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).
Car single cylinder development work, including cylinder heads, sleeve valves, and overhead camshafts.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 133\2\ scan0104 | |
| Date | 19th November 1934 | |
| NOT SENT OUT (To E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} from Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer} (To Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Wd.{Mr Wood/Mr Whitehead} c. to Sg.{Arthur F. Sidgreaves - MD} c. to Wor.{Arthur Wormald - General Works Manager} c. to By.{R.W. Bailey - Chief Engineer} c. to Bn.{W.O. Bentley / Mr Barrington} X1003 Hs{Lord Ernest Hives - Chair}/Rm.{William Robotham - Chief Engineer}12/KW.19.11.34. Car Single Cylinder Development Work. We have now three types of cylinder head available for single cylinder work on the car unit, the standard head, the ramp head and the high power head. The last of these is rapidly nearing completion, and it will not be long before this head is ready for test. We are anxious that there shall be continuity of design work on the research programme of the car side, and have therefore been considering what might be put in hand now that the present drawing work has been completed. In the sleeve valve engine for the 'X' we have a very interesting single cylinder unit which will give us information as to the possibility of using sleeve valves on cars. In the pent-house steel aero head we have another type. In the Rudge Motor Cycle engine we have a third interesting source of information. In order to extract the greatest amount of information from these units with regard to the car side we should like camshafts to be made which will enable power curves to be taken from them that represent car timings. We recommend that some design work should now be done for a single cylinder car unit having an overhead camshaft drive. We know that E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} has been considering this, and the following is a summary of the reasons why we think it is worth proceeding with. In the past the overhead camshaft engine has been synonymous with noisy valve operation. Two recent developments have entirely altered the aspect of this method of construction, the first being the hydraulic tappet adjuster and the second the development in worm drive and hypoid spiral bevel drives. We believe that to-day an overhead camshaft can be designed which will be quite as silent as any side valve engine at both high and low speeds. The object of going to the overhead camshaft would be to increase the engine efficiency. | ||