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 unsolved problems of developing a harmonic damper and a crank pinion spring drive for an engine.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 134\2\ scan0187 | |
| Date | 9th February 1939 | |
| -2- Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}1/WH.9.2.39. Regarding Section (2). It is here that we have the unsolved problems. We have yet to develop the harmonic type of damper until it will stand up to the conditions on our engine. This obviously is only a matter of perseverance. The crank pinion spring drive, however, is another matter. From results so far obtained we feel inclined to suggest that spring drives can be dispensed with on low output engines that do not run at very high speeds, but they may be necessary on high performance engines unless the crankshaft is made of uneconomically ponderous proportions. However, the investigation is at present only in its initial stages and experiments are proceeding. From an insurance point of view it may be necessary for the line 8 to start life with a spring drive; if it has to do this its cost per B.H.P. will still be only a fraction of that of the P.III. Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} | ||