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 Adamant Engineering discussing the gear ratio and helix angle of a sample Marles-Weller steering gear.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 28\2\ Scan098 | |
| Date | 29th November 1932 | |
| X4094. Telegrams: "ADAMANT, Phone, Luton." CONTRACTORS TO H.M. ADMIRALTY, WAR OFFICE & AIR MINISTRY. Telephone: LUTON 1818 (2 Lines). ADAMANT ENGINEERING COMPANY, LIMITED (Incorporating J.{Mr Johnson W.M.} C. TREADGOLD & SONS. Established 1878.) Engineers and Founders. SPECIALISTS in the DESIGN and MANUFACTURE of HIGH PRECISION TOOLS, JIGS, FIXTURES, etc, SPECIAL MACHINES, SPECIAL MACHINE TOOLS, and ACCURATE PRODUCTION WORK. SOLE MANUFACTURERS and SALES AGENTS for the MARLES and MARLES-WELLER STEERING GEARS. Directors: S. CARLTON SMITH, A.M.I.MECH.E., M.I.P.E. ENGR. LT. COMMANDER F.{Mr Friese} G.{Mr Griffiths - Chief Accountant / Mr Gnapp} MATRAVERS, R.N., M.A. (CANTAB), A.M.I.MECH.E., A.M.I.E.E., M.I.A.E., M.I.P.E. O.{Mr Oldham} CARLTON SMITH, M.A. (CANTAB), F.I.S.A., M.I.P.E., Secretary. ALFRED SLATTER, M.I.E.E. J.{Mr Johnson W.M.} W. HAZEL, F.I.S.A. Your Ref. Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}11/AB Offices, Works and Design Dept.: Our Ref. FGM/AGS/CB. DALLOW ROAD, LUTON. 29th. November, 1932. Messrs. Rolls-Royce Ltd., DERBY. For the attention of Mr. Robotham. Dear Sirs, We are very much obliged to you for your letter dated the 28th instant, reference as above, and we are very pleased to hear that the sample Marles-Weller Steering Gear recently supplied to you is on the whole satisfactory in its behaviour on the road. As regards the gear ratio, as you are aware, this ratio was automatically fixed in this particular size of box by considerations of helix angle of the cam to deal with the road re-action which at the present moment we understood you are experiencing. In order to deal with this question it was considered necessary by us, and agreed to by you, that a fairly flat helix angle should be adopted. It occurs to us that if the over-all ratio is too low that this could be adjusted by means of variation of the length of the drop arm, or the length of the front wheel steering arm, and this method of adjusting gear ratio would not interfere with the helix angle in the gear, which would appear to be satisfactory. No doubt you have already thought of this alternative method, but it occurs to us that possibly you would consider some such device in order to enable you to get a comparative test between the two types of steering. - 1 - | ||