guessed | |
| -2- Contd. An objection to the extra switch is that it may be forgotten and a driver may be under the impression that he is running on both ignitions on the M B & C position, whereas he is running only on battery ignition, and if he switches over to M & C to try the magneto, the engine may stop. The chief objection to the present arrangement is still that we cannot run on magneto ignition without charge. Thus there is at present one objection or another to any of the possible arrangements, without increasing the number of switch positions. Although the present arrangement is subject to an objection, we are of the opinion that taking everything into consideration, it is the best arrangement, and more particularly that it is a better arrangement in respect of future possibilities than either of the other two. We refer to the possibility of the utilisation of some form of charge reducing control. The matter can be put this way - that if an extra switch is desirable it ought not to be a switch to put the ignition out of action, but it ought to be a switch to put the charge out of action. In this way the present switch would become an ignition switch giving either ignition or both, and the charge would be independent. Having got to that stage and seeing that it is possible to make the charge switch automatic, this would appear to be the right thing to do in principle. It may then be said that this necessitates the addition of a charge contact Contd. | ||