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).
And rejecting two proposed easy-change gearbox schemes from a Mr. de Kremer.
Identifier | ExFiles\Box 147\3\ scan0101 | |
Date | 11th June 1938 | |
To By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} from Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/Gry.{Shadwell Grylls} c. Hs.{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair} c. Da.{Bernard Day - Chassis Design} c. Hdy.{William Hardy} EASY CHANGE GEARBOXES. We had a visit yesterday from M de Kremer who had fixed up on his Standard car an arrangement whereby the effort required to operate the synchromesh was provided by the return of the clutch pedal. Hdy.{William Hardy} and I drove the car and immediately criticised the fact that it was necessary to depress the clutch pedal fully before the remote control lever could be moved. On the return stroke of the pedal, first the gear was engaged and then the clutch, a stop preventing the clutch engaging if the gear teeth had stuck end to end. The car also had an electrically operated change over to vacuum operation of the clutch pedal. In this case the gear lever was moved say from top to 3rd. and in about a second's time the clutch pedal had been down and up again having engaged 3rd. gear. Considering the first scheme we do not see that this has any advantages over any other form of servo assisted movement of the gear lever, but has the disadvantage that the clutch pedal must be fully depressed for every gear change, a feature that has done much to "kill" the Wilson gearbox. The second vacuum operated scheme is not, in our opinion, what the public wants. De Kremer also hoped to sell us his synchromesh operation which gets round the G.M. patent and is very simple. G.M. via Constantine had led him to believe we pay £15 royalty per box. He did not intend to ask this amount. We intend to write him saying we are not interested in either scheme. Rm{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}/Gry.{Shadwell Grylls} | ||